We didn't win the bid, but it was great fun putting it together, and developing a prize worth winning :-) TQ9 Enterprises closed for business officially March 2013 - but as often these things do, the project often rolls in to a different incarnation in someone elses' hands.
Sent to Totnes Times, Peoples Republic Of South Devon, REconnect Magzine, Soundart Radio :
TQ9Creative Enterprises, the company running the #16 Workspace on Totnes
High Street, have applied for funding for an exciting new
project- a Hyperlocal Network for Totnes and the surrounding areas.
The charity NESTA is running a nation-wide competition for 10
grants of up to £50,000. The money is to fund hyperlocal
initiatives- 'hyperlocal' being the current buzzword for projects
which are community focused, media and tech savvy and serving one
location.
James
Engwell, leading the TQ9 project, says “Our
bid to NESTA is to develop a bespoke digital network service called
#TQ9, to
support the amazing on-the-ground community network already here in
our area. We are not
wanting to supplant local services- but to join them up. Hyperlocal
can be though of as digital localism, where a local network is
established which connects people to each other, information and
local resources. We've designed one easy-to-use
site, that combines group and personal messaging, event and meeting
notice boards, and forums for debate on local issues and news, with
an online town archive, a current news stream, and a up-to-date
business directory."
NESTA's
Destination Local funding would be used to develop this one-stop
online resource providing these services to the community for free.
TQ9 feel strongly that tailoring a local communication network to the needs of a area
means welcoming the whole area on board to participate in its
creation and use. In developing the bid TQ9
held a number of open consultations with service providers, community
groups and professionals in Totnes, and received great support for
their idea.
Jenny
Wellwood, who has been promoting the TQ9 events, says "The
hyperlocal network we've designed is a reflection of the feedback
we've had. We're really excited to be applying for
funding to make this idea a reality. Totnes has an amazing community-
diverse and creative, with strong traditional community
values- and the hyperlcoal network we are proposing could be an
amazing resource for everyone living, working and visiting here.”
One
of the unique aspects of the TQ9 bid is that the network will be
co-owned by residents of the TQ9 area in the form of a ‘community utility’.
The network would also exist ‘outside of the internet’ by being hosted on a locally based private server -enabling
the network to be used by schools and social services, important parts of any community, to whom social media is normally off limits.
James said “Most
internet
services exist to exploit our personal information, it’s
ironic that we all unwittingly give so much of our content away to
giant American corporations. There is bound to be a move away from this
as communities look to become more self sufficient. We think Hyperlocal
networks are the solution to securing our
local content and information from exploitation -communities need to be in
control of their resources, whether they are physical, or digital."
TQ9 will hear
whether their application has been successful in late June, and would
like to thank everyone who contributed for their participation. If
you would like to find out more about this project please visit
www.tq9.tv,
email tqnine@gmail.com.
Or you can support TQ9’s bid by viewing their NESTA application
film on YouTube....
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