Yesterday afternoon, Fire Chief Chris Albertson sent out a press release announcing that due to the “high temperatures” in Petaluma, designated public places with air conditioning would be open – primarily for Senior Citizens – today and tomorrow in order to beat the heat. Within a few hours, PetalumaNet was able to disseminate the message, using various “electronic conference boards,” to graduates of CERT I & II, ALERT, the Petaluma Senior Computer Special Interest Group, and the Petaluma CyberCity Roundtable. The total number of people who were sent this “Special Message,” numbered over 200 people; some of whom monitor other eConference Boards for their local “Neighborhood Emergency Response Teams” (NERT).

Communicating information via the use of telecommunication technology was the major reason for establishing PetalumaNet (our community networking think tank in 1995), and the Petaluma CyberCity Roundtable in 1998 (our community network of representatives from the education, business, government, health care, and non-profit organization sectors.) The thought that struck me was … perhaps it is time to revive the initiative to create PENN … the “Petaluma Electronic Neighborhood Network,” which would be made up of all the various local eNeighborhood Nets.

This idea was initially suggested by a former City Clerk, Beverly Kline, at a PCCR meeting several years ago. A demonstration workshop was even held in the City Council Chambers. (There weren’t any takers, at that time.) In fact, it was Beverly who set up the first public computer kiosk outside her office in City Hall. She certainly was ahead of the curve, ICT-wise.

As the newly created “Alliance for Local Emergency Response Teams” (ALERT) moves forward, one goal is to establish these electronic networks at the neighborhood level. The payoff is … in an emergency situation or when there is a need to dispense information quickly, it’s hard to beat these eConference Boards. Of course, there has to be someone who is computer literate and connected to the Internet at the other end. Wireless technology, which is changing every day, is a form of technology that holds great potential for use in this mission.

Remember when the 21st Century began, one of the many predictions was that we would soon be living in a world where one could communicate with anyone else, anywhere, at anytime, 24/7. That day is here, now; for better or for worse. In emergency situations, I want to know what is going on, and where. I want to read that message that says, “You got mail.” Is their a new “information highway” named PENN in our future? Stay tuned.