September 2009 - nexa - server-nexa.polito.it

n. 1 collaborazione: studio di fattibilita' NEUBOT - misurazione distribuita della neutralita' della rete
by J.C. DE MARTIN Sept. 18, 2009

Sept. 18, 2009

Il Centro NEXA su Internet & Società del Politecnico di Torino (DAUIN) (http://nexa.polito.it) nell'ambito delle proprie attività di ricerca istituzionale, cerca un/una esperto/a informatico/a, con specifiche competenze di misure delle prestazioni dei protocolli di rete, per il conferimento di una collaborazione occasionale (cod. 202/09/CC) della durata di due mesi sul tema: “Studio di fattibilità relativo alla prosecuzione del progetto "Network Neutrality Bot" (NEUBOT, v, http://nexa.polito.it/neubot) ovvero la realizzazione di un programma open source, che installato da utenti di internet, sia in grado di fornire misurazioni di parametri relativi alla qualità del servizio sulla Rete, con particolare riferimento alla eventuale discriminazione di determinati protocolli. Una recensione analitica dei progetti analoghi a livello mondiale è parte integrante dello studio” Scadenza per la presentazione delle domande: ore 16 del 9 ottobre 2009. Compenso lordo pari a euro 5.000. I requisiti nonche' tutte le altre informazioni, incluse le modalità esatte di presentazione delle domande sono descritti dall'avviso: http://www.swas.polito.it/services/concorsi/persta.asp?id_documento_padre=5… English summary available here: http://nexa.polito.it/job-openings/neubot Restando a disposizione per eventuali chiarimenti o integrazioni, porgo i piu' cordiali saluti, juan carlos de martin prof. juan carlos de martin co-director / nexa center for internet & society politecnico di torino http://nexa.polito.it tel: +39 011 564 7215/5956/5954 fax: +39 011 564 7216 (si prega di scusare l'eventuale ricezione di copie multiple di questo messaggio)

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Liberta' di espressione su Internet: la proposta di legge Pecorella
by J.C. DE MARTIN Sept. 18, 2009

Sept. 18, 2009

http://punto-informatico.it/2709918/PI/Commenti/era-una-volta-liberta-infor… C'era una volta la libertà di informazione in Rete di Guido Scorza - Una proposta di legge per sottoporre alla disciplina sulla stampa tutti i siti Internet che abbiano natura editoriale. Qualsiasi cosa ciò significhi Roma - Il 14 settembre scorso è stato assegnato alla Commissione Giustizia della Camera un disegno di legge <http://www.camera.it/_dati/leg16/lavori/stampati/pdf/16PDL0027640.pdf> a firma degli Onorevoli Pecorella e Costa attraverso il quale si manifesta l'intenzione di rendere integralmente applicabile a tutti i "siti internet aventi natura editoriale" l'attuale disciplina sulla stampa. [...] Continua alla URL sopra indicata. juan carlos

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"Internet Manifesto"
by J.C. DE MARTIN Sept. 18, 2009

Sept. 18, 2009

http://www.internet-manifesto.org/ Internet Manifesto How journalism works today. Seventeen declarations. Deutsche Fassung <http://www.internet-manifest.de> | Version française <http://owni.fr/2009/09/09/un-manifeste-internet-traduction/> | Versión en español <http://uberblogged.com/periodismo/como-funciona-el-periodismo-hoy-manifiest…> | Versione in italiano <http://mediablog.corriere.it/2009/09/il_giornalismo_ai_tempi_di_int.html> | Versão em português <http://manifesto-internet.org/> | C(eská verze <http://www.internet-manifest.cz/> | Srpsko-Hrvatski <http://www.blogowski.eu/2009/09/15/internet-manifest/> | Türk Versiyon <http://blog.akgul.web.tr/?p=30> | ???????? ?????? <http://www.news247.gr/a/5%21101128> |??????? ?????? <http://journalism.com.ua/archives/359> | Versiunea in limba romana <http://economie.hotnews.ro/stiri-media_publicitate-6119844-moartea-ziaristu…> | ???? <http://peer2peer.blog79.fc2.com/blog-entry-1552.html> | ??? ?? <http://capcold.net/blog/4629> | ??????????? <http://www.fringer.org/?p=446> | ?????? ??????? 1 <http://www.al-khabar.info/%D8%A8%D9%80%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3…> | ?????? ??????? 2 <http://owni.fr/2009/09/12/%D8%A8%D9%80%D9%8A%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3…> 1. The Internet is different. It produces different public spheres, different terms of trade and different cultural skills. The media must adapt their work methods to today's technological reality instead of ignoring or challenging it. It is their duty to develop the best possible form of journalism based on the available technology. This includes new journalistic products and methods. 2. The Internet is a pocket-sized media empire. The web rearranges existing media structures by transcending their former boundaries and oligopolies. The publication and dissemination of media contents are no longer tied to heavy investments. Journalism's self-conception is---fortunately---being cured of its gatekeeping function. All that remains is the journalistic quality through which journalism distinguishes itself from mere publication. 3. The Internet is our society is the Internet. Web-based platforms like social networks, Wikipedia or YouTube have become a part of everyday life for the majority of people in the western world. They are as accessible as the telephone or television. If media companies want to continue to exist, they must understand the lifeworld of today's users and embrace their forms of communication. This includes basic forms of social communication: listening and responding, also known as dialog. 4. The freedom of the Internet is inviolable. The Internet's open architecture constitutes the basic IT law of a society which communicates digitally and, consequently, of journalism. It may not be modified for the sake of protecting the special commercial or political interests often hidden behind the pretense of public interest. Regardless of how it is done, blocking access to the Internet endangers the free flow of information and corrupts our fundamental right to a self-determined level of information. 5. The Internet is the victory of information. Due to inadequate technology, media companies, research centers, public institutions and other organizations compiled and classified the world's information up to now. Today every citizen can set up her own personal news filter while search engines tap into wealths of information of a magnitude never before known. Individuals can now inform themselves better than ever. 6. The Internet changes improves journalism. Through the Internet, journalism can fulfill its social-educational role in a new way. This includes presenting information as an ever-changing, continual process; the forfeiture of print media's inalterability is a benefit. Those who want to survive in this new world of information need a new idealism, new journalistic ideas and a sense of pleasure in exploiting this new potential. 7. The net requires networking. Links are connections. We know each other through links. Those who do not use them exclude themselves from social discourse. This also holds for the websites of traditional media companies. 8. Links reward, citations adorn. Search engines and aggregators facilitate quality journalism: they boost the findability of outstanding content over a long-term basis and are thus an integral part of the new, networked public sphere. References through links and citations---especially including those made without any consent or even remuneration of the originator---make the very culture of networked social discourse possible in the first place. They are by all means worthy of protection. 9. The Internet is the new venue for political discourse. Democracy thrives on participation and freedom of information. Transferring the political discussion from traditional media to the Internet and expanding on this discussion by involving the active participation of the public is one of journalism's new tasks. 10. Today's freedom of the press means freedom of opinion. Article 5 of the German Constitution does not comprise protective rights for professions or technically traditional business models. The Internet overrides the technological boundaries between the amateur and professional. This is why the privilege of freedom of the press must hold for anyone who can contribute to the fulfillment of journalistic duties. Qualitatively speaking, no differentiation should be made between paid and unpaid journalism, but rather, between good and poor journalism. 11. More is more -- there is no such thing as too much information. Once upon a time, institutions such as the church prioritized power over personal awareness and warned of an unsifted flood of information when the letterpress was invented. On the other hand were the pamphleteers, encyclopaedists and journalists who proved that more information leads to more freedom, both for the individual as well as society as a whole. To this day, nothing has changed in this respect. 12. Tradition is not a business model. Money can be made on the Internet with journalistic content. There are many examples of this today already. Yet because the Internet is fiercely competitive, business models have to be adapted to the structure of the net. No one should try to abscond from this essential adaptation through policy-making geared to preserving the status quo. Journalism needs open competition for the best refinancing solutions on the net, along with the courage to invest in the multifaceted implementation of these solutions. 13. Copyright becomes a civic duty on the Internet. Copyright is a cornerstone of information organization on the Internet. Originators' rights to decide on the type and scope of dissemination of their contents are also valid on the net. At the same time, copyright may not be abused as a lever to safeguard obsolete supply mechanisms and shut out new distribution models or license schemes. Ownership entails obligations. 14. The Internet has many currencies. Journalistic online services financed through adverts offer content in exchange for a pull effect. A reader's, viewer's or listener's time is valuable. In the industry of journalism, this correlation has always been one of the fundamental tenets of financing. Other forms of refinancing which are journalistically justifiable need to be forged and tested. 15. What's on the net stays on the net. The Internet is lifting journalism to a new qualitative level. Online, text, sound and images no longer have to be transient. They remain retrievable, thus building an archive of contemporary history. Journalism must take the development of information, its interpretation and errors into account, i.e., it must admit its mistakes and correct them in a transparent manner. 16. Quality remains the most important quality. The Internet debunks homogenous bulk goods. Only those who are outstanding, credible and exceptional will gain a steady following in the long run. Users' demands have increased. Journalism must fulfill them and abide by its own frequently formulated principles. 17. All for all. The web constitutes an infrastructure for social exchange superior to that of 20th century mass media: When in doubt, the "generation Wikipedia" is capable of appraising the credibility of a source, tracking news back to its original source, researching it, checking it and assessing it---alone or as part of a group effort. Journalists who snub this and are unwilling to respect these skills are not taken seriously by these Internet users. Rightly so. The Internet makes it possible to communicate directly with those once known as recipients---readers, listeners and viewers---and to take advantage of their knowledge. Not the journalists who know it all are in demand, but those who communicate and investigate. /Internet, 07.09.2009/ * Markus Beckedahl <http://www.netzpolitik.org/> * Mercedes Bunz <http://www.mercedes-bunz.de/> * Julius Endert <http://www.blinkenlichten.com/> * Johnny Haeusler <http://www.spreeblick.com> * Thomas Knüwer <http://blog.handelsblatt.com/indiskretion/> * Sascha Lobo <http://www.saschalobo.com/> * Robin Meyer-Lucht <http://www.carta.info> * Wolfgang Michal <http://www.autoren-reporter.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23…> * Stefan Niggemeier <http://www.stefan-niggemeier.de> * Kathrin Passig <http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathrin_Passig> * Janko Röttgers <http://www.lowpass.cc/> * Peter Schink <http://www.peter-schink.de/> * Mario Sixtus <http://www.elektrischer-reporter.de/> * Peter Stawowy <http://www.xing.com/profile/Peter_Stawowy> * Fiete Stegers <http://www.netzjournalismus.de/> /Translated from the German by Jenna L. Brinning <http://brinning.net/>/ *Leave a comment on the internet manifesto! <http://www.internet-manifesto.org/manifest/feedback-english/162/> 90 comments have been made so far.* 2009 CC-BY <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/de/>

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Fwd: Public consultation on the future of Europeana
by Eleonora Panto Sept. 17, 2009

Sept. 17, 2009

Penso possa essere di vostro interesse- ============== Public consultation on the future of Europeana In the context of its Digital Libraries Initiative, the European Commission has now launched a public consultation on the next steps for Europeana, Europe's digital library, archive and museum. It is based on the Communication "Europeana - Next Steps", adopted on 28 August. The questions of the consultation deal amongst others with the way in which the private sector can be involved in the further development of Europeana through public private partnerships, and how in-copyright content can be made searchable through Europeana. We would invite you to participate in this consultation and to express your opinion about the future of the European digital library. You can find the relevant texts on the homepage of the digital libraries initiative, scrolling down to 'last news and further information': <http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/digital_libraries/index_…> ----- Fine messaggio inoltrato ----- Eleonora Panto' CSP - ICT Innovation +390114815139 - +393486086090 ______________________________________________

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40esimo compleanno di Internet festeggiato a UCLA
by J.C. DE MARTIN Sept. 17, 2009

Sept. 17, 2009

http://www.engineer.ucla.edu/IA40/index.html ciao, juan carlos

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We Must Protect Net Neutrality in Europe! - Open letter to the European Parliament
by Philippe Aigrain Sept. 17, 2009

Sept. 17, 2009

http://www.laquadrature.net/en/we-must-protect-net-neutrality-in-europe-ope… letter-to-the-european-parliament Signed by 17 Organizations in 9 European Member States, including AltroConsumo, UnaRete and the Free Hardware Foundation in Italy. More needed! -- Philippe Aigrain

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n. 2 assegni di ricerca sul tema: "Internet, anonimato, privacy e innovazione"
by J.C. DE MARTIN Sept. 15, 2009

Sept. 15, 2009

Il Centro NEXA su Internet & Società del Politecnico di Torino (DAUIN) (http://nexa.polito.it) nell'ambito delle proprie attività di ricerca istituzionale, cerca ricercatori/ricercatrici motivati e brillanti interessati alla selezione per n. 2 assegni di ricerca (AR243/2009) di durata annuale sul tema: "Identificabilità delle persone sulla rete Internet: analisi tecnica, giuridica ed economica delle conseguenze sulla privacy, sulle libertà fondamentali, sull'innovazione e sui modelli di business". Sede di lavoro: Centro NEXA su Internet & Societa', Torino. Scadenza per la presentazione delle domande: 30 settembre 2009 I requisiti nonche' le modalità esatte di presentazione delle domande sono descritti nel bando: http://www.swas.polito.it/services/concorsi/assric.asp?id_documento_padre=5… Si prevede che la ricerca abbia inizio il 1 novembre 2009. English summary available here: http://nexa.polito.it/job-openings/anonymity-privacy-access Restando a disposizione per eventuali chiarimenti o integrazioni, porgo i piu' cordiali saluti, juan carlos de martin prof. juan carlos de martin co-director / nexa center for internet & society politecnico di torino http://nexa.polito.it tel: +39 011 564 7215/5956/5954 fax: +39 011 564 7216 (si prega di scusare l'eventuale ricezione di copie multiple di questo messaggio)

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NY Times: "‘Athens’ on the Net"
by J.C. DE MARTIN Sept. 13, 2009

Sept. 13, 2009

‘Athens’ on the Net By ANAND GIRIDHARADAS Published: September 12, 2009 PERHAPS the biggest big idea to gather speed during the last millennium was that we humans might govern ourselves. But no one really meant it. What was really meant in most places was that we would elect people to govern us and sporadically renew or revoke their contracts. It was enough. There was no practicable way to involve all of us, all the time. The headlines from Washington today blare of bailouts, stimulus, clunkers, Afpak, health care. But it is possible that future historians, looking back, will fixate on a quieter project of Barack Obama’s White House: its exploration of how government might be opened to greater public participation in the digital age, of how to make self-government more than a metaphor. [...] Continua: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/weekinreview/13giridharadas.html

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"A Call to Defense and Celebration of the Online Commonwealth"
by J.C. DE MARTIN Sept. 12, 2009

Sept. 12, 2009

http://petition.cdt.org/ The Center for Democracy & Technology invites you to join us in celebrating One Web Day by reading and signing the document: A Call to Defense and Celebration of the Online Commonwealth. This document, developed in collaboration with our new CDT Fellows, articulates core values that have enabled the Internet to prosper and highlights our shared duty to keep it open, innovative and free. We invite you to read the document and attach your name in a show of support. We encourage everyone who shares the views outlined here to share this site with your friends. On September 22 — One Web Day — we will report how many supporting signatures have been collected. --------------------- A Call to Defense and Celebration of the Online Commonwealth Common Values and Shared Duties on the Internet http://petition.cdt.org/?page_id=5 Over the past two decades, the Internet has transformed economic, political and cultural landscapes across the entire globe. Out of the simple exchange of data packets, we have collectively built a vast and complex information ecosystem, linked together into many thousands of overlapping social networks, which have enriched and ennobled our lives. Though we speak different languages and have different values, together we have built a place – myriad places — where we can all meet and communicate with one another. We do not often enough stand back and marvel at the new global online society that we are building, nor do we frequently enough reflect upon our place, as individuals, in this new social order. It is time to do so. The Internet has become so pervasive in all of our lives that we have begun to take it for granted, like the air we breathe or the water we drink. But we cannot afford to do that anymore. The Online Commonwealth – open, innovative, and free – is under attack from many quarters: Destructive and often virulent code threatens our shared infrastructure, while some cyber-security measures proposed in response may invade our privacy and accord unprecedented control to regulators; online predators and adult content raise concerns for parents seeking to protect their children, but restrictions proposed in reaction to these problems may chill lawful adult speech; rigid local regulations deter innovation, creating conflicting and confusing jurisdictional claims regarding applicable rules while failing to promote online order; increasingly sophisticated tools for filtering and monitoring online activities are implemented by public authorities and private actors; overly restrictive intellectual property laws may dampen our collective creativity; closed, gated systems increasingly place innovation behind locked barriers. There are plenty of anecdotes about harmful online activities, usually accompanied by calls for new restrictions and new legislation. Press reports about online activities are replete with descriptions of the unlawful, the unreasonable, and the unpleasant. Fewer stories catalogue, and less attention is paid to, the manner in which the Net acts as catalyst for economic growth, education, and human rights, how it educates the young, connects the elderly to friends and family, fosters new economic ventures and global trade, knits together the world’s scientific community, and entertains and enlightens us all. It is time for those of us who care about the continued development of the Online Commonwealth to articulate the shared values that have enabled it to flourish, to celebrate its continued vitality, and to come, where necessary, to its defense, while also working to ameliorate harms arising from it. We believe in the free and open flow of ideas and information embodied in the bits we send across the Internet. The Internet is a society of mind. Individuals – not intermediaries, whether governmental or private, acting without their authorization – have the right to decide with whom they wish to communicate. We oppose mechanisms – whether embodied in law, technology, or both – that unreasonably or without authorization interfere with the voluntary allocation of our own attention. We support mechanisms that enable individuals to decide what online groups to join and with whom they want to interact. We believe that the Online Commonwealth grows more valuable every day because it is open to all. No one should need permission to use the global language, to add ideas and information to our shared stores of knowledge, or to try out a new protocol or application, and we oppose mechanisms which place unreasonable constraints or controls on our freedom to continue to do so. We believe in the promise of the Internet: that ideas and information can be shared by all and with all. We worry that overly aggressive assertions of intellectual property rights or other forms of content control can create an “anti-commons,” preventing us from exercising our rights to learn from and to speak freely to one another. We believe that the software code through which we communicate online can radically extend our powers, free us from routine matters, and help us direct our attention to the most useful information and our most valuable relationships. But we recognize that code can also invade our privacy and destroy the very devices and networks through which we interact. Those who propagate destructive or invasive software code are the enemies of the Online Commonwealth, and we should use all appropriate tools at our disposal, including law, to deter and punish them. We share a duty to learn how to defend our own systems from attack, and to take available steps to avoid becoming victims or propagators of harm. We believe that the people of the Internet are, collectively, the killer app. We confront our screens as individuals – but we can act through those screens with others, and it is by engaging our minds with those of others that we create new, diverse, interdependent roles, thereby expanding, continuously, the potential exchanges between related or complimentary roles that create wealth and wisdom. Our new Online Commonwealth is not founded on physical resources, geographic territory, financial capital, or even human labor. It emerges from attention and effort expended in increasingly diverse roles that channel our efforts into pursuit of goals defined by the many different groups with which we collaborate every day. These groups make the world wealthier and wiser every day precisely because they have many different, diverse, and decentralized goals. But all groups should share one core value – respect for and deference to other groups that refrain from imposing harm on others. The Internet enables people with very different values to coexist peacefully, online, precisely insofar as all groups respect this principle, and we oppose any claim by any group – public or private – that seeks to impose its own will on those whose welfare it doesn’t seek to serve and who have not consented to its claim to govern. The Online Commonwealth is continuously under threat – both from those who would stifle its creativity and those who abuse its liberties. Who will defend it? We all must do so. By collaborating to cut off havens for harm. By participating in online reputation and rating systems by means of which we guide each other’s use of the Internet. By resisting regulation that uses the potential for such harm to justify equally harmful constraints. By creating new online institutions that help us take collective action to pursue our shared visions of the good. And by celebrating the many ways in which the Internet has unleased the creative powers of millions of people. We are releasing this call on One Web Day, September 22, to reaffirm our shared commitment to the values that have enabled the Internet to prosper. We are all citizens of countries and states, members of families, employees of companies, participants in churches and clubs. But we are also, importantly, members of the shared, global Online Commonwealth, and we re-affirm our shared commitment to defend and celebrate this marvelous collective creation. [NOTE: In order to add your name to the list, an email address must be provided. An automated email will be sent to you for verification purposes only. Email addresses are not made public, neither will be they be shared with any other third party. However, if you wish to sign the document without revealing your email address, simply use anon(a)blank.com and your name will go into a queue until approved by a moderator.]

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Stage presso Nexa, mi presento
by diego acampora Sept. 10, 2009

Sept. 10, 2009

Buongiorno a tutti, mi presento: sono Diego Acampora, nuovo stagista presso il centro Nexa di Torino. Sono qui per uno stage della durata di circca due mesi proveniente dal Master in FreeSoftwareUpgrade tenutosi a Bolzano quest'anno. In questi mesi ho notato la scarsezza di informazioni riguardo al fenomeno delle migrazioni a software libero, quei processi che vedono un certo numero di macchine "migrare" appunto a strutture basate sul software libero, abbandonando software e formati proprietari precedentemente utilizzati. Queste migrazioni possono essere totali o parziali, in quanto ci si può trovare nella situazione in cui un particolare software non sia migrabile per vari motivi. Ad oggi, probabilmente, molti enti (pubblici e privati) compiono difficilmente migrazioni perchè non esistono dati aggregati e riconoscibili su come si conducono questi processi. Durante questo periodo mi occuperò di creare una piattaforma web che raccolga in modo schematico dati inerenti a migrazioni a software libero che sono già state ultimate. L'idea è di offrire uno strumento di consultazione e documentazione sulle problematiche e le soluzioni adottabili per ogni ente pubblico o impresa che desideri migrare un certo numero di macchine. I dati immessi saranno di tipo tecnico ( tipo di macchine su cui è stata compiuta la migrazione, vincoli hw/sw, soluzioni adottate per raggiungere le stesse prestazioni del software proprietario, eventuali problemi irrisolti), inoltre ci saranno delle informazioni sul tipo di formati utilizzati e sul livello di compatibilità raggiunto con quelli proprietari. Non per ultima, un'indagine di tipo economico sul tipo di business model che sta dietro ad ogni migrazioni in termini di costi/benefici e quindi di risparmio (naturalmente diversi a seconda che l'ente sia di pubblica utilità o impresa privata). In questa prima parte di stage, mi occuperò di iniziare il popolamento del database dopo aver intervistato responsabili informatici che hanno seguito queste migrazioni, sia nella città di Torino che fuori. Successivamente, partirà la fase di "sponsorizzazione" di questo sito, in cui proveremo a renderlo uno strumento utile di consultazione ed immissione dati, nonchè una scintilla che inneschi un confronto e una mutua "assistenza" tra chi ha già compiuto migrazioni e chi è interessato al processo. Il progetto di stage incontra in molti punti gli obbiettivi e le direttrici di ricerca che Nexa percorre in questo momento : non per ultima la diffusione della dichiarazione di Wheeler e il progetto di "Università aperta" che ne consegue. Attraverso le domande che porrò ai responsabili informatici sarà possibile (o almeno speriamo) delineare il livello di policy adottate nei confronti di formati, software, contenuti di pubblico dominio, prodotti della ricerca etc, in modo da avere anche un quadro della situazione esistente e del generale livello di attenzione e diffusione del software libero in diversi settori. I principali target saranno gli enti pubblici universitari e scolastici, e la PA piemontese. Ovviamente, dato l'iniziale lavoro di popolamento del database, quante più migrazioni riusciamo a "raccontare", tanto più la piattaforma sarà un mezzo efficace per il mondo esterno. Chiunque di voi che contatti con responsabili informatici (o semplicemente amministratori di sistema e addetti ai lavori) di enti pubblici ( tipo università-scuole) o di ricerca o uffici della PA che abbiano compiuto migrazioni parziali o totali e voglia passarmeli, questi saranno ben accetti. Chiunque voglia mettermi in contatto diretto con alcune di queste figure professionali, o abbia semplicemente delle idee e dei consigli rispetto a questo progetto di stage, può scrivermi a questo indirizzo o cercarmi presso il centro Nexa di Corso Trento a Torino, dove per circa due mesi sarò presente tutti i giorni. Un saluto a tutti, Diego Acampora

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