In a national and regional context, development of teleservices and programs to facilitate and maximise access to information through computer networks is, by now, a priority.
After the positive spread of Youth Information centres over the past decade, this action within the territory must now be consolidated and completed by offering an additional service to expand information access capacity and open up new roads of communication with our younger citizens.
A strategy to promote communications today must pay special attention to the use of networks (computer, satellite, etc.) to permit access to the information generated, at least potentially, at each work, study and recreation venue.
These networks do not replace but rather complement information and consulting services which must increasingly be located in representative listening, communication and consultation sites. Information thus must be viewed as a wide-spread consumer good, easily and exhaustively available. Service to the individual must be treated as opportunities for creating personalised information routes.
Today, the Emilia Romagna Region has a vast network of information targeted on young people (practically every township with more that 15,000 inhabitants has an InformaGiovani Centre) and it is more a matter of co-ordinating, training and promoting existing services than starting new ones.

Creating a public information access system through computer networks and, in particular, Internet, will enable us:

· to rationalise the production of data banks within the Region while guaranteeing access to them by services, organisations and individuals.
· to expand the number of public places where it is possible to access the network and, therefore, information with special attention paid to the needs of the smaller townships, libraries, schools, sports centres, etc.
· to develop regional policies targeted on encouraging the spread of information systems while lowering user costs.

What is StradaNove?

The basic idea underlying the site is to make StradaNove the busiest virtual city square on the Web where young people in Emilia Romagna, or, more in general, all young network "surfers", can meet to access information, exchange messages and opinions and finally have a place where they can present their digital and telematic projects to the general public. It is thus a site that begins in a context of service and encourages an approach between institutions, in this case the Emilia Romaga Region, and young people. Considerable space, though, will be dedicated to entertainment and enjoyment with numerous opportunities to take full advantage of the interactive potential of the network. For the very first time, a public authority will undertake a project that also envisages an on-line news section targeted on a younger public with "SS9 News", the site's newspaper. With StradaNove, the Emilia Romagna Region will undertake even wider diffusion of the computer mentality with the end purpose of expanding in the near future, in agreement with other organisations within the territory, points where the general public can access Internet. In this way, new technology will be increasingly and more thoroughly distributed throughout the area.

The StradaNove web site is made up of two main sections:

a) The information section has been set up by area of interest and the following will be supplied for each:
· information and instruction fact-sheets
· navigation proposals
· information on mailings lists and discussion groups.

The interest areas are: work, study, important decision areas (volunteer services, ecology, sex education, politics, etc.), rights and responsibilities (equal opportunity, military service, conscientious objection and European standards), travel, leisure activities (discotheques, cinema, music, entertainment, comics and video games), culture (publishing, arts, literature, theatre, culture) and sport.

The fact-sheets set out to provide help to solve large and small bureaucratic problems and face even difficult decisions with equanimity. They have been prepared from the InformaGiovani data bank updated at a national and local level. They give news about jobs, different kinds of schools and laws affecting education in general and the school in particular. They also provide information on volunteer services, children's rights, articles of youth interest in general, anything involving youth tourism and much more.

The proposals for network navigating are the end result of careful and constant network monitoring. The sites selected are those regarded as interesting, trustworthy but also enjoyable, new and suited to the target audience. The information is kept up-to-date and the sites explained with short descriptions.

Discussion groups and mailing lists on the different subjects covered have been prepared for the particularly interested and "interactive" surfers. More importantly, the interactive area can be visited not merely as spectators but as active agents.

b) The mainly section is the weekly telematic magazine: this is the news section of the web site. Is addressed to a young audience, which tells the young surfers how their daily world looks like through news, surveys, reportages, and which presents some of the most relevant and innovative experiences in the fields that most attract the young (music, leisure time, cinema, new trends, etc.), since the media usually pay little attention to such issues.
The articles that appear on StradaNove are elaborated and transferred to the central editorial office via computer (teleworking) by young journalists writing in different Italian towns. The magazine is published each thursday.
At present, around 30 people work for the realisation of StradaNove: 3 of them are stable in Modena, while the others are teleworkers. Most of these young operators have a literary studies background or belong to some education sectors which often give big difficulties in the search for a job once studies are over.
These operators receive a small financial contribution in relation to the articles that appear on the web; these contributions come from a fund of the Emilia Romagna Region for a specific project for the young, "Progetto Giovani".

The InformaGiovani Centres throughout the Region have their own special, independently organised space in StradaNove where they can inform their users about all their services and initiatives.

An "Interactive" area envisages a number of suggestions and mechanisms for contacting and exchanging ideas with other young people or with the site editorial staff.
In the beginning of 1999 Stradanove start with two new interactive area: an area where young peoples can send questions on Sex, and an area where young peoples can send questions on Job.
The first questions are answered by the Spazio Giovani of the Region: the questions are sent by email to the most appropiate doctors or psychologists.. Then the answers are published on Stradanove. The identy of the young peoples are classified.
The questions on Job are answered by the three principals italian trade-unions: CGIL, CISL and UIL. The issues on the job are many complex in Italy, and the trade-unions can give an aid to young peoples in these issues.

StradaNove graphics is simple, enjoyable and attractive. The language is contemporary, direct and informal.
The home page comic girl and her group of friends accompany the visitor around the entire site. They are the perfect travel companions and guides to the Internet world and present themselves as young people who are at once open, knowledgeable, curious and carefree.

All this is based on the assumption that Internet is a world without frontiers but with a perplexing street layout where the best route is not easily found and it is easy to get lost. StradaNove, thus, sets out to be the special "virtual correspondent" for all the young people in our Region but, equally, a preferential traffic lane for a young public and an invaluable travel guide.

A hypothesis for other European Regions

The StradaNove experience can be shared by other European Regions that support the basic principles of the project.
Local editorial offices with a large presence of young people can be set up when the same developmental environment is applied.
In this way, information exchange, meetings between young people from different countries can be encouraged and multiplied. Internet's communication potential is exploited to the full and distance-co-operation on projects can be easily achieved.

Some technical information

The StradaNove site has been designed using the most avant-garde technology made available with the growth and development of the World Wide Web. Special attention has been given to use potential and interaction thanks to frames and dynamic html. Its design kept future, though just around the corner, growth potential in mind-e.g., push technology and the increasing presence of multimedia elements. The Site can be accessed with any standard computer configuration and navigation programs. However, its innovative features are best seen with the latest software releases and a computer with adequate capacity.

StradaNove's Internet address is:

http://www.stradanove.net