The "Agorà" telematic centre first became operative in 1989, in the form of a multilingual electronic documentation bank accessible to computers via telephone (normal line or "packet swtich stream").

"Agorà" also provides services for others, inasmuch as it is part of Torre Argentina S.p.A. which owns, amongst other things, the majority of the equipment and software, and also the premises from which "Agorà" operates.

"Agorà" is also involved in publishing, an activity which it carries out via a series of telematic conferences open to the public.

The following activities have been carried out by "Agorà" for the Radical Party:

- the creation of the "Radical Party Archive" and putting same at the public's disposal. This archive contains a selection of approximately 4,000 of the most significant Radical Party documents (most of which have been translated into various languages), which today consititute an important historical record;

- the creation of the "Radical News Archive" and putting same at the public's disposal. This archive contains more than 4,500 news reports concerning the Radical Party's activity from 1988 onwards;

- realization and operation of the Party's internal communications system which has proved, above all, to be essential in creating a communications network with Radical Party offices in other countries, and also to further the transnational organization of the Party and the implementation of its political project;

- 2,000 pages of translated texts on average per year, for the Party's different needs.

In the space of four years (1989-1992) the costs sustained, and which still have to be sustained, by the Party and Torre Argentina S.p.A. on behalf of Agorà, amount to 1,430 million Italian lira (1,150,000 US dollars), compared to profits deriving from the sale of services to outside bodies amounting to 470 million Italian lira (380,000 US dollars) and equipment and software assets totalling 410 million Italian lira (330,000 US dollars).

The resulting loss of 550 million Italian lira (440,000 US dollars) corresponds to that which has been spent over a period of four years for the creation of the above-mentioned services to the Party.

Note: the accounts and balance sheets of the Radical Party are calculated in Italian Lira. The equivalent amount in US Dollars is given without wishing tocreate any precedent. The rate of exchange adopted is the average rate for 1991 (1,000 It. Lira = 0.806 US Dollars).