by Giuseppe Caravita

ABSTRACT: An article-interview with Roberto Cicciomessere, in his capacity as "one of the founders" of the computer system "Agorà", which he describes the characteristics of. We are in the headquarters of Agorà and it looks more like a software house than the seat of a "political movement". After giving an account of Agorà's creation and of its progressive development, with features that make it "a unique case...of development from scratch", the interviewer collects Cicciomessere's intentions, who warns against the risk of thinking that this structure can further develop on the current system of free membership, and points out ways to make it continue operating, giving it a "correct and interesting market activity" as a means at the service of "professional users", which it can offer "entire international information systems at extremely competitive prices".

(IL SOLE 24 ORE, November 26, 1993)

It can still boast to be the most easily accessible and cheapest computer system in Italy. Some 4,300 users seem to confirm that. Every day they connect, free of charge, through telephone and modem, take part in debates, access international data bases, send mail on the Internet, which is open to millions more users.

Agorà is really an atypical and rather interesting example of development from scratch. "We started off in 1988 as an offspring of the transnational radical party" - explains Roberto Cicciomessere, one of its founders - "and we were faced with the problem of creating a borderless communications system at the lowest possible cost and capable of managing various languages. We chose computer communications. A few months later we created Agorà, a system that 'speaks' Italian, English, French, Spanish, German, Esperanto and Russian".

Since those first E-mail messages and conferences, which focused largely on radical political initiatives, Agorà has progressively evolved into a general communication node. It is currently used for the circulation of information and public data banks by organizations such as the United Nations, Usis, Cespi, Amnesty International, the Chamber of Deputies (parliamentary archive) and other national and international organizations. "We filled a gap in the desert of Italian public electronic communications", says Cicciomessere. "Now we are the Italian terminal for many services that were hitherto inaccessible".

But Agorà's key feature is open architecture. The system can be accessed both through normal telephone lines (some twenty accesses with modem speeds between 300 and 9600 bits/second), through Itapac (including an Easy Way Itapac toll-free line) and through Internet or Tymnet. The initial subscription is free and offers any person with a personal computer and a modem the opportunity to access various types of services: electronic mail (local and international - via Internet - electronic mail boxes); conferences; news; retrieval of documents on Agorà's central archive; chat line between two or more people; gateways to access local or remote data banks; ads, a sort of electronic "bulletin board"; questiontime (i.e. talking to personalities,; in this period, for instance, with the candidates running for mayor, Rutelli and Fini). All this is free of charge if it involves Agorà alone. If, instead, the user requires Internet services (which Agorà is connected to via Iunet based in Genua) or other external networks,

the system is pay per use. The user sends a sum of money which is deposited on a personal account and the charges are automatically deducted according to the paying services used.

This is roughly the type of system the Roman node is based on. "Today, after more than four years' experience" - says Cicciomessere - "we want to explore the world of professional users. There are already customerized spaces for specific companies which are invisible to the normal sectors. Agorà's software has been "cloned" at least twice for external clients, including a major editorial group that uses it to manage its press material. But we can do more: build entire international information systems at extremely competitive rates, providing solutions that would normally cost billions".

Cicciomessere, a member of Parliament who is actively engages in political activities, has learnt the managerial language. The office Agorà operates from, on a floor of the roman headquarters of the Radical Party, is self-explanatory. Nothing can be more distant from the typical chaos of an office of a political movement. Metal racks on which monitors and servers rest replace desks filled with newspapers; the floor is soundproof; there is an internal network and a dozen computer experts work at the workstation. On entering the premises you feel more like you0re entering a software house and the first reaction is wondering whether you haven't opened the wrong door. "Today", we are building a new office with even more advanced equipment, in which we will also have accesses to the ISDN network".

The point on which Cicciomessere insists most is the high cost/quality ratio of the professional solutions that Agorà can provide, especially for small and medium size companies. "For instance, via Tyment it is possible to create "closed group" information systems, with maximum security, to allow company branches located miles apart to talk at costs that are definitely lower than traditional communications. Today, for instance, we are developing an interface for Agorà services based on Windows, which anyone can use because they are user-friendly, but which limits the use of lines to the sole transmission of essential data. Solutions of this kind can be devised for companies too".

Cicciomessere makes no mystery of the fact that the decision to open to the professional market stemmed out of the fact that "electronic democracy, in Italy, is still in an infant stage. Our 4,300 users are unquestionably a success in terms of a new communications civilization. But we cannot deceive ourselves in thinking that we can base a solid company on free subscriptions. We also need to develop an efficient and interesting market activity. And with the experience we have gained we can now do that".