Pilot Project

In 1997, a small computer network in Sergiev Posad, Russia was installed by Friends & Partners. The network connected a server to 20 computers located in the town library, the regional governor's office and a secondary school and several public access points. A year later The Initiative Foundation 10 additional computers were donated and an active community network uniting the town and its people was born.
Today the network is expanding to include a small-business computer training center, a free internet access center for local residents, and connections to all the town's schools and youth centers as well as the library of the Sergiev Posad monastery.

The creation of a vision

Sensing the potential for computer networks to ignite community development, the founders of the Sergiev Posad network formed the Initiative Foundation to bring similar programs to other parts of the world.

Initially, the Foundation focused on the internet networks themselves, but we have quickly grown to see the network as a means for social development rather than an end in itself. Today, networks installed by the Initiative Foundation are a platform for development programs focusing on small business development and education.

Growth of the idea

We made a decision in 1999 that if we were going to build a platform to work in Sergiev Posad, we should take advantage of the scalability of technology’s flexibility to replicate this model in other communities. To do this, we knew it would require robust underlying system and a standard model for the first phase of implementation. Today we have that robust platform in the form of online accounting systems, operational update databases, translation facilities as well as a growing number of partners.