Currently, all of the computer related services available to people interested in Greece are scattered all over the world and difficult to track down, even for people experienced in navigating through the integrated network of computers, the internet. These services are expected only to grow in the future as the number of people with access to the internet grows. Furthermore, some of these services exist in university controlled computing facilities (usually in the personal accounts of people with access to those computers), making the future of these databases and services uncertain. Apart from the justified limitations imposed by the computing facilities of these universities (in terms of space available and resources dedicated) the existence of these resources can be terminated at a computer administrators will.
Hence we propose the creation of a Hellenic Electronic Center that will provide a physical storage place and interface to information and software of hellenic content. We envision a set of dedicated computers that will act as servers and run common utilities required for the transport of information and software of hellenic content to people that are interested in Greece and have access to the internet. This will not only function as an important resource for the hellenes of the diaspora but will inform and help people interested in various aspects of the hellenic culture.
The H.E.C will store and provide information and links to information concerning Greece thus acting as a information server. Any person abroad or in Greece would have access to this and could find out about current status of foreign and domestic issues. The creation of the H.E.C would not only link together all of the resources available around the world, but house information and databases of relevance so that a home is guaranteed and well maintained. These databases are envisioned to be accessed by anyone at any time: a young child doing homework on Greek mythology; a university student doing a research project on current or ancient events in Greece; a businessman trying to find information about investment opportunities in Greece; a couple trying to plan their next vacation in Greece; a scientist looking for career opportunities or collaborations with others in Greece; a young first generation Greek trying to find out details about the military service. The list is truly endless.
Until fairly recently, this information was available only to technical people in research and academia. The profound and radical evolution however of communications and the internet has opened the opportunity to virtually anyone with a computer and a modem to access this information. This is thus the proper time to create such a organization. Many other organizations and companies have joined forces into promoting their cause by purchasing dedicated computers to act as their information servers. The growth of this process has so far been exponential and all indicators show that this will continue. Given the enormous growth rates of the internet, the potential exposure of Greece through this electronic forum cannot be overstated. Such an organization will help the diffusion of the hellenic culture around the world since it would provide access to information and services that would otherwise be cumbersome and difficult for many people to obtain. Just as the advent of the print helped to disseminate the hellenic culture around the world during the renaissance, it is hoped that this new communication medium can create a gateway to the hellenic culture and civilization.
It may be argued that such information depositories are already being formed in Greece and that such an effort is redundant. This is not true however. There will be no duplication of effort involved in this project. Its goal is to organize all the information pertaining to Greece as a collection of links to other places that already have this information and to house projects that originate from Hellenes of the diaspora. The number of the latter projects has been steadily increasing and is one of the prime motivators of creating such an organization. Furthermore, slow links across the Atlantic can severely handicap the capability to rapidly transport this information. This is specially true for hypertext documents rich in images and other multi-media applications (sounds, movie clips), which would be a must for some applications (such as promoting tourism in Greece). It is therefore important that such a service be initially installed somewhere in North America which arguably has one of the largest collections of hellenes of the diaspora and the largest number of people with access to the internet.
The timing in our opinion is perfect for such a project. The exposure Geece and its culture can get is potentially enormous. It is up to us however to find the funds and the manpower to carry out such a project. We all belive that in the end, hellenism will benefit from such a project.