CayugaNet is a Internet gateway or "Web Portal" designed to be an on line directory of government, business, education, community services, and information about Cayuga County New York.

This Web site is sponsored by Cayuga County New York. The Cayuga County Telecommunications Consortium established the site in 1996, under a grant from the USDA Rural Development Mission, as a first step towards the building of a local community network organization.

Building strong community relationships based on trustworthy, current and accessible information is an important step in preparing Cayuga County for the future. Current trends indicate that the best way to achieve such an infrastructure is to promote a strong distributed network of independent information producers and consumers across the county.

As CayugaNet evolves towards a full fledged community network, it should avoid undertaking activities that compete with local entrepreneurs or businesses. Proposed projects focus on working with education and business institutions to provide training and demonstration programs that support the growth of our local economy and encourage the development of new information related industries.

In addition, the organization should work to level the playing field for public agencies, non-profit organizations, and other populations with limited electronic access, by finding ways to subsidize access to the existing infrastructure and services when appropriate and possible.

In keeping with this philosophy, CayugaNet will not provide dialup access to the Internet, server space for personal or commercial Web pages, or duplicate private sector Web design services.

Another important vision of CayugaNet is to build a community oriented organization that will protect the community's right to help shape the role that information technologies will play in the future; one that will help ensure that the local voice is represented in county, state and federal decisions that affect how community members will live and work in years to come. CayugaNet will build community and spark civic participation in the information age.

CayugaNet has established Hosting and Link Policies which can be viewed here.

For more information, contact Steve Johnson, Director of Cayuga County Information Technologies at webmaster04@co.cayuga.ny.us or phone: (315) 253-1038.