HR-Net

Every day, huge amounts of information vital to Greek interests pass through the Internet. Such information includes articles in the international press about Greece and its neighbors, important documents and resolutions of international organizations, as well as propaganda transmitted by states neighboring Greece and Cyprus.

The Internet is also a tremendously rich source of up-to-date scientific information in all imaginable disciplines. Most important, however, is that the Internet is a medium of communication via which messages, books, articles, images, sound and even animation can be rapidly and reliably transmitted. Until now, Hellenic public policy institutions had no way to access and respond to this information, while access by Greeks around the world has been sporadic, at best.

Recognizing the vast capabilities of the Internet, the Hellenic Resources Institute, Inc. launched the Hellenic Resources Network, HR-Net, an electronic network based on the Internet with the following objectives:

1. To make the wealth of information available on the Internet easily available to important Greek public policy making institutions. The vast amount of information available, representing a multitude of different perspectives on Greek affairs, allows HR-Net to become an important tool for improved public policy making.
2. To provide Greek public policy institutions with improved access to the distinguished community of Greek academics, researchers and professionals living abroad, as well as the ability to communicate its positions and initiatives to a growing and dynamic part of the Greek Diaspora.
3. To enhance communication and cooperation between Greeks around the world by facilitating a more effective use of the Internet. This is accomplished by offering:
   • electronic communication services (such as electronic mailing lists),
   • electronic information services (including a novel personal electronic newspaper),
   • access to a vast and easily searchable archive of electronic news and information which pertains to Hellenic affairs and is updated daily,
   • easy navigation to valuable Internet repositories of Greek and Greek foreign policy-related information through an extensive list of references, and
   • World Wide Web (WWW) access, development and expert technical support to Greek individuals and organizations.

Currently in its second phase of development, HR-Net has become a leading source of information on and about Greece, and established its presence as an information exchange center for Greek and Greek-American organizations and news agencies. Specifically:

• News and information from over 30 news sources, many of which were previously unavailable in electronic form are now continuously archived and redistributed via HR-Net. Special attention is given to providing a complete and user-friendly interface to all freely available Greek and Cypriot news.
• HR-Net provides a large set of services of interest to Greeks and Greek-Americans, including bulletin boards for announcing employment opportunities, cultural events, talks and presentations and upcoming conferences.
• Important documents, treaties and reports on Greece and Cyprus have been gathered on HR-Net, and represent an important summary of their position and role in the international arena.
• The HR-Net Group has assisted a large number Greek and Greek-American organizations in gaining access to the Internet, by creating pages on the World Wide Web, supporting custom mailing lists, and providing expert technical support as needed.
• In its effort to spread the use of Greek characters, our fonts team has provided software and technical support to thousands of users across most popular computer platforms.

Currently numbering over 20 people, the HR-Net Group includes members located in 3 countries (the US, Canada and Greece) and in over 10 cities. All members of the group have between one and three university degrees with the majority being in doctoral or post-doctoral programs, and represent a variety of technical, scientific and business-oriented fields. All members of the group offer their knowledge, experience and efforts on a purely voluntary basis.

In the future, the HR-Net Group plans to extend its services by continuously adding news sources as they become available, and continue to support Hellenic organizations in their electronic communication needs. New mirrors and WWW pages are currently under preparation. Furthermore, a sub-group is focusing on extending the project to further encompass organizations from Cyprus and Cypriot news and information.

The Hellenic Resources Institute, Inc. is fully committed to this innovative project whose contribution will be to increase the strength of the voice of Greece around the globe and to enable our public policy making institutions to function and compete at the forefront of tomorrow's age of information-based diplomacy.