This month, it is twenty years ago that a wide audience in The Netherlands could first experience the internet through the 'Digital City' initiative in Amsterdam. Nowadays, nine out of ten people are online but still the ideal Internet has not been reached, according to initiator Marleen Stikker (founder and director of Waag) in an article in the Dutch newspaper Trouw.
The article by Kristel van Teeffelen further explores the beginning of the internet in The Netherlands. If you wanted to speak to the head of internet those days, just called the Digital City (DDS). That's how simple it was twenty years ago. On the other end of the line would be Marleen Stikker, who says the ideology behind the Digital City is still very much alive: "Anything in the field of open data is linked to the aims of DDS. But also think of Wikileaks and Julian Assange, Edward Snowden who exposed the information about the practices of the NSA. But also the DIY movement with open design, where designs are shared through the internet is stemming from the need to be in the driver seat yourself and share the information."
The whole (Dutch) article in Trouw is online only available for subscribers. More information about the Digital Ciy can be found in this archive: re-dds.nl.
