THE PROJECT

GENERAL CONSIDERATION.

Even if the net was born about 30 years ago, it exploded and was consacrated as new medium with planetary diffusion just 3 years ago thanks to the birth of the WEB, the system of communication, hypertextual and hypermedial exchange which has transformed INTERNET from a basically academic tool of communication (in any case numerically limited) to the mass-phenomenon under everyone's very eyes. Actually beyond easy mass-medial enthusiasms, INTERNET is and is going to be always more in the future an extraordinary and innovative instrument of integrated communication devoted to become a widespread habit as technologic support to ones work.

The field of Medicine and in general the scientific international community can find, in the advanced use of new net-technologies, new sap for the development of knowledge and of rapid information trasmission according to a logic beyond the national dimension, without leaving out the advantages from net use in terms of quality of work and of ones permanent formation.
The increase of users of the net is exponential and the psychiatric field does not escape this process but because of the new tool, the poor familiarity with it, to many people the net remains an instrument of passive use and not an active one in ones professional way. The growing interest in the need of exploring always moving frontiers in medical field is demonstrated by the fact that there is no convention without a space in the net and by its use in that field of knowledge.

We think now is the time to dedicate the Net and its use a specific moment of discussion and appraisal, raising INTERNET and its application as issue of a proper congress, the first of this kind organized in the world in the psychiatric field and in the medical one, as well. From these consideration raises our project to bring in Genova next February the most important international scholars and the most active net-users in psychiatric field in order to start a comparison between different experiences and to arouse a widespread international debate about use of the Net as instrument of daily activity for the operators in this field.

SPECIFIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PROJECT

During the 2 days of the congress we would offer to the participating people a complete and up to date view of net-reality with regard to psychiatry, according to the temporary programme. At the same time we would, thanks to the possibilities offered by technology and logistic, allow an access to the congress activities via net (this will be the first time in the international psychiatric field).
The technic and financial sponsors of "Netscape Cmmunication" will let us use the most advanced and new technics of communication.
The preparing of the convention will take place besides traditional channels also through the net: the Department will open proper pages on INTERNET dedicated to the congress in its own net server, in these pages it will possible to find information about congress "genua98@psichiatria.unige.it"where who will be interested could exchange opinion about issues that will be developed during the two days of work.

These pages will be mirrorrized or integrally reproduced in their Italian and English version (the two official languages of the congress) in other friend sites all over the world increasing enormously the chance of widespreading information about the event. The maximum expected and possible number of participants is of 350 people (maximum capacity of the great hall in Genova), we do not expect a tax for the application form because the net with its intrinsec gratuitosness does not adapt itself to the request of a fee.

In this sense, we propose to the psychiatric audience and to the sponsors a different kind of Congress, which, just becouse of its beeing free of charge, will not offer gadgets but only and most of all CONTENTS and skilled speakers: this is a border choise, the key of success of our efforts!