a locally-based, locally-driven communication and information system designed to enhance community and enrich lives (from The Community Connector , University of Michigan)

Community Networking (CN) projects bring local people together to discuss their community's issues and opportunities, learn about Internet technology, and decide upon and create services to address these community needs and opportunities. CN is comprised of a wide variety of groups that make up a community (eg., libraries, Universities, K-12 schools, local government, businesses, media, individuals), with special focus on including those who are traditionally left out of community decisionmaking in general, and technology decisionmaking in particular (eg., low-income, minorities, senior citizens). CN projects value collaboration and participation, and are usually noncommercial. (From the Association for Community Networking's "working definition" of community networking.)

Community Network is a term used broadly to indicate use of networking technologies by and for a local community. Free-Nets and Civic Networks indicate roughly the same range of projects and services, whereas community technology centers (CTCs) and telecentres often indicate a facility to compensate lack of access to information and communication technologies (ICTs).