This paper provides a strategic overview of the development and implementation of a very low cost ICT-based communications network. We address issues relevant to the development of an online community in terms of strategy, services and infrastructure.

eNACA is a practical and low-cost strategy to develop a knowledge-sharing network for sustainable aquaculture. Our objective is to develop an online community where participants can discuss issues and share information directly. It is based on internet communications and multimedia publishing technologies. At time of writing eNACA is distributing 12,000 free publications per month via download.

The key components of eNACA are:

• Community driven – participants can contribute to the content of the website, and interact with one another through online forums;
• Use of a multi-media approach to repackage knowledge for distribution in a wide variety of formats to suit people’s differing circumstances and
• capabilities - all publications are made available for download, on CD-ROM and in print;
• A web-based digital library to store, organize and share full-text publications and to provide a ‘virtual publishing’ service for participants;
• A free email newsletter alert service to actively inform people of new information released for download and to share information gathered from the network;
• A ‘free-access to information’ policy to avoid financial barriers to participation.

We also suggest a suite of open source software tools that can be used and provide suggestions on technical issues critical to effective service delivery including:

• User-friendly websites and electronic publications;
• Choice of distribution platform;
• Performance monitoring through log file analysis.

Future development of eNACA will focus on growing the user community and assisting NACA centers and other information providers to develop their own digital publishing capability and networking capacity.