This contribution outlines the context and objectives of the establishment in 2006 - at the Polytechnic of Turin, but in close collaboration with the University of Turin - of the Nexa Center for Internet and society. The activities prior to the establishment of the center will be presented, underlining the international experiences that served as a model. The institutional structure of Nexa will be briefly described, as well as the main features of its community. The main activities of the first fifteen years of the life of the center will then be summarized. This contribution will conclude with a critical evaluation of the first phase of the life of the Nexa Center, with a look at the future in a profoundly changed context.