Member of a committee that oversees the operation of the Village of Gagetown, NB Community Access Centre.
A Planner (Urban/Rural/Community) with interests
in rural development, the physical (spatial) implications of
policy(aspatial activities), heritage and tourism planning.
I would like to thank a number of people and organisations that made this article possible. The ability for a person new to the community to play a role in the decision making process was helped by Mary Jo Smith and the other Board Members of the Gagetown Community Access Centre. Connect NB Branche aided by providing the necessary funding needed for participation.
This report is an overview of the Workshops and Seminars that I was able to attend. Some of the information is available elsewhere on the Web. The conference's home page is: http://highlander.cbnet.ns.ca/cbnet/events/confhome.html. For the most part I attended workshops related to either Business or Strategy. The information will be presented in various formats depending on the situation. Some will be little more then secretary's notes of a meeting while others will have comments entered throughout the text. The focus of the Workshop as stated in the program as well as the speakers will be identified at the beginning of each section. Not wanting to unfairly burden any speaker with something I may have misunderstood I will not identify who said what except in some cases where there can be no mistakes made about the intended message being conveyed properly, or for the sake of clarity and context.
Introduction:
Eileen Lannon Oldford, Executive Director, Cape Breton County Economic Development Authority
Keynote Speaker:
Peter O'Brien, Executive Director, Atlantic Canadian Federation of independent Business
Topic Covered:
How to be a successful service provider.
For a business to be successful, or for that matter a Community Access Centre there are certain things that are necessary.Integrity is important. You must act in a responsible manner standing for something. In the case of CACs it is important to define what you want to accomplish and how you are going to accomplish it. In defining what you want to do it is necessary to be blunt and honest. Do not over discuss, just act and make the decisions.
Confidence. Confidence in what you are doing and how you are doing it. Confidence comes from knowledge. This knowledge should include an understanding of where you are, where you want to be and how you plan on getting there.
Teamwork. For a Centre to survive the people who administer must work together. In working together it is important to develop allies and external support mechanisms and use the opportunity to progress towards your goal.
Focus. Decide what you want to do and keep that central in your decision making process. CACs should not be the focus of growth but help create an environment where growth can occur.
Self reliance should develop within the centre if the centre is to survive. The way to accomplish this is to take controls of ones actions. In being self reliant it may be necessary to be flexible and adaptable. In being these things it is important to maintain a focus on the long term goals.
A challenge to all centres was put forth. It was that they be self reliant in one year.
Chair:
Ian Scott, HRDC, Charlottetown, PEI.
Panellists:
Colleen Christmas, Mi'kmaw Kina'masuti(Mi'kmaw Education), First Nations.
Olive Crane, Community Access Coordinator, Charlottetown, PEI.
Marion Pape, Director, Nova Scotia Provincial Library, Halifax, NS.
Maurice Saulnier, Ficiliateur/Coordinateur Provincial, Connect NB Branche, Richibuctou, NB.
Patricia Williams, Industry Officer, Industry Canada, St. John's, NF.
Topics Covered:
The aboriginal experience.
Various regional experiences.
Ian Scott, HRDC, Charlottetown, PEI.
It is time to identify where we are and where we are going.
Are we learning anything. Do things differ from last year?
Colleen Christmas, Mi'kmaw Kina'masuti(Mi'kmaw Education), First Nations.
Provided an outline of the Aboriginal Access experience.
The focus is on education and self sufficiency. To provide education have developed School Net. In doing so have developed a network of PC's with direct high speed links to one another.
The most important part of this program is the confidence it is providing for the residents. This sense of confidence in mastering the use of the computer allows the residents to share information and experiences.
Olive Crane, Community Access Coordinator, Charlottetown, PEI.
The need to develop business plans for CACs.
Creation of the Knowledge Economy Working Group. This group is made up of people from all backgrounds. The purpose is to develop a strategy for the provision of services on PEI.
The Group is working to identify what services the communities would like to have provided.
One of the major stakeholders in this program is the Department of Education. This has created a problem with defining community and access issues. The geographic nature of school districts and possible separation of people from these districts is the main problem. Access is discussed in depth elsewhere.
The long term goal of Community Access on PEI is to allow the residents to stay home.
Marion Pape, Director, Nova Scotia Provincial Library, Halifax, NS.
The use of libraries to access the Internet.
Why is it a success?
The libraries are supplying leadership.
Participants recognize the value of the services being offered and are supporting them.
Economies of scale are occurring. The purchasing powers of many exceeds the purchasing power of a single site.
What is needed?
Coordination at various levels of government.
Regional communication between CACs.
Community networks.
The Nova Scotia Strategy
A dynamic strategy that realizes that there is constant change in issues facing Community Access.
The vision of the program is it is community based and driven and to provide access to information and an ability to communicate with others.
Community Access is also supposed to provide access to communities from the rest of the world. This access could foster economic development.
Maurice Saulnier, Ficiliateur/Coordinateur Provincial, Connect NB Branche, Richibuctou, NB.
This presentation was in French. I was unable to get a set of earphones. Using my poor French here are the main issues. I apologize for any errors.
Provided an overview of the agencies that are funding the program. They include the Ministries of Education, Economic development and Tourism. There are others.
The goal of Connect Nb Branche is to provide a source of communication for the involved communities.
For the program to succeed it will need support from private partners.
The possibilities this program has to offer include: employment and a new way to provide access to education and skills to remote areas of the province.
Patricia Williams, Industry Officer, Industry Canada, St. John's, NF.
How Community Access is occurring in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Through partnerships with the 98 public libraries in the province.
Development of STEMNET a comprehensive link for various educators. Focussing on Science, Technology, Education, Mathematics.
The implementation process involves teamwork between various government agencies. These agencies include: ACOA, STEMNET, libraries, and local HRDC offices.
Through grassroots, community involvement.
Newfoundland's key issues.
Geographic area and dispersion. There a re 800 communities and 143 areas calling in Newfoundland and Labrador. The infrastructure is old and is the limiting factor to connectivity. Current line charges for service are approximately $12-16 per hour. The only solution currently available is to have a satellite uplink. The cost of this is enormous.
Future of Access in NFLD
Youth involvement. As volunteers and as coop students from universities and high schools.
Digitization Projects for both the public and private sectors.
Career information.
Government partnerships.
Entrepreneurship training.
Questions from the Floor
How to develop sustainability?
This was the focus of the conference. The answer provided is what follows. This is question is addressed throughout this paper.
Examine community to see what to offer. In some cases a centre may need to focus more on business applications. In other it may be access to the Internet.
Develop a situation that the centre barters/trades the services it can provide.
Use existing infrastructure. Develop partnerships with schools or other buildings to minimize costs.
What if anything does the panel feel government should do to assist sustainability?
Provide training for employees.
The various levels of government should be model users.
"This facilitated
workshop will frame further discussions in the Strategies Track.
Participants will get a chance to know one another and to bring
up issues of concern and debate."
Facilitator:
Winnie Pietrykowski, Regional Manager, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Community Access Program, Industry Canada, Ottawa, ON.
Speakers:
Garth Graham, Elected Director, Telecommunities Board Canada, Ottawa, ON.
Alan Norman, Facilitator, Connect NB Branche, NB.
Prabier Neogi, Special Advisor, Industry Canada, Ottawa, ON.
Topics Covered:
Defining Access/access to what?
Sustainability
The Federal Government through Industry Canada has developed a policy paper similar to the infamous "Red Book". The exact title was never really stated, but it is affectionately known by Industry Canada employees as the "Burgundy Bible". This report sets out the national access strategy and focuses on the importance of Information Technology. Its purpose is to provide guidance for the 21st. Century. The type of guidance it is to provide was alluded to be the key issues that we where there to discuss.
The various levels of government have decided to try to empower communities by providing technology to level the playing field between small rural communities and larger urban centres. In doing so a number of issues need to be addressed. The issues that where repeated included: defining and provision of essential services, and defining and implementing affordable access. These issues are not static in nature and the definitions should be dynamic and evolve as the needs of the community change.
By providing access at the grassroots level the federal government is fostering participatory democracy. This seems to be an aside of the program. From experience with our CAC the idea that the "free" access to the Internet we are supplying is being used for anything other then entertainment seems silly. This is the theory but in practice is an ideal that needs to be reexamined.
The question of defining access and access to what was addressed in different ways by the various panel members depending on the mandate of the organization they represented. Telecommunities Canada seemed to be more theoretical and idealistic while Connect NB Branche focussed more on the provision of "hard" services.
Examples of what is "out there" and access to what were provided and the list included things such as: information, free batteries, public space, society, low phone rates, governance, electronic governances, libraries, basic services, people, social building code, connectivity, markets for services and goods, work, think space, new social margins and my favourite "a digital chicken in every POT" where POT is and acronym for something. The panellists found it amusing, but the people who are the grassroots of community access missed the pun. If anyone can explain it please E-mail me.
Access is being provided in over 100 communities across Canada and possibly as many as 200. This message is reinforced by the policies and mandates of Connect NB Branche in their attempt to establish 200 access centres in rural NB over the next two years.
With the provision of a service comes questions of sustainability. These questions need to be addressed and were by the panellists. The importance of continuity and consistency at these centres is the shaping force of what services will be offered in the future.
The key to sustainability in the future once the current levels of subsidies are removed will be organization and management of the centre.
Further issues of sustainability were addressed and include the following: power through consensus, infrastructure, inclusionary policy, wide base of knowledge, and structure to encompass members of the community.
Sustainability and cost recovery needs to be tempered with the desire to have an inclusionary policy. This issue was the one that seemed to spark the most conversation after this workshop. In attempting to minimize/share costs with the user many centres are in schools or other public buildings. This location factor may make members of the community uncomfortable and therefore decrease the likelihood of them using the services. The upshot of this during the workshop was to recognize that cost recovery for services might not be as important as getting people to use the service.
The issue of publicly funded services that compete with possible private sector service providers was also discussed. A key point was that any subsidies need to be revenue neutral. In our region of NB where there are few private providers of access this should not be a problem. In an urban setting it might be.
Once the panel completed their presentations the workshop evolved into more of a discussion group. Some of the ideas from the floor are what follows.
Community access as a global access issue. This was mentioned here an covered in more detail at another workshop which will be discussed elsewhere in greater detail.
People driven access groups. It is important to realize that these centres would not be occurring without people in the community organising and supporting them. To foster support it is necessary to make all members of the community see the benefits. An important member of the community that is overlooked in many cases is the business sector.
These centres can be used in such a way as to foster communications on community issues and develop consensus building activities within our communities. These ideas are inherently odd to my way of looking at the problems. At our centre people come to escape the community and travel elsewhere. They are not interacting with people in our region but possibly someone 5000 km away. How can this build consensus and foster responsibility in our own community?
Facilitators:
Stan Skrzeszewski and Maureen Cubberley
Speakers:
Troy Greencorn, TGIS Consulting and Computer Learning Centre, Canso, NS.
Susan Arbing, Coordinator, Phase 1, Government Information pilot Project, Halifax, NS.
Michael Colborne, Head of information Services, Halifax Regional Library, Halifax, NS.
Dr. Greg McLeod, BCA Holdings Ltd. Sydney, NS.
Topics Covered:
The role of libraries as information providers.
The role that CACs can play as a business service provider.
Special Note:
Unlike Workshop which was organized as more of a discussion group this workshop was organized around presentations. I would like to reiterate that this information is my interpretation of the events and hope not to offend any of the presenters.
Unfortunately I missed approximately half of this presentation because of time over runs during a lunchtime discussion group. What follows is only partial and not intended to be a full report of events.
Libraries as Business Incubators
Libraries have always had some relationship with business as the prime place to find information on various topics. Because of this it is only natural that they participate in the next phase of providing information. This is the strength of a library site for community access.
The access to information should create jobs. Again information technology is being spouted as the next great revolution. What about people who either have no interest in IT or lack the skills?
By locating in a library public access is more complete because it lacks limiting factors other sites may have. This is true. Many school based sites are not available during "regular" business hours. This lack of access limits the possible business uses of sites and possible income sources.
Public enthusiasm and desire for information is forcing libraries to take the next step in the provision of information. The dynamic nature of electronic based information is responsible for this. It is important to recognize that the nature of ever changing information is not always governed by the same rules as printed media and may not always be true. User Beware.
Challenges facing libraries.
Many of these challenges are also faced by other access/information providers. Key issues discussed include: access to printers at a reasonable cost, number of terminals, navigation tools and searching and training.
The ability for a user to take material home and use at their convenience is the purpose of a library. This can not always happen with electronic media. To enable business to review documents it is important to have reproduction facilities available at a reasonable cost.
At most access centres the cost of technology may consume much of te budget. In a library the money used to install a single station and access fees could be used better elsewhere. Before decisions can be made more thorough cost:use analysis needs to take place.
Access to terminals. In some cases it has been necessary to institute a "booking" policy to maintain equitable usage.
Libraries catalogue information to enable users to find it quickly. The sheer amount of unorganized/poorly organized information available electronically throws this system into chaos. It was suggested that a better way of organizing data be developed. As a person who has attempted to use electronic data it is frustrating to only find lists of lists of list as the only source of information.
The graphic nature that current technology has embraced might not be the best way to portray all data. This issue has been addressed by groups like the Fredericton Area Network that has no graphic capacity. This lack of graphics speeds up information transfer.
The library group made a number of recommendations.
Government agencies should support Community Access Centres. This need not be only financial. By providing information electronically the various levels of government would increase the number of customers. This is already occurring in NB with the Provincial government asking for tenders electronically. Unfortunately this system requires special software, training and the ability to handle funds electronically. This limits the ability of a centre to participate and achieve sustainability.
Training. For information to be power the user and facilitator must be able to "separate the wheat from the chafe". To accomplish this librarians would need better training in functioning in the electronic world.
Libraries need more funding to be able to maintain a base level of technology and skilled staff.
Community Based Investment
The greatest use of technology could be to equalize small rural communities and large urban ones. How? By enabling small communities to provide services and options that used to be available only in urban settings.
The role of CAC's, libraries and private providers should be to create an infrastructure of connectivity. This connectivity could spur economic development. The ability to link businesses together might in the long term be more important then the access to new customers. By sharing services(ie accounting) a number of rural small businesses could operate on a larger scale.
Facilitator:
Jim Andicoot, Senior Development Officer, Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation, Sydney, NS.
Speakers:
Helen Aitken, Manager, Tellecommons Development Group, Guelph, Ont.
Debbie Rudderham, Director of Technology and Communication, Cape Breton Regional Municipality, NS
Fiona Heald, FINALY, St. John's, NF.
Special Note:
This session expanded on many topics that have been previously mentioned. The presenters of this workshop verbalized as positives many of my greatest fears and concerns about embracing the Internet, Information Technology and the virtual community. Because of this much of what is reported will be discussed. Many of my opinions are negative and will hopefully spawn useful thought and discussion. To the presenters, I appreciate the time you spent preparing information for this workshop, its just that I strongly disagree.
Topics Covered:
Information Technology as a catalyst for economic development.
The future of Information technology as a catalyst for economic development
The focus of this presentation was on how technology can be used to create employment opportunities in physically remote areas. On Cape Breton the focus has been to find a replacement industry for heavy manufacturing specifically coal and steel. To foster this development community access is hypothesized as being one part of the solution. Unfortunately, many of the economic problems faced in this region are not new and have been forecast and experienced in the past. The current solution of economic development based on export without local consumption of the goods and services could cause troubles. If IT takes a downturn similar to the one heavy manufacturing and natural resource based industry have.
The ideal of Technology as the way to spur economic development is being used by local government. In deciding to solve problems with technology and not people the high unemployment and lack of future for the residents will continue. If everyone is forced to leave the technology will have made planning easier because none will be needed.
The amalgamation of multiple smaller towns and counties into the single municipality of Cape Breton is providing savings to the tax payers of the region as a whole. This is true, but the social cost of lost jobs remains.
The "old" town halls and municipal buildings that are no longer being used for government are now being used for Community Access Centres. These CACs are not necessarily "wired" but save local citizens a trip to the "Central City Hall".
The Internet and associated technology will provide people who are physically separated connectivity that they have never had before. An African example was used. In this example the speaker presented the idea that Africa is the next frontier for the Internet and information technology. The philosophy of the speaker and technology bug that has bitten her were evident and encompass all I dislike of the wired culture. The part of this example that scares me the most is the amount of funding being provided by our government to support this overseas while similar services lag behind here. To be fair and because I have been unable to verify the amount quoted I will not repeat it, suffice to say it is many millions of dollars. Another aspect of this example that makes me questions unlimited access to information is deciding what is information and whether to present it. The speaker provided theoretical examples of a radio listener being able to call a local radio station and request information. The radio station would then "look" it up electronically and broadcast it over the radio waves. Information and entertainment should be separated. The example went on to say that the listener could then broadcast to more remote regions via talking drum. This transfer of information reminds me of the "telephone" game I played as a child where the end message differs completely from the starting message. This is already occurring on the Internet. "Standard" media has reported some of the most glaring cases that have happened.
The Newfoundland solution to youth unemployment is to embrace IT. By doing so they may face many of the problems already suggested. The example provided was of a researcher who searches the Internet and other publications for information on medical technology and then bundles the articles and discussions into a single source. The presenter provided a list of customers of this service. Once again none of them were local. If the export market or competition changes what will happen to the IT industry in Newfoundland.
One important thing that came out of this session was an idea that I think needs further examination. The idea that all youth should be provided the opportunity to be self sustaining. This means being gainfully employed and not relying totally on government handouts for income. Unfortunately the current policy focuses mostly on self-employment then other more traditional types of employment.
Facilitator:
Wayne Tosh, Associate Director, Community Access Program, Industry Canada, Ottawa, Ont.
Speakers:
Steve Cisler, manager, Network Outreach, Apple Research Labs, Cupertino, CA, USA.
Bill Jameson, Newfoundland Provincial Libraries Board, St. John's, NF
Aubrey Cormier, Cafe Internet Communautaire, Wellington, PEI.
Topics Covered:
Examples of how Community Access Centres are becoming self-reliant in the USA.
Examples of how a Community Access Centre is working in PEI.
Problems libraries and Community Access Centres face in NFLD.
Special Note:
Once again this was more of a lecture and for the sake of clarity and context I will identify the source. I will apologize if I take anything out of context. Time constraints also played a role in the presentations with some people having to rush through their information.
Steve Cisler, Manager, Network Outreach, Apple Research Labs, Cupertino, CA, USA.
Presented examples of Community Access programs in the USA. Focussing on Mendocino Community Networks. This is a program where the CAC is subsidized by the sale of time on their server. In essence they are acting as a local service provider. The profits from the sales in turn pay for community access at the school.
A similar program is in place in Taos, NM. The example presented here could be used to further sell Canadian government on the usefulness of CACs in providing information. During a forest fire the CAC and associated servers provided up to the minute information. In some cases this information was then used by radio and television. This ability to convey information effectively and quickly has since lead to further partnerships between the groups and government agencies.
In Charleston, SC a program similar to one sponsored by CSPACE is occurring, the virtual community profile. Focussing on historic buildings and the downtown this site provides pictures, maps and a short history of Charleston. I have visited this site and am amazed at its quality. For anyone developing a virtual portrait of their town it is a must see. The address is http://www.awod.com/ccl/cmh_title_page.html.
One problem that is occurring is a tension between private providers and these "non-profit" groups. It seem from the context of explanation that it is similar to the debate CACs in NB and elsewhere face. Unfortunately no real solutions were presented due to time constraints.
Bill Jameson, Newfoundland Provincial Libraries Board, St. John's, NF
This presentation was similar to Workshop 2. Only new ideas or expansion on ideas will be presented.
In Newfoundland the library board is an active player in the CAP. The new mandate of libraries is to become an information resource.
Problems facing libraries in their attempt to serve the community.
The problems facing NFLD libraries relate mostly to the cost of the various inputs needed for success. These inputs include: communication costs, tech support, software, hardware and training staff.
In NFLD communications costs seem to be the dominate issue because of the age of telephone lines and the lack of large urban centres. For the most part the province relies strictly on copper for the lines. This reduced band width adds expense, especially when paying for time by the minute.
Suggestions for solving Communication Costs
Partnership with provider. By having a community access centre the provider may be able to sell more of the product(server time space) in the future.
User fees. While fee for service is unpopular in a program that wants to foster public participation it may be necessary in some cases.
Private Partnerships. By providing computing services to business the centre can help support itself.
Aubrey Cormier, Cafe Internet Communautaire, Wellington, PEI.
This was one of the most interesting presentations of the entire conference. It focussed on providing "how to", lead by example information. It was presented in french. Thank you to the conference for the bilingual support.
Commenced by providing a brief explanation of the Acadian community on PEI. The main point presented was that there is high unemployment and low literacy levels among this community of approximately 2500 people.
This centre has been established as a non-profit organisation with the purpose to provide information to the Francophone population of the region.
The vision and focus of the centre is to provide programs that meet the educational needs of the local community. This vision is part of a larger mandate that focuses on providing adult education in French, with a focus on literacy.
To accomplish this they have focussed their resources on providing various types of distance education. The programs offered vary from basic reading skills to full credit University courses.
An interesting idea and source of funding that they have developed is an Internet Cafe. They have found that the Cafe environment helps to draw people in .
By developing a user group the Cafe was then able assess needs and service fees. There was a warning of not charging fees until the clientele was established because it may scare some people off.
Developing the user Group
Many ideas were presented to gain clients and contribute to community. Some of the most successful included: theme nights, use of volunteers to aid novice users, "Internet Rallies", child/parent nights, and production nights. The production nights were developed to show the clients that the Internet is interactive and only performs well if there is participation by many people.
Marketing to the User Group
The area has a population of approximately 2500 people. It is a "have not" community.
To raise awareness and attract people the Centre invites local service groups to use the centre for meetings. This gets people in to see what really is happening there. To raise funds at these meeting the Cafe provides coffee and snacks for a cost.
Results
Approximately 250 of the 2500 people in the community have visited the centre. M. Cormier feels that this 10% use is the minimum critical mass needed to support the centre.
An increase in the language and reduced fear to use new technology.
Future of the Centre
Their is a feeling of optimism and room for growth in the types of services provided.
The participation of the community contributes to this optimism as the residents feel the centre is offering a worth while service.
Questions from the Floor
User Fees, how much and what for?
A user of Chebucto Suite explained how they are getting people to support a free net by making it easier to pay a nominal fee for your userid then to have to renew your account.
At our centre and others in NB this issue is become more and more important. Our centres solution is to charge a nominal fee for printing. We will be instituting a "membership" fee in the new year. Our centre will also begin charging for intermediate courses. Most beginner courses will be free so as to attract people to the centre.
Sustainabilty, How do we define and accomplish it?
This was the million dollar question for the conference and the real purpose of it.
Defining sustainability should be done on a case by case basis. It depends on what the CAC wants to accomplish in their community and within the structure of their mandate.
Suggestions for how to accomplish sustainability revolve around developing partnerships within the community and with government. Examples of partnerships include: various levels of government and their associated agencies, school groups and programs, residents and businesses in the community.
Doug Hall, Director General, Science Promotion & Academic Affairs, Industry Canada.
Topic Covered
An overview of the issues that face the Community Access Program
What is CAP and what is it doing?
CAP is part of the new economic development model for Cape Breton.
CAP is an experiment. An experiment that focuses on creating networks, the information superhighway, and grass roots provision of services. CAP is really just starting out. The physical entity is being created and now is the time to create e a workable administrative model. Unfortunately this is lagging behind.
The purpose of this conference is to provides CACS with the ability to develop their own models. To develop this model the sharing of common experiences and ideas is important.
By holding a regional conference of this nature and broadcasting it to those that were unable to attend in person contributes to the global knowledge of community access.
How is it globally significant?
By providing a new model for economic and social development.
By focussing on the information highway as more then a source of entertainment.
As the development of a "bottom" up governance.
What are we endeavouring to do?
Providing discussion and a base point for examining the new economy.
Permitting people to be users of technology and not feel as helpless as the world changes around them.
Working to reduce unemployment in our areas.
Discussing areas of potential growth.
The New Economy
The new economy is an open market is one without undo hardship of entry. The new economy no longer relies on the physical infrastructure of buildings and roads but on the knowledge of an individual or team.
What is the new economy and what is the role of Community Access in it?
An open market of goods and ideas.
A market that is no longer regionally limited, but global in nature and focus.
Industry/employment based on high tech, skills and value added services.
Because of the "open" nature of the new economy skills have overtaken location as a the reason a business succeeds. In the past and demonstrated through theories by Weber, Von Thuen and other economic geographers location, location, location is no longer the driving force of business.
Where is Canada?
Historically, the Canadian and specifically the Maritimes economy has been based on the harvesting and processing of natural resources. The consumption of non-renewable resources and mismanagement of renewable resources is forcing us to look at the future in a different way.
The education system focuses on non-technical skills.
What is the future for Canada?
Currently, there is not enough Research and Development done. In the future R&D will need to increase and focus more on commercial goods and services.
The future is export based. Either regionally or internationally. Once again I am wary of embracing export driven development exclusively because of the reliance on a market that could change quickly and affect the economy in much the way Cape Breton's reliance on steel and coal has left it now.
What can information technology do for Canada?
It minimizes distances. Location will play a smaller role in deciding what services can be provided where.
Opens up new markets for the sale of goods and services. How? Through access to large scale advertising and new clients.
Opens up new opportunities for "NEW" services and products. These products and the need for them are driven by the embracing of IT as a tool for economic development.
Connectivity. The Information Highway allows for the development of communities. Community will no longer be restricted to discreet geographic areas but of large scale social communities. This flies in the face of the logic of the CAPS program of attempting to developing community interaction at the local level by telling people to focus on developing relationships with like minded people who can live anywhere in the world.
Challenges facing CACs
Similar to information previously mentioned in the library section the idea of affordability came up. With deregulation of the telephone companies and cable companies the price of service should come down due to competition.
In a twist of logic the real goal of community access is too put ourselves out of "business". By teaching people and providing them with their initial contact to IT hopefully we will enable them to take responsibility for themselves.
Training, both for the public as well as our employees. The rate that technology is currently changing at is such that it is difficult to provide current training.
A rhetorical question and key issues to address is what is the link between access, jobs and economic growth in a community?
Questions of Sustainability.
The cornerstone of this conference was to address this topic.
How to achieve Sustainability?
Do not over build the system. It is important to not have CACs competing with one another for limited clients and possible community support.
Examine the cost:benefit of what is being provided. In other words examine how the most good can be accomplished with the least financial input.
Where does a CAC "fit in" the Community/Business World?
CACs can be used to help develop enterprise at the local level. How?
By providing a source of knowledge.
By providing the linkages for the growth agenda(economic) and youth agenda(training).
By helping to shape regional development models and new ways to foster economic development.
CACs can be used to foster national unity. How?
By connecting the citizens of the country together despite the large physical size of Canada.
By sharing experiences that are strictly Canadian or personal.
What is the Role of Government and the associated Agencies?
Industry Canada and the federal government hope to provide guidance and vision. This is the purpose of the "Burgundy Bible".
Help to develop products and ideas that can be shared. That was the purpose of this conference was to allow the participants a chance to meet people and communicate. It seems funny that all the talk was about electronic communication and "virtual this and that" and the most effective way to discuss ideas was for the participants to travel to a physical location.
To foster and facilitate communication at the grass roots level.
Provide funding for: hardware, staff and other associated costs. For the best use of these funds the Centres should focus on youth.
Provide examples of success stories. This will help other Centres develop to their fullest potential.
What can CACs be?
A distribution source of information.
An enterprise development centre.
A facility to "tap" and organize existing resources.
What are the Key Challenges facing CACs?
Sustainability. How can they generate revenue and foster partnerships?
Defining what their role is in the context of their community.
What is the role of CAC facilitators, employees and regulators?
To try an network with other sites and share experiences. The sharing of failure or poor results is just as important as the sharing of success.
To spread the word of what Community Access can do.
Celebrate volunteers and corporate supporters.
Other issues and Ideas presented
The cornerstone of the Internet is post secondary institutions.
How do the various community development models fit in and what is the role that CACs can play in a community.
CACs are forward linking. They can be used to facilitate community links between business and local people. In rural areas this already happens. The small nature of the businesses means that these links are already in place as the business owner is a part of the community in many cases.
Questions from the Floor
What are some revenue generating ideas?
Providing market research facilities and possibly staff and charge for these services.
Charge government departments for providing information. They pay to post it they on a server they should also pay to display it. Examples of how this could occur would be to provide terminals setup exclusively for Human Resources Information, Licensing or Tenders.
Sell time to business. By providing software(ie accounting) for business revenue can be generated by charging for the service.
User fees. The user would pay for the services they use.
Chair:
Marion Pape, Director, Nova Scotia Provincial Library, Halifax, NS
Panellists:
Steve Cisler, Manager, Networks Outreach, Apple Research labs, CA, USA.
Garth Graham, Consultants in Community Networking and Elected Director, Telecommunities Board Canada, Ottawa, ON.
John Ouellette, Director, L'Ardoise Enterprise Centre, L'Ardoise, NS.
Paul Patterson, Chair in the Management of technological change, University College of Cape Breton, Sydney, NS.
This session provided an overview of the conference. Much of the information is presented elsewhere, but warrants repeating. Once again the session was lecture based and each speaker presented ideas in a format that makes more sense if they are identified. Once again I apologize if anything presented here is taken out of context.
Topics Covered:
What does the future hold for Community Access?
What will shape the future of Community Access?
What will the definition and role of community in the future?
Marion Pape, Director,
Nova Scotia Provincial Library, Halifax, NS
The future of Community Networking
A way to organize government systems.
A way to develop "social capital"
Social capital is the "investment" in people. This includes training, participatory democracy and equity.
Steve Cisler, Manager, Networks Outreach, Apple Research Labs, CA, USA.
Community access has a future. The futures is shaped by the interaction of different factors. The factors that will shape the future include: regulation, economic future, technology, and social issues.
Regulation will play an important part in deciding the future. Regulation currently "controls" pricing and options available to the consumer. In the future less regulation will mean more providers of service and possibly lower rates. It also controls how information is broadcast and ways that are technologically possible are not currently feasible because of government control. An example of this is wireless transmission.
The economic future of the centres is based on a "big wish". This wish is increased connectivity leading to increased economic development.
Technology will play a part in the future development as the price decreases and bandwidth levels increase. New technology will provide new services to the user at home.
The social issues will be related to the building of "social capital" and an ability to influence policy.
A question for the future is whether the Web will develop into an information source or be used strictly as a source of entertainment.
Garth Graham, Consultants in Community Networking and Elected Director, Telecommunities Board Canada, Ottawa, ON.
What is shaping community networks?
Information Technology. This is providing opportunities for local optimism.
Self reliance of individuals and communises.
The ability to make informed choices.
Ideas and Ideals of Community and Community Access
Defining Community
A community should be inclusive and attempt to foster consensus between all residents or stakeholders.
A community needs pragmatic, responsible government. Good government is more important then cheap government.
Access to what?
The Internet and virtual social networks. Again, if the purpose of CACs is to foster local development and communities the idea of promoting that the only people worth interacting with are those that are not in your community seems self defeating.
An ability to express ones self in a network by providing "think space".
The structure of the Internet and these "think spaces" should reflect the morals and values of the community.
Communities and Virtual community
These points are taken from a series of slides.
The community is the network. Acting as a sum of individual decisions about values. The network needs to be developed at the local level first then expand out to the virtual level.
Community networks can provide learning space and a way to turn local knowledge and society experience into practice.
John Ouellette, Director, L'Ardoise Enterprise Centre, L'Ardoise, NS.
Provided an overview of business uses and the Internet, some of what has been presented earlier.
Community access centres need to be self sustaining. A way to develop self sustaining centres is to promote the idea that the community owns the centre. This ownership can then be used to shape the policies and mission statement of the centre. This evolution of a network to a co-op should be the focus of centres. To accomplish this it is necessary to facilitate communication and public participation.
To become self sustaining more and better links with business are needed. These links could be developed by discussing the needs of business(ie literacy training).
CACs can be used to advance the agenda of local forces on a regional, provincial or national level.
By promoting youth involvement an underutilised source of information and labour could be tapped. The centres can also contribute to the leadership skills of youth by allowing them to participate in the decision making process.
In some cases the future is tied to rediscovering the past.
Paul Patterson, Chair in the
Management of technological change, University College of Cape
Breton, Sydney, NS.
Special Note:
Words alone cannot convey the emotion and conviction of this speakers presentation.
This conference had a major problem, the lack of debate and healthy discussion. This lack of debate as meant that a sugar coated image of Community Access has been painted. The problems were glossed over and still need to be addressed.
In discussing IT it is more important to examine the content of the conversation not how it is being transmitted. To do this it is imperative that we cut through the hype and define a vision for the future. The future is based on two models. These models are a centralist model or a distribution based model.
Central Model
The source of income, services and decisions are made by large corporations and government. The flaw with this system is the lack of participation by local people in making local decisions. This is how things are currently being done in this region. The Federal, Provincial, and now Regional governments are making decisions without adequately addressing the concerns of the local people.
Distribution Model
This model focuses on the provision of services by local sources. By doing this and embracing "small is beautiful" we can act as the base of the pyramid and foster economic growth. This user based economic model would allow us to be self reliant and sustaining. This model focuses on acting for the common good. For it to be most successful we must inspire, share with, train and cheer one another.
It is important to realize that CACs cannot be the only impetus for local economic development. If the Centres are to have economic benefit for the community they must listen to and provide services the community wants and needs.
Computers and technology are only tools to be used by people to solve a problem. Without adequate opportunity and education people cannot effectively use these powerful tools.
Exclusive reliance on technology to solve problems will create new ones.
For a CAC to be self sustaining they cannot be the only thing present developing a sense of community. There must be a community present that wants to use the services a CAC has to offer.
The commercial use of information is different then a private citizens. Information and associated services need to be separate from information for entertainment purposes.
One must realize that because information is posted/published somewhere does not necessarily make it true or useful.
For information to be useful it must be reliable and verifiable.
Diversity of employment and services produced is what creates economic stability. Reliance on a single industry is dangerous and could cause problems in the future.
If Information Technology is to be an economic benefit users and not just suppliers are needed.
By: Aaron Hershoff
hershoff@nbnet.nb.ca