Harnessing ICTs - A Canadian First Nations Experience

From the Executive Summary

This case study collection concerns the work of K-Net, a program of
Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KO) tribal council. K-Net is providing
information and communication technologies (ICTs) to First Nations
communities in remote regions of northwestern Ontario, Canada. The
network supports the development of online applications that combine
video, voice and data services requiring broadband and high-speed
connectivity solutions. This case study collection includes an
Introduction and four specialized case studies covering Network
Development, Education, Health and Economic Development.

The KO communities are part of Nishnawbe-Aski Nation (NAN), located in
northern Ontario, across an area roughly the size of France. NAN
includes a total population of approximately 25,000 people. The majority
of this population is aboriginal and lives in remote communities with
300-900 inhabitants. For many communities, the only year-round access
into or out of their area is by small airplane.

What K-Net has achieved in less than a decade in terms of network and
technical infrastructure development is impressive: several communities
have gone from having one phone for 400 people four years ago, to
accessing broadband services from individual homes today. There are few
rural communities in Canada -- and particularly few remote ones -- that
have experienced such a dramatic transformation in such a short period
of time.

Sponsored by ICA/IDRC and prepared by Ricardo Ramirez,
Helen Aitkin, Rebekah Jamieson and Don Richardson, a full set of
different case studies (about the rapid development of K-Net's technical
infrastructure and services, and its impacts on local health, education,
and local economic development)

The five case studies aim to capture the rapid development of K-Net's technical
infrastructure and services, and its impact on local health, education,
and economic development. While the technologies offer new opportunities
immediately, the full extent of their impact in these sectors will take
some years to become known. The case studies were prepared using
first-hand accounts from people in the KO communities, online resources,
and a Sustainable Livelihoods conceptual framework. Please see
for the full multi-media version of this study,
complete with video footage.

This series is entitled Harnessing ICTs. Information and communication
technologies are powerful, new vehicles that can be controlled and
directed by indigenous communities to help them arrive at their own
goals. K-Net's case studies offer stories of how people embrace change
with modern tools while balancing the traditions and ways taught by
their elders.

This series is directed at both Canadian and international audiences,
and in particular, readers from indigenous communities in Latin America
and the Caribbean who may wish to replicate this effort. The K-Net
experience offers "lessons that can travel"; most importantly, that
community needs and demands drive technology and network infrastructure
development. Any other group around the world wishing to create a
similar network will have to respond to its own unique geographic,
political, financial and social situation.

Click below for the full paper in PDF format [1.7 MB].

English | Spanish

Click here for a website with video footage and artful versions of these documents (Flash interface).