The FMCC is pleased to welcome a new member organization, Matawa First Nations Management (http://matawa.on.ca), that joined us in October. Matawa is a First Nations council in Northern Ontario with nine member Ojibway and Cree First Nations. Earlier this month, Matawa First Nations announced it had secured funding for a new FTTH (fibre-to-the-home) construction project[…]
FMCC members presented a workshop at the 2017 CANDO conference in Fredericton on October 26. CANDO is the Council for the Advancement of Native Development Officers. Our workshop title was: Innovation in Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure in Remote and Rural First Nations. In our workshop three FMCC members and our coordinator presented a summary of[…]
In early October, FMCC filed a submission to a parliamentary study on rural broadband. In our submission, we welcomed the Standing Committee’s focus on improving connectivity through an approach that demonstrates its impact on local rural economies, including community engagement. We stressed the opportunities that this project can have on local communities: that is, provide benefit[…]
See below for a message from our colleagues at the Internet Society — the First Mile Connectivity Consortium is a partner in this upcoming event: If you plan to attend the Indigenous Connectivity Summit but haven’t registered yet, please do so today! We’ve got a great line up of speakers from across Canada, the U.S.[…]
Yesterday (Aug 24) the CRTC released its decision denying Northwestel’s request to be forborne from regulation of the Wholesale Connect service in light of the Mackenzie Valley Fibre Link. From the CRTC’s announcement: The Commission denies an application by Northwestel for requesting forbearance from the regulation of its Wholesale Connect service in the communities served[…]
Sharing this announcement from our colleagues at the 1st-Mile Institute in Santa Fe. **************** Indigenous Connectivity Summit Save the date: November 8 to 9, 2017 The Internet is a hallmark of human innovation, but many Indigenous communities lack basic connectivity. Internet access is increasingly a lifeline to health, education and economic development for rural and remote Indigenous[…]
On July 17-20, 2017, Piikani community members and First Mile researchers held a 3-day Piikani Cultural and Digital Literacy Camp focused on the community’s Past, Present and Future. Grade 9 students learned Blackfoot culture while camping on the land. They documented camp activities using digital video cameras, which was an entry point to learn about[…]
Researchers working with the First Nations Innovation and First Mile project have published an article about Indigenous approaches to digital literacies in the Engaged Scholar Journal. The article is titled: Indigenizing Digital Literacies: Community Informatics Research with the Algonquin First Nations of Timiskaming and Long Point. It focuses on two community-based research projects in Quebec that[…]
A team of First Mile partners including Penny Carpenter from K-Net Services, Tim Whiteduck from First Nations Education Council (FMCC Chair), Dr. Heather Hudson and Dr. Rob McMahon travelled to Ottawa on June 15-17 to participate in the Indigenous Radio National Conference at the University of Ottawa. The presentations and notes about the conference will[…]
Last week the Gwich’in Tribal Council’s Department of Cultural Heritage (GTC) hosted a day-long workshop on Digital Content and Connectivity in Gwich’in communities. This pilot was designed by GTC staff and partners from the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Extension and the First Mile Connectivity Consortium. The team included Dr. Rob McMahon and Master of Arts[…]