First Mile partners featured in this year’s Global Information Society Watch report on Community Networks

First Mile partners featured in this year’s Global Information Society Watch report on Community Networks as the Canadian contribution. The chapter is found at https://www.giswatch.org/node/6034 and can be downloaded at https://giswatch.org/sites/default/files/gw2018_canada_0.pdf From https://www.giswatch.org/community-networks Global Information Society Watch Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) is a collaborative community committed to building an open, inclusive and sustainable information society. 2018[…]

FMCC research featured in special issue of Northern Public Affairs

The journal Northern Public Affairs has published a special issue focused on connectivity in Northern and Indigenous communities. The issue includes research and commentary about Indigenous digital innovations in communities across northern Canada, and features several articles contributed by FMCC members. These articles include: A “whole-community” approach for sustainable digital infrastructure in remote and Northern First[…]

FMCC publication featured by Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council

The new e-book publication by the First Mile Connectivity Consortium team is featured this month on the SSHRC web site along with a short story about the First Nations Innovation research project. From http://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/society-societe/stories-histoires/story-histoire-eng.aspx?story_id=270 Breaking trails: Stories from the First Mile Date published: 21/06/2018 4:00:00 PM Photo: Jesse Fiddler/Stories from the First Mile – First Mile Connectivity[…]

CIRA report: The gap between us: Perspectives on building a better online Canada

From https://cira.ca/gaps (10 recommendations below) Released June 13, 2018 The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) declared broadband internet as a basic service, paving the way to universal access of broadband internet. Given its prevalence in the lives of so many Canadians – where they work, play, connect socially and access many government services – CIRA reached[…]

THE PROTECTION OF NET NEUTRALITY IN CANADA Report from Standing Committee

THE PROTECTION OF NET NEUTRALITY IN CANADA Report of the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics MAY 2018 FOR THE FULL REPORT visit http://www.ourcommons.ca/content/Committee/421/ETHI/Reports/RP9840575/421_ETHI_Rpt14_PDF/421_ETHI_Rpt14-e.pdf LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS As a result of their deliberations committees may make recommendations which they include in their reports for the consideration of the House of Commons or[…]

New article published about FMCC regulatory efforts: GIS Mapping and Policy Advocacy

An article based on FMCC efforts at the CRTC is now published in the Journal of Information Policy. The article is co-authored by FMCC researchers Rob McMahon, Trevor Smith, and Tim Whiteduck. Reclaiming Geospatial Data and GIS Design for Indigenous-led Telecommunications Policy Advocacy: A Process Discussion of Mapping Broadband Availability in Remote and Northern Regions[…]

University of Vienna doctoral thesis: Indigenizing the Internet highlight KO-KNET work in remote First Nations

From Philipp Budka’s web site at http://www.philbu.net/projects.html Philipp’s dissertation project at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology of the University of Vienna investigated the creation, development, and utilization of broadband internet infrastructures, technologies, and services by indigenous people and communities in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. (Budka, P. (2017). Indigenizing the Internet: Socio-technical change, technology appropriation and digital practices in remote First Nation[…]

New Article: Indigenizing Digital Literacies with the Algonquin First Nations of Timiskaming and Long Point

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[…]

2017 Publication list with links: First Nations Innovation / First Mile

The First Nations Innovation project is researching how remote and rural First Nation communities in Canada are using broadband technologies and applications in innovative ways. Our work covers four regions – Atlantic, Quebec, Ontario and Alberta – in partnership with seven organizations. We have updated our publications document, a Word file that lists all the[…]

Guide: An Open Source GIS and Mapping Methodology for Internet Access

In this report we discuss the efforts of the First Mile Connectivity Consortium (FMCC) to shape a Geographic Information System (GIS) platform into a tool for data-driven policy advocacy. This work took place in the context of a lack of robust, accurate data concerning broadband access in Canada’s northern and remote regions. Given this challenge,[…]