CRACIN'ca Canadian Research Alliance for Community Innovation and Networking

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CRACIN.ca Canadian Research Alliance for
Community Innovation and Networking

• Andrew Clement
• University of Toronto
• Diane Dechief
• Concordia University
• Marita Moll
• Telecommunities Canada
• CLN-Ontario
• May 25-26, 2006

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In the beginning

• Community networking in
• Canada began with
• researcher/practitioner collaboration
• 1974 First free on-line public access
• Vancouver Public Library front lobby
• Terminal access to Red Book directory of
  community and social services
• 1975 Community Memory bulletin board service in
  drop-in store fronts
• Collaboration between UBC, CIC, VPL, Video Inn,
  Info Can, VDLC,

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(former) Vancouver Public Library Site of
Canadas first community networking experiment
(1974)?
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Research Motivation

• Decades of extraordinary grassroots innovation
  and dedicated efforts
• A decade of government funding programs to
  Connect Canadians! (Throne speech, 1997) and
  eliminate digital divides! (NBTF, 2001)
• Community Access Program (CAP)
• Schoolnet, LibraryNet, VolNet, UrbanCAP
• Smart Communities
• Community Learning Networks (CLN)
• Broadband for Remote and Northern Development
• What as been achieved? What to do
  next?

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Aims of the research project

• Assess effectiveness of CN initiatives in
  fostering
• local learning
• community relationships
• community social and economic development
• Share information between academic, government
  and community partners
• Enable ongoing self-assessment by CNs
• Investigate ways to sustain CN initiatives

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CRACIN partnerships
Community practitioners
Government officials
Academic researchers
Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council (SSHRC) Initiative for the New
Economy (INE), 900K over four years
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Government Partners

• Canadian Heritage
• Strategic Research and Analysis
• Human Resources Skills Development Canada
• Learning Policy Directorate
• Industry Canada
• Electronic Commerce Branch
• Information Highway Applications Branch

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Community Partners

• Telecommunities Canada

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Case study sites
K-Net Services (Sioux Lookout)
KCDC (La Ronge)
St. Christopher House Wireless Nomad (Toronto)
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Broad-based studies and integrative themes

• Social Engagement survey ltlt
  Marita
• Civic Participation
  ltlt Diane
• Community Networks as Public Goods
• Community Networking and Libraries
• Rural and Remote Broadband
• Community Learning
• Youth and Gender
• Community Innovation and Emerging Technologies
  (FOSS WiFi)
• Sustainability

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Approach Action research

• Pursue action (or change) and research (or
  understanding) at the same time
• Iterative cycles of multi-perspective action and
  reflection, leading to improved practices
• e.g.
• St Chris CLN development
• Involvement in the Telecom Policy Review Panel

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Lessons 1 - the good

• Developing ICT enabled community learning
  infrastructures is a vital, complex, long term
  socio-technical experiment producing a wide range
  of social benefits and public goods (beyond
  welfare benefits).

But an experiment means both successes and
failures are valuable if you can learn from them
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Lessons 2 - the bad

• Serious structural mis-match between government
  programs and community needs
• Project rather than base funding
• Individualized competitive applications
• Disjointed programs
• Uncertain and arbitrary timescales
• Driving ideas and rhetorics favour competitive,
  market-oriented economic priorities (KBE/S)
• Heavy accountability burdens
• Unrealistic sustainability requirements
• Mitigated by strong relationship building
• Long and careful, through direct contact

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Lessons 3 - the hopeful

• Basic access (connectivity) is getting solved
• at least in urban areas e.g. municipal WiFi
• New communicative techniques (Wiki,
• Local capacity development (slowly)
• Community learning network model
• for this sector broadly
• Will this translate into a political
  constituency?

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• See CRACIN.CA