Conference Papers and Proceedings
#51 (2013)

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Publication #51 2013, May - Making Information Technologies Work at the End of the Road: Using Broadband to Build Sustainable Remote and Rural Communities

Reference: Gurstein, M., Beaton, B., O’Donnell, S., Whiteduck, T. (2013) Making Information Technologies Work at the End of the Road: Using Broadband to Build Sustainable Remote and Rural Communities. Theory of Broadband: Regulation, Networks and Applications. A By-invitation Experts Workshop, The Columbia Institute for Tele-Information, Columbia University, New York City, USA. May 30-June 1.

Abstract: In this paper we discuss both how the Internet and broadband networks generally are supporting a centralization of power and also how they have become the basis for a very significant decentralization of power. We document the development of this decentralizing counter-trend within the context of a "first mile" approach to telecommunications - specifically, the case of First Nations (indigenous) people living in small, jurisdictionally autonomous communities in remote parts of Canada. The paper will further examine how a community-based (community informatics) approach to the institutional management of the telecommunications infrastructure and applications has in turn supported and enabled the development of a range of community-based semi-autonomous institutions and services -- including in education, health and governance -- developed and managed and responding to specific local requirements at the "edge."