1. Building a 'Digital Futures' Community Broadband Portal Dr. Rob McMahonDigital Futures Symposium on Dr. Michael B. McNallyRural Broadband Enablement Oct. 14-15, 2015 Olds, AB

2. People are talking about broadband in Alberta: CRTC - Basic Service Objective / Wholesale Decision SuperNet - lots of existing research / information Alberta Urban Municipalities Association Provincial ICT strategy Broadband and economic diversification and development Broadband and urban sprawl Broadband and public services: telehealth, education

3. Why set up a Community Broadband Portal? 1.Archive, organize, curate content for policy input, business development, public outreach, etc 2.Build a community of practice 3.Share knowledge and resources among stakeholders 4.Other?

4. Focus of Today’s Discussion Example of community broadband portal (First Mile) What would you like to see in Digital Futures portal? Pilot project -> Sustained initiative: Establish online presence Build online community over time Discussions inform grant application to establish portal

5. First Mile (www.firstmile.ca)www.firstmile.ca

6. Common Language: Framing the “First Mile”

7. Common Principles Equitable access to transport (backbone) network infrastructure for Indigenous service providers; Equitable access to subsidies to support the development and operations of community-based digital infrastructures and services; Affordable services to residents of rural, remote and northern communities; and Ensuring that Indigenous peoples gain a voice in the formation of regulatory frameworks.

8. Geographic Focus: Northern Regions

9. Members: “Community-based broadband organizations”

10. Members: “Rural, remote, northern regions”

11. Knowledge Resources: Qualitative & Quantitative Data

12. Online Community-Building / Public Outreach

13. Activities: Advocacy, research, capacity-building for Indigenous community broadband Regulatory Interventions: 2013 - Northwestel’s Modernization Plan 2014 - CRTC Satellite Inquiry 2015 - Basic Service Objective Review; Review of Telesat’s Pricing

14. First Mile Development Process Technical Discussions Platform evolved: Moodle -> Word Press Servers - who hosts? Tools - Google Maps, Listserv, Social Media, etc Content Discussions User-generated content (ex. community stories) Integrating data (ex. mapping data from StatsCan) Over time, evolved: knowledge archive; advocacy tool; online networking space; etc

15. What would you like to see in Digital Futures portal? Big Picture Questions Common Language and Principles Stakeholders and Audience Content Technical Issues Governance and Administration Participation and Access Funding and Sustainability Grant Application - Expressions of Interest?

16. Big Picture Questions - Overall goal of portal? Sharing success, challenges, best practices, opportunities among community networks? Resource for local governments/REDAs/community broadband proponents? PR tool for funders, investors? Policy input - ex. CRTC, Industry Canada? Resource for grant applications?

17. Common Language and Principles Thematic focus? Geographic focus? Approach to business model? Community development? Economic and social benefits?

18. Stakeholders / Members / Audience - Who? Communities? Van Horne? Government agencies? NGOs? Industry? Researchers? General public?

19. Content - What resources would you like to see? Qualitative - Community stories? Successes and challenges? Quantitative - Data from sources like StatsCan? Data for existing community broadband projects? Research - Academic studies? Think-tank reports? Professional - Business cases? Policy documents? Feasibility studies? Policy/Regulatory - Key CRTC/Industry Canada decisions and documents

20. Technical Issues - What’s involved? Servers - who hosts data? Where are servers located? Back-end management - who does it? Who registers site? Front-end platform - Moodle? Word Press? Other? Integrating digital tools and apps? Google Maps / Listserv / Social Media / Other?

21. Governance - How is Portal Administered? Who should run portal? Institutional host: who handles day-to-day operations? Content management: Vetting, managing, curating and publishing content? Public outreach: listserv, social media, etc?

22. Participation and Access Who should be able to submit content? Who should have access to content? Content available to contributors only, registered users, anyone? Any restrictions on content use? Privacy concerns and expectations around personal stories need to be addressed

23. Funding and Sustainability - Who pays for portal? Immediate: grant proposal to develop portal (pilot project) Long-term: ongoing to develop online community Follow-up grant proposals Develop graduate course SLIS-MACT cross-listed course Includes RA-ship jointly funded by SLIS/MACT/Portal Partners

24. Initial Grant Opportunity (KIAS/UAL/ARC) CRAfT (Create Research Archives for Tomorrow) digital research archive “For UofA faculty who want to gather, digitize, enrich, document and deposit an innovative archive that will support research.” Up to $10K: $5K cash / $5K in-kind support from U of A Libraries Due Nov 30, 2015

25. Expressions of Interest Please let us know if you are interesting in contributing: Content Outreach / awareness-raising Ideas to grant proposal In-kind support for the project Funding for the project Rob McMahon: rdmcmaho@ualberta.cardmcmaho@ualberta.ca Michael McNally: mmcnally@ualberta.cammcnally@ualberta.ca