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The impact of new technologies in rural Canada

Explore the use of new technologies in rural areas of Canada and their impacts, strategies for rural community revitalization, Internet usage statistics, opportunities and challenges for businesses, government access, voluntary groups, and family-related uses.

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The impact of new technologies in rural Canada

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  1. The impact of new technologies in rural Canada David Bruce and Bill Reimer http://nre.concordia.ca 2003/08/21

  2. Outline • How has NTI been used in rural areas? • How much is it used? • Who uses it? • What is it used for? • What have been its impacts? • What strategies does this imply for rural communities?

  3. CRRF …A National Network …an International Network

  4. How can rural Canada (re)vitalize? • By building capacity appropriate for the new economy • Capacity to operate with: • Markets • Governments • Voluntary organizations • Family and friendship networks How do/can new technologies contribute to this revitalization?

  5. How Much is the Internet Used? Statistics Canada, HIUS, 2001, Ipsos-Reid, 2001, Media-Awareness-Environics, 2001

  6. Who Uses the Internet? • Younger • Educated • Higher Incomes • Anglophone • Urban • Western Canadians …but differences are becoming less

  7. Mostly family and personal Internet Used for What? Overall Use: 54%

  8. % Businesses that consider IT as Important or Very Important to … Potential Opportunity New Rural Economy Small Business and Enterprise Survey, 2000

  9. Access to Government • 95% of our field sites have internet access with governments • 17.2% use Internet to access Federal Government sites • 17.2% use it to access Québec Government sites

  10. Bureaucratic Opportunities: Health, for Example….. • Centre for Disease Control & Prevention - www.cdc.gov • Cdn. Institute for Health Information - www.cihi.ca • Canadian Health Network - www.canadian-health-network.ca • Medical Council of Canada - www.mcc.ca • College of Family Physicians of Canada - www.cfpc.ca • Health Canada - www.hc-sc.gc.ca • Canadian Paediatric Society - www.cps.ca • Canadian Institute of Child Health - www.cich.ca • Child and Family Canada - www.cfc-efc.ca • Cyberisle Teen Health Web site - www.cyberisle.org • Canadian Women's Health Network - www.cwhn.ca

  11. Voluntary Group Opportunities • Communication with clients • Communication with members • Communication with funders • Searching funding opportunities but – for members: • Only 13% of Internet users use it for volunteering activities (2000)

  12. Voluntary Group Challenges • Few resources • Volunteer burn-out • Time for learning Recent VolNet program http://www.volnet.org/

  13. Family-related Opportunities • Contact with family and friends • Contact with diaspora • Building local image • Building local pride • Dealing with household changes

  14. Internet used most often for education changes % Newpapers and Internet Use for major HH changes Internet used for variety of changes

  15. Newspapers and Internet used most often for financial, employment, living changes % Media Used for Financial, Employment, or Living Changes NRE Household Sample – 1995 cases

  16. Obstacles to Internet Use • Cost • Equipment • Connections • Learning • Access • Little awareness of opportunities • None or slow connections • Little technical support

  17. Strategies and Options • Assess resources, assets, knowledge, skills • Identify types of local enthusiasm • Explore multiple options • Build incrementally • Collaborate – individually and institutionally • Seek help • Initial contacts open opportunities for more – even outside of rural

  18. Internet Capacity-Building

  19. Building Capacity in Rural Canada The Canadian Rural Revitalization Foundation http://nre.concordia.ca http://www.crrf.ca 2003/06/23 Become a member today!

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