Harnessing ICTs : a Canadian First Nations experience; introduction to K-Net

Spanish version available in IDRC Digital Library: Cómo aprovechar las TICs : una experiencia de las Primeras Naciones Canadienses; introducción a K-NetThis document is an introduction to the work of K-Net, a program of Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KO) tribal council. K-Net is providing information and communication technologies (ICTs) to First Nations communities in remote regions of northwestern. Ontario, Canada. In less than a decade, KO communities have experienced a major technological transformation, and this case study series outlines some of the key lessons learned from their experience

Cómo aprovechar las TICs : una experiencia de las primeras naciones Canadienses; introducción a K-Net

Versión en inglés disponible en la Biblioteca Digital del IDRC: Harnessing ICTs : a Canadian first nations experience; introduction to K-NetEste documento es una introduccion al trabajo de K-Net, un programa del Consejo Tribal Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KO). K-Net suministra tecnologias de la informacion y las comunicaciones (TICS) a comunidades de las Primeras Naciones en regiones remotas del noroeste de Ontario, Canada. En menos de una decada, las comunidades KO han experimentado una enorme transformacion tecnologiaa y esta serie de estudios de casos destaca algunas de las principales lecciones aprendidas de esa experiencia

Digital Periphery? A Community Case Study of Digitalization Efforts in Swiss Mountain Regions

Rural economies have undergone major changes in recent years as traditional rural economic sectors declined and shifted. At the same time, digital technologies emerged and rural communities experience profound transformations. In this chapter, we analyze how technological change leads to changing rural economies in a Swiss mountain community. Although Switzerland has one of the highest national coverage of broadband in the world, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the transformation of its rural economy due to digitalization. The community case study’s 46 qualitative interviews show that digital connectivity in peripheral mountain communities is experienced differently by various actors. On the one hand, digitalization offers new economic opportunities to larger businesses, larger hotels, schools and health service providers. On the other hand, particularly smaller businesses struggle with the high cost of becoming digital and their owners tend to become more cautious and stressed as competition and price transparencies in the digital economy become intensified. In terms of spatial aspects, we argue that digitalization reduces cognitive distance between core and periphery while physical distance between the urban and the rural still exist