Rural/Urban Divide?

I thought I'd pass along the link to an insightful blog about the perceived rural-urban political divide as it relates to political parties here in Alberta.

U of A's Innovative Approach to Getting Medical Students Into Rural Practice

Peace River is one of the sites mentioned in this article from the Edmonton Journal--"U of A initiative woos future doctors to choose rural practice." Our physicians participate in this program as well as the 9-month integrated clerkship program and are to be commended for this commitment. These programs are a great way to highlight what our community and the region has to offer as well as give the students a chance to see just how varied, interesting, and exciting rural practice can be. And if we're fortunate, some may even plan to come back to Peace River when they're finished their education. Kudos to the U of A and our local medical community.

Test Your Broadband & Tell the Feds

Do you have broadband access to the Internet? Do you wonder about the speed and how it compares with other parts of the province and country?

Well, here's an opportunity for you. The federal government program called Broadband Canada: Connecting Rural Canadians is asking for consumer and ISP provider feedback to establish where broadband access is available and about the level of service.

You can participate by running a speed test and submitting the results. It's pretty simple and actually quite interesting. Communities without Boundaries did this kind of an exercise in Alberta last year and the results showed variation in service around the province.

The feedback being solicited now is described as the "first step" to "get a clear picture of where broadband services are available, and where they are not. Industry Canada is working with other levels of government and the private sector to define a detailed map of service availability."

Be aware that this feedback is only being used for information purposes in the design of the broadband program, "and will not necessarily change the availability of high-speed Internet in your area." But there is money available to expand broadband access and that program will be rolled out later in the year.

Communities without Boundaries Alberta Network: Inaugural Meeting

Mark this date:
Tuesday, March 17, 9:30 to 11:30.

Readers in rural and small town Alberta will want to plan to attend the inaugural videoconference/webcast meeting of the Communities without Boundaries Alberta Network.

In addition to the business of launching this Alberta-wide not-for-profit organization, the session will include three addresses on citizen engagement and community broadband planning:

• Mayor Glenn Taylor, Hinton, AB will address how one rural Alberta community has used and benefited from this technology and the town's plans for the future.
  
• Matt Wenger: Learning from our Neighbours. Mr. Wenger will discuss combining technology and social organization to establish multi-stakeholder involvement.
  
• Dr. Marco Adria will explore the opportunities and challenges for engaging citizens in community planning.

You can participate by videoconference at any of 17 locations across Alberta or by webcast. The Peace River site is at the NAIT/Northern Lakes College Campus.

For more information and to register. go to:

http://www.communitieswithoutboundaries.ca/March17th

Virtual Conference: A Big Success

Do you ever get tired of travelling long distances to attend meetings or conferences or to see specialists or clients? I know I do!

On Halloween, over 200 people at more than 20 videoconferencing sites around Alberta attended an all-day conference without having to go far from home. Wow, we learned so much about the potential for broadband and videoconferencing in rural areas as well as about the continuing challenges.

The day was called Using Rural Connections to Support Alberta's Rural Development Strategy, hosted by Communities without Boundaries (CwoB), an organization dedicated to supporting and developing "local coalitions of community champions and technology providers to promote broadband usage."

Here in Peace River, we had 14 people gathered at the Community Futures Peace Country office, the largest gathering north of Edmonton, I'm proud to say.

The day was ably hosted by the Town of Three Hills Mayor Kevin Edwards, who has been a leader in the Virtual Learning & Business Centre (VLBC) CLICSite (Collaboration, Learning, Innovation Community) project. This is a great example of collaboration and broadband usage in a rural area.

We heard speakers on a wide variety of topics, and while I expected to be interested in the sessions on libraries, telehealth and education, I hadn't expected to be engaged in something like the presentation by Dr. Sandra Honour on the Alberta Livestock & Meat Strategy, but I was! (This link is to a video from FarmTV; Dr. Honour's PowerPoint presentation along with the others is available on the CwoB website. Podcasts will also be available in the coming weeks.)

The day was made up of short panel presentations hosted by knowledgeable people who outlined the opportunities and challenges or described their own use of broadband. One of the hosts was in Hawaii, which just served to further highlight the versatility of videoconferencing. We heard excellent presentations in the following five areas:

• Education (host: Cathy King)
• Health Care (host: Brenda Poole)
• Rural Economic Activity (host: Darcy Ferguson)
• Rural Quality of Life (Host: Jann Beeston)
• First mile/Last Mile (Host: Craig Montgomerie)

I suspect others felt as I did that we'd like to hear more from a number of these speakers at future sessions.

Have a look at the PowerPoint presentations and keep an eye out for the podcasts. Consider ways that broadband and greater use of videoconferencing could make a difference to your work, leisure, health, or quality of life and stay tuned for future learning opportunities through CwoB.

del.icio.us Tags: rural,quality of life,videoconferencing,Alberta

Join Me at Virtual Conference on October 31st

On October 31, Peace River's Community Futures office is one of 20 sites around the province that is hosting an innovative virtual conference entitled Using Rural Connections to Support Alberta’s Rural Development Strategy.

The event is being organized by Communities without Boundaries, an organization devoted to supporting and developing local coalitions of community champions and technology providers to promote broadband usage.

At each site, participants will gather to watch and listen to the conference speakers and also have an opportunity to connect with each other.

Speakers will explain how they are using broadband Internet and the Alberta SuperNet to tackle everyday issues in the areas of education, health, economic development and rural quality of life. The closing session will explore the challenges and opportunities of developing First/Last Mile Connectivity.

Register for the event at the link above. You need to first register for the site and then register for the event venue.

The day starts at 8:30 and finishes at 3:30, with lunch and refreshments provided (that's why you need to register).

Hope to see you there!