Connecting Canadians

In the 1990s, the federal government began to promote a new visionof Canada as a knowledge-based economy. Fundamental to participation insuch an economy is technology-specifically, information andcommunications technologies, which serve to link individuals to thedigital network on which activities of production and consumption haveincreasingly come to depend. At least for a time, emphasis wasaccordingly placed on achieving a "connected Canada," onein which all citizens, including those living in rural and remotecommunities, would have access to the Internet. The result was a flurryof government-funded initiatives and programs designed to bringbroadband to unserved, or underserved, areas and to impart neededcomputer skills.The outcome of a major research initiative, ConnectingCanadians examines the role of community informatics, orcommunity-based ICT initiatives, in this process of transition. TheCommunity Research Alliance for Community Innovation and Networking(CRACIN) set out to study how civil society groups-in locationsranging from Vancouver to Labrador and from remote Northern communitiesto Toronto and Montreal-sought to enable local communities todevelop on their own terms within the broader context of federal andprovincial policies and programs. Drawing on diverse theoreticalperspectives, from sociology to library and information sciences towomen's studies, the essays not only document specific localinitiatives but analyze the overall trajectory of thegovernment's vision of a digitally inclusive Canada. The lessonslearned in the course of this comprehensive research offer valuableguidance to community groups, NGOs, and others in the private sector,but they are also of critical importance to those who presently shapepublic policy.