RURAL AND REMOTE COMMUNITIES HARNESSING INFORMATION ...

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RURAL AND REMOTE COMMUNITIES HARNESSING INFORMATION AND. COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. A Thesis.
RURAL AND REMOTE COMMUNITIES HARNESSING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Guelph by RICARDO RAMÍREZ

In partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy October, 2000  Ricardo Ramírez, 2000

ABSTRACT

RURAL AND REMOTE COMMUNITIES HARNESSING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Ricardo Ramírez University of Guelph, 2000

Co-Advisors: Dr. Don Richardson Dr. James Shute

This thesis is an investigation into how rural and remote communities in the Province of Ontario, Canada, harness information and communication technologies (ICTs) towards community development goals. The research began with a consultation with stakeholders from across the province on priority topics to investigate. The consultation and a review of the literature revealed that there were no theories or common frameworks on rural and remote ICTs that would allow researchers, practitioners or policy makers to explore and analyze issues of concern. The focus of this research is on the human and organizational side of rural and remote ICTs. The methodology is informed by grounded theory as an approach to research that seeks to generate theory rather than test hypotheses. This paradigm is appropriate to a subject matter that is characterized by multiple actors with different perspectives and no clear definition of goals across the different interest groups. The methodology also integrates elements of systems

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thinking, soft systems methodology, case study research and participatory action-research. The research led to the development of a framework as a heuristic model to understand and analyze rural and remote ICTs. The framework addresses the interrelationships across four major dimensions: policy and regulation, organizational development, community, and infrastructure. The framework was applied to three case studies. In turn, the case studies shaped the final framework. The framework places emphasis on analyzing organizational and community dimensions. It describes the attributes of these groups as learning organizations that are dynamic, able to evolve and function as mediating organizations. Their mediation action refers to matching community needs with government programmes, and with technologically and financially viable solutions. The research summarizes the policy, organizational, leadership and infrastructure conditions that led to the evolution of these organizations. A monitoring and evaluation methodology that addresses three levels of community development is also proposed.

Further research questions are

posed. The research concludes with a hypothesis: rural and remote ICT initiatives need a local learning space to flourish. A 'local learning space' may be a mediating organization united by a vision of a desirable community future. 'Failure to flourish' will be evident in uneconomic service access (only available

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to powerful institutions in the community) that widens income and information accessibility gaps and reduces opportunities for broad citizen participation.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My research journey was made possible by many people, organizations and funding programmes that I hereby wish acknowledge. At the University of Guelph I have my Advisory Committee to thank: Professors Don Richardson and Jim Shute from the School of Rural Extension Studies, David Waltner-Toews from the Department of Population Medicine at the Ontario Veterinary College, and Niels Röling, adjunct faculty from the Department

of

Communication

and

Innovation

Agricultural University, The Netherlands.

Studies,

Wageningen

Doug Pletsch, Al Lauzon, Jana

Janikaram, and Janey Lague from the School of Rural Extension Studies are thanked for their inputs, encouragement and commitment to the continuation of PACTS1 Research Project. Mark Waldron from Rural Extension Studies provided support from the start of my research, which I appreciate. John FitzSimons from the School of Planning and Rural Development is thanked for his suggestions on the orientation of this research and his help with GIS maps. Tony Fuller, from the same School, and member of the joint University of Guelph & Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) 'Sustainable Rural Communities Programme' was instrumental in giving Don Richardson and me the opportunity to apply for and secure funding for the two OMAFRA research

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grants entitled "The rural communities information and learning system" (19981999); and "PACTS for rural Ontario" (1999-2002). I acknowledge the support and fruitful interactions with Daphne Peers, Anne Joselin and Kevin Laidley of OMAFRA.

The administration of the research projects at the University of

Guelph was facilitated by Anna Gallina and Erika McMillan, who were always there to ensure funds were available for fieldwork. At the University of Guelph library, Linda Graburn was a relentless and keen seeker of relevant information and I thank her for her professionalism and friendship. Thanks also go to Bo Wandschneider at the Data Resource Centre for his help with both the ITU STAR database and his patient guidance with Statistics Canada resources. This research built on the accomplishments of the international conference "Partnerships and participation in telecommunications for rural development: Exploring what works and why" organized by the Don Snowden Program, at the University of Guelph, on October 26-27, 1998. I wish to express my gratitude to Susan Rimkus, Don Richardson, many graduate students, and staff from the TeleCommons Development Group for their efforts that made the conference such a success. The day after the conference, we held a one-day consultation on rural telecommunication in Ontario with over 30 participants. I have made an effort since that day to stay in touch with many of those participants, and while their inputs and names are acknowledged in full in the report on "The rural PACTS is the title of a 4-year research project entitled Partnerships, Accessibility, Connectivity transformation Strategies, funded by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs 1

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communities information and learning system" project, I thank them once again for their commitment and trust. The case studies were the result of the trust provided by the managers of the three organizations. Brian Beaton, Dan Pellerin, Darlene Rae and many other members of K-Net and from the Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KO) First Nations communities are thanked for their time and participation. Brian, in particular, went out of his way to secure additional funds for Don Richardson and me to return to the north to facilitate community planning workshops.

These

additional opportunities led to an ongoing fruitful collaboration between K-Net, Don and me. The advice by Clive Lightfoot of ISG was useful for workshop facilitation. During the course of this research, K-Net was awarded the national SMART Communities Demonstration Project for an Aboriginal Community. This is an example of the calibre of the work KO communities have accomplished, one from which I hope other researchers will learn as much as I have. John Moore and Sam Coghlan of the County of Oxford Information Network are two people who deserve my thanks. They shaped this project from the beginning, and Sam provided Don and me with the additional responsibility of evaluating the Oxford County Library - HRDC 'Rural Resources Partnership Project'. George Stock is acknowledged for his work in making that evaluation possible. We learned a great deal and some of those findings found their way into this thesis. The accomplishments by COIN are substantive and were through the Sustainable Rural Communities Programme with the University of Guelph.

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recognized through several awards and new partnerships, such as the federal Service Canada Pilot Project in Oxford County. I wish to thank Bob Leitch and Barry Crampton, as well as Judy Brady and Jan Fedorowitz of the Lanark Communications Network for their trust and open sharing of experiences.

The LCN has become well known as a community

networking experience in Canada and beyond. Bob and Barry made time for me, even when faced with very busy schedules that included welcoming delegations visiting the LCN from other countries. The Ontario Rural Council (TORC) through the offices of Mary Robertson and Jack Haggarty provided support to this research. Beyond that, TORC joined Bell Canada, Regional Networks Ontario, and the Ministry of Energy Science and Technology (MEST) in implementing a Data Service Improvement Project (DSIP). The DSIP Project made use of the PACTS Research Report findings as part of their community orientation sessions. Doug Maddock and Debbie Millar became active partners in putting the research to work. TORC and DSIP are thanked for providing a context to begin sharing the lessons of the PACTS Research Project with rural communities across the province. TORC is also a co-sponsor of the PACTS research project. Randy Sweetnam from Algoma.net provided an insightful fourth perspective to complement the three case studies. I thank him for his interest and willingness to help.

Bell Canada staff, as well as representatives of the

independent phone companies (the Ontario Telephone Association), were vii

important private sector contacts. They were engaged from the time of the consultation, and were briefed on a couple of occasions on the evolution of the research. Other private sector representatives were interviewed from NB Tel (New Brunswick) and Canarie (Ottawa). Private consultants like David Barr willingly gave me time for telephone interviews or participated in the group sessions in Ottawa. I thank the representatives of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) who opened their doors to me. Fred Bigham in particular was extremely supportive not only to invite relevant Ottawa colleagues, but also to coordinate logistics for me. Stephen Delaney, Ted Woodhead and Jacques Therrien all of the CRTC are thanked for the time and interest provided. At Human Resources Development Canada, I am indebted to Ed St. Gelais for the insight that helped us prepare the first conceptual framework of the research. At Statistics Canada, I wish to thank Fred Gault, George Sciadas, Michael Bordt, Haig McCarell, Roland Beshiri, Ray Bollman, Margaret Clement and Hank Hofmann for the stimulating debates and information sources provided. At Industry Canada, exchanges with Lori Seeley, Elise Boisjoly and David Clemis were very encouraging, and the information provided by them is acknowledged. Barbara Bryce, my wife, and our children Anna and Sebastian were my home support team, tolerant of my time on the road or on the computer. I thank them for being such patient company. viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS ..............................................................................................................................................I LIST OF FIGURES.....................................................................................................................................................VI PROLOGUE....................................................................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER ONE.............................................................................................................................................................5 BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT...........................................................................................................................5 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................................ 5 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR RURAL AND REMOTE A REAS................................ 6 CONTEXTS.................................................................................................................................................................. 11 Personal context..................................................................................................................................................11 Rural telecommunication context.....................................................................................................................12 Technological context ........................................................................................................................................16 Sustainability context .........................................................................................................................................22 Canadian 1990s policy context ........................................................................................................................23 A context with multiple components ................................................................................................................27 OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH .............................................................................................................................. 29 THE RESEARCH PROCESS ......................................................................................................................................... 32 SIGNIFICANCE ............................................................................................................................................................ 34 LIMITATIONS.............................................................................................................................................................. 36 STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS ..................................................................................................................................... 37 CHAPTER TWO .........................................................................................................................................................39 LITERATURE REVIEW ..........................................................................................................................................39 STAKING AND SCANNING THE KNOWLEDGE TERRITORY ................................................................................... 39 THE HUMAN SIDE : ORGANIZATIONS AND MANAGEMENT ................................................................................. 42 Systems thinking ..................................................................................................................................................42 Learning organizations......................................................................................................................................49 Adaptive management........................................................................................................................................52 COMMUNICATION FOR RURAL AND REMOTE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT .................................................... 56 Communication: the meaning...........................................................................................................................56 Rural and remote in the Canadian context.....................................................................................................61 Community development and communication ...............................................................................................65 INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES (ICT S).......................................................................... 73 The technology ....................................................................................................................................................73 ICTs and development........................................................................................................................................77 Monitoring and acknowledging impact ..........................................................................................................84 POLICY AND REGULATION IN CANADA ................................................................................................................. 95 Regulation of telecommunication.....................................................................................................................95 Driving forces in public policy.........................................................................................................................98 Local policy making ........................................................................................................................................ 102 TYING LOOSE ENDS INTO A NEW STRAND..........................................................................................................105

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CHAPTER THREE.................................................................................................................................................. 107 METHODOLOGY.................................................................................................................................................... 107 THE DESIGN .............................................................................................................................................................108 Elements that characterize the subject matter ............................................................................................ 108 Rationale for methodological design: Principles as flashlights.............................................................. 109 Theoretical and methodological integration: the components to weave................................................ 112 THE PARTS...............................................................................................................................................................113 A constructivist perspective............................................................................................................................ 113 Grounded theory .............................................................................................................................................. 118 Case study research......................................................................................................................................... 123 Participatory action research........................................................................................................................ 125 Soft systems methodology............................................................................................................................... 131 Theoretical and methodological integration: Weaving the strand.......................................................... 137 THE METHODOLOGY IN A CTION ...........................................................................................................................139 The sequence of events.................................................................................................................................... 139 The methodology in response to the purposes of the research................................................................. 141 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................................155 CHAPTER FOUR..................................................................................................................................................... 156 GENERATING A PERSPECTIVE FOR CASE STUDY ANALYSIS ...................................................... 156 CONSULTATION: PRIORITY TOPICS AND EVALUATION .....................................................................................157 FRAMEWORK ...........................................................................................................................................................161 Policy dimension .............................................................................................................................................. 163 Organizational dimension.............................................................................................................................. 166 Community dimension..................................................................................................................................... 168 Linkages............................................................................................................................................................. 172 The framework in action................................................................................................................................. 173 CASE STUDIES..........................................................................................................................................................176 Selection of sites............................................................................................................................................... 176 Policy as expressed through incentive programmes.................................................................................. 180 CHAPTER FIVE....................................................................................................................................................... 184 CASE STUDY OF K-NET SERVICES .............................................................................................................. 184 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................................184 A BRIEF HISTORY OF K-NET ................................................................................................................................187 SERVICES ..................................................................................................................................................................189 POLICY AND FUNDING EVOLUTION......................................................................................................................191 INTERACTIVE POLICY-M AKING ............................................................................................................................196 TECHNICAL PORTRAIT ...........................................................................................................................................199 ORGANIZATIONAL PORTRAIT ................................................................................................................................202 K-Net as a mediating organization ............................................................................................................... 202 K-Net as a learning organization.................................................................................................................. 205 How K-Net shares experience........................................................................................................................ 209 Features of K-Net managers .......................................................................................................................... 210 SPACES AND PLACES FOR COMMUNITY INNOVATION .......................................................................................211 CLOSING REMARKS.................................................................................................................................................213

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CHAPTER SIX.......................................................................................................................................................... 215 CASE STUDY ON THE COUNTY OF OXFORD INTEGRATED NETWORK (COIN).................. 215 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................................215 A BRIEF HISTORY OF COIN...................................................................................................................................218 SERVICES ..................................................................................................................................................................221 POLICY AND FUNDING EVOLUTION......................................................................................................................222 TECHNICAL PORTRAIT ...........................................................................................................................................229 ORGANIZATIONAL PORTRAIT ................................................................................................................................233 COIN as a mediating organization ............................................................................................................... 233 COIN as a learning organization.................................................................................................................. 236 How COIN shares experience........................................................................................................................ 240 Features of COIN managers .......................................................................................................................... 241 SPACES AND PLACES FOR COMMUNITY INNOVATION .......................................................................................242 CLOSING REMARKS.................................................................................................................................................244 CHAPTER SEVEN .................................................................................................................................................. 245 CASE STUDY OF THE LANARK COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK (LCN)................................... 245 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................................245 A BRIEF HISTORY OF LCN.....................................................................................................................................249 SERVICES ..................................................................................................................................................................254 POLICY AND FUNDING EVOLUTION......................................................................................................................259 TECHNICAL PORTRAIT ...........................................................................................................................................263 ORGANIZATIONAL PORTRAIT ................................................................................................................................265 LCN as a mediating organization................................................................................................................. 266 LCN as a learning organization .................................................................................................................... 268 How LCN shares experience.......................................................................................................................... 272 Features of LCN managers ............................................................................................................................ 275 SPACES AND PLACES FOR COMMUNITY INNOVATION .......................................................................................277 CLOSING REMARKS.................................................................................................................................................279 CHAPTER EIGHT................................................................................................................................................... 281 MONITORING AND EVALUATION............................................................................................................... 281 RATIONALE ..............................................................................................................................................................281 M ONITORING AND EVALUATION IN CONTEXT ...................................................................................................282 PRINCIPLES...............................................................................................................................................................284 A THREE PRONGED M ETHODOLOGY ...................................................................................................................285 The community ICT portrait........................................................................................................................... 286 A results-based management framework ..................................................................................................... 290 Skills, knowledge and attitude ....................................................................................................................... 294 Example: Red Lake and Fort Severn ............................................................................................................ 296 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................................301 CHAPTER NINE...................................................................................................................................................... 302 INTERPRETATION OF THE CASE STUDIES AND FRAMEWORK.................................................. 302 THE FRAMEWORK AS A HEURISTIC TOOL ...........................................................................................................304 TRENDS AT THE ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL .........................................................................................................305 Three levels of support.................................................................................................................................... 305 Alliances and partnerships............................................................................................................................. 305 Community access: a basic building block ................................................................................................. 306 Regulatory impact in the North..................................................................................................................... 306 The trend is towards a focus on applications.............................................................................................. 307

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Shifting roles for mediating organizations.................................................................................................. 308 Supply and demand.......................................................................................................................................... 309 TRENDS IN THE POLICY DIMENSION ....................................................................................................................311 Policy makers have yet to acknowledge how they learn ........................................................................... 311 Limited evidence of interactive policy making............................................................................................ 312 A continuum of grants exists, but its future is clouded.............................................................................. 313 New public and private entrants coexist...................................................................................................... 314 THE COMMUNITY DIMENSION ..............................................................................................................................315 A hypothesis...................................................................................................................................................... 319 ELEMENTS THAT TRAVEL ......................................................................................................................................320 M EASURING IMPACT ..............................................................................................................................................324 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................................326 CHAPTER TEN ........................................................................................................................................................ 328 CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................................................................... 328 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................................328 RURAL AND REMOTE COMMUNITIES HARNESSING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ........................................................................................................................328 OPEN QUESTIONS....................................................................................................................................................332 How do policy makers actually learn?......................................................................................................... 332 What roles will mediating organizations fulfill in the future? ................................................................. 335 Will women's access to, and benefit from, ICTs in rural and remote communities receive special policy attention?............................................................................................................................................... 338 Will ICTs help sustain communities? ........................................................................................................... 339 A CTION -RESEARCH FOR RURAL AND REMOTE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN AN INFORMATION A GE .344 BIBLIOGRAPHY..................................................................................................................................................... 347 APPENDIX 1: A BASIC GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMINOLOGY......................................... 366 APPENDIX 2: SUMMARY OF BROADBAND TECHNOLOGIES ......................................................... 372 APPENDIX 3: PROGRAMMES AND GRANTS MENTIONED IN THE CASE STUDIES AND ACRONYMS.............................................................................................................................................................. 375 APPENDIX 4. A "RICH PICTURE" OF THE GUIDING QUESTIONS AND THE TOOLS USED TO COLLECT DATA............................................................................................................................................. 378 APPENDIX 5: THE RECOMMENDATIONS PROVIDED BY THE PARTICIPANTS TO THE SNOWDEN CONFERENCE................................................................................................................................. 379 APPENDIX 6: AGENDA FOR THE OCTOBER 1998 CONSULTATION............................................ 381 APPENDIX 7: PRIORITY RESEARCH TOPICS FROM THE OCTOBER 1998 CONSULTATION ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 384 APPENDIX 8: EVALUATION OF THE OCTOBER 1998 CONSULTATION..................................... 386 APPENDIX 9: SELF-APPRAISAL TOOL FOR ORGANIZATIONAL COHERENCE.................... 388 APPENDIX 10: SELF-APPRAISAL TOOL TO DOCUMENT THE SERVICES OFFERED BY THE CASE STUDY ORGANIZATIONS THROUGH THEIR MAJOR HISTORICAL PHASES . 390

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APPENDIX 11: CUMULATIVE SCORES FROM THE THREE CASE STUDY ORGANIZATIONS ON THE LESSONS LEARNED........................................................................................................................... 391 APPENDIX 12: HISTORY OF K-NET SERVICES ....................................................................................... 393 APPENDIX 13: SERVICES OFFERED BY K-NET SERVICES OVER THE MAJOR PHASES OF ITS HISTORY........................................................................................................................................................... 398 APPENDIX 14: HISTORY OF COIN ............................................................................................................... 399 APPENDIX 15: SERVICES OFFERED BY COIN OVER THE MAJOR PHASES OF ITS HISTORY.................................................................................................................................................................... 403 APPENDIX 16: HISTORY OF LCN................................................................................................................. 404 APPENDIX 17: SERVICES OFFERED BY LCN OVER THE MAJOR PHASES OF ITS HISTORY.................................................................................................................................................................... 406

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LIST OF FIGURES FIGURE 1.1: OVERVIEW OF THE CASE STUDY ORGANIZATIONS. ............................................................................ 26 FIGURE 1.2: OVERALL MAP OF KEY ISSUES IN THE THESIS....................................................................................... 31 FIGURE 1.3: THE RESEARCH PROCESS ……………………………………………………………………….32 FIGURE 2.1: THE FOUR CONTENT A REAS OF LITERATURE THAT UNDERPIN THIS STUDY .................................. 41 FIGURE 2.2: THE W ORLD INTERPRETED BY IDEAS W HOSE SOURCE IS THE W ORLD ITSELF.............................. 45 FIGURE 2.3: THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING ................................................................ 49 FIGURE 2.4: CREATING THE NETWORKS FOR AN INFORMATION SOCIETY ........................................................... 79 FIGURE 2.5: A FRAMEWORK FOR INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AND SERVICES ...... 80 FIGURE 2.6: DIMENSIONS OF TECHNOLOGY AND PRACTICE …………………………………………………81 FIGURE 3.1: THE THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL INNOVATION LIES IN THE OVERLAP AMONG THE FOUR OVALS.......................................................................................................................................................113 FIGURE 3.2: OVERVIEW OF THE M AIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SECOND PARADIGM ...................................115 FIGURE 3.3: COMPARING THE M AIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SECOND PARADIGM AS IT APPLIES TO NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND TO ICTS.....................................................................................116 FIGURE 3.4: A TYPOLOGY OF PARTICIPATION ........................................................................................................130 FIGURE 3.5: THE CONVENTIONAL SEVEN-STAGE MODEL OF SSM......................................................................134 FIGURE 3.6: THE BASIC SHAPE OF SSM ...................................................................................................................135 FIGURE 3.7: THE GUIDING QUESTIONS AND THE DATA GATHERING TOOLS AND A CTION TAKEN TO INVESTIGATE THEM...........................................................................................................................................151 FIGURE 4.1 HIGHEST -SCORING ISSUES VOTED ON BY PARTICIPANTS TO THE OCTOBER 1998 CONSULTATION ON RURAL TELECOMMUNICATION RESEARCH IN ONTARIO...........................................159 FIGURE 4.2 HIGHEST AND LOWEST SCORES IN THE EVALUATION OF THE ONE-DAY CONSULTATION HELD IN OCTOBER 1998 ...................................................................................................................................160 FIGURE 4.3: A FRAMEWORK FOR RURAL AND REMOTE ICTS...............................................................................163 FIGURE 4.4: THE INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE : INGREDIENTS FOR SUCCESS ..............................................171 FIGURE 4.5: M AJOR FEATURES OF THE CASE STUDY ORGANIZATIONS...............................................................180 FIGURE 4.6: GRADIENT OF GRANTS RANGING FROM SMALL TO HIGH DOLLAR A MOUNTS AND ORGANIZATIONAL REQUIREMENTS................................................................................................................181 FIGURE 5.1: M AP OF KEEWAYTINOOK OKIMAKANAK FIRST NATIONS ...............................................................186 FIGURE 5.2: SUMMARY OF PROGRAMMES AND PARTNERS INVOLVED WITH K-NET .........................................193 FIGURE 5.3: CAP SITES FROM INDUSTRY CANADA’S COMMUNITY A CCESS PROGRAM...................................194 FIGURE 5.4: NORTHERN ONTARIO HELPDESK FOR INDUSTRY CANADA 'S FIRST NATIONS SCHOOLNET PROGRAM............................................................................................................................................................194 FIGURE 5.5: KEEWAYTINOOK OKIMAKANAK'S W IDE A REA NETWORK DEVELOPMENT ..................................195 FIGURE 5.6: TELECOMMUNICATION INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT ..............................................................196 FIGURE 5.7: SAMPLE CRTC FORM REQUESTING FEEDBACK ON BASIC DEFINITIONS THAT W OULD FALL UNDER THE HIGH COST SERVING A REA DESIGNATION...............................................................................197 FIGURE 5.8: A NARRATIVE ABOUT TECHNICAL INNOVATION ...............................................................................200 FIGURE 5.9: A SUMMARY OF THE EVOLUTION OF K-NET 'S TECHNICAL PORTRAIT .........................................201 FIGURE 5.10: TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED BY K-NET AS EVIDENCE OF ITS MEDIATING ROLE WITH COMMUNITIES ........................................................................................................................................204 FIGURE 5.11: CUMULATIVE SCORES FROM SEVEN SURVEY FORMS BY K-NET STAFF AND A SSOCIATED CONSULTANTS....................................................................................................................................................202 FIGURE 5.12: EXAMPLES OF SPACES AND PLACES FOR INNOVATION CREATED THROUGH INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN NORTH WESTERN ONTARIO ...........................................................212

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FIGURE 6.1: M AP OF OXFORD COUNTY ...................................................................................................................216 FIGURE 6.2: SUMMARY OF PROGRAMMES AND PARTNERS A CCESSED BY COIN...............................................223 FIGURE 6.3: LOGICAL AND GEOGRAPHIC MAP OF COIN.......................................................................................230 FIGURE 6.4: THE TECHNICAL CONFIGURATION OF COIN.…..……………….…………………………….231 FIGURE 6.5: CUMULATIVE SCORES FROM 14 SURVEYS FROM IAO/COIN STAFF, STEERING COMMITTEE M EMBERS AND OTHER CORPORATE SERVICES AND LIBRARY STAFF . ......................................................237 FIGURE 6.6: EXAMPLES OF SPACES AND PLACES FOR INNOVATION CREATED BY INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN OXFORD COUNTY ............................................................................244 FIGURE 7.1: M AP OF LANARK COUNTY....................................................................................................................248 FIGURE 7.2: THE SEVEN PLANNING STEPS TOWARDS A SMART COMMUNITY ...................................................255 FIGURE 7.3: SUMMARY OF PROGRAMMES AND PARTNERS A CCESSED BY LCN.................................................260 FIGURE 7.4 A SUMMARY OF THE LCN INFRASTRUCTURE . ...................................................................................263 FIGURE 7.5: CURRENT LANARK COUNTY NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE .............................................................264 FIGURE 7.6: THE LCN’S DEVELOPMENTAL STRATEGY .........................................................................................265 FIGURE 7.7: CUMULATIVE SCORES FROM 6 FORMS RECEIVED FROM LCN STAFF AND MEMBERS OF THE LCN BOARD .......................................................................................................................................................268 FIGURE 7.8: EXAMPLES OF SPACES AND PLACES FOR INNOVATION CREATED BY INFORMATION, COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN LANARK COUNTY ............................................................................279 FIGURE 8.1: RESIDENTIAL ICT INDICATORS OF OUTPUTS ....................................................................................288 FIGURE 8.2: A RESULTS-BASED M ANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK. ...........................................................................292 FIGURE 8.3: SKILL SCORING TOOL USED BY PROJECT INTERNS AT THE START AND END OF A TRAINING PROGRAMME.......................................................................................................................................................295 FIGURE 8.4: RELATIVE SKILL CHANGES FOR CAP STUDENTS ...……………………………………………296 FIGURE 8.5: EXCERPT FROM THE POSTER A NNOUNCING THE W ORKSHOP "W ORKING SMART IN THE NEW M ILLENNIUM ", RED LAKE, NOVEMBER 9-11, 1999..........................................................................298 FIGURE 8.6: EVALUATION OBJECTIVES FOR KUH-KE-NAH...................................................................................300 FIGURE 9.1: THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................................302 FIGURE 9.2: THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THIS STUDY.................................................................................................303 FIGURE 9.3: A HYPOTHESIS ABOUT RURAL AND REMOTE ICT S...........................................................................320 FIGURE 10.1: THREE TYPES OF LEARNING AND POLICY CHANGE ........................................................................334 FIGURE 10.2: QUALIFYING THE TYPE OF PARTICIPATION BY STAKEHOLDER GROUP AND STAGE OF THE RESEARCH ...........................................................................................................................................................344

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PROLOGUE

This thesis is one story among many about how people harness communication technologies. As with all other stories, this one is but a small slice of history, of geography, of culture and of communication tools. This research focuses mostly on the last few years of the decade of the 1990s. The geography of the story is specifically rural and remote, spread over three regions of the Province of Ontario, in Canada. Major cultural and economic differences exist between the remote northwest and the agricultural south. The communication tools cover a wide range of technologies starting with plain telephone service, all the way to high-speed connectivity through fibre, wireless and satellite technology that allows for unprecedented applications when combined with computer networks, data and audiovisual media.

The new media change relationships in ways no

other media have in the past and also evolve at rates that surpass many organizations' capacities to adjust (Burke and Ornstein, 1997).

The frenzy of

innovation begs to answer some questions. Who is in control? Who is gaining? Who is losing? What is the purpose? This research is primarily about communication with emphasis on its role in community development. This thesis builds on my work experience and interest in learning how communication can become a tool for people to improve their lives. As basic as the issue seems, it is truly complex. Communication comes from the Latin communis facere, or "making together". People use symbols and 1

language to find common meaning and interact, to make it possible to do things together.

Our language shapes our learning; it expresses what we know, while

at the same time it frames what we perceive. Communication and language are traits of culture; they are also the means to find meaning across cultures. Communication is tightly linked to the tools we use to express meaning. Fuglesang (1982) describes how different cultures carve information codes onto their walking sticks - utensils as media immersed and expressed in art. Art, religion and information are the hallmarks of ancient Mayan and Egyptian hieroglyphs. For centuries communication has been art, science and skill all in one. Doing research about communication is a rich, endless, interactive maze of exploration that does not fit into pre-established disciplinary categories. The sequence of events is not linear and a map, as the one provided in Figure 1.3 on page 32, is necessary for the reader to stay abreast of the many dimensions of the study. The research that allowed me to discover this story was publicly funded, allowing me a great deal of freedom in the design of the project with no intervention from any party with vested interests. This is a luxury in telecommunication research in which independent exploration as a whole is a rare commodity. Worldwide, 80 percent of research on the relationship between telecommunication infrastructure and economic development is conducted by the private sector (Mueller, 1993:151).

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In Chapters One and Ten I have included text boxes with 'voices from the field'. These are statements from the people I interviewed that communicate the passion that drives their work:

Voices from the field "…it is a go-for-it mentality, any idea is pursued, if the energy is there, don’t know if we evaluate how we do it. We each bring particular skills; each adds their review of an idea. Each specialist chases them up." (Modified from an interview transcript with representatives of a case study organization.)

This prologue is intended to help the reader navigate through this thesis. As I mentioned above, the story that I share in this thesis is not linear and the reader may often need to refer to a 'map' so as not to get lost. Figure 1.2 on page 31 provides the most general picture of this learning journey. The journey led me to gain an improved understanding about how rural and remote communities harness

information

and

communication

technology

for

community

development. Figure 1.3 is a more specific guide to the journey and it outlines the major steps as well as the chapters in the thesis where they are described. I recommend that readers tag page 32 where Figure 1.3 appears so that they may refer to it as they begin each chapter. The structure of the thesis is the following: Chapter one provides an introduction into the field of study with attention to the different contexts that are relevant. In this Chapter I explain to readers why the subject matter is important to me as researcher and why I feel it is a timely and relevant field of 3

study. This first chapter describes the objectives of the research, the significance and the limitations of the study. Readers may also want to tag the page with the objectives to remind themselves of the scope of the study.

In Chapter Two I

review the relevant literature and in Chapter Three I describe how I assembled my research methodology. Chapter Four describes the general perspective, or initial research framework, that I used to develop the three case studies that appear in Chapters Five through Seven. The case studies, in turn, shaped the design of the research framework. This feature of the research is more cyclical than linear, as I try to describe in Figure 1.3. Chapter Eight may be perceived by some readers as breaking the flow, yet it is a necessary change in tone in that I present a methodology for monitoring and evaluation. The methodology is 'located' within the research framework described in Chapter Four and it builds on the case studies. In Chapter Nine I review the objectives of the research once again and I analyze the case studies with attention to the elements and conditions that explain their major accomplishments. In Chapter Ten I review the theoretical contributions of this study and I describe some questions for further research. For readers interested in specific details and findings, there are 17 appendices that contain a rich summary of data gathering tools and case study information.

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CHAPTER ONE BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT

Introduction This story is about how people in rural and remote communities harness communication technology, how they organize themselves to put it to work towards their own, negotiated goals. It is a story about the way in which people in rural and remote communities devise social organizations to harness telecommunication innovation. The emphasis on rural and remote has to do with both the technological potential to reduce isolation and with the additional efforts needed to ensure infrastructure and service delivery reach areas where market forces are insufficient to respond to demand. Many institutions play a part in this issue: governmental policy-makers and regulators, private telecommunication corporations, rural organizations, investors, and rural communities. The story starts with the need to create a common understanding about what telecommunications means for rural and remote communities. The effort requires consultation with the other stakeholders that make rural and remote telecommunications relevant as a tool to improve livelihoods, an effort of communis facere in rural and remote communities.

The story goes further,

towards developing methodology to track the impact of community-based, technologically assisted, development. Last, the story provides new insight into

5

the dynamics and roles of social organizations that harness information and communication technology for rural and remote community development.

Information and Communication Technology for Rural and Remote Areas Advocates of the expansion of information and communication technology (ICT) emphasize its potential to reduce isolation, improve service delivery, and open new markets. Critics warn of the risks of increasing the contrast between rich and poor and of cultural homogenization. Provincial and federal agencies in Canada, along with the private sector, belong among the advocates who feel that the benefits outweigh the limitations. Rural and remote communities in Canada lag behind urban ones in information and communication infrastructure and services. It is hard to get away from the fact that the capital investments in telecommunication infrastructure tend to be directly related to population density. Ironically, while rural residents stand to gain most from improved services, their numbers are often too small to attract investments from the private sector. Canadian regulators respond to the requirement of minimum service provision that is spelled out in section 7(b) of the Telecommunications Act: "to render reliable and affordable telecommunications services of high quality accessible to Canadians in both urban and rural areas in all regions of Canada" (1993).

Some regulations and several government incentive programmes are

6

designed to extend, upgrade and maintain telecommunication services to underserviced regions of the country where market forces fail to respond to demand. The issues are complex. On the one hand, the regulator seeks to ensure universal access. Such is the case of the Telecom Decision CRTC 99-16: Telephone Service to High-Cost Serving Areas, a decision that defines the minimum service telephone companies must provide in these areas (CRTC, 1999c). In contrast, the private sector will argue that regulatory constraints often serve to further discourage investments.

For example, while the CRTC has decided not to

regulate the Internet (CRTC, 1999b), it still provides licenses for wavelength spectrum. This means that a satellite company that wants to compete by offering broadband access to the Internet still needs to seek regulatory approval. As is discussed in Chapter Two, the regulator faces the ongoing contradiction of fostering competition while ensuring universal access. While telecommunication world-wide is primarily a private sector concern, regulators and governments have recognized that market forces on their own have not led to an expansion into rural and remote areas due to reduced or negative returns on capital investments. Across Canada, there are numerous programmes

aimed

at

enhancing

the

expansion

of

information

and

communication technologies (ICTs) to different regions and sectors. They are created on the assumption that ICTs are an engine of economic growth and social development that merits provincial and federal government support. Little critical analysis is available, however, to ascertain the conditions under which 7

this assumption may be verified. In addition, the thrust of the last few years has been on infrastructure expansion, a necessary first step before people and communities can harness the technology and put it to work towards goals of economic or social wellbeing. Assessing the impact of the technology is further complicated by the fact that the results are often dependent on the presence of other factors such as transportation infrastructure, organizational development and human capital (Morgan, 1992). Many Canadian federal and provincial programmes provide funding exclusively through not-for-profit organizations, be they local government agencies or non-governmental organizations. This is the case, for example, of Industry Canada's "Community Access Programme" (CAP), and of the former "Telecommunications Access Partnerships" (TAP) by the Ontario Ministry of Energy, Science and Technology. The purpose of these programmes is to ensure the expansion of telecommunications through not-for-profit organizations that address local development objectives rather than profits. This policy dimension encourages the evolution of local organizations rooted in communities. This research refers to these organizations as "community network organizations" because of their community development orientation combined with their experience in using ICTs to enhance networking within and beyond communities.

8

Voices from the field "The web site idea was to have it as a gateway; we were planning on handing it to the county to maintain, but interestingly, the multisectoral steering committee asked that it not go to the county because their interests were too specific; we were chosen to maintain it. It is not that the county would not, but the perception was what mattered." (Modified from an interview transcript with representatives of a case study organization.)

Information

and

communication

technology

is

evolving

at

an

unprecedented fast rate. There are many technologies, services, applications and employment opportunities emerging.

In this study, the focus is not on the

technology, but rather on its relevance to community interests. The community network organizations are brokers on behalf of community interests. Their focus is people-centred ICT development. They tend to support community service providers in health, education, local government and business; these are the sectors that typically begin exploring the potential of new technologies. The local organizations are closely related with the service organizations. They form partnerships to provide technical assistance and training, they invite members of those service organizations onto their boards of directors, and they seek funding to enhance the development of infrastructure and applications on their behalf. In doing this, they create neutral spaces where organizations can become familiar with the technology and discover the most relevant applications. As will be noted later, such trustful venues remain important beyond a period of

9

infrastructure expansion, and onto the next phase of software and applications competition. Governments, regulators, local organizations and the public at large can barely keep up with the pace, let alone appreciate the implications, of change in the field of information and communication technology.

The community

network organizations are the pioneers, and as such they often move too fast to reflect on the impact of their accomplishments.

ICT expansion has many

dimensions that include the hardware, the software, and the services that emerge when computers and communication systems are interconnected. The different stakeholders in the process often speak different languages: some are well versed in the technical infrastructure dimension, while others are more concerned with the services.

Many more are specialized in medical or electronic commerce

applications. Worldwide, there is an effort to come to grips with the many dimensions of the ICT with a view to help understand and analyze how it helps society.

Frameworks

to

organize

the

multidimensional

nature

of

telecommunications infrastructure, services and applications abound (Melody, 1996; Mansell and Wehn, 1998; UNDP, 1999). Thus far, however, none of them is explicitly focused on the distinctiveness of rural and remote areas. This study, therefore, aims to fill a knowledge gap that offers fertile ground for heuristic, methodological and theoretical innovation.

10

Contexts Personal context My interest in the field of information and communication technology started in the early 1980s when I began drawing. Using visuals to convey information was rewarding in that it combined art with communication.

I explored this

combination further in South America where I used drawings to capture the farming innovations we developed on a demonstration farm on the northwest coast of Colombia. At that time I came across the work of Andreas Fuglesang through his book About Understanding: Ideas and Observations on Cross-Cultural Communication (Fuglesang, 1982). I wrote to him and shared what we were improvising in our work with subsistence farmers. Our correspondence led to an invitation to share experiences through two workshops with people from around the world who were experimenting with media and community development. With support from the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, Fuglesang convened practitioners to discuss methods and media for community participation in 1984.

One meeting took place in Sweden; the other was

organized in Labrador. These meetings launched me into a field that at the time was known as "development support communication".

I have reported this

learning journey elsewhere (Ramírez, 1999a); what is relevant here is that the Canadian connection led me to the work of the late Don Snowden.

Don

Snowden's work is about people-centered community development with the use

11

of media. His pioneering work began in Newfoundland and the Canadian North and became famous as the Fogo Process. Snowden used film and later video to help people communicate their predicaments and negotiate ways forward with policy-makers and scientists (Snowden, 1998). Snowden's work in Canada was later applied to communities in developing countries with equal success. After his death in 1984, a Snowden Centre was established at Memorial University. Subsequently, the Centre moved to the University of Guelph, and I got back into the Snowden orbit through this research. Snowden's focus was putting media to work towards people's needs, and this emphasis on the human side of information and communication technology is central to this research.

Rural telecommunication context

The contrast between rural and urban access to telecommunication services is a driving force behind the initiatives by rural and remote communities to organize themselves to attract infrastructure and services. The rural vs. urban divide in Canada began as soon as the first telephone company was established. The Bell Telephone Company was incorporated in 1880 and by the early 1990s it benefited from a very strong demand for services (Grindlay, 1975). While the demand for its services was very strong in rural areas, Bell concentrated its activities in larger centres where capital investments per phone were lower and anticipated revenue 12

was higher (Grindlay, 1975; Babe, 1990; Surtees, 1992). In 1904, for Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba, there were 4.5 telephones per 100 people in towns an cities with 7,000 and over population, 2.3 in other communities, and 0.08 in rural areas (Babe, 1990). The urban bias has not changed in over one hundred years of telecommunication development in North America. Today this is evident in the contrasting access to state-of-the-art telecommunication services. As a recent American survey on high-speed2 telecommunication access states: Those outside of population centers, including rural customers, are particularly vulnerable to not being served by market forces alone (there is at least one subscriber to high-speed service in 57% of our sample of small town zip codes, compared to 19% of the most sparsely-populated zip codes). (Federal Communications Commission, 2000:2) In Canada, the 'digital divide' today is a reality, with lower-income groups and rural areas lagging behind in terms of accessibility and affordability relative to high-income groups and urban areas (Reddick et al., 2000; Omnia Communications, 2000; Bruce and Gadsden, 1999; Thompson-James, 1999). It is a paradox that those who stand most to benefit from technologies that reduce what Gillespie and Williams (1988) call the 'friction of distance' have to wait longest to access it. Official Canadian statistics claim that 99 percent of Canadian homes are subscribed to some form of telephone service (Owen, 1980). However,

'High speed' is defined by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission as "…infrastructure capable of delivering a speed of 200 kilobits per second (Kbps) in each direction…the Commission denominates as 'high-speed' those services with over 200 Kbps capability in at least one direction." (Federal Communications Commission, 2000:2). Refer to the glossary for further clarification of technical terms. 2

13

the 'form of service' has been inadequate in some rural areas, while for others in remote communities, it has simply been lacking (Wawatay Television, 1999). Back in 1905, the president of the Bell Telephone Company of Canada was quoted as saying: We certainly and quite properly… give the preference to the needs of a larger number rather than to a lot of farmers' lines. There is a much better return from the expenditure of money on that work than there will be from the expenditure of the same money on smaller lines. (Babe, 1990:80) The disparity in service is one reason why rural people often created their own telephone services. When a group or rural people approached Bell to request that telephone service be established in their community and were advised that it might take years before this was possible, they had no alternative but to organize a system of their own. (Grindlay, 1975:1) Rural doctors, corner storeowners, mining companies, and farmers across rural Canada set up their own systems. By 1910, it is estimated that 460 companies were in operation, mostly in small urban centres and in rural areas (Grindlay, 1975). In 1913, the independents provided 31.4 percent of the total number of telephones in Ontario; by 1985 this proportion was down to 4 percent (Babe, 1990).

As recently as 1951, the independent phone companies in Ontario

supplied 50 percent of rural phones, but accounted for only 13 percent of the telephones province-wide (Babe, 1990). Those numbers have come down as a result of mergers and purchases of independents by Bell Canada. Today, the

14

Ontario Telephone Association represents the interest of 31 independent telephone companies across Ontario. The acquisition by Bell of other providers of telegraphic and telephone service was also common in the U.S.; it is referred to as a policy of horizontal integration (Huntley and Pitt, 1990).

The last century was marked by a

concentration of power by Bell Canada that fought to maintain its monopoly control over telephone services in Quebec and Ontario (Surtees, 1992). Babe (1990) argues that one reason Bell sold its prairie province operations was its reluctance to service rural areas. Bell Canada, the independents, and the federal regulators have been engaged in an ongoing battle since the early 1990s. For the regulator, a central issue has been ensuring universal service. Universal access means "…extending services both geographically (to sparsely settled regions) and demographically (to lower-income groups)." (Babe, 1990:139)

Bell has

argued that its monopoly control over local services generates revenue that allows it to cross-subsidize its long distance service. The company has argued that competition in local service would cut its revenue and reduce its crosssubsidization for long distance, hence limiting its capacity to provide universal access (Babe, 1990). It is beyond the scope of this study to explore the reasoning beyond these arguments. In fact, telecommunication costing is a field of research on its own right (Bigham, 1997). Suffice to say that rural, and especially remote areas serviced by Bell, continue to face disproportionately high fees; and that Bell's arguments failed to convince the regulators. Today Bell's monopoly control 15

has been eroded, especially in the long distance market.

As Surtees (1992)

mentions, Bell Canada embraced competition in international markets, but lobbied hard against it within Canada. Monopolies do not give up easily, so the legacy continues today. What is significant in this study, however, is that the case studies are all located within Bell Canada's territory.

In the case of Oxford County, one

independent (North Norwich Telephones Limited) also operates in the county. All three organizations analyzed in the case studies started off as groups of people organizing to confront either a lack of services, or unaffordable service fees. As such, their experience in the 1990s may be comparable to those of small independent telephone companies that struggled to bring telephones to their communities nine decades before.

Voices from the field "We have continuous discussions about who does what with each project, it is very malleable; we reinvent or re-examine ourselves with each partnership, and we try to mould ourselves to be attractive to the new partner, like whores!" (Modified from an interview transcript with representatives of a case study organization.)

Technological context The context of this research is also molded by the technological and media revolution that has occurred since I began drawing with farmers. 16

The

interconnection between computers and telecommunication systems has led to electronic mail and the Internet as new media.

Previous communication

technologies, such as group theatre and video, depended mostly on projectdriven investments in training and portable technology.

Non-governmental

organizations, governments and United Nations agencies experimented with group media for training and information delivery. I was involved with this work for over five years. The commercial viability of these efforts often failed as they were pilot projects with limited attention provided to the financial viability of the investments. In contrast, the new media are not only commercially viable, but also a major source of revenue for national and global multinational corporations. The infrastructure that may bring the Internet to a rural community is interdependent with commercial interests that seek profit maximization.

As many of the

contributors to The First Mile of Connectivity (Richardson and Paisley, 1998) point out, viable rural services now depend on private and public partnerships, many of which require conducive policy environments to thrive.

How the new

technology influences rural and remote society and how society harnesses it to fulfill its goals are relevant. This consideration calls for an analysis of the role of technology in community development, rather than a focus on the technology per se. Since I will not analyze the technological dimension in depth, I limit my review of the technological dimension to a brief review of recent rulings that 17

define technological issues. Second, I also provide a general overview of the technology with reference to its technical potential and limitations in rural and remote markets. Appendix 1 provides a basic glossary of technical terminology. In

the

fall

of

1999,

the

Canadian

Radio-television

and

Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) established that 'basic telephone services' for high-cost-service areas3 would be defined as follows: • • • • •

Single line touch-tone service with local access to the Internet; Access to enhanced calling features, including 911, voice message relay service for those with hearing difficulties, and features that protect privacy; Access to operator and directory assistance services; Access to long distance; and A copy of the current local telephone directory. (CRTC, 1999c)

The above means that a resident of a rural community with only party-line phones will now be entitled to having a touch-tone phone with the services available to city residents. Rural and remote telephone subscribers will now be able to connect a fax and answering machine to their phone, something which party-line telephone technology did not allow. However, if these subscribers wish to get access to the Internet, their speed of access will be limited to a PC modem that cannot surpass phone line speeds of 56 Kpbs. This means that highspeed modems, such cable modems now available in larger cities in Ontario, are not considered a basic service option. In other words, it will take longer to download complex websites, secure data transmission will be limited, and other

The definition of 'high-cost-serving-areas' and the significance of this CRTC ruling appears in Chapter 5. 3

18

applications such as videoconferencing will not be available (Clark, 1999). For businesses and service agencies in rural and remote areas, these limitations constitute significant barriers to their performance.

In other words, service

universality is regulated by the CRTC at a technological level that, while better than what is currently installed, lags behind what urban customers enjoy. This contrast in access, referred to today as the 'digital divide', is evident in other technologies beyond telephones. For example, cable TV has been available for 30 years in Canada, yet only 34.5 percent of rural vs. 80.2 percent of urban homes have access to it (Reddick et al., 2000). Accessing

higher-speed

telecommunications

is

not

only

about

infrastructure availability. It also has to do with people's income and with their predisposition to the technology. A recent Canadian study published by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre found that from 1997 through 1999, higher income households were three times more likely than lower income households to have access to the Internet in the home. By 1999, about two-thirds of upper income households had access, as opposed to one in four low income households. The report also found that another divide exists between identifiable non-user groups: one group clearly desires access but faces major cost and literacy barriers; the second group of non-users has little interest or perceives no need for Internet access (Reddick et al., 2000).

People's perceptions, fears,

expectations and skill areas are critical issues that fall under 'the demand side' of telecommunication development (Melody, 1996). Several studies about people's 19

varying interests and predisposition to the technology are available; some are oriented toward market research (Reddick et al., 2000; Omnia Communications, 2000), while others are purely research-oriented (Viherä, 1999). A select few address rural and remote populations specifically (Sweetnam, 1999; United States Department of Commerce & United States Department of Agriculture, 2000). As will be explained later, the three case studies that I developed constitute examples of community electronic networking efforts that aim primarily at attracting ICT infrastructure.

Hence, the technology and

infrastructure dimension is truly a contextual one rather than an analytical one. However, the case studies do include descriptions of three elements of infrastructure: a) bandwidth, b) applications, and c) hardware. In some instances, communities have succeeded in reducing the cost of bandwidth upgrades thanks to a pooling of applications into business plans that demonstrate the viability of additional investment (Brohman and Parent, 1997). In others, pilot projects that offer expanded bandwidth have allowed people in communities to explore the potential applications and necessary hardware that the technology offers. On a Canadian scale, and especially at the consumer level, these three factors are in constant play: as one aspect of technology becomes economically promising, the other factors rush to fill the market space. Bandwidth is likely to become increasingly inexpensive as multiple technologies compete to supply businesses and homes with high-speed connectivity. 20

The technologies that offer high-speed bandwidth include the following. Cable, also referred to as hybrid fiber-coax (HFC) commonly used for cable television, in which one television channel can provide 30 Mbps to the home (Clark, 1999). Landline metallic wire technologies include integrated services digital networks (ISDN) at 64 or 128 kbps seed, all the way to T1 lines at 1.544 Mbps. A popular intermediate one is asymmetric digital subscribe line (ADSL) technology that provides simultaneous voice and data transmission over existing copper wires at 0.5 Mbps upstream and 1.5 Mbps downstream speeds (Hawley, 1999). Fibre cable capacity is enormous, up to 10 times faster than any metallic cable transmission: "A single fiber could carry all the phone calls in the U.S." (Shumate, 1999:99). However, the cost of the infrastructure remains very high both at the provider and consumer end. Wireless local multipoint distribution systems (LMDS) offer speeds of 155 Mbps with versatile line-of-sight tower and receiver technology. Wireless systems are popular for data transmission for wide area networks (Skoro, 1999) and for remote locations that lack a basic landline network. Last, satellite broadband will fill the gap where landlines, fibre, or wireless technology are economically or technically less efficient; its costs, however, also remain high and this also applies to the need for rooftop antennas (Norcross, 1999).

New two-way broadband satellite technology, however,

appears to provide a cost-effective alternative, and is expected to reach the North American market in the near future (Gilat-To-Home, 2000). Appendix 2 provides an overview of the above broadband technologies, with mention of their speeds, 21

the distance limitations, the applications that they support, their cost, the limitations for rural and remote expansion, and some general remarks. Technological, regulatory and market forces are shaping the services that community electronic network organizations can attract.

In some cases, the

organizations have purchased their own network hardware and now compete with large corporations in the resale of bandwidith; in other cases they lease lines from major carriers.

Each situation is a 'photograph' of a particular time

characterized by technology and costs that change almost on a daily basis.

Sustainability context A further component of this work has to do with sustainability, a thrust not only of my doctoral programme, but also of one of the granting sources that funded a large part of the fieldwork. What is to be sustained remains a question that can only be answered by the protagonists involved in every setting. Those who see themselves as part of a setting will negotiate what sustainability means to their goals, and which structures or arrangements merit continuity (Röling and Jiggins, 1998).

Sustained learning by local groups is one element that is of

importance in this context. Technology and organizations shift on an ongoing basis. What they do about mediating between technology, policy, funding and community needs is a continuous adaptive learning process. Sustaining the learning process may be the most honest way to address the issue of

22

sustainability, a fashionable term today, but one that suffers from multiple interpretations.

Canadian 1990s policy context The context is also a geographic and temporal one. Since the January 1994 Throne Speech, Canada has embarked on the goal of becoming the most connected country by the year 2000 (Government of Canada Information Highway Advisory Council, 1997). At the national level, the Government of Canada was advised by the Information Highway Advisory Council to expand the information highway through five principles: • • • • •

An interconnected and interoperable network of networks Collaborative public and private sector development Privacy protection and network security Competition in facilities, products and services Lifelong learning as a key design element of Canada's Information Highway (Government of Canada Information Highway Advisory Council, 1997:xi)

The focus of this effort was centred on creating jobs through innovation and investment, reinforcing Canadian sovereignty and cultural identity, and ensuring universal access at reasonable cost. programmes

emerged

soon

after

development along these objectives.

to

foster

Federal and provincial information

infrastructure

All programmes thus far have assisted

communities in establishing or upgrading infrastructure, providing training and

23

developing innovative applications across many sectors of the economy.

A

great deal has changed in a short period of time. As Wright reported, In April, 1994, a mere 20 percent of Canadian households owned a computer, and precious few people had even heard of the Internet, never mind surfed the Web or engaged in a chat. Recently computers in households passed the 50 per cent mark, and, as we all know, the Internet has become ubiquitous." (Wright, 1999:H5) Dedicating public funding to infrastructure development on the basis of broad, expected benefits is not new. As was mentioned in a conference on rural communication and information systems in the United States, the development of that country's interstate highway system followed this logic. What is noteworthy, however, is that these technologies alter all human relationships and not just those that are defined by the marketplace (Bollier, 1988). The fact that the infrastructure is not exclusively driven by the marketplace makes telecommunications an area of particular interest to public policy formation with regard to marginal areas. Who wins and who loses are important questions to ask. The consequences are difficult to measure, let alone predict. Public policy debates in Canada about telecommunication follow two parallel histories: one seeks to strengthen cultural identity while the other seeks to promote economic development and export markets (Abramson and Raboy, 1999). In this research, public policy is reviewed as one of several conditioning elements that shape the growth,

evolution,

and

service

offering

organizations.

24

of

community-based

network

This study includes three case studies that I prepared using an analytical framework that I developed in an iterative fashion through the course of this research. All case studies were prepared using the same information gathering methods, and all three are organized according to a common table of contents. This approach allowed me to identify and differentiate common elements from specific ones. Through the PACTS project4 , the University of Guelph signed memoranda of understanding to pursue the research with two rural community electronic networks. The County of Oxford Integrated Network (COIN) is based in Beachville (near Ingersoll) in Southwestern Ontario.

The Lanark

Communications Network (LCN) is based in Perth, Eastern Ontario. The one remote community electronic network is K-Net Services, Keewaytinook Okimakanak Northern Chiefs Council, based in Sioux Lookout, Northwestern Ontario. The case study sites selected satisfy the following selection criteria: •

They exhibit accomplishments that can be observed and analyzed.



They have an organizational entity that has existed for more than five years; they have an identity that is recognized and referred to across Ontario.



They cover three distinct geographical areas; two are rural and one is remote.



They constitute three different models.

PACTS is the title of a 4-year research project entitled Partnerships, Accessibility, Connectivity Transformation Strategies, funded by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs through the Sustainable Rural Communities Programme with the University of Guelph. 4

25

Figure 1.1 summarizes the geographic coverage of each site, their headquarters location, their organizational identity or affiliation, and the years of work described in this report.

Characteristic

Region Population density (area) Teledensity (no. of phones per 100 people) 6 Headquarters Organizational identity

Period covered in case study History

Name COIN Southwestern Ontario

LCN Eastern Ontario

50 people/km² (2,030 km²)

19 people/km² (2,938 km²)

5.8

52.3

69.1

Sioux Lookout

Beachville

Perth

Keewaytinook Okimakanak Northern Chiefs Council

Information Access Oxford, Oxford County Library

Independent not-forprofit corporation

1975 - March 2000

1985 -March 2000

1993/94 - March 2000

K-Net Services Northwestern Ontario 0.1 people/km² (200,000 km²)5

FIGURE 1.1: OVERVIEW OF THE CASE STUDY ORGANIZATIONS.

The case studies are presented in detail in Chapters Five through Seven. Taking a portrait of the three case study organizations is a challenge best addressed through organizational management approaches. The organizations in question defy traditional descriptions; they change roles often, they encompass multiple

This is a general estimate of the area where the Keewaytinook Okimakanak communities are located as well as many other First Nation communities that have benefited from support by KNet. 6 Estimates based on data received from: K-Net (using INAC statistics), Bell Canada, North Norwich Telephones (independent telephone company operating in Oxford County), Statistics Canada, County of Oxford LRIS, County of Lanark Community Development. The Canadian teledensity figure used here is 60.2 (UNDP, 1999). 5

26

partnerships and relationships; they offer a range of services to different clients or partners; they mold to circumstances much as consulting organizations do. This makes them good examples of "learning organizations"

(Senge, 1990;

Stiglitz, 1999; Morgan, 1997). They are all community-oriented and have a distinct sense of location. They can be compared with experiences across Canada that have combined adult education with communication for community development and extension. They all see technology as a vehicle to improved economic, social, and cultural conditions of rural and remote communities. They all have leaders who are visionary, able to scan 'the large picture' and determine where ICTs and community needs may come together.

A context with multiple components This research is set within a context with several components that merit attention. The following is a list of the salient ones: • • • • • •

a human-oriented telecommunications thrust, new technologies and media, the commercial viability of infrastructure, regulations and incentive policy framework, learning organizations, sustaining the social learning within organizations that mediate between technology, funding, policies and community needs.

In Chapter Two I refer to the abundant literature in the following related areas: communication

for

telecommunications

development

technology,

policy, 27

and

community

planning

and

development;

investment;

and

organizational management and social learning.

There is, however, little

literature where the overlap among these three broad areas appears. This story is about the human side of information and communication technology for rural and remote community development. This research stakes the area of overlap among the components as the subject of study. Moreover, the focus refers specifically to this overlap in the context of rural and remote areas. Hence the title: Rural and remote communities harnessing information and communication technology for community development. The conceptual overlap is also the real-life context where pioneering work is taking place in Canada. This meeting place between existing knowledge domains and experience is the place where this learning journey began in 1997, in Ontario, coinciding with a period of major expansion in ICT infrastructure development both in Ontario and across the country.

28

Objectives of the Research The research centred on the human and organizational dimension because therein lies the opportunity to make the technologies relevant to community needs7 . Four complementary objectives were pursued: 1. To understand and analyze how rural and remote communities organize themselves to make use of ICTs. 2. To develop methodology to measure the impact of technology on the basis of its contribution towards community development purposes. 3. To inform policy-making at local, provincial and federal levels, with particular attention to the impact of ICT programmes and their complementarity. 4. To contribute theoretical perspectives useful in deepening the understanding about rural and remote ICTs. It is hoped that an outcome of this research will be a better understanding of how ICTs can be harnessed toward community development goals. Both the background and the context of this research involved multiple stakeholders from all sectors and from the public and private domain. For the different groups to coordinate efforts, common ways of understanding their work was a requisite.

When an engineer talks about "frame relay", a rural

Also important is the fact that the utility of a communication network increases exponentially with the number of people connected to it. 7

29

teacher for whom this technology may bring significant teaching opportunities may not comprehend the terminology.

Likewise, an engineer hearing a

community development worker talk about "empowering communities" may try to understand it from a Newtonian perspective, entirely missing the reference to giving people new tools to control their lives and negotiate their future. The community-oriented use of media that Don Snowden pioneered in Canada called for learning that matters to people before intervening in their world, and research is one form of intervention. The fact that the Snowden Programme is part of the School of Rural Extension Studies shaped our decision to begin our research through a province-wide consultation. How else could a university contribute to such a complex and dynamic process? In October 1998, we were able to bring together over 30 people from different sectors and parts of Ontario to brainstorm for one day about research priorities on rural telecommunications. We were not surprised to find that the different stakeholders used different languages. We were pleasantly surprised, however, in their interest in studying 17 topics that were listed and rank-ordered through a voting process. Understanding partnerships was top of the list. People were interested in learning how the technology assisted, or benefited from, new alliances and organizational configurations.

This exercise also confirmed the

multi-disciplinary nature of the research through the different meanings it brought to people in the health sector, in education, in business and in local government. A major outcome of this process was the building of relationships 30

and trust. The networking effort served as a kick-start for the research effort. We began designing our research effort with inputs from the practitioners whose work we eventually analyzed. The detailed methodology is presented in Chapter Three.

Figure 1.2 provides the reader with an overall map of key issues

described in this thesis.

Improved

Identify key conditions that have stimulated organizational development in recent years; Develop theory

Prepare case studies with emphasis on organizations

understanding Consultation; understand the context:communities, policies, rural - urban ICT gap, technology, economics, actors

Identify major dimensions, develop frameworks, explore experiences

Time line (fall of 1998 to summer of 2000)

FIGURE 1.2: OVERALL MAP OF KEY ISSUES IN THE THESIS.

31

Interpret lessons and acknowledge changing context by posing new questions

The Research Process This communication story is summarized as a research process in Figure 1.3.

literature review (Ch. 2)

stakeholder consultation priority topics & a mandate from a network of interested organizations (Ch. 4)

exploratory discussions with policy makers, and practitioners realization of the need to move to an analytical phase

networking and discussions with stakeholders a conceptual framework as a map of major dimensions to analyze (Ch. 4)

identification & open ended investigation of case study sites realization of the need to move to an analytical phase

literature review introduction of issues and concepts (Ch. 2 & 3)

guiding questions defined first draft of a framework to analyze cases and organize their experience (Ch. 3)

design of the analytical framework a guide to inquiry & definition of data needed to analyze each dimension of the research (CH.3 & 4)

conclusions (Ch. 10)

development of a monitoring & evaluation methodology (Ch. 8)

review of the framework with practitioners the framework used as a model

incorporated detailed issues analyzed within each dimension small ovals inserted into the framework

pre-test of interview guides and selfappraisal forms feedback from sites on relevance

design of interview guides and self-appraisal forms (Ch. 4)

FIGURE 1.3: THE RESEARCH PROCESS .

32

the framework as a heuristic tool interpretation of case studies & identification of the conditions that enhanced their evolution; propose a hypothesis (Ch.9)

review of the framework with policy makers the framework used as a model

three revised case studies (Ch. 5,6 & 7)

case study preparation using common framework review of the case studies with each organization (Ch. 5,6 & 7)

fieldwork with case study sites data collected through selfappraisal forms and in-depth interviews

The text boxes in Figure 1.3 in bold describe an action, and the italics text describes the outcome of that action.

This figure provides the reader with a

summary of the research process followed in this research. I refer to this figure throughout the text to help locate the reader in the sequence of events. As mentioned earlier, the research began with a stakeholder consultation to determine research topic priorities. This consultation generated contacts with a number of individuals and organizations in Ontario that were active in implementing rural and remote ICTs.

We received suggestions from them on

how to begin addressing the challenge of understanding and analyzing how rural and remote communities organize themselves to make use of ICTs (Objective 1). Their suggestions led to the design of the conceptual framework. Don Richardson and I entered into a process of exploration using the conceptual framework through a round of discussions with practitioners and policy makers. The conceptual framework served as an initial perspective to pursue the research and to communicate the approach to others. We sought research partners, additional research funding and feedback on the general orientation of the framework. I also used this conceptual framework to strike memoranda of understanding for research collaboration with the three case study organizations described in Figure 1.1. The conceptual framework helped served me as a map to organize what appeared to be the major components of the issue. Figure 1.3 further signals that I moved onto more specific guiding questions, and subsequently developed an analytical framework. The analytical 33

framework led me to the design of interview guides and self-appraisal forms that placed most attention on analyzing the case study organizations from several perspectives.

The analytical framework, interview guides and self-appraisal

forms were the tools I developed and used for case study preparation. However, the case studies also shaped my understanding, and helped me revise the framework. Figure 1.3 describes how the framework was reviewed with practitioners and policy makers. The research led to two kinds of findings in parallel: the framework itself and the case studies that were developed by using the analytical framework. The case studies, however, also shaped the framework; each 'informed' the other. The monitoring and evaluation component responds to Objective 2 of this research. We worked with additional projects that allowed us to test some elements of the methodology: facilitating two community engagement workshops for planning ICTs in remote communities, and an evaluation of a rural partnership project. This methodological component of the research is subservient to Objective 1 and is presented as a secondary contribution.

Significance

Rural and remote ICT practitioners in Ontario tend to be pioneers who have established or built on existing community interests and have established county or district-based network organizations. These pioneers are innovators with little 34

time to formally reflect on what they have done, beyond what grant reporting requirements demand.

The first objective of this research is to provide an

analytical framework for rural and remote ICT development that is meaningful to all relevant stakeholders in Ontario. The framework allows for discussion to be located along common themes.

As other experiences with collaboration

across many organizations has shown (Lee, 1993), a shared language emerges as different stakeholders find meaning in the framework. It is expected that by developing a framework to understand and analyze their experience, a range of experiences can be described that should allow the practitioners to exchange lessons, even when each context and life history is distinct. It is also hoped that this research will be relevant to federal and provincial agency staff who develop policy and implement programmes for ICT development. In particular, I expect that the emerging methodology for tracking change will be of relevance, especially as there are no universally accepted standards for monitoring and evaluation. In this research, measuring impact is not seen as synonymous with demonstrating causality. Measuring impact is focused on tracking changes as a result of specific ICT-related interventions that are part of other market, social and historical forces at play. Measuring impact is tightly linked with planning and monitoring, and this is an area of relevance, particularly to people and groups within communities that are involved in planning ICT projects.

35

Third, this research should contribute to filling a knowledge gap with regard to the human and organizational side of rural and remote ICT development.

Scholars of the overlapping fields of rural and community

development, ICTs and policy-making may find new insights into their complementarity.

Limitations I acknowledge several limitations to this research. The time dimension focused most attention on the 1996-2000 time period, although all of the community network organizations profiled in the case studies had important antecedents before this date. The five years in question coincide with a period in which major Canadian programmes emerged to support infrastructure expansion. As is evident in the history of each case study organization, this time period shaped to a large extent the current skills of the organizations' staff and service offerings. This research was also based on empirical evidence from three sites, all of them in Ontario.

Besides funding and time constraints, the three case study

organizations were selected because they represented distinct experiences and geographies. While Algoma.Net was considered as a possible fourth case study organization during the first round of field exploration, it was not included partly because it was not distinct from the other three. Examples of some of its accomplishments, however, are mentioned in Chapter Nine.

36

It is worth

mentioning that the additional, parallel projects that are part of this study were funded by grants obtained directly by two of the case study organizations, in Oxford County and in Northwestern Ontario, that invited my advisor and me to collaborate with them. Because this research was limited to three Ontario locations, the generalizability of the findings may be somewhat limited. This study is further limited to a focus on the human and organization side of rural and remote ICTs. This means that significant areas of study, such as the technological design of the networks, while included in the case studies, remain more descriptive rather than analytical.

Gender and technology is an

important field of research that was only addressed in a limited manner; some observations about this issue are mentioned in the last chapter. This research approaches rural and remote community development and ICTs through a systems perspective, in particular, through soft systems methodology.

The

rationale for this choice is explored in detail in Chapters Two and Three. A systems perspective calls for the identification of parts and linkages, and for the analysis of emerging properties in the system.

Structure of the Thesis Figure 1.3 includes reference to some of the chapter contents. Chapter Two provides a review of literature across the broad themes underlying this research. I have made a particular effort to address literature that overlaps among four

37

relevant areas. Chapter Three describes the methodology with reference to the underlying paradigms and theoretical constructs that shaped the research. The findings are spread over five chapters. Chapter Four describes the research framework, and provides a summary of the major features of the case studies. The case studies are presented in Chapters Five through Seven, while Chapter Eight describes the monitoring and evaluation methodology developed.

In

Chapter Nine I interpret the findings from the previous four chapters. The last chapter is dedicated to reviewing the new perspective that emerged through this study. I also propose some open questions that further research can address and I discuss the theoretical advances made in terms of a new framework to understand rural and remote ICTs. Finally, I review the participatory dimensions of this research and the implications of action-research in this field in the future.

38

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW

Staking and Scanning the Knowledge Territory The human side of information and communication technology for rural and remote community development is a knowledge territory that is staked by the overlap of several bodies of literature.

While each one is made up of several

other fields of study, I have describe the four main bodies of literature as follows: •

The human side is addressed through systems thinking, organizations, management and learning



Communication for rural and remote community development



Information and communication technology (ICT)



Policy and regulation The first body is based on systems thinking and has two major

components: organizations and management.

Here I draw from the literature

on organizational management, including the nature of learning organizations, and from the literature on natural resource management where multiple actors negotiate agreements for coordinated action within complex systems. ' Systems', 'learning organizations', 'adaptive management', and 'local policy networks' are among the key elements that I identify as threads to weave into a new strand. Reference is also made to soft systems methodology that addresses complex or 39

messy issues in which many stakeholders interact and no single fixed purpose exists. This section therefore has close ties to some of the principles described in Chapter Three on methodology. The second body is the field of communication for development, in particular for rural and remote community development. I review the Canadian experience applying communication tools and adult education methods to support rural and remote community development.

The combination of

communication media and adult education has proven to be a powerful strategy for people-centred development. This combination is another central element that I identify for weaving a new strand.

This emphasis on people-centred

development is at the heart of the Snowden Program, University of Guelph, through which much of my research was operationalized. The third body of literature refers to the new technology. I address this field from two main dimensions - the characteristics of the new media, and the emerging services, applications, and infrastructure. Second, I review the implications of these technologies for change in society. The literature on the impact of ICTs on developing countries is mentioned, as the conditions of some rural and many remote communities in Canada exhibit comparable indicators of development. Within this literature, I review the methods for measuring impact and I visit the subject of indicators.

40

The fourth element is the Canadian policy and regulatory context, one that includes a complex history of broadcast and communication policy interaction. For rural and remote communities, policies and incentive programmes, coupled with regulatory intervention, have been of critical importance for the expansion of telecommunication infrastructure to areas that so desperately needed to become linked.

While on the one hand telecommunication investment is

primarily a private sector domain, for rural areas the free market does not offer an adequate response, be it for market reasons or due to regulatory constraints. The key element here is the balancing act of government intervention and free market liberalization. The 'balancing act' is the key element that is articulated through governmental incentive programmes and regulation.

FIGURE 2.1: THE FOUR CONTENT A REAS OF LITERATURE THAT UNDERPIN THIS STUDY .

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The literature within each of the four content areas shown in Figure 2.1 is so vast that there is an imperative to be selective. I have therefore selected literature on the basis of the following criteria: •

It provides relevant foundational concepts and definitions.



It provides meaningful relationships across disciplines that are relevant to the research.



It describes key elements that I use to develop methodology, interpret findings, and build theory.



It lies along the overlap of at least two of the content areas.

The Human Side: Organizations and Management Systems thinking The human and organization realm in this research is addressed through a systems approach. It is important to recognize that one cannot study a topic, process or organization all by itself and must instead trace its character to the network of relations with other groups in which it arises (Becker, 1998). Becker's 'bag of tricks'8 in sociological research is of relevance in ICT research in which the

According to Becker (1998), a trick is a simple device that helps you solve a problem: "…a trick is a specific operation that shows a way around some common difficulty, suggests a procedure that solves relatively easily what would otherwise seem an intractable and persistent problem." (p.4) 8

42

nature of organizational networks begins to describe the essence of the organizations themselves.

This is doubly true in this research about

organizations that are network providers; in other words, they sell access to a network that they operate. This notion is explored under the term of 'connexity' in a recent publication on the significance of living in a connected world (Mulgan, 1997). The term attempts to describe how organizations are increasingly shaped by the size and nature of the networks they are connected to. Systems thinking is holistic; it addresses overall patterns and relationships rather than reducing issues to smaller parts. Bennetts, Wood-Harper and Mills offer a relevant analysis: A systems approach will reflect a concern to look at a potential system as a whole (holistically). This is in contrast with the scientific or engineering approach, which tends to solve problems by breaking them down into smaller, more manageable fragments (reductionism). Further, and in particular, a systems approach will be expected to address the human and organizational issues that tend to be ignored in the traditional approaches. (Bennetts et al., 2000:193) Human and organizational issues are very central to this research, and systems thinking lends a hand at understanding and analyzing their roles and behaviour in the complex context of rural and remote ICTs. Some fundamentals of systems thinking are important to review. The core idea of systems thinking is described as follows: …a complex whole may have properties which refer to the whole and are meaningless in terms of the parts which make up the whole. These are the so called 'emergent properties'…These ideas together 43

generate the image or metaphor of the adaptive whole which may be able to survive in a changing environment. To make mental use of that image is to do systems thinking. (Checkland and Scholes, 1990:18-19) Systems are described as having emerging properties. This implies a view of reality as having a hierarchy of layers. "An observer can describe emergent properties for each layer." (Checkland and Scholes, 1990:19). Checkland and Scholes (1990) suggest a biological metaphor to express this feature of systems: atoms make up molecules, and these make up cells which in turn make up organs which are, in turn, part of an organism. Beyond emergence and hierarchy, a system exhibits mechanisms of communication and control that serve the system as means of adapting and surviving. Systems are said to exhibit the above four features. Systems thinking guides the way we perceive a situation. As Checkland and Scholes (op.cit.) suggest, it is part of the stock of ideas by means of which we interpret the world around us. Through the following example, they suggest that we perceive the world through the filter of ideas internal to us, but the source of many of those ideas is the world outside. When the Spanish conquistadores arrived in what is now Mexico, the indigenous people, unfamiliar with horse riding and seeing riders dismount from horses, thought that creatures had arrived that could divide themselves in two at will. (Checkland and Scholes, 1990:19) Checkland and Scholes explain this notion through a diagram (Figure 2.2). Figure 2.2 illustrates our mental process: ideas (x) are used in some methodology

44

(m) to interpret a perceived reality. In fact, treating reality 'as if it were a system' in itself constitutes an idea (x).

FIGURE 2.2: THE W ORLD INTERPRETED BY IDEAS W HOSE SOURCE IS THE W ORLD ITSELF. (Checkland and Scholes, 1990:23)

In Chapter Three I further explore some of the above concepts, especially as some further diagrams by Checkland and Scholes are useful in describing the methodological challenge of this research. In the following sections I detail several examples of how systems thinking is useful in the study of organizations, and as a conceptual tool to analyze the different actors in a 'knowledge system'. Systems thinking is useful as a tool for learning about complex situations and for interdisciplinary research (Ackoff, 1969). Since the late 1950s and early 1960s, systems thinking has been applied to the analysis of organizations (Emery, 1969; Emery and Trist, 1969; Churchman, 1971). Erik Trist's work with the Tavistock Institute led to the notion of socio-technical systems (Trist, 1981). Socio-technical systems were understood at the time as a new field of inquiry 45

where work conditions would be analyzed and improved through action research and a systems perspective. At the time the 'work' was coal mining, whereas in this dissertation I am addressing ICTs. What is relevant is the view that social and technological issues could no longer be addressed in parallel; rather they were to be analyzed jointly as a system and with the involvement of the actors, namely the coal miners. "Work organizations exist to work - which involves people using technological artifacts (whether hard or soft) to carry out sets of tasks related to specified overall purpose." (Trist, 1981:10) Trist's concept of a socio-technical system is useful as a basis for framing questions about ICTs and rural and remote communities. Ecologists, as much as organizational researchers, use systems thinking. The properties of systems are very much part of ecosystem analysis and about how humans interact within them (Gunderson et al., 1995; Alsop and Farrington, 1998; Costanza and Folke, 1996; Holling and Sanderson, 1996). Of particular interest here is how biological metaphors are relevant to the study of organizations. For example, Alsop and Farrington (1998) write about "nests, nodes and niches" as the basis for a system for process monitoring, information exchange and decision making for multiple stakeholders. Alexander (2000) sees the nervous system of an organism as a metaphor for a desirable role for humanity to take on, as the nervous system of a whole-Earth-as-organism. In this analysis, an organism has a wholeness described by its genetic material that is common to all its cells. In contrast, what stability exists in an ecosystem 46

depends on a balance of feedback processes that preserve form and others that promote expansion (Alexander, 2000). To avoid negative interpretations about centralization and control, he signals that nervous systems are as much controlled by the body of an organism as the organism is controlled by it. Following this metaphor, Alexander argues that information-based tools play a part in developing new ICT-mediated groupings which are oriented more towards collaboration and community than competition and individualism (Alexander, 2000). ICTs in this context are perceived as information networks at the service of human and organizational systems. Another system-based concept of relevance to this research is the notion of 'information and knowledge system' (Röling, 1988a). Röling (1988) suggests that information is the common denominator that connects all actors in a system. Röling's depiction of the Dutch agricultural information system is compatible with the notion of socio-technical systems advanced by Trist (1981), in that he seeks to highlight the relationships between the social actors and the many activities that are part of agricultural work. The concept of AKIS is a socio-technical concept. The 'A' (for agriculture) in the acronym can be replaced by other letters denoting other subject matter areas, be it health, or community development. The focus is on people, their process of learning, their decision-making, their relationships, and their purposes. This concept allows us to address a number of interrelated elements of a system including social organizations, technology, and policy making (Röling, 47

1997). The concept, for example, of the ecological knowledge system (Röling and Jiggins, 1998) captures a socio-technical system where the ecology is the 'common denominator' for a range of actors who are interrelated. The interrelationship is not restricted to a physical or organizational landscape, but to the knowledge that the actors who intervene in it use to find ways to move forward. The actors become stakeholders through a group definition of the boundaries of the issue and confirmation that they indeed 'own the problem' and stand to gain by negotiating ways of collectively moving ahead (Ramírez, 1999c). A key idea behind the AKIS concept is that innovation is not a linear process, but rather an emergent property of the interaction among complementary actors. Engel (1997) refers to the idea of 'theatres of innovation' and of improving the innovative performance of the system. Systems thinking is a way of seeing and understanding complexity; in other words, it is a paradigm of relevance to the analysis of information and communication systems where multiple viewpoints intervene (Bennetts et al., 2000). Bennetts and colleagues (2000) as well as other authors (Bryden, 1994) promote systems thinking, and in particular soft systems methodology (SSM) as relevant research tools for ICT analysis. SSM is a methodology based on systems thinking; it is described in Chapter 3.

48

Learning organizations The 'human side' tends to be researched extensively in the context of the management of change within corporations (Ciborra, 1993; Wheatley, 1992) and with regards to business-to-business networks (Provan and Sebastian, 1998). The 'human side' tends to be closely related to organizational behaviour, and learning is a central concept in the business literature. The literature on learning within organizations is extensive (Garratt, 1994; Denton, 1998; Wheatley, 1992; Senge, 1990; Morgan, 1997; Argyris and Schön, 1978; Argyris, 1993; Argyris, 1990). Of relevance here are the characteristics of learning organizations as summarized in Figure 2.3. Characteristic Learning strategy Flexible structure Blame-free culture Vision External awareness Knowledge creation and transfer

Quality

Supportive atmosphere Teamworking

Description Learning is a deliberate and conscious part of the strategy A simple, streamlined structure that helps learning in the company Learning is valued and encouraged, and the environment is blame-free The organization has a clear vision of the future which is shared in all quarters The organization uses scenario planning, benchmarking and related techniques to scan its environment The creation of new knowledge is seen as central to the work of the organization and people can easily learn and utilize knowledge from other parts of the organization The organization focuses on total quality management and strives for continuous improvement Excellent results require happy, productive individuals, who feel a sense of ownership and empowerment Small groups of people work closely together. Networks are effectively teams working outside the organization

FIGURE 2.3: THE CHARACTERISTICS OF ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING (adapted from Denton, 1998, 91).

49

This literature reports on how organizations that are able to adapt to shifting consumer preferences, technology and prices are successful. Reference is made to dynamic information technology firms as cases where organizational structure and strategy are well adapted to continuous change in turbulent environments (Morgan, 1997). Those that do not adapt tend to become stagnant. Being adaptive and flexible is not a feature that comes easily to rigid, bureaucratic organizations (Harvey, 1988).

Rigid organizations can survive

while the environments they work in remain stable and predictable; on the other hand, if the environment is dynamic, they tend to fall behind and lose relevance or competitiveness. In the ICT sector, adapting to change is a must. As dynamic organizations adopt and adapt ICTs, their pattern of interaction changes; some authors suggest that their networking characteristics start becoming central to their very nature (Mulgan, 1997).

The way

organizations come together as teams to co-ordinate new service offerings is facilitated by ICTs in that the cost of the interaction is minimal.

New

'communities' emerge as constellations that innovate beyond the capacity of any single firm (Wenger and Snyder, 2000; Blankenburg Holm et al., 1999). In some instances, the organizations engage their customers in co-creating value, a concept that is very relevant, among other sectors, in the development of networking software (Ramirez, 1999; Bennetts et al., 2000).

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Understanding organizations is to a large extent a systems challenge. Organizations are understood as groups of individuals who coordinate activities towards a common purpose.

Organizations develop by-laws and rules to

standardize their procedures. For some economists, organizations can be understood simply as a group of people working along standardized procedures as a means of reducing transaction costs (Williamson, 1997). In contrast, Morgan (1997) suggests that organizations can only be understood through multiple metaphors. He argues that a metaphor invites us to see similarities, while at the same time it tends to make us ignore differences.

"Metaphor is inherently

paradoxical. It can create powerful insights that also become distortions, as the way of seeing created through a metaphor becomes a way of not seeing." (Morgan, 1997:5) Morgan describes the following metaphors: the machine, the organismic, the brain, the culture, the political, the psychic prison and the flux and transformation. During my research, the role of local organizations that assist communities in accessing and harnessing ICTs emerged as a pivotal issue to analyze.

Morgan's work, a compilation in itself of a vast collection of

organizational literature, was a useful reference point from which to develop data gathering tools to describe and characterize a number of features of these organizations. I focused my attention on the metaphor of organizations as brains to discover how they scan information, how they network within, how they deal with disagreement, how they learn, and how they learn to learn. I found the 51

metaphor of organizations as flux and transformation relevant to discover how they evolve, how they re-invent relationships with partners, how they organize internally and manage their roles, how they develop new understandings of their contribution to their constituents. portraits of the organizations.

The different metaphors helped me take Denton's (1998) description of learning

organizations described in Figure 2.3 suggests that most of the characteristics were covered. The concept of the learning organization, therefore, is one more of the key threads that I use to weave the new strand.

Adaptive management Adaptive management is a concept that is compatible with learning organizations. It emerges from the field of natural resource management, especially in the context of multi-stakeholder negotiations and policy development (Lee, 1993). The literature on the management of complex natural resources uses systems thinking and soft systems methodology (SSM) to analyze how rural actors create multi-stakeholder relationships; the collection of actors is described as a soft system (Röling and Jiggins, 1998; Woodhill and Röling, 1998). Woodhill and Röling talk about environmental management being a social ecology based on systemic approaches to inquiry (1998: 48). Social learning is at the heart of this process; it is action-oriented and committed to transformation. Environmental management requires adaptation, facilitation and management:

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"It is necessary to think in terms of a facilitative and adaptive 'co-evolution'." (Woodhill and Röling, op.cit., 59) Social learning, facilitation, and adaptation among multiple actors is the subject matter of the literature on collaborative management of natural resources (Borrini-Feyerabend, 1996; Daniels and Walker, 1996; Daniels and Walker, 1997; Engel and Salomon, 1997; Lightfoot et al., 1999). All of these approaches involve bringing multiple stakeholders together to negotiate outcomes. They all engage stakeholders in first of all agreeing on a problem definition that is relevant to all (Ramírez, 2000, in press). The link between the concept of social learning in environmental management and rural and remote ICTs for community development becomes increasingly evident when Woodhill and Röling state that "…meaningful interaction and communication between individuals is central to social learning." (Woodhill and Röling, op.cit.: 65) Their agenda for research calls for the use of rich pictures9 , from SSM, and for particular attention to a better understanding of the role of education, media and communication technology. (Woodhill and Röling, op.cit.: 68) The relationship between learning and adaptation is central to the concept of adaptive management and policy development advanced by Kai Lee (1993).

Rich pictures in SSM are diagrams drawn to represent complex issues, relationships, actors, and perceptions about a problem situation; they are said to be 'rich' with information and analysis (Checkland and Scholes, 1990). 9

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Lee suggests that a process of ongoing negotiation among stakeholders is the best option to manage complex systems. An underlying assumption is that natural resource systems are far too complex to allow for prediction of the impact of human intervention. Instead, Lee calls for a joint exploration of indicators which different stakeholder perceive as relevant measures of how the system is responding to a management strategy; he calls it 'system feedback'.

Lee's

account of the negotiations for the management of the Columbia River Basin provide a case study on this approach (Lee, 1993; Lee, 1995; Lee, 1998). When multiple parties agree to co-manage using commonly agreed indicators, a new language develops (Lee, 1993; Glasbergen, 1996). For Lee, adaptive management and political change is social learning. "Adaptive management plans for unanticipated outcomes by collecting information…Adaptive managers make measurements so that action yields knowledge." (Lee, 1993: 9). Active adaptation and learning as a strategy for dealing with uncertainty in the management of complex regional ecosystems is applied to the study of social systems interacting with natural ones (Gunderson et al., 1995). Glasbergen (1996) suggests policy making in the context of local networks; he refers to network management (Glasbergen, 1995b; Glasbergen, 1995a; Driessen and Glasbergen, 1995). The process of environmental policy making with multiple stakeholders' involvement is characterized by a network approach with hardly any hierarchy of control. In this form of management,

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lifting communication barriers and encouraging interaction between parties is a must (Glasbergen, 1996). The integration of the soft system with the hard system is emphasized by several authors in natural resource management literature (Lee, 1993; Woodhill and Röling, 1998; Jiggins and Röling, 1997; Engel et al., 2000; Gargicevich and Maroni, 2000; Guijt and Engel, 1998; Daniels and Walker, 1996; Daniels and Walker, 1997).

In this study I seek to do the same, except that instead of

ecosystem management, I deal with ICTs as the hard system, and with community development as the purposeful direction of social organization. In Chapter Three I discuss further the differences between 'hard' and 'soft' systems. Alexander (2000) has initiated an exploration into this proposal, where ICTs appear to offer new mechanisms for groups to collaborate and create community, rather than compete. The notions of social learning, local policy networks, and adaptive management add value to the study of how ICTs can be made relevant to rural and remote community interests.

The human orientation of ICTs is

consistent with this proposal. ICTs have many revolutionary implications, but in order to achieve their full potential benefits it is necessary to focus on user-oriented and cost-effective applications rather than on technology-driven applications. (Mansell and Wehn, 1998:95)

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Communication for Rural and Remote Community Development Communication: the meaning Communication means many things to different people to the extent that Peters (1999) writes: "…its popularity has exceeded its clarity." (p. 6) The Latin word communicare meant to 'impart', 'share', or 'make common'. The key root is munwhich relates to 'community', 'meaning' and Gemeinschaft (Peters, 1999:7). However, Peters also mentions the 'dark side of communication': the Greek term koinoo like the Latin communicare, means to 'make common', 'communicate', 'impart' or 'share'; yet it also means to pollute and make uncertain. (p. 267) Peters

(1999)

refers

to

the

inherent

problems

associated

with

communication. He refers to writings in psychology that place emphasis on human individuality, where humans are perceived to be "hardwired by the privacy of their experience to have communication problems" (p. 4). Another fundamental conceptual challenge of more relevance to this research is the dualism of the term 'communication' that arose when technology entered the picture. Briefly, technologies such as the telegraph and radio refitted the old term "communication", once used for any kind of physical transfer or transmission, into a new kind of quasi-physical connection across the obstacles of time and space. (Peters, 1999:5) Communication media changed the way people related to one another, with new attention placed more on the means of reducing noise or proper tuning than on

56

the overall purpose of communicating. Peter writes that communication, as a person-to-person activity, became understood only in the shadow of mediated communication. In this dissertation I refer to communication and telecommunication in the singular, rather than the plural communications or telecommunications. Peters elaborates on the differences (pp. 9-10). 'Communication' tends to be associated with a sharing of experiences, a contact between 'interiorities'; as a project of reconciling self and other that is claimed as a zone of enquiry by communication theory.

In contrast, 'communications' tends to be about the institutions, the

media, the symbols and the tools. Peters lists what he calls a motley list of them: …tombs, hieroglyphs, writings, coins, cathedrals, stamps, flags, clocks, the press, the post, telegraphy, photography, cinema, telephony, phonography, radio, television, cable, computer, the Internet, multimedia, virtual reality, or other signifying medium. (Peters, 1999:9) In this research, the above represents an awkward choice in that many of the media and organizations mentioned are very relevant to the case studies in this thesis. However, communication is a broader term more fitting to this research effort. Another reason I opt for 'communication' is to differentiate between the purpose, the tools and media. As Peters argues, the mistake is to think that communications will solve the problem of communication (p.9). Peter's history of the idea of communication provides a practical rule of thumb that suits the Latin origins of the term rather well: "...communication

57

should be measured by the successful coordination of efforts" (p. 268). In other words, the type of communication of relevance here is an applied communication effort, one that seeks to support some human purpose in the context of joint action. Communication as a support to a development process can have several meanings.

Röling (1994) offers a clarifying perspective by

proposing three different roles which communication can play in natural resource management 1. making things visible: explaining biophysical information, increasingly with the aim of creating new perspectives rather than transferring pre-packaged solutions. The role of communication in support of training belongs to this category; 2. fostering policy acceptance: enacting and promoting policies, increasingly there is a trend towards interactive policy-making rather moving away form persuasive advertising approaches; 3. facilitating platform processes: giving a voice to different stakeholders to engage in platforms where negotiation among different parties can take place with regard to natural resources. (Röling, 1994b) In this research I explore the third role: facilitative communication that seeks to create platforms for interaction among different groups (Röling, 1994b; White, 1999; Lotz, 1998). It addresses complex issues where no single actor has the expert knowledge, and such are the realities faced by rural and remote

58

communities. Moreover, it is coherent with soft systems methodology that embraces multiple perspectives. Beyond the meaning of the terms, reference to the underlying rationality of communication is relevant. In the Theory of Communicative Action, Habermas proposes communication as a purposeful rationality towards democracy and consensus building (Habermas, 1984). Habermas contrasts this rationality with the prevalent instrumental rationality as goal-directed, feedback controlled interventions. The dominance of instrumental rationality is embedded in Western culture where science and technology are fundamental concepts associated with control, predictability, linearity, expert culture, cause and effect patterns, utilitarianism, and separation of technical and social dimensions (Woodhill and Röling, 1998). This rationality is very common in technologically oriented sectors, where telecommunication is a notable example.

There are,

however, critiques in the literature about the implications of instrumental rationality in the design of information technologies, questioning the use of a simplistic metaphor, namely the information highway (Mueller, 1993), and lamenting some inherent contradictions from a feminist perspective (Jansen, 1989). I am building on a critical perspective of communication and development efforts, both in developing countries and in Canada's remote areas, where the imposition of ideas or approaches from experts on local populations is perceived as damaging. Since the 1970s, critiques of 'modernization' as a top59

down approach to development assistance emerged. The Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation published What now: Another development in 1975 and advocated a needs-based approach, built with people, and seeking to transform structural factors that created poverty.

An endogenous, self-reliant approach was

proposed (Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, 1975). Critics of modernization suggested that development would need to follow a radically different approach that sought to eradicate poverty, and hence inequality, through the building of local capacity and organization. The proposal called for a learning process approach (Korten, 1980) that works with people, not for them (Nerfin, 1977; Gran, 1983). Communication was seen as a component of such a process; on its own it was clearly insufficient to achieve such fundamental changes (Mowlana and Wilson, 1988:8-9).

The literature on development is extensive; like

'communication', it has multiple meanings. For some authors, the very word is loaded with a language of dependency (Escobar, 1995). It is clear that neither term can be addressed without reference to the social and cultural context where they exist, nor without attention on who is driving the process and for what purpose. Publications by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) refer to communication as a key to human development (FAO, 1994) and in this research I keep to that perspective: communication is an educational tool that people can use to empower themselves towards selfreliance. The Canadian experience in rural and remote areas belongs to this tradition. 60

Gender and communication is an area that is receiving increasing attention (Pacey, 1999; Balit, 1999; Wilkins, 1999). Critics warn, "...the absence of a critical consciousness regarding the gendering of technological discourse concedes contestable territory to technological designs that reproduce old patterns of power and privilege." (Jansen, 1989:198)

There is evidence that

technology impacts women in distinct ways, as it introduces change in the patterns of communication and power (Richardson et al., 2000a). Balit (1999) describes several initiatives, such as a Women's Networking Support programme provided by the Association for Progressive Communications. With regard to ICTs, Balit (1999) suggests that: A concerted effort should be made to harness the potential of the new communication technologies for sharing information and knowledge with women in rural areas. Essential tasks include improving the quantity and accessibility of infrastructure, increasing the relevance of information to the needs of rural women, and training women in computer skills. (p. 36)

Rural and remote in the Canadian context This research addresses rural and remote community development, often referred to through a range of terms including rural economic development or simply community development (Lotz, 1998). A brief mention of the meaning of the words is important: rural and remote, and community development. Rural and remote are terms that escape specific definitions. They are described in comparative context relative to urban areas. In general terms, rural

61

populations are defined by their distance to a metropolitan area (ThompsonJames, 1999).

Statistics Canada defines rural as populations residing outside

centres of 1,000 or more.

Beyond that general guideline, Statistics Canada

definitions become more complex and are guided by census areas. For example, Rural and Small Town (RST) is the population outside the commuting zone of larger urban centres that fall under two other categories, CMA and CA.

A

Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) has an urban core of 100,000 or more and includes all neighbouring municipalities where 50 percent or more of the work force commutes into the urban core. A Census Agglomeration (CA) has an urban core of 10,000 to 99,999 and includes all neighbouring municipalities where 50 percent or more of the work force commutes into the urban core. In Canada, 22 percent of the population in 1996 lived in rural and small town areas. In the United States Census Bureau definition rural refers to towns with fewer than 2,500 inhabitants as well as areas outside towns including farmland, ranchland and wilderness (United States Department of Commerce & United States Department of Agriculture, 2000). The above statistical definitions are guided by census practices, hence their static quality.

In proposing a typology of rural Canada, Ray Bollman of

Statistics Canada suggests that defining rurality is only helpful if it explains behaviour (Bollman, 1994). Bollman expands on this statement by suggesting that 'rural' used to be associated with the price of distance; space or distance can be considered a price. Radio and television reduced the price to practically zero 62

for certain goods, such as hearing or watching a hockey game without having to travel to the arena. This is what telecommunication analysts refer to making as the ‘friction of distance’ meaningless (Gillespie and Williams, 1988).

Bollman

(1994) argues that "…if space still has a price or where space still has a price, rurality still exists." (p. 141). Bryden (1994) suggests that 'rural' is a socially constructed notion, one that constitutes a manageable perspective that is integrated into programmes and policies (Bryden, 1994).

Bryden (1994) adds that if 'rural' is socially

constructed, "…there will be competing constructions of rurality at all levels, and therefore competing programs. For this reason, there must be means for negotiation and conflict resolution at local levels, ('the community')". (p. 222) In northern Canada, 'rural' has no meaning. Bollman (1994) characterizes rural Canada on the basis of data on census divisions. A first socio-economic clustering provides three major groups. Canada's seven major urban centres are designated as 'primary settlements' characterized by population growth due to high in-migration of the young coupled with out-migration of the elderly. At the other end of the spectrum he mentions 12 census divisions clustered on the basis of youthful populations, low economic activity, and low skill levels; these were labeled 'native north'. What lay in-between were 247 census divisions where the variation in socio-economic data within the division was rather undifferentiated. To document the diversity, Statistics Canada removed the 'native north' from the analysis, and thereafter developed several within-division categories: 'urban 63

frontier', 'rural nirvana', 'agro-rural', 'rural enclave'; the north included 'resources areas' and the 'native north' (Bollman, 1994:142-143). Bollman suggests that this typology is helpful in describing the diversity of rural Canada, as a starting point to

developing

methodologies

for

understanding

their

diversity

and

transformation over time (p.144). Statistics Canada often excludes the North in its analyses, which results in misleading statistics; this is an issue that I address again when discussing indicators on ICTs in Canada. This research includes three case studies.

The southern and eastern

Ontario cases belong to the 'rural nirvana' where population is on the increase and unemployment rates are low. Some areas in Lanark County and in Oxford County, however, could be considered 'agro-rural'. The northern Ontario case belongs to the 'native north' category, though it appears as 'resources areas' in Bollman's map (1994: 143).

The contrast between the rural south and the remote

north goes beyond the socio-economic indicators used by Statistics Canada to include cultural and historical dimensions. In the early 1970s, Heather Hudson wrote, the North of Canada may be defined as sparsely inhabited regions beyond reliable transportation and communication services. Villages are the home to most of the native populations who share a profound isolation from the rest of Canada. The barriers are physical, with great distances and climatic extremes hindering travel and communication, but they are also social and cultural. (Hudson, 1974). In other words, not only is there is a very high price of distance, using Bollman's words, but the challenge is not just one of costs and 64

infrastructure. The remote North "…has only recently begun to find again in the customs and life-style for which they were scorned, a source of pride and strength." (Hudson, 1974:19)

Community development and communication "Like every other word, 'community' has a history of effective use -and simplistic misuse." (Lotz, 1998:p. 90) There is a multiplicity of discourses surrounding 'community' which makes it a problematic concept to discuss; Sutherns addresses this challenge by differentiating between the concept of community, the commitment to community, the context of community and the construction of community (Sutherns, 1998). Sutherns adds that "…the congruence between shared place, social system and identity which once characterized many communities, particularly Canadian rural ones, no longer defines them." In this very brief review of the term, I wish to highlight the dynamic characteristic of communities, one that addresses the ongoing process of adjustment within. The focus helps me shift from 'community' to 'community development' as the context in which communication plays a strategic role. Sutherns (1998) makes reference to a review of 94 definitions of community (Hillery, 1955 mentioned in Dasgupta, 1996). From that collection, Dasgupta suggests that most definitions include elements of shared geography and social interaction plus at least one other common tie (Dasgupta, 1996). I will

65

use this apparent commonality of interpretation as a generic description of community, one that is often loaded with an emotional element suggesting beneficial qualities (Sutherns, op.cit.).

A refreshing review of community that

complements the above rather static one is offered by Jim Lotz, who has written about the quest for community development in Canada (Lotz, 1998). Lotz refers to the work of Victor Turner (1920-1983), a Scottish anthropologist who proposed the concept of communitas to address the complex social systems of rituals, ceremonies, symbols and practices that characterize a community. Turner refers to the Latin work limen, the root word for 'limit' in English, and 'liminality', to connote a condition for people who begin falling between the gaps in the system, they no longer belong. Turner describes the rituals in some traditional societies that are used to bring 'liminal' members back into a community10 .

"Turner

studied a wide range of liminal people…Whole societies have lost their autonomy because they did not develop rituals and practices to handle new demands upon them when confronting liminality." (Lotz, 1998:109) Turner uses communitas to describe the process that can or might occur as societies and individuals seek new ways of tracking old problems. He adds "…community cannot be imposed on people or programmed by government. It offers mystery, liminal spaces and sacred places, new avenues for personal and collective

It is worth noting that Turner studied cultures that were mono-ethnic and mono-cultural, which is not the case in the communities studied in this research. This factor may limit the applicability of his work. 10

66

development to those willing to confront their own beings at the deepest level, rather than relying on the many quick fixes offered to assuage the ills and fears of materialism and individualism (Lotz, op.cit. 111). Community, then is where communitas happens. I adhere to Lotz's perspectives on community, and the notion of communitas, in that the analysis is compatible with the notion of soft systems as human activity systems.

It is also linked to the notion of learning and

adaptation. Both Lotz (1998) and Röling and Wagemakers (1998) mention how the Norsemen in Greenland failed to adapt to accelerated period of climate change in the 1370s, while the Inuit adjusted and survived. "All that remains of the Norse communities are the ruins of their churches." (Röling and Wagemakers, 1998:3) Röling and Wagemakers conclude that it is not as much climate change that causes problems, but rather entrenched modes of adapting to change. Lotz (op.cit.) concludes, "…community development offers spaces and places for exploring new ways of tackling problems… Through trial and error, new opportunities for revitalizing society emerge, providing maps for others to follow as they move into uncharted terrain in human development. " (p. 112) As will be explored later, each new medium creates new environments (McLuhan, 1965), and ICTs create spaces and places for innovation that have no precedent. Communication and community development are clearly natural allies. Lotz (1998) also makes reference to the role of 'mediating organizations' as "…'intermediate groupings', that vast array of voluntary and non-governmental 67

organizations in which people interact and learn from each other while serving larger needs than their own." (p. 235). He refers to the work by Berger and Neuhaus (1977) where they refer to 'mediating structures' that stand between individuals and their private lives, and larger institutions of public life. This concept is one that I integrated into my study as it helped me conceptualize the role of community-based electronic networking organizations. As with communication and community, there are multiple definitions of community development. Community development is a process of purposeful organization, facilitation and action; it is a process of collective action through which local people become empowered to control their lives (Maser, 1996). Lotz cites a source with 19 different definitions, and mentions that the term can refer to: "…a process (a way of moving from one stage to another), a method (a way of doing things), a programme (a set of procedures) or a movement (a crusade or cause to which people become committed." (p. 113) In this research, I view community development both as a learning process, and as a movement, especially because my experience is based on the use of communication and adult education principles to further human development (Ramírez, 1990). This movement has strong roots in Canada. I focus now on several major Canadian accomplishments in community development, as a movement, with the assistance of communication methods and media. There are revealing commonalities between the 1970s plea for Another Development (Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation, 1975) and the Antigonish 68

Movement that began over 40 years earlier in Nova Scotia. The principles are common: address needs first, seek to develop capacity for self-reliance, seek structural transformation, and work with groups towards immediate action. The Antigonish Movement sought to strengthen rural communities in Nova Scotia through adult education, and support in developing co-operatives. The accomplishments of the Antigonish Movement are not unique in Canada. Lotz (op.cit.) makes reference to an impressive list of comparable community development initiatives across the country.

However, when

communication came into the picture, an additional set of tools became available to further the goals listed above. A notable innovator in this field in Canada was Don Snowden, who in the mid-1960s was Director of the Extension Department at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Snowden became involved with the Challenge for Change programme, and one place where he worked as Fogo Island. The Fogo Process is a process using film and video technology as a tool in participatory community development. It evolved out of a series of events that took place on Fogo Island, an island off the northeast coast of Newfoundland, Canada in 1967 (Quarry, 1994). Fogo Island was faced with a federal decision to resettle the community in light of the decline of the fishery that had forced 60 percent of the men to go on welfare. The islanders did not want to move, and Snowden believed the islanders could form a cooperative and become organized so that they could preserve their way of life. Films and videos were produced to

69

help communities express their views and hopes. Quarry (1994) describes how film and video were used in this situation: The community members interviewed clearly identified a number of island issues: the inability to organize, the need for communication, the resentment felt towards the idea of resettlement, and the anger that the government seemed to be making decisions about their future with no community consultation process. Low [who worked with Snowden] decided to show the films to the people of Fogo and thirty-five separate screenings were held with the total number of viewers reaching 3,000 [out of a population of 5,000]. This became an important part of the process. It was realized that people were not comfortable discussing issues with each other face-to-face. Instead, they were quite comfortable explaining their individual views on film and having those opinions played back to other community members. By viewing the films, the islanders started to realize that all the communities were experiencing the same problems; they became more aware of these problems and what needed to be done to solve them. (Quarry, 1994)11 The media were used to support a process of consciousness raising and organization. This effort was a fitting tribute to the Antigonish tradition, and it clearly lies within the facilitative role of communication proposed earlier by Röling (1994). The Fogo films were shown to Ottawa politicians, and their points of view were filmed and shown back in Fogo Island. The process of consultation led to collaborative action in the island communities. The fishermen formed an islandwide co-operative. In 1983 Don Snowden wrote: Today few people on Fogo speak about the filming. Yet many believe their lives were changed enormously by it. This can never be accurately measured. But it is certain that the fishermen formed an island wide producer's cooperative that handled and processed large 11

Source: www.snowden.org/fogo.cfm

70

catches, enabling them to keep the profits on their island. Unemployment of able-bodied men disappeared, and government directed their efforts to helping people stay… Films did not do these things, people did them. There is little doubt, however, that film created an awareness and self-confidence that was needed for people advocated development to occur. (Snowden, 1998:61) This very process, where the media are used both for community organizing and to inform policy makers about a community statement has been applied elsewhere (FAO, 1996:22). This approach, however, remains the exception in a world where visual media are so often dominated by commercial purposes where delivering the message is the central purpose.

In terms of

Röling's (1994) functions of communication, the first two (making things visible, and fostering policy acceptance) in my experience are the ones most easily adopted by agencies that seek to inform and promote (Ramírez, 1998b). The Northern Pilot Project in Canada merits attention in that it sought to involve people in planning and implementation of communication services in the remote areas of Canada. The project started at the end of 1971, and it built on the realization that the process of involvement was as important as the facilities provided (Hudson, 1974). The project covered two vast regions: the Ojibway and Cree of Northwestern Ontario and the Inuit of the District of Keewatin in the Northwest Territories (what is today part of Nunavut). The technologies chosen were high frequency two-way radios for communication among isolated communities and among hunters; FM radio broadcasting stations for

71

communication within communities; and portable video units for use within communities and for exchange of tapes among them (Hudson, 1974). The project was innovative in its expressed focus on community engagement. It built on community development principles and put technology at the service of peoples' needs. It also covers one of the geographic areas included in one of the case studies in this thesis. Hudson's study confirms the need for a flexible, needs-based approach. Hudson highlighted the critically important role of community facilitators in making such a project relevant to communities. The facilitators were of central importance in putting peoples' needs and technology together, let alone provide training support. What is noticeably different today, however, is the fact that local organizations have emerged to design and implement similar projects that address much more complex technologies.

Lotz (1998) refers to emerging

community organizations as able to 'mediate' between communities and governments. They broker between needs and policies. The facilitators in the Northern Pilot project played this role, but they were not from there. The process of mediation is demanding, and in facilitating one learns. The emergence of local organizations as the venue for social learning is an area where communication for rural development has traditionally been weak. The focus has been on making the media relevant, with less attention on who was learning in the process of adaptation. This research seeks to fill some of this gap.

72

I have explored only a few of the experiences in the literature that illustrate the use of media to improve the lives of rural and remote communities in Canada. Other examples include the National Farm Radio Forum (Waldron, 1998; Nicol et al., 1954; Baker, 1957), the Fogo Island Process (Snowden, 1998; Fraser and Restrepo-Estrada, 1998), the Kaminuriak herd film/videotape project (Snowden et al., 1984) and the Challenge for Change by the National Film Board of Canada in which media were used for community development and adult education (Todd Hénaut, 1972; Morrison et al., 1969). In reading reports on the Farm Radio Forum or the Fogo Process, one cannot avoid the temptation to replace the words "radio" or "video" by "Internet" (Richardson and Paisley, 1998) as the writers emphasize the same principles that drive community-based partnerships today, though the media are substantially different. What is worth keeping in mind is the fact that those experiences marked the trail for what rural and remote communities do today to make ICTs part of their own agenda (Waldron, 1998). Both earlier and more recent efforts demonstrate that community development is communication-intensive (Wilson, 1992).

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) The technology The convergence of Internet, voice, video and data has created a "new medium" with new markets and redefinition of many industries. In particular, it is 73

challenging telecommunication monopolies at the heart of their business. The changes are taking place at such speed that the new media are overtaking communication regulation. An example illustrates this situation: "…the authorities responsible for broadcasting in the UK have stated that a user creating an Internet home page, without a broadcasting license, is technically in breach of that country's communication regulation." (OECD, 1996:84) The same challenge faces regulators in developing countries who can barely keep up with cellular phone expansion. McLuhan (1965) suggested that every new medium creates a new environment. His now-famous statement "the medium is the message" suggests that it is not the technology itself that matters, but what we do with it that has meaning or message. What we do with it alters our relations to one another and ourselves. In fact, McLuhan argues that the content of any medium blinds us to the character of the medium. To make his point, he adds, "The electric light escapes attention as a communication medium because it has no 'content' (p. 9). McLuhan wrote Undertanding Media in the 1960s before the marriage of computer technology with communication technology. This combination has brought about fundamental changes in the way information can be managed and processed.

While the cost of processing has dropped, the speed has risen

dramatically.

Since the 1950s, "…The cost of processing one million basic

instructions has fallen from $280 to less than a tenth of a cent… Individual home computers today have more processing power than that available to the Allies in 74

World War II, and their power is increasing yearly. " (Burke and Ornstein, 1997:284) Gordon Moore predicted in 1965 that the number of transistors on computer chips would double every eighteen months. Moore's prediction has held true for over 35 years; today it is known as Moore's Law. It means that computer speed, based on improved chips, increases by about 44 percent per year (Stefik, 1999). By combining the speed of information technology with communication technology, be it landline connections between phones and computers, or wireless digital networks, the result is an unprecedented capacity to access information from practically anywhere. To make this possible, a key parameter of communication is bandwidth: the rate at which data can be transmitted and received, measured in bits per second. High digital bandwidth, or broadband, is achieved by transmitting over a broad band of frequencies measured in hertz or cycles per second. The range of bandwidth speeds is growing. A telephone line modem installed in a personal computer will handle up to 56 kilobytes per second (kbps); an ISDN line offers 128 kbps; a T1 line offers 1.54 Megabytes per second; and speeds of 5 Giga bytes per second are possible through optical carriers such as OC-96 (Stefik, 1999). Videoconferencing is one technology that is made possible by high-speed connectivity.

For remote communities in

particular, videoconferencing offers an alternative means for meeting, leading to major cost reductions in air travel expenses.

75

This superficial review is only necessary to give meaning to a later discussion on the roles played by computer power (processing speed and memory), connectivity (speed of data transmission) and applications (the software used in computers and computer networks). Today in industrialized areas there is an aggressive competition among the different technologies that offer bandwidth (Clark, 1999). As was discussed in Chapter One, at least five different technologies are competing to deliver information at vastly higher rates than are possible with today's ubiquitous dial-up modems. These include hybrid fibre coaxial (cable) (Medin and Rolls, 1999), digital subscriber line (Hawley, 1999), fibre optic to the home (Shumate, 1999), satellite (Norcross, 1999; Gilat-ToHome, 2000), and local multi-point distribution service (wireless) (Skoro, 1999)12 . Each has certain advantages over the other, and each geographic area and market may provide conditions that allow one technology to outcompete another (Bane and Bradley, 1999). What is clear, however, is that technology per se is not a barrier any longer; rural telephones can now be dropped into any part of the world (Desmond, 1998). If telecommunications can be made available anywhere on the globe today, the challenge is demand and pricing, which are tightly linked with competition and hence with regulation (Bigham, 1997).

12

See Appendix 1 for more specifications.

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ICTs and development In developing country contexts, there is evidence that rural telephones spur economic growth (Saunders et al., 1994; Schmadt et al., 1991; Wellenius and others, 1993; Mustafa et al., 1997; Kayani and Dymond, 1997).

The Maitland

Report concluded that telecommunications was "the missing link" for development (International Telecommunications Union, 1984). The Maitland Report concluded not only that ICTs are critical to economic development, but also that they unleash forces transforming education, enriching national cultures and reinforcing social cohesion. (Hamelink, 1997:14) Today, achieving basic telephony continues to be a major goal in developing countries (Hudson, 1984; Hudson, 1997; Hudson, 1998; Parker and Hudson, 1995). It is recognized that the technology is of particular promise to stimulate opportunities for rural areas (Bollier, 1988; USDA Economic Research Service, 1998; CCITT, 1985; IEE, 1990). While

the

relationship

between

telecommunication

and

rural

development is well documented, ICTs add several dimensions to the issue that go beyond the advantages of basic telephony. By combining communication and computer technology, ICTs create new environments with services, products, markets, business practices and skill areas that did not exist a decade ago. In the ICT literature, these different and interrelated dimensions are organized through diagrams and frameworks (Melody, 1996; Mansell and Wehn, 1998; Young et al., 1997; Houghton, 1999; Hargittai, 1999; Marien, 1996; Menou 77

and Potvin, 2000; Cummings, 1997; Pacey, 1999; Abramson, 2000; Farbey et al., 2000). The following is a selection of relevant examples. Figure 2.4 shows the two major elements of an information society: information infrastructure and applications. Under infrastructure, Melody (1996) describes the components ranging from computer and information technology, to telecommunications equipment. These serve as the foundations for networks, which in turn allow for content broadcasting, electronic services and interactivity (communication).

78

FIGURE 2.4: CREATING THE NETWORKS FOR AN INFORMATION SOCIETY (Source: Melody, 1996: 250).

Technology has shaped human culture throughout history (Burke and Ornstein, 1997; Pacey, 1990; Pacey, 1983; Pacey, 1999). Figure 2.4 indicates how ICTs affect all sectors of society and the economy today; the implications are enormous.

79

Mansell and Wehn (1998: 14) describe information and communication technology services along four quadrants: services, content, products and transportation (see Figure 2.5). Their framework focuses on classifying the new services within the quadrants.

FIGURE 2.5: A FRAMEWORK FOR INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES AND SERVICES (Mansell and Wehn, 1998:14).

Arnold Pacey (1999, 11) writes,"...technology is primarily an expression of varied, often confused human purposes, and these should be the center of interest." His analysis of technology is compatible with a socio-technical point of view: Another way of thinking about this [against reductionism] may be to regard all activities involved in practicing or using technology as having several dimensions..."technology practice" not only involves 80

hardware, practical skills and technical knowledge, but also involves an organizational, political dimension, and a "cultural" aspect relating to values and beliefs. (Pacey, 1999:7). Pacey's work focuses on how the technology can become meaningful, how it helps people gain a sense of place, and how it is useful in a participatory process of knowledge generation. His focus, therefore, is on human centred technological processes (Norman, 1993). Pacey (1999) offers a diagram that captures social, political, technological and personal dimensions (Figure 2.6). The three-dimensional design invites the reader to consider several interactions happening at once, a very relevant graphic and metaphor.

techn o pract logy ice

FIGURE 2.6: DIMENSIONS OF TECHNOLOGY AND PRACTICE

81

(Pacey, 1999:8).

There is also growing concern about the gap between developed and developing countries, and regions (Mansell and Wehn, 1998; Heeks, 1999; UNDP, 1999). There is evidence already that parts of developing countries, and many rural and remote areas are lagging behind the ICT revolution, creating a gap between information 'haves' and 'have-nots'.

The Harvard Readiness Guide

(Information Technologies Group, n.d.) is designed to assist policy makers in addressing the so-called 'digital divide'. The guide describes the four major phases a country may go through, along with groups of indicators for each category. This approach is dynamic, it remains at a high level of hierarchy (countrywide), and it suggests a linear and prescriptive path of development. While ICTs play an important role in improving economic conditions, the economic viability of the telecommunication infrastructure itself in rural and remote areas poses particular challenges. The low population densities mean that significant capital investments are needed to provide them with the basic infrastructure; at the same time, a rural population's willingness to pay for these services is often underestimated (Hudson, 1997; Parker and Hudson, 1995; Hudson, 1998; Kayani and Dymond, 1997; Dymond, 1998).

Economic viability

in very remote contexts may refer only to the operating costs, and not to the amortization of the capital expenditures often subsidized by governments. Several variables come into play in determining the returns on the investment: population density, rural income per capita, capital costs per line (where distance, topography and existing trunk lines are added variables), and required 82

annual revenue per line to provide amortization and profit (Kayani and Dymond, 1997). In addition, population mobility is a strong indicator of demand for telecommunication services (Richardson, pers.com.). ICTs integrate technology and applications that go far beyond the benefits of rural telephones. What they are used for and who decides on their use becomes critically important. As Mansell and Wehn state: ICTs have many revolutionary implications, but in order to achieve their full potential benefits it is necessary to focus on user-oriented and cost-effective applications rather than on technology-driven applications. (Mansell and Wehn, 1998:95) In both developing country contexts, and in rural and remote areas of industrialized countries, ICT expansion offers a great promise as an engine of economic development (Richardson and Gillespie, 1996; Wilson, 1992; McMahon and Salant, 1999; USDA Economic Research Service, 1998; Wawatay Television, 1999; Bryden and Sproull, 1998; United States Department of Commerce & United

States

Department

of

Agriculture,

2000;

Hudson,

1998).

Telecommunication cannot fulfill this role, however, without the presence of adequately trained human resources (Gillespie and Robins, 1989; Brock, 1996; Capello, 1994; Morgan, 1992), some imagination (Wilson, 1992) and a policy and regulatory framework to promote capital investments in areas of low population density.

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Moreover, beyond quality of life gains, the new media have further impact on our lives. Marty Strange of the Center for Rural Affairs in Nebraska, is quoted as saying: What's significant to me is that these technologies alter all human relationships --and not just those that are defined by the marketplace. And therefore the marketplace is not adequate for anticipating and understanding the consequences of these technologies. That, to me, is what compels public policy. (Bollier, 1988:i) In other words, the benefits and impact are not just a matter of supply and demand, though these market rules are of critical importance. Some argue that the technology has tremendous potential in decentralizing power and nourishing democratic behaviour (Negroponte, 1995; Burke and Ornstein, 1997). In rural contexts and in developing country settings, ICT strategies must strike a balance between applications with commercial interests and others where market forces are unlikely to work effectively (Mansell, 1999).

Monitoring and acknowledging impact The second objective of this research is to develop methodology to measure the impact of ICTs as a means of ensuring the worth of the technology as a support for community development goals. The objective can be described in many ways: tracking change, monitoring progress, assessing impact, or evaluating outcomes. How this is done, and by whom are important questions to ask, especially as we have already established that this study addresses ICTs as tools

84

for rural and remote community development, and in contexts where multiple actors interact with the characteristics of a system. In the rural context, assessing the benefits requires a broad perspective that goes beyond conventional cost-benefit analysis: In deciding whether to make rural telecommunications investments, the government should not rely solely on cost-benefit analysis, said Stuart Rosenfeld, because it would be entirely too speculative. We didn't do that for the interstate highways. Besides, the social costs of declining communities aren't part of the cost-benefit analysis. (Bollier, 1988:27) This argument is supported by the literature on how communication technology helps build communities, be it radio (Nicol et al., 1954; Baker, 1957) or today's ICTs (Alexander, 2000). Common to all cases is the notion that building or sustaining communities is a difficult "result" to ascertain. Nicol and colleagues certainly highlight this challenge in their summary on the lessons from the Farm Radio Forum in Canada. The challenge of tracking impact by ICTs on rural society is akin to tracking "a moving target" (Farbey et al., 2000). This is an area in need of innovative approaches that acknowledge the dynamism and complexity of social and technological systems (Marien, 1996; Bryden and Sproull, 1998; Statistics Canada, 1998b; Statistics Canada, 1998a; National Research Council, 1998a; National Research Council, 1998b). Monitoring and evaluation approaches are often based on indicators or benchmarks. Indicators are signs or signals of events. comes from Latin, indicare, to disclose or point out.

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The term "indicator" An indicator can be a

variable (a numeric total), a function of a variable (a ratio); it can be a qualitative variable (a participatory or non-participatory decision-making), a ranking variable (best, or worst training programme), or a quantitative variable (Hardi et al., 1997). Indicators are often confused with a monitoring program. They are an important part of monitoring, but they must be generated, selected and implemented within the context of all the elements of a monitoring program. Indicators describe the status of different attributes of a system. A conceptual model is required to provide a framework that integrates the indicators, as well as the data collection and calculation methodologies and a process for synthesizing all the information into a narrative of the system. (Boyle et al., 1999:28) Understanding the context, and developing a model within which to identify indicators is a very relevant issue in this research. As mentioned in Chapter One, generating such a framework or model is part of the challenge of this research. As Boyle and colleagues explain, this is a first step that is required before indicators can be contemplated. Once such a framework or model is in place, three activities can be advanced: enumerating indicator selection criteria, generating potential indicators, and selecting indicators to be used in a monitoring program (Boyle et al., 1999:28). This identification process [of indicators] can only occur in the context of human values and requires bringing in a diversity of views to bear on the question at hand. (Boyle et al., 1999:4) The work by Boyle and colleagues is particularly relevant in that it embraces soft systems methodology and adaptive management.

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In adaptive management, differences between how the future actually unfolds and how it was envisioned are seen as opportunities for learning.... Monitoring plays a crucial role in adaptive management. It provides feedback necessary for adaptive learning, information to generate narratives, and advice to determine if alternative courses of action are required. (Boyle et al., 1999:9) This approach sets the tone I have explored in the context of ICTs in rural and remote community development.

It is coherent with other work in

negotiated natural resource management where indicators are handled as tools for negotiating common learning (Guijt and Sidersky, 1996), for tracking change (ILEIA Newsletter, 1996), and to perceive system feedback through multiple stakeholder groups (Lee, 1993). Once we have a framework or model that guides the definition of criteria to select indicators, we need an inventory of indicators from which to make the selection (Boyle et al., 1999). A review of indicators in the field of ICTs appears to be of comparable complexity to natural resource management (see for example (CIFOR, 1999)). ICTs, as described earlier, encompass a range of technologies that is vast and interrelated. The International Telecommunications Union has been collecting information on telephones, faxes, telegrams and telex for all member countries of the United Nations since the mid-1960s (International Telecommunications Union, 1999a; International Telecommunications Union, 1999b). Among the most commonly used are teledensity, or number of main lines per 100 people, connection charges, cost of a three-minute call for different types of telephones, numbers of cellular mobile telephone subscribers, ISDN

87

subscribers, number of personal computers, population, households, radio receivers, televisions, and cable television subscribers. These are national level statistics, collected through national regulators. In some cases they integrate telephone and economic variables (Kelly, 1994). Other indicators, many of which are collected by private sector firms involved in the Internet, however, now complement the ITU statistics. Internet statistics, or "netratings", are measures of World Wide Web activity (Rood, 1999; Coffey, Winter 1999/2000). For example, the number of Internet hosts per 1000 inhabitants is used as an indicator of Internet development (Paltridge, 1999). Internet traffic analyses are increasingly used to gauge the size and importance of the Internet as a marketplace (Abramson, 2000). As indicated before, however, a range of factors dictates its potential to drive economic and social development. A cross-national study by the OECD provides regression analyses across economic wealth, levels of education, English language, free competition, Internet access charges, and existing telecommunications infrastructure (Hargittai, 1999).

The Readiness for the

networked world: A guide for developing countries prepared by the Center for International Development at Harvard University (Information Technologies Group, n.d.)13 provides a framework based on five parts: infrastructure, learning and training, societal acceptance, economic aspects and policy dimensions. For

13

Available at: www.readinessguide.org

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each, a range of indicators are suggested; upon filling the form for a country, the guide will determine at which of four phases of readiness a country lies.

The

idea of using multiple indicators to ascertain impact is also central to the American 'community indicators movement' (Besleme et al., 1999). In this case, ICTs are seen as contributors to a community's wellbeing according to six elements for success; the human-oriented approach to indicators is evident: 1. Participation. Citizens say what is important to measure, and continually review the relevance of the indicators. 2. Patience. Indicators are part of a community-building process, and that takes time. Building citizen awareness and understanding is the groundwork for advocacy, and that takes time. 3. Process. Process is as important as the product, or rather; there are outcomes at every level of the process. Citizen participation is critical. 4. Persistence. Commitment to data collection, to the public participation process, and to the financial and staff resources needed to continue the project year after year. 5. Pragmatism. Accept that not all things that a community wants to measure can be measured immediately. Stick to those that can be measured meaningfully. 6. Perfection. Demand that the research lead to no question about the validity of an indicator. Without unquestionable validity, communitywide buy-in is impossible. (Besleme et al., 1999:44) In Canada, a great deal of effort is underway to track performance indicators on ICTs at the Federal level (Mozes et al., 1996; Statistics Canada, 1999a).

The Information Highway Advisory Council (1997) developed a

conceptual framework of key indicators and components of the Canadian information infrastructure. The framework is based on three major areas: I. General economic situation (knowledge-based economy, information economy); II. Government policies and regulation; and III. (a) supply, and (b) demand 89

(Government of Canada Information Highway Advisory Council, 1997). The Government of Canada approach differentiates ICTs into two major sectors: the ICT services sector (broadcasting, telecommunication carriers, computer services) and the ICT goods sector (communication and electronic equipment, computing and peripheral equipment, office, store and business machines), (Mozes et al., 1996). This work is based on Melody's "ingredients for success" (1996) where he provides a matrix of supply and demand that integrates many of the human and organizational dimensions (see Figure 4.4). In overall terms, the Information Highway Advisory Council suggests the following indicators: GDP, Human Development Index, Penetration rate of computers and telephones, and Types of bandwidth connection to homes, businesses and government. "While these indexes may be helpful, they still need to be tied concretely to federal and provincial goals". (Jean-Louis, 1999). In other words, indicators may become more useful as they become more goal and region-specific. Statistics Canada tracks the use of Internet by households through its Household Internet Use Survey (Statistics Canada, 1999b) and the type of equipment in use though its Household Facilities and Equipment Survey (HIFE). Much of this work is of importance to macro-economic policy development. When it comes to rural and remote ICTs, however, the bulk of the information that is available is nation-wide (Thompson-James, 1999). This means that most rural analyses are done at a regional or province-wide level. Such data are only a 90

start in that they tend to be restricted to analyzing access to the infrastructure, rather to what people do once they have access. Learning who gets access, however, is very relevant. At the national level, statistics show that more than a third of all households or 4.2 million were using the Internet at home, work or school in 1998, up 25 per cent from the year before (Carey, 1999), and that computers in households passed the 50 percent mark (Wright, 1999). However, regional and socio-economic disparities exist. It is reported in the literature from Atlantic Canada that Internet use increases as household income increases, and the same correlation applies to education (Bruce and Gadsden, 1999). The same pattern is reported in the United States (Mosquera, 1999). As mentioned earlier, ICTs have potential impact especially when other infrastructures and human resources are available to put it to use. "Footprint analyses" that track several related dimensions on a single diagram have begun to appear (UNDP, 1999; Mansell and Wehn, 1998). A recent United Nations reference publication integrates eight indexes into a country footprint. These include personal computers, main telephone lines, electronics production, electronics consumption, technical graduates, literacy share, Internet hosts, and television sets (Mansell and Wehn, 1998). UNDP makes reference to comparable visualizations of countries' achievements through 21 measures, bulked into four groups: Internet use, computer use, information, and social dimensions mostly related to education (UNDP, 1999). These pie charts are useful tools to visualize, compare and debate contrasting accomplishments. Indeed, they may offer an 91

interesting template to adapt to county or remote community contexts. They may serve as a communication tool where data and contrasting achievements are visualized and discussed. Statistics Canada has begun to explore the challenge of tracking the socioeconomic impacts of science and technology through a systems perspective. This approach involves the definition of relevant actors, their activities, their linkages, the expected outcomes and the long-term impacts (Statistics Canada, 1998b; Statistics Canada, 1998a). This technique is of interest to this study in that it seeks to define actors and activity systems, much in the way that the literature I cite above on natural resource monitoring. Moreover, it differentiates between short-term action (linkages), mid-term outcomes, and long-term impacts. This approach resembles the results-based management approach proposed by Richardson (1999b). In results-based management, there is a gradient of activities or outputs, outcomes and results. The first are easy to measure through quantitative indicators, the second require a combination of quantitative and qualitative, while the results tend to be broad and qualitative. In this approach, actors can become involved in the planning process and thereby participate in the definition of criteria for indicator development (Richardson, 1999b). Resultsbased management has a weakness if it is intended to be used as a audit-type of tool in that it does not account for inputs (Cummings, 1997). However, it lends itself well to monitoring what people do with the technology, something that is 92

conducive to providing relevant lessons that many actors can benefit from. A results-based management approach that embraces qualitative and quantitative tools holds a lot of promise. Examples of such research are emerging, for example in determining how ICTs help lifelong learning (OECD, 1997) or in assessing the outcome of computer networking (Gygi, 1995). A study on the impacts of the Internet on developing countries by the Office of International Affairs, National Research Council of the United States (1998) concluded that there is an expressed need among development agencies, policymakers, Internet service providers and users, and others for some evaluative framework for analyzing Internet impacts. The study also concluded that institutional leadership seems to be a key element in early diffusion, and that there is an enormous amount of research yet to be undertaken on this topic. (National Research Council, 1998b) The NRC report also addresses the issue of 'causality': Another concern is the ability to sustain causal attribution through lengthening chains of indirect impacts. While causality is implied by the term impact, the key analytical problem in application of the indicators will be attribution of the changes observed in the impact indicators to introduction of the Internet. Thus, for example, the Internet may contribute to restructuring of the economy in some advanced countries, but it is not possible to definitively identify how much of the observed change is due to the Internet and how much is due to other factors. (National Research Council, 1998b) The study provides a set of indicators that tend to focus on the medium and on the numbers of people that are utilizing the medium. This may be a reflection of what Marshal McLuhan argued to be a historical pattern with new 93

media: "Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication." (McLuhan and Fiore, 1967:no page numbers). In contrast, Richardson (1999) proposes a set of indicators about what people do with the technology; he refers to these as indicators of outcomes in the continuum of outputs, outcomes and results. The above examples are illustrative: • • • • • • •

Stakeholders sharing research information regarding beneficiary information and communication needs Stakeholders forming groups/communities of interest Stakeholders engaged in co-operative efforts to co-ordinate information sharing Number of inter-agency communication efforts with leaders possessing the skills necessary to implement a participatory/social communication strategy Number of stakeholders actively exchanging basic administrative information via mail, electronic mail, courier, fax, etc. Number of stakeholders actively collaborating on efforts by using communication technologies (including non-electronic) Number of stakeholders actively collaborating to publish major findings and results to an external audience using communication technologies (including non-electronic) (Richardson, 1999b). This brief review of the literature on monitoring and indicators suggests

that several key steps need attention in order to address the challenge of monitoring and acknowledging impact. The process is best understood as a learning process for stakeholders across a system to track system feedback to their interventions. The stakeholders first need to first come to grips with the principles or framework under which they function. The relevant actors and the purpose of their collaboration need to be clear.

Once actors, context, and

purpose are agreed upon, the criteria for indicator identification can be selected. 94

Indicators in ICTs and related areas abound, but the process of selecting them is as important as their integration into a monitoring tool. Attention to indicators that go beyond access to the technology and describe what people do with it are important; they work best in the context of a results-based management framework. Once this is done, it is necessary to define work plans on how to collect the data, store them, analyze them, and synthesize them; and these actions need not involve all the actors.

Policy and Regulation in Canada The focus of this section is on how Canadian telecommunication policy is implemented, its regulatory context, and its impact on rural and remote areas.

Regulation of telecommunication The political economy that dominates telecommunication today calls for liberalization, competition and independent regulation. Regulation, however, is an awkward 'balancing act' when the major thrust is market liberalization, and yet universal access is another objective. The balancing act is tricky because it entails two contrasting 'systems of survival': the private sector one of commerce and the public sector one of politics (Jacobs, 1992).

The inter-relationship

between these two systems is profound enough for Jane Jacobs to have written a

95

complete book on the dichotomy (op.cit.). I make this reference simply to signal the scope of the challenge faced by regulators in the field of telecommunication. The regulation of telecommunications is a very complex business. What we know and understand seems far less important than what we do not. In many cases, the data is simply not there to do anything more than to permit regulators to make educated guesses. (Roman, 1990:109) While Canada boasts an excellent telecommunication system, "…our national telecommunications policy has been to have no policy." (Roman, 1990:97) Roman's statements were true until 1993 when the Telecommunications Act was proclaimed. The Telecommunications Act of 1993 represents the major Canadian telecom law (Bigham, 1997). It is revealing that while Canada has an excellent reputation internationally in telecommunication, its policy environment was only formalized in the last few years. Roman (op.cit.) is right in stating that the context is complex. Several elements contribute to the complexity in regulating this sector. The British North America Act of 1867 did not mention communication. Since then, communication policy has been contested between provincial and federal levels of government (Woodrow et al., 1980). According to the 1867 Act, provincial jurisdiction includes education, and one of the arguments used by the provinces to bring communication policy making and regulation under their jurisdiction is the educational nature and use of television, and the value of local orientation of cable systems. (Hudson, 1974). Another factor is the central concern in Canada with unity, national economic viability and cultural identity, all of which are 96

tightly linked to communication policy (Ganley, 1979).

Today cultural and

communication policies in Canada are confronted with emerging global regimes that place economic and competitive pressures on the sector (Science Council of Canada, 1992). "In place of national policy-making, a global telecom and media policy regime is emerging." (Abramson and Raboy, 1999:775) Last but not least, broadcasting and telecommunication have been ruled by separate Acts, and both fall within the powers of the CRTC. The broadcast model in communication policy emphasizes access to consumption of available product, while the telecommunication model focuses on access to capacity to produce or transmit information. (Abramson and Raboy, 1999:779) The conversion inherent in the new media means that the borderlines between broadcasting and telecommunication are becoming very dubious. This situation creates numerous conflicting forces between the two areas (Stanbury, 1996). Even though the policy context is complex, the achievements in this sector for Canada as a whole are very impressive. Canada's teledensity of 60.2 main lines per 100 inhabitants is among the highest in the world; Sweden boasts 68.2 and the U.S. 64 (UNDP, 1999:53). Official statistics mention that telephone penetration is over 98 percent of Canadians having access to the public switched network (Bigham, 1997; Babe, 1990). Among those who do not have access are many First Nation communities that are not included in the statistic; for those in remote areas this means a teledensity level comparable with many developing countries

(Wawatay

Television,

1999).

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An

index

described

as

'telecompetitiveness' has been developed on the basis of 43 performance variables. The variables have been grouped into 10 categories: infrastructure, capital investment and recovery, policy and regulation, productivity, quality, penetration, market development, rates, research and development, and sector strengths. Canada's telecompetitiveness is only second to Singapore's, and ahead of the United States (Hubert, 1996). Driving forces in public policy It seems that Canada has a policy context that is complex and under stress from the convergence of information and communication technology. At the same time, the telecommunication sector as a whole exhibits leading indicators on a global scale. Recent studies in the United States provide ample evidence of the enormous economic boost that telecommunication has on the economy as a whole (Hubert, 1996), and the same general panorama holds true for Canada (Mozes et al., 1996; Statistics Canada, 1999a). These general trends push public policy today to keep up with the technology to ensure that Canada remains a leader in this sector. Telecommunication policy-making is now driven more by market pressures than by a concern with cultural issues (Abramson and Raboy, 1999).

There has been an anxiety over lagging behind: the Department of

Communication (the DoC was created as a new ministry in 1969) had been preoccupied with content, thus enabling the Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology Canada (a precursor to Industry Canada) to gather influence in this

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field.

In 1993 the DoC was eliminated, leaving Industry Canada with the

mandate to foster a growing competitiveness for a knowledge-based Canadian economy; the Department of Canadian Heritage assigned to oversee cultural production, broadcasting and the CRTC (Abramson and Raboy, 1999). Abramson and Raboy comment: …dispersal of the DoC, then, meant more than the separation of policy-making for content and carriage in the moment of their convergence. It also meant the incorporation of communication policy into other sectors, and begged the question of how a coherent approach to communication policy might be developed. (Abramson and Raboy, 1999:778) Industry Canada created the Information Highway Advisory Council (IHAC) in 1974 with the mandate of mapping an information highway policy framework.

At the same time, the CRTC, under the Minister of Canadian

Heritage, was directed to hold public hearings on how to converge broadcasting and telecommunication. The CRTC held an extensive public hearing, while the IHAC only received input from 29 commissioners and private studies. "Paradoxically, the regulatory body had held more extensive consultations than had the advisory board created for this purpose." (Abramson and Raboy, 1999:77) The dichotomy of approaches has influenced the nature of policy making and public consultations of the last few years.

The seemingly parallel

development of communication policy and information policy gets different treatments in the context of international negotiations. In the context of the 1988

99

Canada-US Free Trade Agreement, information was treated as a commodity, cultural issues remained exempt, and public consultation was not on the map. However, Abramson and Raboy signal that in the process of convergence of information and communication, the former dominates in the context of GATS and the World Trade Organization's Basic Agreement on Telecommunications. What this means for Canada is that telecommunications policy is evaluated by industrial criteria, and social impact is left for others to address. For the CRTC, the task of regulating competition is a very demanding one involving a balancing act between ensuring social objectives, and enhancing a competitive environment (Stanbury, 1996). An example of how these two objectives can be at odds is clear in the 1998-1999 public hearings that led to the 1999 ruling by the CRTC for High Cost Serving Areas (CRTC, 1999c). In its ruling, the CRTC defined basic service objectives for high cost serving areas. This meant, for instance, that beyond basic telephony, modem speeds of no less than 28.8 kbps were established. The ruling states that in future, competitive pressures are expected to bring higher transmission speeds (CRTC, 1999c). However, this expectation may not be met for a long time in remote areas when bringing broadband to the home (coaxial or fibre optic) is expected to cost between $800 to $1000 per household (Stanbury, 1996). In the last few years, the IHAC recommendations have led to major programme investments by the Federal Government of Canada in ICTs. The CRTC took on a hands-off approach by stating that the bulk of the new media 100

services do not fall under the scope of the Broadcasting Act. Furthermore, it felt that Internet service providers should offer services under a competitive environment, and it limited its regulatory role to the rates offered by telephone companies and incumbents to ISPs (CRTC, 1999b). Industry Canada has developed several programmes along its Connecting Canadians agenda. The number of programmes supporting connectivity and training is impressive14 ; some of these focus on providing connectivity to schools (SchoolNet), to the voluntary sector (VolNet) and to rural communities (Community Access Programme, CAP) (CRTC, 1999a). Provincial programmes in Ontario have also emerged to promote expansion of infrastructure and applications, this includes the Telecommunications Access Partnerships (TAP), that is now known replaced by Connect Ontario, Ministry of Energy Science and Technology.

These

programmes stimulate local organizational development in that they are designed to disburse funds only to not-for-profit organizations.

The

programmes are an expression of public policy that complements the regulatory framework. In Appendix 3 I list the grants and programmes that were accessed by the case study organizations.

This list is indicative of the range of

programmes and partners that the organizations have used over the last few years. The list is not a comprehensive listing of all the programmes available in Ontario or through federal agencies.

Refer to Appendix 3 for a list of acronyms for agencies and programmes mentioned in this thesis. 14

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Local policy making

The impact of the regulatory context and the funding programmes on ICT development in rural and remote communities is of interest to this study. The bulk of the funding programmes began in 1996 when CAP was initiated. This is only three years after the Telecommunications Act was proclaimed.

I am

referring here to a very brief history of ICT expansion, so it is perhaps natural that there is a gap in the literature on their performance. What is evident, however, is that the convergence of technology that created ICTs has exploded at a pace that has left regulators behind15 . What is also evident is that for rural and remote areas, is that when demand is too small to attract large telephone companies, smaller independents may fill the gap. When this does not occur, regulations and government involvement are necessary to ensure the infrastructure is installed or upgraded. Furthermore, there may also be cases where providers of new technology may be discouraged from investing because of regulatory licensing constraints.

For example, Canadian cable television companies are challenging the CRTC to review its regulatory approach in light of a wave of recent mergers. The most recent one is the proposal by BCE (the largest corporation in Canada that owns Bell Canada) to join forces with CTV (the largest television network) and the Globe and Mail (one of the two national daily newspapers). The CRTC was designed to regulate content and broadcasting separately, and yet these sectors are coming together under the control of corporations that seek to compete on a global scale. 15

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To initiate this process, a visit into the accomplishments of other telecommunication media in rural and remote Canada is useful: we are not starting from zero. The participant recommendations from the October, 1998 conference "Partnerships and Participation in Telecommunications for Rural Development" in Guelph, agreed that the approach for ICT expansion into rural areas has to be based on several basic principles. The following is only a selection of the recommendations: • • • • • •

Rural telecommunication is not an end in itself, but one aspect of community development. Stakeholder consultation is a must, focus on people and not technology. Seek the decentralization of power through community consensus. Respect local resistance and culture. Measure both social and economic impacts. Policies need to be developed at the community level through stakeholder consultations. (Snowden Program, 1998) The above recommendations call for a decision-making process that is

community based as a means of ensuring relevance of the technology. However, as noted earlier, globalization and multilateral trade agreements increasingly influence the forces that drive national level policy-making in this sector. The telecommunication infrastructure is owned by large corporate interests -such as Bell Canada's- that compete at a global scale, yet in this study I am concerned with their reach and relevance into regions where demand is weak as a result of sparse population densities.

This apparent paradox is a major challenge in

telecommunication development: the very areas that stand to gain the most from telecommunication are the last to be serviced by the market. 103

Government

involvement through both policy and regulation are part of the solution; the other is local capacity to generate demand. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, a dimension that adds value to rural and remote telecommunication literature is the notion of adaptive management. In this approach, a continuous process of data gathering for the purpose of course adjustment guides the strategy. Another notion that is relevant is that of a local policy network. Public and local organizations can learn to partner when the parties agree to co-invent the job at hand. The interdependence of the parties is central to the interaction.

The examples in the literature on local policy

networks address environmental and technological issues (Driessen, 1995; Driessen, 1995).

One characteristic of these processes is that consensus is

promoted with attention on both substantive and procedural issues: the first are the subject matter, and the second are the management and relationship dimensions (Driessen, 1995). One reason parties are interested in collaboration is the join realization that externally designed policies have a poor track record at the local level. A locally-based learning approach holds more promise, and is advocated as the key to a people-oriented approach to information and communication technology development (Mansell and Wehn, 1998).

The

learning aspect is central to such an approach (Bernard and Armstrong, 1997); it is one in which a common language emerges across all parties who agree to participate in co-management (Lee, 1993). A learning process approach for rural and remote ICT development is an area that this research seeks to develop. The 104

learning process is compatible with the recommendations of the Snowden Conference, and is central to the thrust of this research methodology.

Tying Loose Ends into a New Strand This tour of relevant bodies of literature constitutes a review of themes with attention to their overlapping dimensions. Each contributes elements, like fibres that make up a string; however, until now they remained loosely connected. This study about rural and remote communities harnessing information, communication technology for community development is about tying the loose ends described above into a new strand. There is no existing theory that covers the overlap among the relevant fields that I have described. Grounded theory is of use in this study in that it organizes a process of theory-development based on experiences in the field.

Other literature then helps me develop guiding

questions to probe further into what one observes in the field. Community development literature, for instance, provides the concept of 'mediating organizations' to characterize the role of some community groups. The mediating organizations provide safe places and spaces for ICT innovations that are affordable and relevant.

They ensure that ICTs are harnessed towards

community development goals. They are like the loom in which the different strands are woven together.

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These community organizations broker between local needs, technology and prices, and policies, regulations and grants. They all face the challenge of working in territories controlled by Bell Canada that still has monopoly control over local telephone service. These organizations are grown locally; there is no evidence that they can be imported. For policy makers, the concept of the mediating organization is relevant, as these organizations are central to the expression of policy; they are the bridges between the grassroots and government. In this research I examine their history and their services in detail, as well as the attributes of their staff, in order to analyze the roles these organizations play. I explain the conditions that enable mediating organizations to emerge, what their central features are, and how sustainability is expressed in terms of their capacity to learn and adapt in sector characterized by turbulent change. In staking out this knowledge territory, I make central to my argument what remains marginal in most of the literature that informs this research. The stake or new strand is labeled 'Rural and remote communities harnessing information and communication technology for community development', and its central concept is the 'mediating organization'.

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CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY

This chapter has three sections. The design section provides a summary of the elements that characterize the subject matter, the principles applied as I ventured into the interior, the rationale for the choice of theoretical and methodological inputs, and a review of the methodology in relation to the purposes of the research. The second reviews the significance of the paradigm in which I locate the research. I then discuss the features of four areas of research that help me articulate my methodology: grounded theory, soft systems methodology, case study research, and participatory action research. Last, having described the parts, I review their theoretical and methodological integration; in other words, I begin weaving of a new strand. A third section describes the research process in action with an account of how the methodology was operationalized - what was done, sequences, methods and tools. I draw elements from grounded theory and other methodologies, but I do not rest my approach on any one of them. This chapter ends with some elements that are elaborated once again in Chapter Nine.

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The Design Elements that characterize the subject matter The previous chapter introduced four principal components of the subject matter of this research: 1. Human and organizational behaviour and performance: This includes a review of systems thinking as a perspective within which to study how organizations learn, how they share experience, what are the characteristics of leaders, what services they offer, and how well they respond to change. 2. Rural and remote community development: The rural and remote context is one often characterized by contrasts relative to urban areas in terms of population density, infrastructure, services, markets, dependency on primary industries. The second component is community development, a term with multiple interpretations, and for the sake of this research one that integrates economic, cultural and social dimensions. 3. Information, communication technology: The focus is on the convergence of communication, information and technological components, and how they shape and influence society, patters of interaction, markets, policies to better enhance cultural values and respond to basic human needs. 4. Policy and regulation in Canada: I review major trends in policy and regulation regarding information, communication technology.

The major period

covered by the research (the late 1990s) in Ontario was characterized by a 108

focus on infrastructure expansion, and an accelerated pace of development with regard to the hard system (the technology and its pricing) and the soft system (the organizations and the rules that affect them, and the relationships among stakeholders).

The above four elements characterize the phenomena under review: organizations, community development, ICTs and telecommunication policy. As Chapter Two indicates, the literature that addresses this knowledge territory is sparse.

Rationale for methodological design: Principles as flashlights The following principles were used to look into the phenomena that make up this story. Their choice was guided by the elements described above and by the conditions they impose on research: •

Condition: The subject matter stakes out the overlap of several elements or areas of study that are seldom addressed together. This approach makes the theoretical landscape for this specific knowledge territory sparse. Principle: Theory has to be developed inductively, from on-the-ground experience. Opportunity: Grounded theory fits this condition, but its procedures need to be broadened to embrace additional theoretical and methodological elements from outside grounded theory. Grounded theory provides a means for doing

109

inductive research. However, I found it necessary to combine it with elements from other existing theories and methodologies, including soft systems methodology, participatory action-research and case study research. •

Condition: The subject matter is shaped and created by multiple agents. Principle: Research requires a paradigm that acknowledges multiple perspectives and a methodology to involve them in the design of the investigation. Opportunities: Constructivist paradigms embrace both a multiple actor perspective and participatory action research.



Condition: Among the different actors or stakeholders involved, those who orchestrate action towards fulfilling communities' goals are key players; hence they constitute key research partners.

Principle: For those

organizations that innovate at the community level, the research needs to prove its worth by adding value to their work. Opportunity: participatory action research and organizational research provide platforms to create methodology, and generate findings with the involvement of the participating groups. •

Condition: The subject matter constitutes a complex system in which multiple actors interact in a dynamic, ever-changing manner. Principle: There is a need to develop explanatory models that capture system components and relationships. The effort is more heuristic than predictive. Opportunity: Theoretical inputs from the literature about the management of complex

110

natural resource systems provide useful guidance. In addition, literature on organizations, how they learn, how they can be understood, the contribution of networks, and social learning provides theoretical elements and methodology to explore what exists on the ground. •

Condition: The subject matter is shaped by four major elements described above. ICTs are evolving at a rapid pace as are policies and organizations. Opportunity: identifying the central functional elements of the organizations, and the conditioning factors that enhanced their development, is a focus of the research. Case study research that is built on grounded theory provides the opportunity to capture their story and also identify the principles and conditions that contribute towards theoretical innovation.

A focus on

contextual conditions is also a strategic tool toward identifying lessons that may be relevant in other settings.

In summary, the methodological framework is structured as follows: 1. A constructivist approach as an overall paradigm. 2. A methodology that is based on grounded theory and borrows elements from three other research areas: soft systems methodology, case study research and participatory action research. These four areas are reviewed in the second section of this chapter entitled The Parts. 3. Theoretical and practical innovation in the overlap among four knowledge areas described in Figure 2.1 and throughout Chapter Two. 111

Theoretical and methodological integration: the components to weave While grounded theory provides an appropriate approach for generating theory from data from the ground up, the fact that the subject matter is best described as a complex system with multiple actors calls for additional theoretical integration. In grounded theory, the researcher defines the topic to be researched and, to a great extent, the subjects of the study are merely observed. In this case, the 'subjects' were consulted at several stages, including the definition of relevant research topics, the review of data gathering tools, and the construction of a framework or model. Moreover, the analytical framework resembles a model in soft systems methodology in which systems components are identified along with their major features and interrelationships (Checkland, 1981; Checkland and Scholes, 1990). The research was inductive and participatory. As indicated in Figure 1.3, an initial conceptual framework served as an initial perspective to begin case study preparation. By investigating the case study organizations, major issues or dimensions became evident. Literature from other sources was useful at this stage in generating guiding questions. The guiding questions were the basis of detailed field investigations. As the case studies evolved, so did the analytical framework.

As Figure 3.1 suggests, the theoretical and methodological

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innovation lies in the overlap among grounded theory, soft systems methodology, case study research, and participatory action research.

Constructivist perspective

Grounded theory

Soft systems methodology

Case study research

Participatory action research

FIGURE 3.1: THE THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL INNOVATION LIES IN THE OVERLAP AMONG THE FOUR OVALS.

The Parts A constructivist perspective A paradigm creates the overall context wherein the different theoretical constructs are integrated. Guba (1990: 17) describes a paradigm as "...a basic set of beliefs that guides action, whether of the everyday garden variety or action taken in connection with a disciplines inquiry." Paradigms are characterized on the basis of how we respond to the following questions:

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What is the nature of the knowable? Or, what is the nature of reality? (ontology)



What is the nature of the relationship between the knower (the inquirer) and the known (or knowable)? (epistemology16 )



How should the inquirer go about finding out knowledge? (methodology) (Guba, 1990)

Researching within complex systems requires epistemologies that acknowledge their dynamic, multiple perspective characteristics. For Jiggins and Röling (1997) action research is part of a constructivist paradigm, and it constitutes an essential framework for understanding processes that are not only about technology and markets, but that require facilitation of collective learning and negotiated agreement.

Action research has become an established methodology for

interactive learning and the management of complex processes of change (Jiggins and Röling, 1997).

Action research is described as a key methodology for

managing change. The work of Jiggins and Röling refers to the management of complex natural resources. In this research I apply action research to the study of a topic of comparable complexity: the management of change by rural and remote communities with the support of information, communication technologies. In natural resource management, multiple stakeholders interact,

One can also talk about 'epistemology' in terms of a theory of method, or the grounds of knowledge. 16

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sometimes in a collaborative manner, and other times negotiating around conflict (Ramírez, 1999b; Ramírez, 1999c). As in natural resource management, the rural and remote ICT context is one in which multiple stakeholders interact as part of complex systems that include technological, policy, market and social forces. Jiggins and Röling (1997) talk about the 'first paradigm' as belonging to a positivist perspective where a single objective truth is expected, where an instrumental rationality is accepted, and where expert knowledge is given priority in policy-making. In this paradigm, bio-physical sciences dominate and social sciences remain marginal.

Top-down policy making and unilateral

transfer of knowledge are practices that belong to the first paradigm. Characteristic Epistemology Nature of truth Nature of action Goals Nature of systems Planning Policy process Role of research Nature of science Nature of extension

Characteristic of the second paradigm Constructivism Multiple perspectives, diversity Strategic, communicative Multiple, often contradictory Soft system: learning path to reach a situation in which collective action can be taken Interactive process Emerges from interaction among stakeholders at different levels Active partner in societal sense making Bio-physical and social sciences both contribute to adaptive perspectives and action Facilitation of learning processes

FIGURE 3.2: OVERVIEW OF THE M AIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SECOND PARADIGM (Jiggins and Röling, 1997).

In contrast, Figure 3.2 shows the main characteristics of 'the second paradigm'. Because the epistemology is constructivist, the paradigm is often referred to as constructivist (Lincoln, 1990).

This approach is explored as an "alternative

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system of inquiry" for sustainable agriculture (Pretty, 1994:37). It is often associated with approaches that focus on a learning process in which many actors interact towards agreements on the management of natural resources (Pretty and Chambers, 1994; Bernard and Armstrong, 1997; Lee, 1993; van der Veen, 2000; Ooi, 2000). The above approaches were proposed in the context of action research for natural resource management. However, with only slight modifications, the 'second paradigm' is relevant to action research for the management of ICTs for rural and remote community development.

Figure 3.3 summarizes the

characteristics that apply to a natural resource management context (NRM) along with the necessary modifications for this research. Characteristics Epistemology Nature of truth Nature of action Goals

NRM context Constructivism Multiple perspectives, diversity Strategic, communicative Multiple, often contradictory

Nature of systems

Soft system: learning path to reach a situation in which collective action can be taken Interactive process

Planning Policy process

Emerges from interaction among stakeholders at different levels

Role of research

Active partner in societal sense making Nature of science Bio-physical and social sciences both contribute to adaptive perspectives and action Nature of Facilitation of learning extension processes

ICT context Constructivism Multiple perspectives, diversity Strategic, communicative Multiple, often contradictory or competitive Soft system: learning path to reach a situation in which collective action can be taken Sometimes interactive, other times top-down Emerges from interaction among stakeholders at different levels; or is developed centrally (a dual process in Canada) Active partner in societal sense making ICTs, economic and social sciences contribute to adaptive perspectives and action Facilitation of learning processes

FIGURE 3.3: COMPARING THE M AIN CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SECOND PARADIGM AS IT APPLIES TO NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND TO ICTS.

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One significant modification refers to the nature of the science, in which "biophysical" is replaced by "information and communication technologies". Overall, the proposed 'second paradigm' would describe an ideal ICT actionresearch environment - ideal in that the planning and policy making processes may, in fact, have interactive features. In the course of the research, however, I found that the policy makers seldom describe them as such. Of particular relevance to this study are the role of research and the nature of extension. The first, being an 'active partner in societal sense making', fits the consultative approach followed through participatory action research.

The

second, 'facilitation of a learning processes', has taken place through the use of a PACTS research project brief in the context of community meetings held throughout southern Ontario by the Data Services Improvement Program (DSIP). The research report summarizes the elements that stimulate emergence and evolution of learning and mediating organizations that insure that ICTs investments support rural and remote community development objectives. I have now made two theoretical claims. The first is that a constructivist paradigm is most appropriate for understanding the subject matter described in the first section of this chapter. The second is that the characteristics of the 'second paradigm', as they apply to action research for the management of complex natural resource systems, are applicable with slight modifications to the ICT context. As Jiggins and Röling (1997) assert, the second paradigm embraces 117

a number of theoretical elements and methods, including some that stem from positivist or 'hard' systems thinking. A relevant example of a 'hard' system rule is Moore's Law on the yearly doubling of computer processing speed. Moore's prediction has held true for over 35 years: computer speed, based on improved chips, increases by about 44 percent per year (Stefik, 1999). Addressing some hard system indicators is another instance where the 'second paradigm' embraces the first.

These include technical, economic and demographic indicators.

Tracking indicators on both hard and soft dimensions responds to one of the second objective of this research regarding methodological development for impact assessment. In this instance, elements of logical framework analysis are applied to the design, monitoring and evaluation of projects that put ICTs to work towards the fulfillment of societal goals.

In the following section I

describe the other "parts" that are illustrated in Figure 3.1 with attention to their major features and the overlap among them.

Grounded theory The human side of ICTs for rural and remote community development is a subject that is new, complex and dynamic. In sociological terms, this study followed an inductive process borrowing some general elements grounded theory.

I emphasize that my methodology draws on several methodologies

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without resting on any one of them. In this section I refer to those general elements from grounded theory that I found most relevant. Grounded theory belongs to a family of qualitative research that follows an inductive process. A grounded theory is one that is inductively derived from the study of the phenomenon it represents. That is, it is discovered, developed, and provisionally verified through systematic data collection and analysis of data pertaining to that phenomenon. Therefore, data collection, analysis, and theory stand in reciprocal relationship with each other. One does not begin with a theory, then prove it. Rather, one begins with an area of study and what is relevant to that area is allowed to emerge. (Strauss and Corbin, 1990:23) As indicated earlier, the literature review shed light on a theoretical gap with regard to rural and remote telecommunication, especially with emphasis on the organizational and community development dimensions. In complex systems where policy, technology, prices and organizations interact, there is merit in recognizing the factors that act as conditional elements. Grounded theory fits this challenge well: The purpose of grounded theory is to specify the conditions that give rise to specific sets of action/interaction pertaining to a phenomenon and the resulting consequences. It is generalizable to those specific situations only. Naturally, the more systematic and widespread the theoretical sampling, the more conditions and variations that will be discovered and built into the theory, therefore the greater its generalizability (also precision, and predictive capacity). If the original theory fails to account for variation uncovered through additional research, these new specificities can be added as amendments to the original formulation. (Strauss and Corbin, 1990:251)

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As mentioned earlier, in a constructivist paradigm, the nature of reality is constructed by the actors who interact within a context. The constructivist perspective, with its emphasis on the equivalence of multiple perspectives on reality, is a crucial basis for tolerance and negotiated agreement in adaptive management. (Röling and Jiggins, 1998:19) In this sense, grounded theory ...is a useful methodology for multidisciplinary studies, since it ties the varied perspectives together through conceptualization of the data and its implicit social organization of processes and problems. (Glaser, 1992:18) In grounded theory, concepts emerge from the observation of phenomena and their relationships become evident, a process described as coding. Concepts are the units of analysis, and the patterns of relationship among them ("codes") constitute the raw material for creating theory. " Theoretical codes enable the analyst to see the research, the data and the concepts in new ways to be used for generating theory (Glaser, 1992:28). Theoretical hypotheses in grounded theory are probability statements, not facts that are verified. Grounded theory is not verifictional. Its statements are probabilities that are readily modifiable as new data emerge [that signal the] properties of categories. (Glaser, 1992:29) The notion of statements as probabilities responds well to the statements used as 'guiding questions' in this research. Grounded theory follows a sequence of analysis through coding. There are two types of codes in grounded theory: substantive codes and theoretical codes. Substantive codes are the conceptual meanings given by generating categories and their properties, which 120

conceptually sum up the patterns found in the substantive incidents in the field. Theoretical codes are the conceptual models of relationship that are discovered to relate the substantive codes to each theoretically. (Glaser, 1992:27) What is of most use in this research is the notion that patterns are observed and codified, and attention is directed towards detecting interrelationships and patterns of interaction. The first objective of this research, the development of a framework for understanding rural and remote ICT development, fits this thrust. The framework is the theory that emerges from observation, and the case studies are the means of shaping the framework. Grounded theory lends itself well to case study research. Although case studies may begin with (in some situations) only rudimentary theory or a primitive framework, they need to develop theoretical frameworks by the end which inform and enrich the data and provide not only a sense of the uniqueness of the case but also what is of more general relevance and interest. (Hartley, 1994:210) In this research, the case studies were shaped by the framework and vice versa. As shown in Figure 1.3, a first conceptual framework served as an initial perspective from which to approach the field experiences. As I interacted with the field experiences, I realized I needed more specific questions to guide my enquiry. The guiding questions gave me the analytical anchors to organize my investigation.

The framework evolved from a conceptual map to an analytical

one. Once the case studies were completed, the framework played the role of a model. The framework or model is depicted visually to show major components

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and linkages, thus being comparable to a model in soft systems methodology (Checkland and Scholes, 1990; Checkland, 1981). Although the above discussion suggests that I borrowed elements from grounded theory to generate new theoretical perspectives, I found it limiting in several ways. Grounded theory does not call for stakeholder involvement in research; instead, the researcher controls that process. As I explained before, the subject matter in this case requires participation, consultation and feedback. Second, grounded theory tends to produce theory in a text form, whereas in ICTs it is more common to produce visuals and frameworks to explain complex interrelationships. Participatory action research (PAR) helps address the first weakness and some parts of soft systems methodology (SSM) respond to the second. Moreover, PAR and SSM work well together: "SSM is intrinsically a collaborative approach, and sensible 'users' will involve other people in the process of problem handling." (Checkland and Scholes, 1990:28) Last, but not least, grounded theory generates new knowledge for the researchers, whereas in participatory action research the other parties must also stand to gain directly from the effort. Case study research has the added advantage of producing a product that can stand alone. Readers are referred to Figure 1.3 where the sequence of events in the research process is outlined.

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Case study research

A case study is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context, when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident, and when multiple sources of evidence exist (Yin, 1984). Yin goes on to indicate some relevant features of case studies, in this case referring to evaluation research. Case studies explain the causal links in real-life interventions and the real-life context in which an intervention has occurred. An evaluation can benefit from an illustrative case study. Case studies help explore situations in which the intervention being evaluated has no clear, single set of outcomes (Yin, 1984:25). While the case studies developed in this research are not strictly evaluation case studies, the above features remain relevant. Beside Yin, other authors offer compelling arguments in favour of the case study approach as a qualitative research tool. There are several fundamental lessons that can be conveyed by the case study: 1. It permits the grounding of observations and concepts about social action and social structures in natural settings studied at close hand. 2. It provides information from a number of sources and over a period of time, thus permitting a more holistic study of complex social networks and of complexes of social action and social meanings.

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3. It can furnish the dimensions of time and history to the study of social life, thereby enabling the investigator to examine continuity and change in lifeworld patterns. 4. It encourages and facilitates, in practice, theoretical innovation and generalization. (Feagin et al., 1991:6-7) The extent to which the case study approach yields broad theoretical generalization is tempered when combined with grounded theory. Hartley's review is particularly relevant as it addresses the case study approach as an organizational research tool that is compatible with grounded theory: In some situations, grounded theory may lead to emergent theory, while in others situations the researchers may have some clear propositions to explore. Either way, without a theoretical framework, a case study may produce fascinating details about life in a particular organization but without any wider significance. Indeed a case study without the discipline of theory can easily degenerate into a 'story'...The point is that without a theoretical framework, the researcher is in severe danger of providing description without wider meaning. (Hartley, 1994:210) The proponents of grounded theory further qualify the issue of generalization: In terms of making generalizations to a larger population, we are not attempting to generalize as such but to specify. We specify the conditions under which our phenomena exist, the action/interaction that pertains to them, and the associated outcomes or consequences. This means that our theoretical formulation applies to these situations or circumstances, but to no others. When conditions change, then the theoretical formulation will have to change to meet those new conditions. (Strauss and Corbin, 1990:191) The above discussion sheds light on the compatibility between grounded theory, case study research and soft systems methodology. There are several instances in which rural and remote telecommunication experiences are

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presented in a case study format (Sweetnam, 1999; Snowden et al., 1984) and research as well (Richardson and Gillespie, 1996). What is more rare is case study research that builds theory on the basis of those examples.

The

frameworks that exist in the literature begin to address some of these challenges, but few refer to rural and remote contexts. This is a gap in the literature that this research addresses directly.

Participatory action research Making research both relevant and practical to the different groups and organizations involved in rural and remote telecommunication is a commitment I share with the Don Snowden Programme. The Snowden legacy of applied communication and media activities to communities' needs makes it imperative to do research with them.

My own professional experience is based on

participatory action research in community development (Ramírez, 1990) and in communication for development (Ramírez, 1997). As Jiggins and Röling (1997) indicate, participatory action research (PAR) fits well within a constructivist epistemology in which the researcher is an active partner in societal sense making. There is merit in exploring the meaning both of 'participation' and 'action' in a research context.

Action research is an

established field in educational theory (Carr and Kemmis, 1983) and adult education (Kidd, 1973; Hall et al., 1982).

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The 'action' component of adult

education is influenced by Freire's concept of education and conscientization in which literacy action seeks to create critical consciousness (Freire, 1973).

In

Canada this tradition was rooted in the extension education work of Moses Coady in Atlantic Canada (Brookfield, 1983; Lotz, 1998), and nation-wide though Frontier College's teacher-labourers (Morrison, 1989; Selman et al., 1998). Adult education has been defined as a process that allows adults to become innerdirected, self-operated learners with an enlarged capacity for life and creativity (Kidd, 1973). The 'research' element in critical theory addresses the same goal: to transform the self-consciousness of individuals (Carr and Kemmis, 1983). Adult and popular education place emphasis on involvement by people in creating knowledge (Hall et al., 1982).

Creating knowledge is research and people

involvement

Participation

is

participation.

in

appraising

problems,

in

implementing projects and in evaluating their impact has become a central concern in community and rural development in the last three decades. The literature on participatory action research and social change is vast. Selener's 1997 review organizes more than 1,200 sources. Selener organizes the literature into

four

major

approaches:

1)

participatory

research

in

community

development, 2) action research in organizations, 3) action research in schools, and 4) farmer participatory research (Selener, 1997). For the sake of this research, the first two approaches are of most relevance.

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Rural and development cooperation literature often deals with the challenge of change, especially for rural societies faced with technological innovation for agricultural production. Participatory approaches to research and action call for the involvement of those protagonists in a process of research, education and action. In this research, however, the technology is profoundly different in that it engages multiple groups and it creates opportunities that were not there before. Moreover, in Engel's (1997) perspective, innovation emerges from their interaction. These innovations are 'socially constructed', in the sense that there is no one individual imagination behind their development, but instead a variety of "actors" responding to a complex of social pressures. Innovation is thus seen as a process involving many people. (Pacey, 1999:4) In the context of this research, participatory research took place through the consultations and interactions with many of the stakeholders in the province. These stakeholders form a community in the sense that they are part of the information, communication technology field. In soft systems methodology terms, they 'own the problem'. Consulting multiple stakeholders who shape an issue, who represent different sectors (health, education, business) and interests (public, private, community-based) across a vast geography is substantially different from consulting a village community in participatory action research. This research addresses the local, geographically defined community, primarily through the organizations it created to innovate around ICTs. In terms of Selener's categories, the emphasis on researching the rural and remote 127

community organizations falls into the category of "action research about organizations". The main focus of action research in organizations, according to Selener, is the close relationship between the generation of knowledge and actions to improve organizational performance (Selener, 1997). In the case of this research, the focus was on generating knowledge to understand and analyze the organizations, without developing any action plans for their improvement. Jarvis (1999) mentions two forms of knowledge: content knowledge is 'knowledge why', and process knowledge is 'knowledge how'. 'Being able' or 'knowing how to do' is logically different from 'knowing how'. I may know how to do it but not know how it happens (e.g. riding a bicycle). Tacit knowledge, then, is learned from experience, either preconsciously --that is, without having entered the conscious mind-- or consciously, and has been forgotten or even expressed. Most important, we can presume tacitly because doing so does work for us. The very essence of tacitness is pragmatic. When we enter different situations, we are able to call on reserves of taken-forgranted knowledge that we cannot articulate. Because it works, we can continue to presume on it. Consequently, we do not learn form it -- or else we learn in a preconscious manner. (Jarvis, 1999:48) In the case studies reported here, I argue that I elucidated the tacit knowledge of the case study practitioners. I helped expose what they did in a pragmatic manner to allow others to look inside their experience. The consultation held in October 1998 with over 30 stakeholders from across the province was a brainstorming session. It utilized methods and tools from participatory learning and action literature from developing country

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experience (Pretty et al., 1995) in combination with elements of 'collaborative learning', a methodology for coordinating multiple stakeholder interests developed for protected area management in Oregon (Daniels and Walker, 1996). Collaborative learning integrates dimensions from alternative dispute resolution with soft systems methodology. As will be described below, the latter is also contributing element to this methodology. However, in contrast with collaborative learning where the issue is well defined a priori, in this case the focus was developing the many dimensions of the issue to ensure that our research design responded to issues of priority to the relevant stakeholders. Of most importance, however, was the development of a sense of mutual respect and trust between researchers and a large number of stakeholders. Participatory action research done from within an academic organization is a challenge. While the nature of the subject matter and research orientation must be open to the influences and interests of the participants, it must also adhere to a research method that follows the rigour of systematic investigation. It is to be expected that the nature of participation will vary across different stakeholders and through the different stages of this research. The degree of participation can be qualified along the typology of participation scale provided by Pretty et al., (1995: 61) as presented in Figure 3.4. Typology 1. passive participation

2. participation in

Characteristics of each type People participate by being told what is going to happen or has already happened. It is a unilateral announcement by an administration or project management without listening to people’s responses. The information being shared belongs only to external professionals. People participate by answering questions posed by extractive researchers

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information giving

3. participation by consultation

4. participation for material incentives

5. functional participation

6. interactive participation

7. selfmobilization

using questionnaire surveys or similar approaches. People do not have the opportunity to influence proceedings, as the findings of the research are neither shared nor checked for accuracy. People participate by being consulted, and external people listen to views. These external professionals define both problems and solutions, and may modify these in the light of people’s responses. Such a consultative process does not concede any share in decision-making, and professionals are under no obligation to take on board people’s views. People participate by providing resources, for example labour, in return for food, cash or other material incentives. Much on-farm research falls in this category, as farmers provide the field but are not involved in the experimentation or the process of leaning. It is very common to see this called participation, yet people have no stake in prolonging activities when the incentives end. People participate by forming groups to meet predetermined objectives related to the project, which can involve the development or promotion of externally initiated social organization. Such involvement does not tend to be at early stages of project cycles or planning, but rather after major decisions have been made. These institutions tend to be dependent on external initiators and facilitators, but may become self-dependent. People participate in joint analysis, which leads to action plans and the formation of new local institutions or the strengthening of existing one. It tends to involve interdisciplinary methodologies that seek multiple perspectives and make use of systematic and structured learning processes. These groups take control over local decisions, and so people have a stake in maintaining structures of practices. People participate by taking initiatives independent of external institutions to change systems. They develop contacts with external institutions for resources and technical advice they need, but retain control over how resources are used. Such self-initiated mobilization and collective action may or may not challenge existing inequitable distributions of wealth and power.

FIGURE 3.4: A TYPOLOGY OF PARTICIPATION (Pretty et al., 1995:61).

Participatory action research in this study has two main dimensions: an overall consultation with stakeholders on priority issues, coupled with regular interaction thereafter, and organizational action research to understand the dynamics and characteristics of community organizations.

In contrast with

grounded theory, the subject matter was explored with the protagonists' involvement. Indeed, some of the participants were instrumental in helping us develop the concepts on which our conceptual framework was designed.

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Further reflection on the nature of the participation and stakeholder engagement in academic research is part of Chapter Nine. Soft systems methodology Soft systems methodology (SSM) originated from management science. It is an organized way to tackle real world 'messy' situations (Checkland and Scholes, 1990).

SSM began in a sector that is characterized by as very much part of a

'hard' system: engineering. Peter Checkland worked with engineers whose job is to design and build artifacts. Engineers deal with how to design a solution to a given problem; their work is 'how oriented'.

A challenge arises when the

problem is ill defined, complex, changing, messy and plagued with multiple interpretations (Checkland and Scholes, 1990).

In the hard system the issue to

address is a well-defined problem, whereas in the soft side the issue to address is the process of enquiry about the messy problem.

SSM takes a systems approach to

explore problem situations where there is no fixed outcome (Moores and Gregory, 2000). In contrast, hard systems are often referred to as those areas where problems are well defined. However, there is a more substantial differentiation: The real distinction lies in the attribution of systemicity (having the property of system-like characteristics). Hard systems thinking assumes that the world is a set of systems (i.e. is systemic) and that these can be systematically engineered to achieve objectives. In the soft tradition, the world is assumed to be problematic, but it is also assumed that the process of inquiry into the problematic situations that make up the world can be organized as a system. In other words, assumed systemicity is shifted: from taking the world to be systemic 131

to taking the process of inquiry to be systemic. (Checkland, 1999:A49) SSM addresses 'organized purposeful action'. The methodology seeks to attribute meaning to what we observe and experience. “The causal determinants of the objects of the social sciences always include human intentions, while those of the natural sciences do not.” (Caws, 1988 in Checkland and Scholes, 1990:2) [My emphasis.] SSM is a methodology for operating the endless cycle from experience to purposeful action. The focus is on an organized set of principles (methodology) which guide action in trying to 'manage' (in the broad sense) realworld problem situations; it is systems-thinking-based and is applicable to taking purposeful action to change real situations constructively (Checkland and Scholes, 1990). Röling and Jiggins (1998) refer to 'the soft side of land', to highlight the importance of social organization in coordinating natural resource management. They cite the work of Gonzalez (2000) in the Philippines where the construction and maintenance of the spectacular Ifugao rice terraces in Luzon is now being understood as a phenomenon possible thanks to a complex social organization. One cannot imagine the building and maintenance of such an intricate, sustainable and productive land use system without an equally intricate soft component to the hard terraces. This soft system comprised interlocking nested platforms for decision making about the land, featuring clans that determine rights to land, hamlets that provide protection and labour exchange, and irrigation districts that deal with the distribution of water, the maintenance of channels and the protection of the forests above the fields. The soft system guaranteed the practices that made the system productive as well as 132

its reproduction and upkeep, no small challenge given a sub-soil inherently prone to land slides. (Gonzalez, 2000:19-20) The relevance of soft systems theory to action-research in rural community contexts is proposed by Bryden (1994: 218): "…soft systems are human activity systems composed of people, where the goals are normally a source of conflict." SSM is being applied to several related fields, such as the design of information systems (Moores and Gregory, 2000; Bennetts et al., 2000) and the design of rural telecommunication infrastructure (Bryden and Sproull, 1998; Andrew and Petkov, 2000). The organizations that seek to harness ICTs towards community development goals are part of the 'soft system'. They are the 'messy human activity systems' that deal with community needs, technology, prices, and government programmes. Their behaviour and performance is a central element in the expansion of ICT infrastructure into rural and remote areas. SSM is said to be doubly systemic in that the process of enquiry refers to a system, hence is systemic, and in doing the enquiry, 'models' about the system are developed (Flood and Jackson, 1991). The models are viewed as a means of talking about reality rather than models of reality (Bennetts et al., 2000:192). In SSM the models are visual illustrations of people, issues, relationships; they are referred to as 'rich pictures' in that they capture all the rich detail of a system.

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In its general description, SSM is presented as a seven-stage process of inquiry that appears in Figure 3.5. In this research, I essentially followed the first four steps, and leading to a framework, rather than a "conceptual model".

FIGURE 3.5: THE CONVENTIONAL SEVEN-STAGE MODEL OF SSM (Checkland and Scholes, 1990: 27).

Checkland and Scholes, however, warn that this graphic may suggest a linear process to be followed in sequence, which in their experience is not the case. Figure 3.6 is perhaps more useful in explaining what Checkland and Scholes describe as the basic shape of SSM.

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FIGURE 3.6: THE BASIC SHAPE OF SSM (Checkland and Scholes, 1990: 7).

SSM uses modeling to: …find out about a situation in the real world which has provoked concern; select some relevant human activity systems; make models of them; use the models to question the real world situation in a comparison phase; use the debate initiated by the comparison to define purposeful action which could improve the original problem situation. (Checkland and Scholes, 1990:6)

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The notion of a model that can be built from a real world situation is compatible with grounded theory. The above steps in SSM were developed with a slight modification: 'purposeful action' focused on determining what lessons from existing experience could be shared. It focused on defining conditions that enhanced the phenomena observed, a feature once again of grounded theory. One issue that is important to flag is that SSM tends to be applied to improving corporate problem situations. In such contexts some of the boundaries may be defined, such as who the corporate actors are, and what their business is about, even if the real world problem definition is often a matter to negotiate. In the context of this study, the boundaries were not defined and who was a stakeholder remained to be defined. SSM embraces the fact that the organizations, networks and collaborative agreements among actors -at times assembled as the result of regulatory forcesis the 'messy' context within which rural and remote communities negotiate how to make information and communication technology relevant to their goals. These groups, and their agreements, are parts of a socio-technical system where the context is rural and remote. In this context, the case studies focus on analyzing the emergence and roles of community organizations that seek to further community development by harnessing ICTs. In summary, soft systems methodology is relevant to this research in two ways. SSM as a concept sheds light on the 'social organization for innovation' (Engel, 1997). Second, it provides an approach that develops models, or 136

frameworks, to discuss real word situations. This modeling feature responds well to the purpose of developing a framework to understand what rural and remote ICT development is all about. SSM as presented by Checkland and Scholes (1990) and Checkland (1999) is much more elaborate than the above summary suggests. I have only described its major characteristics because it is at that level that I borrow elements for this research.

Theoretical and methodological integration: Weaving the strand The methodology for this study belongs to a constructivist perspective in which multiple viewpoints interact to shape a shared reality, and its overall orientation is based on grounded theory. Grounded theory is relevant in exploring new contexts: "Needless to repeat again, in grounded theory we do not know, until it emerges." (Glaser, 1992:95) Due to some limitations already mentioned in grounded theory, theoretical and methodological elements have been imported from system thinking and from organizational management literature where multiple stakeholder perspectives are embraced.

A significant effort is

dedicated to analyzing organizational performance and relationships.

Gareth

Morgan's (1997) work is particularly useful in that it provides a menu of metaphors from which to study organizations. The importance of capturing different dimensions of organizations through multiple metaphors is compatible with the notion of multiple perspectives and emergent properties.

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Morgan

underlines the need to avoid single metaphors because, while they lure one towards a clear interpretation, a single one is also blinding on the other dimensions of an organization. The self-appraisal forms that I used to analyze the performance of the organizations were based on Morgan's profile of organizational characteristics (1997). The above review of the parts, the ovals displayed in Figure 3.1, shows substantive overlap among the four theoretical and methodological areas from which I have borrowed elements: •

The 'second paradigm' embraces the characteristics of the research very closely.



Grounded theory and case study research go hand in hand when exploring phenomena without a theory to test, and the literature review sheds light on the theory gap that this research seeks to fill.



Participatory action research embraces organizational action research as a major category of study, and this is a central thrust in the case study research effort.



Soft systems methodology and grounded theory complement each other well in that SSM generates visual models that are used to debate and ascertain patterns of interaction, whereas grounded theory seeks to develop theory to describe real-world situations.

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The Methodology in Action The sequence of events While Figure 1.3 summarizes the steps followed in this research process, the following is a narrative of the research steps taken over the two-year course of this research: 1. Literature review: The literature was reviewed between 1997 and the time of writing. One major review was a course paper on telecommunications and rural economic development, April 1998. 2. Stakeholder consultation: This included the approval of the "Rural Communities Learning and Information System Project"; through which we identified stakeholders (April-October, 1998), organized a consultation (October 28th. 1998), and networked (October - December 1998). The effort also included participating in major provincial conferences and other relevant workshops throughout the research period. 3. Conceptual framework development followed, (February-March, 1999). This included the preparation and approval of the research project proposal entitled "Partnerships, Accessibility, Connectivity Transformation Strategies for Rural Ontario" (PACTS). 4. Identification of case study sites, followed by field visits for open ended investigation with research sites and document gathering 1999) 139

(June-August,

5. Analytical framework development on the basis of three guiding questions (August-September, 1999) 6. Development of interview guides and draft self-appraisal forms; sharing the documents via e-mail with the research sites with follow-up phone discussions to discuss and critique the tools (October-December, 1999). Appendix 4 includes a "rich picture" overview of all the tools and how they relate to the guiding questions and to each other. 7. Site visits for data gathering through semi-structured interviews and selfappraisal forms. In one case the in-depth interview was done via videoconferencing between the University of Guelph and K-Net Services in Sioux Lookout. This technology saved the project well over one thousand dollars. (December, 1999 - January, 2000) 8. Preparation of a draft framework and discussion with the sites as a summary of work accomplished. (January-February, 2000) 9. Group discussions and ongoing dialogue with federal and provincial policy makers, and private sector actors, using the framework presentation to review the model and gather examples of key elements and linkages (January-February, 2000) 10. In parallel with the above steps, three associated projects allowed further indepth interaction with two of the sites; they were:

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The Evaluation of the Oxford County Libraries/HRDC Rural Resource Partnership project (November 1998 to March 2000) where COIN is part of the Oxford County Library; and



Participation in two K-Net-sponsored community engagement workshops. "Working Smart in the New Millennium: Building Community Controlled Telecommunications Services in Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KO) First Nations", Red Lake, Ontario (November 9-11, 1999). And, "Harnessing Communication

Technologies:

Building

Community

Controlled

Telecommunications Services in Keewaytinook Okimakanak First Nations", Fort Severn, the most northerly community in Ontario, and a member of KO (November 29- December 3, 1999) 11. Statistical data review -in consultation with Statistics Canada- in view of the lack of county-level ICT indicators (January-March, 2000), ongoing 12. Analysis of data gathered (January-March, 2000) 13. Case study and framework, report writing (February-March, 2000)

The methodology in response to the purposes of the research The methodology was designed to achieve the four objectives of the research. The theoretical parts that I described earlier in this chapter assist in explaining how my methodology helped me answer the research objectives of the study.

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Objective 1 ("To understand and analyze how rural and remote communities organize themselves to make use of ICTs") focused on the development of a research framework. The methodology used to develop the framework has many of features of grounded theory; a significant modification was the integration of participatory action-research and case study research. The framework was shaped by inputs through a consultation from a range of stakeholders, as many participatory action research projects commence. The framework was used to describe real-world situations, much in the way SSM models are used; the three case studies were developed on the basis of the initial framework while the final framework was shaped through the case studies. The case study method was appropriate for: …empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; and multiple sources of evidence exist. (Yin, 1984:23) Objective 2 ("To develop methodology to measure impact on the basis of its contribution towards community development purposes.") was explored though action research and through a comprehensive review of existing literature, indicators, and standard survey instruments used by Statistics Canada. The action research component included several research activities, including the facilitation of two workshops in Northwestern Ontario to help communities harness communication technology for their own developmental objectives. My involvement in this work has elements of critical theory in that it: 142

…seeks to transform the self-consciousness of individuals so as to make it possible for them to collectively determine the sort of life they wish to live and the sort of action they need to take in order to bring about the social conditions under which such as life is possible. (Carr and Kemmis, 1983:129) In addition, I was also involved in the evaluation of one rural library project in Southwestern Ontario through an approach that followed a participatory evaluation methodology.

This evaluation project was sponsored in part by

COIN, one of the case study organizations. Objective 3: ("To inform policy making.") was pursued from the start by engaging policy makers in our consultation and through individual interviews and in two rounds of group interviews. Policy makers were able to query and critique the conceptual and analytical framework. The policy makers came from local, provincial and federal agencies. The PACTS project that funded much of this research includes an outreach component, which became operational as of May 2000 through presentations made about our findings across rural communities (by the staff of another provincial project promoting rural telecommunications in southern Ontario). Objective 4 ("To contribute theoretical perspectives useful in deepening the understanding about rural and remote ICTs.") is a central theme of this thesis. The challenge is the integration of the parts, the fieldwork, and the different bodies of literature to contribute theoretical perspectives about rural and remote telecommunications in relation to community development.

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Consultation This research began with a consultation with a range of stakeholders from across Ontario. This effort was possible thanks to a research project funded by the Sustainable Rural Communities programme entitled: "The rural communities information and learning system." We invited three dozen representatives from a range of organizations including large and small private telephone companies, federal regulators, provincial Ministry representatives, agricultural federations, health and medical organizations, educational networks, rural professionals, academics, non-governmental organizations and rural telecommunication networks. We brainstormed for one day, following the major phases of a methodology developed in Oregon for collaborative learning involving multiple stakeholders (Daniels and Walker, 1996). An 8-minute video was prepared to summarize the consultation process.

This consultation, combined with a

continued networking effort through electronic mail and participation at conferences, created a space of trust for further research. Furthermore, it gave me both an identity, and the platform to launch independent research with public funds. Our consultation ensured that our research focus was based on a list of 17 priority themes identified and voted on by the stakeholders. As will be explained later, this opportunity created what we came to recognize as a space and place for innovation. We evaluated the one-day consultation using a questionnaire based on Daniels and Walker's experience with collaborative learning

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workshops. The highest Likert scale score was obtained on the consultative process: "continue to invite rural organizations' input into research planning ", whereas, notwithstanding our efforts, the lowest ones were for the mix of stakeholders: "included representatives from all major affected stakeholder groups". As with the experience reported by Daniels and Walker, it is indeed difficult to ensure a broad and satisfactory participation across sectors, and regions. A major benefit, from a participatory action research perspective, was the trust developed through this exercise. This trust was evident in the additional action-research opportunities that we were invited to implement, all of which were funded by grants procured by the partners who had come to our consultation. In grounded theory, this phase is equivalent to 'open coding' that is, developing conceptual labels for discrete happenings towards a classification of concepts. The difference is that the open coding was done with inputs from multiple stakeholders. From the participatory action research angle, this was engagement or "gathering knowledge of the working area" (Selener, op.cit.: 39). In terms of soft system methodology, this step was about identifying who 'owned the problem' and involving as many people as possible in redefining it. Conceptual framework The next step was the improvisation of a conceptual framework with attention to the priority topics that emerged from the consultation. Ed St. Gelais of HRDC

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and Sam Coghlan of Oxford County Library suggested three major elements that needed to be present for ICTs to play a role in rural community development: partnerships, connectivity and accessibility. They suggested that these elements together set the foundation for ICT strategies that could transform rural communities. We found that the major elements addressed the consultation topics in an innovative manner. We built on this framework, which shaped the title of the project proposal that we submitted to the Sustainable Rural Communities

programme

entitled

"PACTS:

connectivity transformation strategies."

partnerships,

accessibility,

The PACTS proposal also included a

prototype web-based telecom inventory map of Ontario, "TIMO", as a live source of information on "who is doing what" in rural and remote ICTs in the province. The prototype, which was designed by Greg Searle as a platform integrating database and geographic information software, was prepared as part of the Rural Communities Information and Learning System project. The funding awarded for PACTS, however, did not include resources to test the TIMO prototype. The PACTS conceptual framework, with the three pillars of partnership, connectivity and transformation strategies, was useful as a communication tool to assist me in engaging partners in a research endeavour, ranging from representatives of community electronic networks to policy makers.

The

conceptual framework phase, in participatory action research terms consisted of defining the problem, primarily with the case study participants though openended exploration, ensuring relevance, seeking agreements. In grounded theory, 146

this phase could still be described as belonging to 'open coding' in that the focus was on determining properties and dimensions of concepts, and the organization of them into categories and subcategories. From a soft systems methodology perspective, these labeled concepts were the emerging components for a “rich picture” that would help me draft a model of a real-world situation, and use it to query the situation. Analytical framework While the conceptual framework was a useful platform from which to launch the research, it had limitations. The terminology was not shared: "connectivity" and "accessibility" are often used interchangeably, thus leading to some confusion. The 'people component' was not evident, though it lies in the Partnerships pillar. Hence, I began referring to the Partnerships as the "community dimension", to the Accessibility one as the "technology or hardware" dimension, and to the Connectivity one as the "Service and brokering" dimension.

Second, it was

insufficient to move into a research mode because it did not focus on specific questions or propositions. Thus I shifted from the Conceptual Framework to an Analytical Framework, and developed a set of guiding questions, mirroring the major conceptual elements that were emerging.

The role of policy and of

mediating organizations were two themes that emerged and that had not been included in the conceptual framework.

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In developing an analytical framework, I focused on developing three guiding questions -or 'statements of probability' in grounded theory- in the Community dimension, the Policy dimension, and the Service and brokering dimension. The Technology or hardware one was not formulated as a guiding question but as a relevant area to document.

Partnership/community pillar: Guiding Question 1: Do ICTs create spaces and places for community innovation and problem solving? This question stems from community development literature, and from the narratives gathered in the field. It suggests that the value of ICTs be found in community-owned activities and communication spaces where issues of importance to the community are addressed. In other words, I am talking about electronic versions of rural Canada's experience with kitchen meetings and the farm radio forum. With regard to examples of failure, the corollary to this question is that failure refers to ICT developments that do not create such spaces and places, and/or that destroy those that were working. An example given in Sioux Lookout was how cable television reduced the number of community gatherings where people came together to view videos and films. Connectivity/services/brokering pillar: Guiding Question 2: Are the communication/network organizations mediating/learning organizations? This question stems from the realization that the three case study organizations mediate among the community needs, the telecommunication infrastructure 148

providers/investors, and the policy and grant providers at the federal and provincial levels. In doing this, they have created a curriculum of experience over the last 4-5 years, and this is evidence of their capacity to learn. All three case study sites have received requests for assistance from other communities that wish to learn the same set of skills and knowledge. Policy dimension: Guiding Question 3: Do policy and incentive programmes create building blocks (Lego analogy) that stimulate local ingenuity? This question stems from the literature on value co-production and interactive policy-making. It was further shaped after a meeting with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) in which the importance of creating the conditions to simulate local initiative emerged. In addition, one of the case study sites mentioned the need to understand what part of their experience 'travels' elsewhere, and what part is unique to their own circumstances. Once the different Lego blocks are identified, each community can assemble the system that meets their needs; they can then describe the assembly as a Lego booklet. Accessibility/technology/infrastructure

pillar:

No

question

was

developed for this dimension. In the literature, there are fewer gaps in this area as a great deal of the research has been done on the technological and economic dimensions of ICTs.

This fact justifies less attention to this pillar at a

hypothetical level (given the analytical framework focus at this stage of the

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PACTS Research Project), while still documenting existing information on the technology and the investment dimension. The three guiding questions match three levels of decision-making that are relevant in community development: local, middle and top: Question 1

Relevant at the local, community level

Question 2

Relevant at the middle, organizational level.

Question 3

Relevant at the top, policy/regulatory and institutional level.

The three guiding questions provide the foundations for theoretical innovation about the role and requirements for rural and remote ICT development. The balance between a grassroots/community level question, and middle-level organizational one, and a policy/institutional responds to the rational and the context mentioned in the beginning. The guiding questions constitute what grounded theorists call categories. Among the three, the organizational one became a major focus of attention. These organizations were of critical importance in their apparent multiple functions and commitment to making ICTs relevant. Their central importance emerged through my first round of field visits. At this point, as I identified the most appropriate guiding questions, or statements of probability in grounded theory terms, I realized I needed to develop interview guides and self-appraisal forms with the help of organizational theory. These tools served to explore

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elements of the organizations, or sub-categories in grounded theory, such as their coherence, the services they offered, the features of their leadership, etc.

I

developed a rich picture to locate these interview guides and self-appraisal forms within the guiding questions (see Appendix 4). Each guiding question was investigated through several methods from participatory action research, many of which were interrelated, as summarized in Figure 3.7. The reason for this plurality of instruments is based on organizational management literature that suggest that organizations can only be analyzed through multiple perspectives, or metaphors, as one single description is bound to blind us somewhat and limit our understanding (Morgan, 1997)

1. Spaces and places Research Tools

• •



Document review and major field of literature

• • •

In-depth interviews Participatory action research (community engagement in planning with KNet) Participatory action research (evaluation with COIN) Case study research Community development literature Statistical indicator review

2. Mediating/ learning organizations • In-depth interviews • Self-appraisal forms

3. Policy building blocks







Case study research Organizational management literature





• •

Open ended group interviews with policy makers and practitioners Telephone interviews with policy makers and practitioners

Case study research Policy review Telecom programme analysis

FIGURE 3.7: THE GUIDING QUESTIONS AND THE DATA GATHERING TOOLS AND A CTION TAKEN TO INVESTIGATE THEM.

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This phase of the research also included action research through two other concurrent projects, one in evaluation and the other in community engagement and planning. These opportunities gained relevance as their role in the emerging framework became increasingly important with regard to demonstrating how community planning in ICTs and evaluation are tightly linked.

This work

helped me build methodological elements to respond to the third purpose of this research on impact assessment. Both projects were done at the initiative of our PACTS research partners giving additional opportunities to observe their work at close hand. Overall, this phase of the research, in participatory action research terms, allowed for critical analysis of the issues through a review of guiding questions, pre-testing the self-appraisal forms and iterative revising of the framework. In grounded theory, this phase would constitute the identification of properties and dimensions, and axial coding. It would also overlap with selective coding where one begins integrating the parts and generating theory. The axis of each category is described through the guiding questions.

In other words, the definition of

guiding questions established the major conditions and their features. I must emphasize that, while I am reviewing the steps of the research through grounded theory terminology, this study does not fulfill all the detailed steps of grounded theory. What is very useful, however, is the fact that grounded theory sheds light on the phases of analysis I undertook.

This underlies why I indicate that my

152

methodology draws elements from several others theories and methodologies, but does not rest on any single one of them. The parallel action-research projects had elements of critical theory in that our engagement sought to enhance communities' capacities, very much in a Freirian adult education mode. These parallel projects were distinct from the PACTS project. The evaluation of the Oxford County Library project was funded with federal funds obtained by Oxford County Library (OCL) through their partnership with Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC). This project was closely associated with the work of COIN, one of the case study organizations.

The project was co-ordinated by OCL and the University of

Guelph was a contractor for the evaluation.

Likewise, the facilitation of

community engagement workshops with Keewaytinook Okimakanak First Nations were contracts generated by K-Net Services with funding from federal agencies. What deserves attention is that their relevance and contribution to the analytical framework emerged during the research process itself.

The

framework that emerged, in soft system methodology terms, is a model showing the major actors in the system and their relationships.

In contrast with

grounded theory, where a theory is presented as a written statement, in soft systems methodology the emerging theory is presented visually, as a rich picture, that is accompanied with explanations of the parts, the relationships, and their properties. The framework was shown to many policy makers at federal and provincial levels, and to the private sector. The framework was discussed 153

and revised: participants in the group interviews began using new terminology, such as mediating organizations, and most discussion focuses on applying examples to the model to test its 'goodness of fit'. Contributing theoretical perspectives As I developed the case studies and the framework, and as I shared them with practitioners and policy makers in other contexts, I began finding that the framework indeed fit a number of other rural and remote ICT initiatives. The categories of concepts and their pattern of interrelationships were echoed by different practitioners I spoke to. In grounded theory this is referred to as theoretical sampling. "The sampling on the basis of concepts that have proven theoretical relevance to the evolving theory." (Strauss and Corbin, 1990:176) The draft case studies were circulated to the case study organization leaders to ensure accuracy. The same was done with the OCL evaluation report. The community engagement workshops were summarized and reported visually, and uploaded to the K-Net websites in a matter of days by the staff of the organization. From a participatory action research perspective, these were efforts at verifying and sharing findings. In fact, the thrust of Year Two activities under the PACTS project focus on outreach and at the time of writing a presentation with the PACTS Year 1 findings is already in circulation. The emphasis on a framework as a theoretical perspective, rather than the development of fundamental theory, is indicative of the applied nature of this

154

field. This emphasis is part of a common trend in fields of study where the context is very dynamic. Liang (1994) suggests that such research frameworks are important guides in establishing a research base, and that they are commonly used during the early years of development in new areas of study. This research fits the conditions described by Liang rather well where the focus is establishing a research base. For this reason the fourth objective of my study refers to contributing theoretical perspectives, rather than generating theory per se.

Summary This chapter describes how I assembled this methodology with reference to a paradigm and component theoretical parts that provide relevant elements. I have described the parts, their major contributions, and the elements that were woven together. I have referred to Figure 1.3 on the research process as a means to clarify and explain the evolution of the methodology. I have briefly described the research activities over the last two years in a general manner, with attention to their theoretical and methodological integration.

This chapter sets the tone for

the rest of the story in that it creates a new strand, like scaffolding supporting a new structure, for exploring the human side of ICTs for rural and remote community development. Now the story can unfold, and by the end, I will reflect on how the learning happened, as if dismantling a scaffold once the new structure can stand on its own.

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CHAPTER FOUR GENERATING A PERSPECTIVE FOR CASE STUDY ANALYSIS

The soft systems methodology (SSM) orientation used in this research means that the two issues are addressed in tandem. First, the framework that was developed is presented; it responds to Objective 1 of this research in that it constitutes a means to analyze and understand the subject matter.

The framework is

described together with the interview guides and self-appraisal forms used to develop the case studies. The second dimension is in the form of the case studies that show how the framework is applicable to describing three real world experiences.

In this chapter I describe the criteria for site selection and I

summarize the major features of the three case study organizations.

The

framework and the case studies were developed in parallel and each shaped the other. Chapters Five through Seven present the case studies. Objective 2 of this research (to develop methodology for impact assessment) is explored in the context of the framework as it locates the boundaries for monitoring and evaluation. As mentioned earlier, this second objective is subordinate to the first.

Objective 3 of this research (to inform

policy-making) is explored in two ways. First, the process of verification of the framework with policy makers is described. In SSM this is part of model verification. Second, the chapter on interpretation includes reflections on the

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policy dimension. Last, Objective 4 is addressed in the concluding chapter where innovation in theory and practice is advanced

Consultation: Priority Topics and Evaluation From June 1998 until January 1999 I was involved in implementing an exploratory research project entitled "The Rural Community Information and Learning System". Don Richardson was project leader and I was assigned as researcher to help implement the project. The project followed two objectives: 1) Setting a framework for a research on the impact and benefits of rural telecommunications in rural Ontario, and 2) Facilitating the exchange of information among rural stakeholders and their partners in the overall Sustainable Rural Communities Research Programme (Richardson and Ramírez, 1999:1). The project was funded by the Sustainable Rural Communities Research Programme, a collaboration between the University of Guelph and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA). This research project engaged rural communities in designing a framework for collaborative learning. From June 1998 onwards, we dedicated our attention to identifying a broad combination of stakeholders from across Ontario who would be invited to participate in a one-day workshop in October 1998. We visited private and public sector organizations, and kept email contact with a large number of interested parties. The October workshop was designed

157

using collaborative learning (Daniels and Walker, 1996) as a reference approach. Our commitment was to set a framework for research on telecommunication with stakeholder involvement to ensure that the research responded to the issues and the methods of involvement which rural communities deserve in the context of publicly funded research. The stakeholder engagement processes was preceded by a two-day conference on "Partnerships and Participation in Telecommunications for Rural Development: Exploring What Works and Why" hosted by the Don Snowden Program for Development Communication of the School of Rural Extension Studies, University of Guelph. This international event was designed to bring lessons from the past into the context of today's challenges and technology. The Snowden event provided a venue to combine lessons from international and domestic experiences. Appendix 5 summarizes recommendations provided by the participants to the Snowden conference. Among them, it is noteworthy that several issues captured most attention: community, partnerships, power differences, financial issues, mechanisms to address policy, information exchange and benchmarks.

These recommendations provided a relevant

foundation for the one-day consultation held the day after to develop a research approach in Ontario. The one-day consultation was entitled "Designing a Long-term Strategy for

Collaborative

Research

and

Learning

Partnerships

Regarding

Telecommunications and ICTs in Rural Ontario". We brought together over 158

thirty participants from across Ontario, from many sectors and regions. Appendix 6 includes the agenda for the day which describes the goals, consultative process, expected outputs, principles underlying our emerging strategy, the methodology for the consultation and our stated assumptions. It is important to underline that at this time, there was to our knowledge no common 'language' across the different stakeholder groups nor a framework to address the challenge of doing research on ICTs and rural development in Ontario. This explains why it would have been fruitless to develop a research project without consultation. A major product of this consultation was a list of priority topics that the participants voted on.

Figure 4.1 summarizes the eight issues that

received the highest scores. Appendix 7 includes the full list of topic areas and votes.

11 votes 6 votes 6 votes 6 votes 5 votes 5 votes 4 votes 4 votes

PARTNERSHIPS FUNDING, SUBSIDIZATION & UNIVERSAL ACCESS MARKETING INTERFACE BETWEEN LOCAL NEEDS AND ISSUES OF COMMUNITY LOCAL NEEDS EVALUATION COMMUNITY CAPACITY BUILDING NEW MODELS

FIGURE 4.1 HIGHEST -SCORING ISSUES VOTED ON BY PARTICIPANTS TO THE OCTOBER 1998 CONSULTATION ON RURAL TELECOMMUNICATION RESEARCH IN ONTARIO (Richardson and Ramírez, 1999: 31).

The products of this workshop include an 8-minute video that summarizes the discussion. The video includes debates among the participants 159

on the role of a university as a hub for research versus its role as just another node in a network of knowledge and experience. The event confirmed the fact that we were missing a framework to organize the many themes that were suggested. What also turned out to be of great value was the network of trust that this session created for future discussions with different sectors. We evaluated how participants felt about the session using a questionnaire derived from collaborative learning workshops (Daniels and Walker, 1996).

Roughly half the participants stayed long enough to fill in the

questionnaire. Figure 4.2 includes examples of the highest and of the lowest scores recorded. The number of respondents that filled each question is listed under 'n', and the score is the mean on a Likert scale from 1 to 5. Appendix 8 includes the full summary of results.

Highest scores • a consultative process that should be tried further in future • the researchers were willing to listen to rural organizations' opinions • the Proposal writing process is at an early stage • continue to invite rural organizations' input into research planning • invite a broader set of stakeholders

n Mean SD 15 4.27 .80 16 4.63 .50 12 4.67 .65 13 4.77 .83 14 4.43 1.16

Lowest scores • the range of stakeholders present was adequate • included representatives from all major affected stakeholder groups • invite a narrower set of stakeholders

n Mean SD 16 2.69 .95 15 2.47 .92 11 1.55 1.04

FIGURE 4.2 HIGHEST AND LOWEST SCORES IN THE EVALUATION OF THE ONE-DAY CONSULTATION HELD IN OCTOBER 1998 (Richardson and Ramírez, 1999: 35-36).

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The workshop evaluation indicated that some participants were keen to investigate the opportunity to shape research that would respond to issues that mattered to them.

There was also a sense that the stakeholder group was

incomplete. Notwithstanding our search for the right mix of participants during the preceding months, it remained a challenge to have a satisfactory representation from sectors and geographic regions of Ontario. The major product of the project was a subsequent research project proposal entitled "Partnerships, Accessibility and Connectivity Transformation Strategies for Rural Ontario", or "PACTS for Rural Ontario". The major pillars of the proposal -Partnerships, Accessibility and Connectivity- were suggested to us by Sam Coghlan, Chief Librarian, Oxford County Library, who had been at the consultation, and by Ed St. Gelais of Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC). The

three-pillar framework implied that ICTs serve as a tool for rural community transformation only when three pillars are present and intertwined. Together, the three pillars of Partnerships, service-Accessibility and telecommunications Connectivity, lead to more viable Transformation Strategies for rural communities. Throughout this thesis, for the sake of brevity, I refer to this project as "PACTS".

Framework In Chapter Three, I describe how the PACTS project helped me first and foremost to address objective one of my research: to develop a framework for 161

understanding and analysis on ICTs in rural and remote Ontario communities. I began working with the three-pillar conceptual framework and found it necessary to move onto more specific guiding questions.

I developed an

analytical framework based on three guiding questions, or statements of probability. I have already outlined how the three questions address three levels of analysis: policy level, organizational level and community level.

In this

section I present the framework and explain its components. Figure 4.3 presents the framework or model for rural and remote ICTs. The above framework is based on the three guiding questions described in Chapter Three. Question 1, referring to community spaces and places for innovation, is captured by the oval on the lower-left part of the diagram. Question 2 on mediating and learning organizations is pictured in the middle oval, and Question 3 on policy appears on the top-right hand corner. The technology and infrastructure oval originated in the Accessibility pillar from the original conceptual framework. The internal ovals represent the specific elements researched within each dimension.

In the following section, each of the major

dimensions is analyzed, (except for the technology one, which was covered in Chapter One).

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A FRAMEWORK FOR FOR RURAL AND REMOTE ICTs

building blocks

influences Policy

learning change services coherence Organizational

bandwidth Spaces & Places

Planning, M&E

applications

Technology and hardware Infrastructure

Community

FIGURE 4.3: A FRAMEWORK FOR RURAL AND REMOTE ICTS.

Policy dimension In Chapter Two I reviewed the Canadian ICT policy context and described the existence of a dual policy making environment where an industrial, top-down and market-driven approach is contrasted with a consultative approach that seeks to ensure universal access. In this framework, I am concerned with a narrower emphasis: how policies affect rural and remote contexts. The policy dimension of the framework therefore focuses on determining the policies and regulations that are available, their scope and orientation, and the process by which they undergo adaptation or adjustment.

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The first element addresses policy incentive programmes as 'building blocks' to stimulate local-level ingenuity and planning by community electronic network organizations. The second one addresses the impact and influence from the experiences by the local organizations on the evolution of the policy incentive programmes. The first one sheds light on how a range of federal and provincial programmes stimulate the emergence of local organizations, while the second looks at how the local organizations' experience and performance shape the policies themselves. The two elements are complementary: the first addresses the impact of policies on field level experience and the second addresses the reaction from field experience on the policy-making process. Rural and remote communities are faced by a continuum of policies through federal and provincial grants that promote ICT development. Several of the programmes are only accessible to groups in the not-for-profit sector. This part of the framework addresses the extent to which the different programmes shape the emergence of community-based network organizations. I refer to them as building blocks in that I expect to find that each community takes the policy grant programmes to assemble a locally specific ICT system. The above thinking stems from the literature in value co-production (Ramirez, 1999) in combination with the literature on local policy networks (Glasbergen, 1995b).

In 'value co-production', several actors or enterprises

participate in adding value to a product. This contrasts with the industrial model in which the consumer receives a complete product. In the furniture 164

sector, the company IKEA pioneered the notion of home assembly, thus involving the client in adding value to the consumer good by assembling it at home.

For other products, for example software that co-ordinates complex

operations across different organizations, value co-production is a must. In these cases, the networking software can only be built with direct inputs from the network of organizations that the software is meant to assist in co-ordination. Each party needs to be involved in adjusting the software to make sure it integrates with their internal systems (Ramirez, 1999). In the context of rural and remote telecommunication, the analogy that comes to mind is the policy, rather that the products. The conventional policymaking process is comparable to the industrial model in which a consumer product is assembled in a factory and sold to the consumer in a ready-to-use form. Through this framework I explore the extent to which policies are in fact co-created. In other words, I seek to find evidence of value co-production. The underlying assumption is that ICT policies cannot fit every context equally, and that user involvement adds value to the policy purpose. In this analogy, the community electronic networking organizations are 'consumers' who take the policy - through grants- and put it to work; in essence, 'test-driving' policy offerings. The community electronic networking organizations constantly access and address the range of policy programmes to suit their needs. They may add value to a policy by adjusting it, or by combining it with another grant proposal that adds value to the first. 165

The other element, influences, builds on the first. This suggests that a final version of a policy can only emerge from repeated uses and adaptations by local players who test it. The extent to which community-level experience does in fact influence the policy offerings is difficult to capture beyond anecdotal examples. In real life, the policy-offering context is made up of a range of provincial and federal programmes. In this thinking, the major thrust is that the range of policy offerings serve as stimulants to local creativity, and as this creativity bears fruit in the form of local electronic networks, policy programmes are adjusted to match successful elements. This second element stems form experiences with local networks for interactive and local policy making in the Netherlands (Glasbergen, 1995b). The literature on local policy networks reports on how local networks of organizations are better positioned to ensure policy offerings are relevant to local conditions. The essence of the policy dimension in this framework is systemic, in that I seek to analyze the relationships between two entities: how a policy continuum shapes the emergence of rural and remote community network organizations, and how the performance of these organizations shapes policy-making.

Organizational dimension The organizational dimension is analyzed through four complementary elements that address major features of what I call 'community electronic networking

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organizations' for lack of a better term: a) The internal coherence of the community electronic network organizations. b) The extent to which these groups can be described as learning organizations. c) How these organizations learn to adapt and change, with particular attention to the personal attributes of their managers (or 'champions') and to how they seek to transfer their experience; and, d) The range of services they offer. Much of this research is based on management theory that seeks to describe organizations through several complementary perspectives -or 'metaphors'- at the same time (Morgan, 1997). Partnering is a common theme in current policy-making and is often a requirement for accessing provincial and federal incentive grants. In fact, some of these organizations are the result of community-level discussions that led to new partnerships among individuals and organizations from different sectors. It is therefore not surprising that 'partnerships' was voted as the number one issue on which to focus research out of 17 issues of relevance selected by the participants to the October 1998 consultation that appear in Appendix 7.

The community

organizations are part of the community; therefore, their roles often overlap with the Community oval that appears at the lower-left side of the framework in Figure 4.3.

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Community dimension This element is challenging to address because of the different meanings of the word "community". Put simply, it is a shared belief in a common identity that is rooted in an attachment to place… A group's sense of attachment to place and to each other may be maintained -even sharpened- when a community is separated from its geographic referent…The consciousness of community is…encapsulated in perception of its boundaries, boundaries which are themselves largely constituted by people in interaction. (Cohen, 1985 cited in (Bush and Opp, 1999:194)) In the remote case study site, communities are geographic, cultural and political. Any one of the First Nation communities that comprise the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Northern Chiefs Council are visible from a plane; they comprise Cree and Ojibway populations, and are defined as reserves.

On the other hand,

Oxford County and Lanark County are defined through geo-political boundaries that encompass numerous municipalities and townships. There are, however, multiple communities of interest within each county, some of which are not always geographically defined within county boundaries.

The word

"community" has multiple interpretations, and most refer to some notion of involvement; beyond that, there is not agreement as to the nature of community (Lotz, 1998:79). The meaning of 'community' has significant implications when it comes to doing research about impact. Most statistical data do not match county boundaries. For example, electoral districts shape the sampling basis for the 168

Statistics Canada census, while telephone area codes and first three numbers are available from Bell Canada wire exchange centres. This issue is taken up again later in this chapter. In his insightful book about community development in Canada, Jim Lotz (1998: 179-180) suggests that "Community development is about solving problems together that cannot be tacked by one individual…And the record of achievement in this field is very mixed. Only too often government "help" has proved to be the kiss of death." The organizations researched in this project all stem from the community, and have become mediating structures between the community and government. Lotz puts it like this: "They … offer spaces and places where different people can discuss ideas and options for action." (Lotz, 1998:235) What is unique is that information and communication technology can extend those spaces to remote places formerly kept off the loop because of geographic, social, economic or cultural barriers. This dimension is addressed through two elements: a) identification of examples of new "spaces and places for innovation", and spanning the community electronic networking organizations themselves to the electronic bulletin boards they have created for their users. And b) the sector-specific, and project-specific initiatives that communities pursue. The first dimension suggests that the community network organizations provide services to communities that constitute new spaces and places to learn about and explore ICTs, much as the Farm Radio Forum did through radio for 169

rural families. In this case, however, the applications of ICTs are much broader than radio, so experimentation with the technology is a pre-requisite before people are in a position to innovate and put the technology to work. The services offered by the community organizations should respond to community demands. Figure 4.4 presents the components of infrastructure, a perspective though which services provided and demands can be analyzed. All three case study organizations focused a great deal of effort on ensuring that the supply of infrastructure became accessible and affordable to rural organizations. Most of them also provided advice with regard to equipment and skills. K-Net also provided content in the form of a strong historical and cultural orientation to its website. The TAP programme placed particular emphasis on designer services and skills development.

In the context of Figure 4.4, the ongoing advice

provided by all case study groups tends to contribute first and foremost to changes at the level of local service organizations rather than households. In this first phase of ICT development, household end-users benefit from the enhanced services provided by service organizations -such as health and education agencies- rather than by direct residential service improvements.

Many,

however, take the skills gained at work to the home and this transfer leads to skill and behavioral changes in households. In the case studies, I use the Figure 4.4 to analyze the types of services offered by each organization. One important element that the Melody framework lacks is the community development

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facilitation role, one which does not fully fit into the demand and supply dichotomy that fits a purely market-oriented analysis (refer to the case studies). SUPPLY (technical capacity)

DEMAND Applications in organizations (Niche Markets)

A. Equipment supply B. Telecom infrastructure Digital --Narrowband --Broadband C. Special services / networks D. Terminals E. Skills F. Content



Designer services / network development



Skill development

Household End-Users

• • • • • •

Skill Benefits • Reallocation of resources Reallocation of resources • Organizational reform Habit change Demand / Need Income FIGURE 4.4: THE INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE : INGREDIENTS FOR SUCCESS (Adapted from Melody, 1996: 253).

Figure 2.3 shows the components of the infrastructure dimension and of the applications dimension for an 'information society'.

Melody (1996)

underlines the fact that the infrastructure dimension has traditionally been supply driven, while the applications or services side must be demand driven. In the case of rural telecommunication, however, the infrastructure dimension in Ontario has also been demand driven thanks to mediating organizations, such as the ones studied in this research. In the case of the remote communities, the infrastructure provided by Bell Canada is simply lacking in some communities and grossly inadequate in others. It is worth mentioning that Melody's diagrams are meant to model countrywide contexts, and in this research I attempt to make them relevant to rural and remote community contexts. 171

The second element -planning, monitoring and evaluation- responds to Objective 2 of this research pertaining to assessing the impact of information, communication technologies. Impact assessment, in this case, takes place at the community level and in a context of a systems-orientation (Ackoff, 1969). The assumption is that impact assessment is possible in the context of specific activities, actors, linkages and a hierarchy of outputs, outcomes and results (Statistics Canada, 1998b; Statistics Canada, 1998a). Once specific projects are designed,

impact

assessment

is

possible

(Gygi,

1995),

including

the

differentiation of project specific outputs and outcomes from longer-term results to which the project contributes.

This monitoring and evaluation dimension is

explored in Chapter Eight; what is important to underline is that it is located at the overlap between the mediating organization and community dimensions, or ovals in the framework (Figure 4.3).

Linkages The framework is a fluid representation of the ever-changing reality of ICTs in rural and remote communities. The linkages shown between components are as important as the parts. This framework is similar to the 'rich pictures' that management consultants use to describe complex organizational behaviour (Checkland, 1981; Checkland and Scholes, 1990). In this case, rather than dealing with an organization, we are dealing with a system in which communities,

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community groups and agencies, community electronic network organizations, technology, markets, policies and regulations all interact on an ongoing basis. The case studies include numerous examples of the linkages, often capturing anecdotes that would otherwise be lost.

The framework in action I designed the framework based on the major concepts identified at the start of the study and through the examples observed in the field. The reader is referred to Figure 1.3 as a summary of the research process and the phases I went through. The case studies that appear subsequently show how the framework helps analyze and understand field experiences across Ontario. I summarized the evolution of the framework into a computer presentation in MS PowerPoint format. I used the presentation to verify the framework's relevance with federal and provincial policy-makers, private sector organizations, federal regulators and statisticians. The framework may be compared to a 'model' in soft systems methodology, one that is used to compare a perceived situation with a real world one. During a group presentation with senior policy makers of federal agencies, including Industry Canada, Statistics Canada and the CRTC, I challenged them to provide examples of linkages among the main framework components. My questions probed for examples of instances where the policy-

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making dimension had been modified on the basis of accomplishments at the organizational or community level. While only the CRTC was able to provide examples of how it learns from communities through its public hearings and formal submission procedure, what struck me was how soon the participants in the discussion took the framework for granted. Participants in these sessions began using terms from the framework, particularly 'mediating organizations', to discuss examples with the group.

Few, if any, suggested changes to the

framework; it seemed acceptable as a first explanatory map. The framework served as my guide to inquiry in developing the case studies. I now turn my attention to how this 'heuristic model' guided my data gathering tasks.

Appendix 4 includes a diagram that shows the guiding

questions and the interview guides and self-appraisal forms I used. The bulk of the forms and in-depth interview guides focused on the organizational dimension, because the organizational dimension emerged during the research as a key dimension to analyze. The coherence of the mediating organizations was assessed through a self-appraisal tool that managers filled out. Appendix 9 includes this tool which I developed on the basis of Morgan's (1997) 'key insights' into organizations. I refer to it as a 'self-appraisal tool' because, after filling it in, it invites the user of the form to review the scores and it explains the underlying theory for analyzing the scores. The form was filled by the staff of the case study organizations, by their board members, and by associated consultants. 174

The range of services through time was also documented by preparing a self-appraisal tool (see Appendix 10). I asked the managers of the case study organizations to fill this form and I provided the historical summary of their organizations as the basis from which the major phases of their evolution could be described. The characteristics of the groups as learning organizations, the features of their leaders, the ways they adjust to change, and the strategies they employ to share their experience were investigated through two interview guides. How the managers of the organizations perceive the major lessons from their experience was captured using a summary from the literature on community networks (Richardson, 1999a). The cumulative scores from the three case study organizations appear in Appendix 11. The historical account of the evolution of each case study organization was captured through a table summary to organize the information provided by each group (Appendices 12, 14 add 16 include these tables). Managers were asked to verify the accuracy of information on their respective tables17 . The interview guides and self-appraisal forms have helped capture the essence of those organizations, often uncovering internal attributes that were not evident in their promotional documentation. No doubt there is room for further improvement of these tools. However, it is clear that these organizations evolve at a fast pace, what we have now is a portrait of their recent performance. It is One case study organization later informed me that this table was a useful historical summary and they had used as part of a grant application. 17

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clear that, at the pace at which they currently evolve these case studies will only reflect one part of their history in the near future. The framework was guided by inquiry; at the same time it was shaped by my investigation of real life experiences by the case study organizations. Some of the above discussion overlaps with the previous chapter on methodology, except for the fact that the framework is a product or finding of the research as much as a data gathering guide.

Soft systems methodology embraces this

approach in that it recognized the doubly systemic nature of the inquiry process. While the framework captures a system where policy, organizations, community and technology are major components, the framework is also a guide to inquiry that was shaped and confirmed as I interacted with the organizations and as I verified its relevance with policy makers and other stakeholders.

Case Studies Selection of sites The case study sites selected satisfy the following selection criteria: •

They exhibit accomplishments that can be observed and analyzed.



They have an organizational entity that has existed for more than five years; they have an identity that is recognized and referred to across Ontario.



They cover three distinct geographical areas, two rural and one remote.

176



They constitute three different models.

Through the PACTS project, the University of Guelph signed memoranda of understanding to prepare case studies with two rural community electronic networks and one remote one. The rural cases include the County of Oxford Integrated Network (COIN) based in Beachville (near Ingersoll) in Southwestern Ontario, and the Lanark Communications Network (LCN) based in Perth, in Eastern Ontario. The remote community electronic network is K-Net Services, based in Sioux Lookout, Northwestern Ontario. The following table summarizes the geographic coverage of each site, their headquarters location, their organizational identity or affiliation, and the years of work described in this research. The table in Figure 1.1 provides an overview of the three sites. Taking a portrait of the three case study organizations turned out to be a challenge best addressed through organizational management approaches. The organizations in question defy traditional descriptions; they change roles often, they encompass multiple partnerships and relationships; they offer a range of services to different clients or partners; they mold to circumstances much as consulting organizations do. These attributes make them good examples of learning organizations (Senge, 1990; Stiglitz, 1999; Morgan, 1997). They are all community-oriented and have a sense of location. They all see technology as a vehicle to improved economic, social, and cultural renewal of rural and remote communities.

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Lotz

(1998)

suggests

that

all

effective

community

development

organizations require people who can take on the following roles: a prophet, visionary, one who scans the scene; a manager, bookkeeper; and a marketer, facilitator. During the interviews with case study organization managers, they were asked whether they identified with these roles. In terms of helping other communities recognize the complementary roles required of leaders or 'champions', it is important to acknowledge that in addition to their roles, they also need to exercise a management style that invites learning from other people who can grow into being key members of a group. Morgan (1997) adds that effective managers can avoid being 'grand designers' by focusing on facilitating, orchestrating (co-ordination), boundary management (looking into new alliances), and creating enabling conditions. Morgan suggests that effective managers define no more than is absolutely necessary to allow space, autonomy and ideas to emerge. The challenge, then, lies in determining the 'minimum specifications' to allow individuals in a community to self-organize into a coherent organization. The case studies reveal that all organizations studied have leaders who are visionary, able to scan 'the large picture' and determine where ICTs and community needs may come together. They are all experienced mediators among three dimensions: •

Community needs

178



Technology and infrastructure



Government grants and incentive programmes

They have gained experience in juggling the three elements, and this makes them effective as 'mediating organizations' that broker between communities and governments (Lotz, 1998; Berger and Neuhaus, 1977). Their experience may be described as the curriculum of rural and remote telecommunication. It can also be described as 'social learning', a term most often used by authors who analyze organizations that manage complex natural resource systems (Glasbergen, 1996; Jiggins and Röling, 2000; Woodhill and Röling, 1998) and is now appearing in information and knowledge management literature (Stiglitz, 1999). The major features of the case study organizations are summarized in the table that appears in Figure 4.5.

Site

K-Net

COIN

LCN

The formal identity of the organization

A service organization of Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KO) Northern Chiefs, a First Nation's organization

A project of Information access Oxford (IAO), a division of Oxford County Libraries, County Government

A Not-For-Profit Corporation

The model

A First Nations aboriginal government service

A public County library-based service

A non-profit, private corporation representing private & public partnerships

The governing authority

Northern Chief's Council

COIN Board of Directors

LCN Board of Directors

How each organization describes itself

"A regional information technology and content development organization." (Beaton and Fiddler, 1999:1)

"A broad bandwidth community network designed to span the County of Oxford and provide network and Internet connections to all municipal offices

A not for profit corporation whose mission is to create and promote a telecommunications infrastructure that will facilitate application

179

and libraries…other partners may join the network and share in the cost of operation and maintenance." (Brown and Moore, 1999:1)

solutions, enhance quality of life, and improve economic development. Adapted from (Brohman and Parent, 1997) "A community facilitator and catalyst in terms of using ICTs to transform, also advocates." • Applications • Enabling affordable access • Training

What they describe as their main job

"Helping communities improve the services they have."

"Delivery of information services. Helping people in communities."

The major 'drivers' (in terms of services & technology) The champions' roles

• • •

Enabling access Help-desk Training

• •

• •

Prophet, visionary Manager, bookkeeper Marketer, facilitator

• Can afford to take risk

Bandwidth Public sector Network Training



Yes

• •

Prophet, visionary Manager, bookkeeper Marketer, facilitator

• Yes

• • •

Prophet, visionary Manager, bookkeeper Marketer, facilitator

Yes

FIGURE 4.5: M AJOR FEATURES OF THE CASE STUDY ORGANIZATIONS.

Policy as expressed through incentive programmes For rural and remote community organizations involved in ICTs, policy is often expressed through federal and provincial programmes. Figure 4.6 provides a summary of major grants that were accessed by the three case study organizations researched. The selection was made to reflect a balance across the three sites, and a gradient of organizational requirements and funding ceilings.

Grant Programme [sites receiving it] Features

Community Access Program (CAP), Industry Canada [LCN, KNet, COIN]

Rural Job Strategy Fund, OMAFRA [LCN]

180

Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, NOHF [KNet]

Telecommu nications Access Partnership s (TAP) [LCN, COIN]

SMART Communities [all applied, only KNet selected]

Government Level Duration of projects ICT focus Number of awards Targets

Provincial

Provincial

18 months