In my own backyard

From November 1-2, 2007 I attended the Communities without Boundaries conference held in Olds, Alberta. The conference was about the Alberta SuperNet, a broadband, high-speed internet that enables high quality video-conferencing, e-learning, e-health, and other tech-savvy innovations that will come. My first thought when I heard of this SuperNet was "so what? If I wanted video-conferencing I can just use skype." It wasn't until I went to the conference that I discovered how isolated rural Alberta was. Communities face a shortage of doctors and nurses; they do not have enough students to justify the teaching of subjects; and some internet service providers do not extend their networks to some rural citizens because it isn't worth it.

Enter the Government of Alberta, they invested and connected over 400 communities in Alberta to the SuperNet - a first government initiative in the world that connects a region so sparse in population. What does this mean? I like to refer to it as "Alberta is the new Singapore." Wishful thinking? Maybe. But it means communities will thrive and the quality of life will improve for everyone. Citizens can manage e-business without leaving their community. We will be able to market Alberta as a small town friendly place to live while having a successful business.

There is however a huge hurdle to overcome, getting Albertans aware of the SuperNet's availability and ensuring that they know how to use the internet and be innovative in it's use. Lots of money to be made for those entrepreneurs ;). There are also concerns from non-internet savvy people - they fear that "the new generation" would be too attached to their computers and become socially awkward. I see their point - I tend to check face-book way too often - but I also see the other side of the coin - I am able to socialize with people across the globe through face-book. Besides, just because I am using the internet it doesn't mean I do not socialize - I am heading out right after this post.

It's great to see this initiative and it will require a lot of leaders in the communities to push us forward. But at least I know that I do not have to travel the world to live in an innovative and challenging environment. (But of course I am still going to travel - but now when I say I'm from Alberta, people may actually know where that is!)