Citizen Engagement in Practice - Informing Digital Futures: Strategies for Citizen Engagement - page 64

Findings from the process of citizen engagement were that:
• women and young people were under represented in the process;
• the over 65's were well represented;
• participants were interested not only in content but also in user friendliness;
• participants were eager to see if they had been listened to and had had
an impact on what was done;
• almost half the responses were submitted in the first two days of the
project with only a slight increase resulting from reminder emails. They
thus suggest that a reminder should be sent after only 4-5 days, allowing
data collection to be carried out over 2 not 3 weeks (Fühles-Ubach 2005).
4.4.2 K-Net (The Kuhkenah Network) - Canada
This is a case study of a participative, broadly-based programme underway
in geographically remote communities in Canada. The Keewaytinook
Okimakanak (KO) First Nation communities are part of the Nishnawbe
Aski Nation, located in north-western Ontario across an area roughly the
same size as France. The total population of the area served is about
twenty five thousand, most of whom are aboriginal people living in com-
munities of about three to nine hundred inhabitants. For most of these, the
only year-round access into or out of their area is by small airplane, al-
though most have a few weeks of winter road access. Hospital and high
school access, for example, have traditionally required air travel, although
most homes are within walking distance of local services and administra-
tion buildings (Beaton 2005). Demographically, nearly half of the community
members are under the age of 20; there is a high percentage of unemploy-
ment (36%) among adults, and high school completion rates are low.
However the communities are located in resource rich areas; forestry and
mining are expanding and tourism is an economically important activity.
The programme centres around K-Net (the Kuhkenah Network of Smart
First Nations) - a telecommunications network that provides broadband
connectivity to communities in the region, with associated support ser-
vices. The ICT facilities have been harnessed by communities to deliver
improvements in local health, education, and economic development.
The initiative began in 1993/4 when local education directors identified
the need to equip schools in the area with computers and greater access
to information. At the time, telecommunications services to the region
were poor, with some communities having no telephones and others only
having a single phone to serve all residents. In response, the Keewaytinook
Okimakanak tribal council began mobilizing local and federal funding.