Age: 31

Country: Canada (Piikani Nation)

Main development interests: Education, including online education; using ICTs to foster community-based development

Main reasons for coming to IGF: To see what’s being done at the global level by governments to bridge the digital divide, especially with indigenous peoples; to meet people using the Internet for community-based development—maybe we can help each other

3 favourite Web sites: cbc.ca, cbtdirect.com (for online technical certification), web sites I maintain

When people in the development community talk about the Digital Divide, they are typically referring to the gap between developed and developing countries in access to ICTs and to the many opportunities and benefits that access brings. But the Digital Divide also exists within countries and regions—between urban and rural areas, between rich and poor, and especially between the general population and indigenous peoples.

Many First Nations’ groups and individuals across Canada are working to counter this last aspect by bringing access to ICTs and relevant services and content to native communities, especially reserves, many of which are remote and underdeveloped. Prominent among these is Ula Shirt, a member of the Piikani Nation Reservation in southwestern Alberta, and IT and Education Manager at The Mii Kyaa Pii Centre in Brocket, Alberta.

Fostering community-based development

The Centre offers reserve members access to internet enabled computers, basic literacy, high school courses, an alternative education program that includes the award-winning Sunchild Elearning Community, and an Alberta Computers For Schools Refurbishing centre that gives youth the opportunity to learn how computers work and how to repair them. Ula began working at the Centre in 2000 immediately after earning a diploma in Computer Programming, Database and Internet Solutions from The Institute for Computer Studies, Calgary Campus, in November 1999.

“The Centre’s goal is to integrate services so we have many things going on that feed into one another,” Ula explains. “It’s all about giving the community more ways to access education and training so that self-generated economic development ramps up on reserve. For example, the Computers For Schools Refurbishing centre has encouraged several reserve youth to go back to school to study computers. And one youth is now taking Cisco Networking Academy training through Sunchild, so soon I’ll have some technical help. The community access program lets people learn skills that open doors, especially for youth. I really believe in this Centre. It’s a very valuable resource.”

WSIS and the IGF

Because of Ula’s commitment to using ICTs for community-based development and the range of her hands-on experience and technical expertise, she was chosen in 2005 as a Canadian aboriginal delegate to the second World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis, Tunisia. “It was a great experience,” she says. The workshops and sessions were very interesting, and it was amazing to be there as the U.N. was finalizing the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. I also made quite a lot of contacts.”

One of those contacts, with a Canadian software company, may lead to a project to make computer programs available in the Blackfoot language, helping to keep Blackfoot culture alive. Another contact, with an official from Industry Canada, led to her being chosen as an IDRC-sponsored youth delegate to the IGF.

“I want to see what’s being done at the global level by governments to bridge the digital divide, especially with indigenous peoples, and also at the local level,” she says. “I look forward to meeting people from around the world who are using the Internet for community-based development. Maybe we can learn from and help each other.”

Opening digital doors

What’s the next step for Ula and the Mii Kyaa Pii Centre? “We have a proposal into Indian and Northern Affairs Canada for a program that will bring free, high-speed wireless access to all 400 houses on our reserve,” she explains. “This would allow us to offer a wide range of services, opening the door for community members who might fall through the cracks, like young mothers and low-income people who can’t afford a phone. I see it as a kind of interface for building the community. I believe it could help us bring the high school graduation rate up and the unemployment rate down. For example, we could create a virtual storefront to sell the incredible crafts and artwork produced on the reserve. And that’s just one possibility of many.”