THE RURBAN FRINGE

To Infinity … and Beyond!

Posted on | March 20, 2009 | No Comments

Buzz LightyearTo anyone who has children or has seen the movie Toy Story, this phrase immediately brings to mind Buzz Lightyear – the interplanetary action hero and defender of the universe.  Viewing each day as an outer space adventure, Buzz does his thing, until he realizes what the others have known all along … he is merely a toy.

But is it always in one’s best interests to “know” the rules and strive to follow them?

This question sprung to mind when I had the opportunity to take part in a developmental video-conference for Communities Without Boundaries (CWoB), a network of local coalitions, community champions, and technology providers working to promote the benefits of accessible broadband (sometimes referred to as high-speed internet) usage.

We “know,” from a rural and rurban perspective, that broadband has been touted to solve all manner of current challenges: access to information, employment, leadership, economic development, etc. etc.

And we “know” broadband access is supposed to be an enabler for communities to use to develop better jobs, improve education and training opportunities, enhance health care learning and delivery, and so forth.  The federal and provincial governments have certainly bought into this, allocating millions of dollars to increase broadband access.

But we don’t have to blindly follow the adage that ‘if we build it, good things will come’ … broadband access is only half the battle; broadband in and of itself doesn’t energize a community, people do, and they need training in best practices and entrepreneurship opportunities to develop trusted networks of support in order to succeed in this context.

I believe that CWoB is working towards this vision … to succinctly define their work and recognize that the value of broadband is more than just having access, it’s also about teaching and sharing the innovation and imagination process while striving to create local community networks that offer trusted and much-needed mentoring, expertise and home-grown solutions to perennial community challenges.

Imaginative applications for broadband implementation remains the missing piece of the puzzle … it’s up to us to find and seize the opportunities that broadband offers to invigorate our communities.

In this sense, here’s to infinite connectivity … and beyond!

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