Explain how proposed
Smart services build upon existing services provided through community
networks and upon existing on-line government services.
The implementation
of community networking has changed the way that Kuh-ke-nah communities
think about information access. First Nations SchoolNet and Community
Access Program sites have introduced a means for citizens in these
remote First Nations to gain easy and timely access to information.
E-mail has facilitated new dialogues among colleagues (Band Administrators,
federal and provincial staff), service providers (nurses, family
and social services staff, teachers), and citizens (youth, elders,
the disabled).
Local web access has
opened a window to strategic information resources that focus
on First Nation concerns: economic development databases (Strategis
Aboriginal Business Canada), policy archives (the
Final Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples ),
and international initiatives (UNESCO's
Best Practices in Indigenous Knowledge). Access to the internet
has also animated intensive interest in web design. Aboriginal
web developers have created interactive cultural repositories
such as the Iyash Legends
Site and community service
profiles .
