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Letter to First Nation Leaders across Canada from the five First Mile project partner organizations - Keewaytinook Okimakanak, First Nation Education Council, Atlantic First Nations Helpdesk, University of New Brunswick and Simon Fraser University

Introducing the First Mile Project on First Nations Community Broadband

Dear Chief and Council,

Greetings from the First Mile team. We are a partnership between three First Nations organizations and two universities. We are writing to invite your community to participate in the First Mile project. We are presenting about the project at this year’s ICT Summit in Vancouver.

You can watch and participate in a web-stream of this presentation at: http://meeting.knet.ca/

This event will take place Friday, February 24, 2012: 10:30am Pacific / 11:30am Mountain / 12:30pm Central / 1:30pm Eastern / 2:30pm Atlantic

The First Mile celebrates local First Nations leadership with Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). First Nation leaders recognized the importance of local ownership and control of their telecommunication infrastructure and networks when they passed the e-community resolution at the December 2011 AFN gathering in Ottawa.

We are building a network of First Nation communities across Canada who are interested and involved in taking control and ownership of local broadband infrastructure. These communities are sharing their stories and experiences, showcasing local ICT projects and achievements.

So far several communities have produced short First Mile videos. Others have written blog posts about their experiences with community owned and managed ICTs. Some are partnering with our team to research and write papers about their First Mile developments. Every community can decide the best way to share best practices and lessons learned with their peers and colleagues. Learn more about these projects at: http://firstmile.ca

We include in this package a 2-page summary of the First Mile concept. This paper describes the concept of the First Mile in First Nations communities: what it is; why it is important for communities to be thinking about it now; how First Nations can put the First Mile into action; and what it could look like in the future.

Finally, we include a copy of the recent Assembly of First Nations resolution about the e-Community ICT Strategy. The resolution highlights the work that First Nations are doing and developing in the creation of community-owned and managed broadband to support the delivery of community services.

If you would like more information about the First Mile project, or would like to share your community’s own First Mile experiences, email us at: info@firstmile.ca

Thanks for considering our invitation to contribute to this project. Kind regards,

First Mile Project Team