Each year the ICS community comes together to discuss ways to ensure Alaska Native, American Indian, Inuit, Native Hawaiian, First Nations and Métis communities have affordable, high-quality and sustainable Internet access, and talk about how connectivity supports social and economic development.
The Covid-19 pandemic revealed the state of digital inequity across the world. As millions of people moved their life online, those without access to the Internet were unable to make the shift to virtual work, education, healthcare and communication with friends and family. Indigenous communities across Canada and the United States are disproportionately affected by both Covid-19 and inadequate access to fast, affordable, and reliable Internet.
The ICS 2021 highlighted Indigenous communities pursuing innovative and independent ways to connect to the Internet and their unique challenges to connectivity – further complicated by exclusion from national markets and the policy making processes that support them.
A diverse group of community network managers and operators, Indigenous-owned Internet service providers, community members, researchers, policy makers and Indigenous leaders joined in a community-led discussion to share the latest on connectivity solutions, funding sources, next level advocacy and success stories from Indigenous community networks in Canada and the United States.
The ICS is a collaborative space to build partnerships, share powerful examples of Indigenous-led projects, engage in robust dialogue, enjoy Indigenous artwork, music and film, and work together to develop the ICS 2021 policy recommendations to support Indigenous connectivity efforts going forward.
Pre-Summit trainings
Participants of the ICS could also join two practical, hands-on training tracks on how Indigenous communities can build their own connectivity, and a policy training focused on how to advocate for access solutions in Indigenous communities and digital policy needs across Canada and the United States.
