This release event provided an overview of the Policy Recommendations and the impact that they can have on the state of connectivity in Indigenous communities in the US and Canada. The conversation was led by members of the ICS community.
The Recommendations were the culmination of six weeks of trainings on the role of policy and advocacy in the current connectivity environment. Participants — which included over 80 individuals from the US and Canada, most of whom are members of Indigenous communities —used the dialogue over these trainings to collaboratively develop a set of recommendations that aim to support Indigenous Communities in providing their own connectivity solutions. On the final day of the ICS, participants reviewed, contributed to, and ultimately adopted these recommendations as an official output of the summit.
These recommendations focus on the following critical areas:
- Inclusivity, community consultation, and engagement
- Spectrum rights and sovereignty
- Engaging local capacity in Indigenous communities
- Infrastructure and ownership
- Digital literacy, data sovereignty, and sustainability
- Affordability
- Effective and accurate mapping
Participants emphasized that the 2021 Policy Recommendations are building on the recommendations from previous year’s, not replacing them. Policymakers must look at this multi-year historical record from the ICS community, as they move forward with new policies to address connectivity.
