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Nunavut Connectivity Overview
- 2. Overview Connectivity Capacity of Nunavut Presented by Erin Yunes Igloolik Isuma Productions Presented by Gabriela Gamez Mobilizing Inuit Cultural Heritage: a multi-media / multi-platform re-engagement of voice in visual art and performance Presented by Anna Hudson and Angela Norwood
- 3. Credit: Ilisaqsivik/ilisaqsivik.ca Credit: Ilisaqsivik/ilisaqsivik.ca Connectivity Capacity of Nunavut Credit: Angela Norwood
- 4. Population of Inuit in Canada Inuit in Canada: 59,445 Nunavut Population: 35,591 Annual growth rate: 2.2% Currently Inuit is one of the fastest growing populations in Canada.
- 5. 10 Largest Nunavut Communities Source: Calculations based on July 2013 Population Estimates published by the Government of Nunavut Total Populations with % of Age Groups between 5-64
- 6. Broadband Availability by Speed and Province/Territory Percentage of Households, 2011 Source: CRTC Data Collection/Backbone Magazine
- 7. Cost of Internet: Qiniq Average Cost basic internet Nunavut: $80.00 Average Cost basic internet in southern Canada: $39.00
- 8. Milestones in Nunavut Connectivity
- 9. Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation Credit: NBDC/www.nunavut-broadband.ca
- 10. Connectivity Accomplishments Improved training Increased employment opportunities $9.9 million in direct and spin-off wages and salaries Opened doors for corporate competition
- 11. Government Spending to Improve Connectivity
- 12. Knowledge Infrastructure Program (KIP)
- 14. Connectivity: Moving Forward Community Voice: Just today I was communicating with my older children about how in February our internet bill was $700 and how I cannot afford to pay that monthly. We have the 'best' package from NorthWesTel that provides 30 gigs but when we go over then it costs a lot of money.
- 15. Current Technology Limitations: Retirement
- 16. New Satellite System Via-Sat 1 (2012)
- 17. Proposed Satellite System: Via Sat II (2016) Planned launch in 2016 Double the bandwidth economics of ViaSat-1 Provide seven times the coverage area
- 18. Current Global Fiber Optic Cabling, March 2014
- 19. Proposed: Arctic Fibre Route
- 20. Fiber Optic Concerns Credit: Nunavut Fibre Optic Feasibility Study – March 2012 Global Fiber Optic Outage Map 44% 21% 15% 20% Causes of Fiber Breaks Worldwide Fishing Unknown Anchor Errosion/Dri lling
- 21. The Bottom Line: Connecting with the World Artists Bill Nasogaluak (Tuktoyaktuk) and Kuzy Curley (Cape Dorset) were commissioned to design, build, and install an Inukshuk in New Delhi as a sign of harmony between Canada and India.
- 22. Conclusion The Now • Current connectivity is creating pockets of exclusion for Inuit • Highlights social inequalities • Actions are structured by communication limitations Call to Action • Provide Inuit a space to challenge the dominant cultural framework • Build a community of interaction • Fostering broader participation with greater sovereignty
- 23. Igloolik Isuma Productions 1990 First Inuit owned independent production company, producing Inuktitut-language video documenting Inuit culture and recreating past history from an Inuit point of view.
- 24. Atanarjuat The Fast Runner 2001 Atanarjuat The Fast Runner, the first Inuktitut-language feature-length film wins Caméra d‟Or at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and 2002 Genie Award for Canada‟s Best Picture. Isuma‟s second feature, The Journals of Knud Rasmussen, is the Opening Night selection of the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.
- 25. Indigenous Film Network (IFN) 2006 An initiative to expand feature film distribution by bringing aboriginal films through high- definition video projections to over 200 remote Inuit, First Nations, and other indigenous communities across Canada and internationally.
- 26. IsumaTV 2007 After 20 years and 35 films, Isuma Distribution International launches IsumaTV, the first media website devoted to films and videos by and for Inuit and indigenous people worldwide.
- 27. Indigenous media networks on IsumaTV ImagineNATIVE Canada Wapikoni Quebec & abroad CLACPI Latin America By 2012, IsumaTV carries over 5000 films and videos in 56 languages, its network includes channels from the National Film Board, ImagineNATIVE, CLACPI, Wapikoni, NCSNWT, NITV, IBC, Maori TV, KNR.
- 28. Customized websites for indigenous media makers By having their website integrated on IsumaTV, indigenous media makers are able to make their channel look the way they want, are linked to other indigenous media makers and audiences, and distributed to remote communities.
- 29. Challenges High satellite bandwidth rates for Northern Inuit and Aboriginal Canadians: • Slow download speeds • Expensive monthly bandwidth caps $80-$90 / month Nunavut 1 Mb/s download $80-$90 / month Toronto, Vancouver, Toro nto 100 Mb/s download Download Speed Comparison in 2014 • New government subsidies promise to increase northern internet to only 5Mb/s download by 2020, when faster southern speeds will exceed 300 Mb/s download for the same price. •As Canada moves into the digital age at full speed in coming decades, state-of-the-art services in health care, education, mental health, economic development, job training, cultural preservation and minority language rights all will depend on very high speed internet for the streaming and download of large media files.
- 30. Media Players 2009 The „Media Player‟ technology bypasses the bandwidth speed and cap problems faced by remote communities. Upload and download of media files are faster as they are only transferred to and from the world wide web once, after which they are stored on the media player. This means streaming media is not only faster but takes up little of the user's bandwidth.
- 31. IsumaTV in Schools 2010 Through media players and mobile technologies, IsumaTV allows students and teachers to learn from 5000 Inuit and Aboriginal films and videos in 56 languages from around the world.
- 32. IsumaTV in the Community 2011 IsumaTV broadcasts online programming 24/7 to home TVs through local cable channels; streams community radio stations live online; and allows high-speed download and upload of local videos.
- 33. Artisans of Today‟s Communities (ARTCO) 2011 Engaging Inuit and Cree children and youth across cultural divisions by using digital media and mobile devices to share experiences, resolve common problems and find new ways to communicate across old barriers towards a better future.
- 34. Installing a media player in a community to broadcast 24/7 Inuit films and local media productions is a long process of negotiations, obtaining permits and organizing resources. Briefly, the process consists of: - Negotiating with the local Coop and the Arctic Co- operatives Limited (ACL). - Identifying a physical space and local human resources. - Identifying the funding to pay for salaries and internet connection. - Flying-in the media player and installing. Challenges in Nunavut
- 35. Digital Indigenous Democracy 2013 internet + television + radio + live broadcast used to „Decide Together‟ DID adapts modern new media to the urgent needs of Nunavut communities facing an upsurge in global warming and transnational mining development.
- 36. In 2013 IsumaTV opened TV channels in Igloolik, Pangnirtung, Arviat, Cambridge Bay and Taloyoak, with a channel planned soon for Iqaluit. This service is offered to the remaining 20 Nunavut communities by the end of 2015. Using state-of-the-art local servers IsumaTV provides 24/7 viewing of 1000 Inuit films
- 37. Multimedia Human Rights Impact Assessment 2013 This project influenced the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) recommendations to the Baffinland company. They indicated that there should be a multimedia website to inform and monitor all activities during the entire process. Tools that allow stakeholders of a proposed business operation and investment to understand the potential positive and negative impacts in terms of human rights.
- 38. IsumaTV 2014 • Creates models to bridge the digital divide for Indigenous communities. • Gives Inuit a say in developer‟s arctic ambitions. • IsumaTV participates formally (i.e. Public Hearings of NIRB and CRTC inquiries). • We share our model with other indigenous communities worldwide.
- 39. Sharing the IsumaTV model worldwide
- 40. INFORM Videos uploaded to IsumaTV‟s local servers by science researchers, government agencies, mining companies or Inuit organizations inform Inuit at high-speed for free when the same videos on Youtube are too slow and costly to download in Nunavut‟s bandwidth-capped communities.
- 41. Mobilizing Inuit Cultural Heritage (MICH) Inuit leadership working together with southern universities and government funding agencies can deliver 24/7 Inuktitut TV, high-speed internet download and online radio to every Nunavut community by the end of 2015. Creating and mobilizing content
- 42. 24/7 Inuktitut Media in schools, community television, radio, home computers and personal devices, strengthens Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, Inuit language, cultural education, public health, economic development, job training, and opportunities for Inuit youth to join the global digital age.
- 44. Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Partnership Grant “The only way to be on par [with Qallunaat] is to tell stories in your own language.” Dr. Zacharias Kunuk, O.C., Filmmaker “We need to begin using the internet as a tool, not a toy” Susan Enuaraq, Nunavut Arctic College, Inuit Studies Program Mobilizing Inuit Cultural Heritage: a multi-media / multi-platform re-engagement of voice in visual art and performance
- 45. Fig. 1. Venn diagram representing Information and Communication Technologies as the engine for mobilizing Inuit cultural heritage
- 46. Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit as a basis for business Guiding Principles of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Government of Nunavut’s version 1. Respecting others, relationships and caring for people 2. Fostering good spirit by being open, welcoming and inclusive 3. Serving and providing for family and/or community 4. Decision making through discussion and consensus 5. Development of skills through practice, effort and action 6. Working together for a common cause 7. Being innovative and resourceful in seeking solutions 8. Respect and care for the land, animals and the environment
- 47. Research Goal and Objectives: ACCESS to the advanced information and communication technologies CONNECTION of Inuit voice to objects of Inuit cultural heritage CREATION of Inuit cultural capacity
- 48. ACCESS:
- 49. CONNECTION:
- 50. Who are you as a modern Inuk? What can we together do to make change? “Art is part of every thing” Peesee Pitsiulak-Stephens
- 51. CREATION:
- 53. Katujjiqatigiingniq: the relationship of partners and participants using Information and Communication Technologies
- 54. AUDIENCES: Web 2.0 social media, live-streaming, and internet TV are powerful mechanisms for linking Inuit orality and materiality and, therefore, of imaging an Inuit worldview aesthetic first and foremost for Inuit.
- 55. Cross-sector co-creation of knowledge and understanding Inuit art produced for a southern market is “one of the „interventions‟ that has fostered and safeguarded Inuit culture in the face of numerous affronts to our sovereignty”
- 56. Inuit radio, film and video Language preservation is an increasingly pressing concern
- 57. Small business and connectivity
- 58. The role of connectivity in community development
- 59. Small business and connectivity “The students will realize they are not only able to play, but also participate in the creation of everything that surrounds them. . . It will show a career path possibility that may seem otherwise unattainable.” ~ Ryan Oliver, founder of Pinnguaq
- 61. Behance.com as a model for artist collaboration and distribution
- 62. Economics
- 63. Cultural health is the core element of I.Q
Editor's Notes
- In 2012 the United Nations backed a resolution that states all people have a right to freedom of expression on the internet. At the UN Human Rights Council for Internet Freedom Ambassadors argued, “to the same extent that you have to protect and promote traditional freedom of expression in the offline world, you have to protect freedom of expression in the online space."
- One of the largest challenges for connectivity in Nunavut is the sheer geographic disbursement of the population. According to Statistics Canada there are about 59,000 Canadians that identify as Inuit. Of that population about 60% reside in Nunavut. Currently, Inuit is one of the fastest growing populations in Canada
- The territory has a young population with about 84% falling between the ages of 5-64. This grouping of about 30,000 individuals represents the population that is most likely to benefit directly from connectivity for education, business, or cultural purposes. Currently, Nunavut relies solely on satellite connectivity.
- As the majority of Canadians have access to broadband speeds of 25-100 megabytes per second, those who have access to the internet in Nunavut are restricted to extremely slow connection speeds at a higher cost. Speeds of over 5 megabytes per second are not available in the territory.
- The average cost for basic internet in Nunavut is about $80 per month. Basic plans in southern Canada are about half that price and are faster than their counterpart in Nunavut, with far less usage restrictions. For businesses, the cost for prime internet can run as high as $300-500 a month and it is not always reliable.
- Internet capability reached Nunavut in 1995. In 2000 the Federal Government established the Nunavut Broadband Task Force. Its mission was to prepare a strategy and advise the Government on how to make high-speed broadband Internet available to all Northern communities by the year 2004.
- From that Task Force, the Nunavut Broadband Development Corporation was founded as a not-for-profit which acts as an advocate for the community to access federal funding. The NBDC’s task is to get affordable and reliable Internet access into every Nunavut community. The NBDC has been highly influential in securing funding and internet access.
- They created a business plan that made the two most popular providers, Qiniq and NorthwesTel, available in the region. They secured dedicated bandwidth for Nunavut classrooms, generated $9.9 million in wages and salaries, and initiated a broadband training program.
- The NBDC secured over $66 million in federal investments between 2003-2016. Other federal contributions include the National Satellite Initiative which paved the way for subsidize rates to Nunavut customers. They funded QINIQ network upgrades which provided file transfer and video conferencing capabilities.
- In 2011, the federal Knowledge Infrastructure Program collaborated with Nunavut Arctic College to replace existing infrastructure with fiber optic cabling for their five campuses and 25 Learning Centers. This has enabled connectivity for all communities to the main satellite and provides a much broader bandwidth.
- Even though there has been a lot of improvement in connectivity in the territory since 1995 there is still a long way to go. Here is a map of the current internet coverage in the territory. User experiences range from good to spotty to terrible. On the business side the biggest barriers are transferring large files and receiving software updates.
- Residents also struggle often splitting bandwidth between family members. One community quote that I thought was especially compelling was from a mother who told us that her internet bill was $700 in February. [ BREATH ] So even if you spend the money for the best packages the hidden costs and overage fees can be astronomical. I'd say my internet connection is reasonable compared to other Nunavut communities. It is a pain though to be paying the amounts I pay for residential service ($180/month) with a limit on bandwidth usage (20 GB).
- It is important to analyze these connectivity issues now as the current generation of satellites are expected to retire within the next 5 years. As equipment becomes obsolete there have been proposals for the installment of new technologies. 2012 marked the launch of ViaSat-1, the highest capacity satellite available today.
- Telesat provides service across North America but it does not reach a large portion of northern consumers. They ran a two month test in Iqaluit, providing service on par with southern Canada. They estimate that an approved project could be expanded within a year but it would cost over 160 million dollars to implement.
- ViaSat-2, projected to launch in 2016, is designed for seven times the coverage area of Via-sat 1. This would provide a practical but expensive plan for upgrading the communications infrastructure. This satellite would ensure that every community has robust communications facilities to prevent service disruption.
- An alternative to satellite is fiber optic cabling. Canadian company, Arctic Fibre, is vying to install a 15,000 km cable providing service from Tokyo to London through Nunavut. Construction is projected to begin in May and would be completed by January 2016.
- Arctic Fibre would not service consumers but sell to governments and trading companies who determine the price of network speed. Arctic Fibre’s plan, green lit by the Nunavut Impact Review Board, would bring bandwidth through Cambridge Bay to Iqaluit, however it could leave as much as 48% of the population without service.
- Though cable infrastructure brings quality connections to Nunavut, service interrupting breaks occur for many reasons including anchors, fishing, and erosion. The typical repair time is a minimum of 10 days. Aside from service concerns, Arctic Fiber is facing many hurdles such as environmental impact and competition from international companies.
- The Canadian Nunavut Territory is one of the most rural and remote regions on the planet. High-speed telecommunications networks are essential for not only linking the widely dispersed population but to enable Inuit to further their cultural, educational, social, and economic goals.
- It is important to establish broadband as a basic human right is because it solidifies diversity on the web, ensuring that all voices can be heard. In today’s society internet access is a critical component to joining the global conversation. Not only is connectivity essential to developing community and individual digital identities but it is critical to economic expansion, education, promoting heritage, and integrating new mediums into cultural expression.
- This slide is about language and the internet – and the ability to tell stories through video, through Facebook. How we share and promote our culural identities. The question is: what`s your bandwith?We`re convinced that it`s not enough to achieve the goals these quotes set out.
- This is a Venn diagram outlining the project big picture. The meta-question is: Can the experience of camp life – where Inuit children learned everything they needed to know for survival from their family – be recreated in the virtual realm? This project tests the web’s capacity to mobilize a 360° perspective on the world – balancing skills of fine creation with astute observation – that shaped Inuit cultural identity over millennia.
- The project aligns with the Guiding Principles of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit, the framework of Inuit Traditional Knowledge upon which government, education and business models are meant to be built across Nunavut.
- We argue that survival (cultural survival) – and not just for Inuit – depends on:
- Sporadic, low-bandwith, and costly internet in communities across the Canadian arctic means that the existing platform of digital Inuit culturecontent cannot be accessed by the majority of Inuit nor can Inuit participate in its future internet presence.
- Povirnituq – a Peterboy monumental sculpture commemmorating the first Inuktitut dictionary. Understanding the colonial legacy highlights the necessity for Inuit (and us all) to – Learn about your past, to build pride. ``Being proud of your past, you gain faith. Without faith, there is no hope. And without hope there is nothing”
- The answer to the questions… Is…..Creative thinking is not just for artists. (It`s for societies and for world populations)
- The most important contemporary cultural events in the Canadian arctic are the annual music and arts ‘festivals’ which have grown since their inception in the 1980s. Increasingly they`ve been sites of collision for global and local cultures. These collisions (satellite TV, internet, travel) are at the generational forefront of Inuit cultural survivance in the 21st century.
- What is Inuit art and what is its future without the internet.Our opportunity, however, is to model new approaches to curating Indigenous content within a global artistic community.
- Our Knowledge Mobilization Plan focusses on the tremendous potential of Information and Communication Technologies to bridge the isolation of Inuit in communities separated by vast distances. The digital age we picture uses the internet to restore and sustain dialogic communication for Inuit across time and place.
- We understand “Inuit” to mean teachers, students, artists, elders, and community members whose identity, well-being, and language preservation are affected by their access to on-line culturally relevant resources, improved communication technologies which overcome arctic community isolation, and opportunities to network within the circumpolar Indigenous arts scene.
- In the current moment of globalization Inuit are still not heard. The disruption of Inuit oral tradition occurred during World War II when traditional life lived on the land ended with forced community settlement, the introduction of capitalism, and formal schooling of children. For Heather Igloliorte, a curator and emerging Inuk scholar, Inuit art produced for a southern market is “one of the ‘interventions’ that has fostered and safeguarded Inuit culture in the face of numerous affronts to our sovereignty” (McMaster, 2011). Her proposition recognizes museum collections as a powerful cultural resource for storytelling and, therefore, of Inuit traditional knowledge. Let`s make this material accessible – on line – in the arctic.
- Inuit radio, film and video hold a stronger northern presence due to the introduction of radio technology during World War II, and of programming and broadcasting initiatives during the 1970s. We seek to preserve old media archives, alongside new recordings accessed through social media and on-line databases. , moreover, are platforms of oral communication which remove colonial barriers of Inuit self-expression, created by linguistic and educational gaps. Zacharias Kunuk, the director of Igloolik Isuma Production’s award winning film, Atanarjuat – which was the first feature film ever to be written, directed and acted entirely in Inuktitut – sees technology as a decolonizing tool. By supporting orality, this technology – the camera and social media – “makes you equal” (McMaster, 2011). Language preservation is an increasingly pressing concern. As elders pass, families lose linguistic access to their stories. Inuktitut language preservation remains overlooked, however, as indicated by its absence in the National Geographic’s high-profile Enduring Voices Project (http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/enduring-voices/).
- Local entrepreneurs confirm the lack of Inuit voice in northern web-based projects. Small businesses such as the communication design firm Atiigo Media and its website division, Katittut, mediate the communications goals and needs of clients who tend to be government agencies and users who tend to be outside Nunavut. A business model built on serving needs of Nunavummiut as clients and agents of their own messaging has yet to be successful. Kelly Craver of Katittut identifies the need for basic digital literacy among Nunavummiut as fundamental for using web-based platforms for successful community development.
- One example cited as a model for effective use of social media is Feeding My Family, which began as a Facebook page founded by LeeseePapatsie with the goal of creating “a forum where Northerners can come together to work toward positive change, despite the distance that separates our communities.”The sense of collective sharing of knowledge is present, but there is no apparent strategy for moving their effort outside the social media realm for positive change.
- Building on a basis of respect for the IQ (traditional knowledge) principle of Pilimmaksarniq or “aquiring skills through practice, effort and action” the digital gaming company Pinnguaq has launched the Nunavut Code Club, at which participants ranging from age 6 to 20 use code to develop games. The participants make games individually and through collaboration. Pinnguaq and Code Club founder, Ryan Oliver says, “Long term, my hope is that this interest leads to futher pursuit of computer science and eventually that Nunavummiut are able to compete and represent themselves on the world stage through technology.
- Oliver compares computer and digital technology to snow mobiles as being now essential not only for commercial success in the north, but indeed for community survival in the global economy. We are not alone in recognizing the potential of the Dept. of Education to play a role in providing resources to address the pervasive digital divide. Instruction in fields ranging from graphic communications and web site design, to digital gaming and other forms of programming, can draw upon creative and collaborative skills and provide paths to entrepreneurship and participation in the larger economy.
- A concrete example in which we see potential is the online platform called Behance. It is designed for graphic designers and other commercial artists to claim agency over the commission and distribution of their work, through group cooperation. Entrepreneurial Inuit artists envision similar platforms for themselves for creative and financial empowerment potential.
- The statistical evidence is compelling. The arts and crafts sector in Nunavut currently engages 20 % of the Nunavut work force, and the arts sector activities contribute an estimated $30 million annually to Nunavut’s economy. The impact of web access to Inuit digitized media and object collections on the future of visual art practice is a keenly anticipated economic driver.
- Cultural health is the core element of I.Q., and is the basis for every other kind of health for Inuit because in it resides the sense of identity, the collective social supports for the individual, and the sense of belonging grounded in positive relationships that nurture individuals and communities now and for future generations.: be honest; be humble; be informed; be open; be patient; express a willingness to learn; educate locally; hire/purchase locally; maintain communication; respect local cultures, customs, and authority; try new things; and use local language. We envision this research within the centralized domain of I.Q. related to the primary research objectives of ACCESS, CONNECTION, and CREATION