Framework for Co-Operation

between

Telecommunities Canada (TC) and Industry Canada

to enhance the ability of Canadian communities
to utilize electronic public space.

Preamble:
In developing this framework both parties agree that:

Partnership:

TC and Industry Canada will work together closely to enhance the cause of community networking in Canada by taking the following cooperative actions:

Definitions:

Electronic public space is a shared learning space. It is the community that is the network, not the technology. The creation of a community network extends the idea of community into a shared electronic public space, a new not-for-profit transaction space, where the impact on community values and social interaction is worked out in new ways. The role of community networking is to turn experience of that transition into practice.

The purpose of public access points is to ensure that all citizens not only those who can afford their own personal equipment and connections, can access the on-line resources offered by community networks and their service providers.

Telecommunities Canada is an association of associations that expresses the collective interests of members and provides a means for them to connect in joint action. Telecommunities Canada s primary role is to find the means of rendering local community network learning into a common knowledge base that is generally accessible to anyone who might want to use it. Community networks are grassroots organizations. Their continuing growth depends on sustaining self-organized local initiatives. Telecommunities Canada assists electronic community networks in augmenting the means available to communities to participate in and control the socio-economic and political restructuring that affects them.

Industry Canada is the federal government department which is, inter alia, the focal point for implementing the provisions of the Telecommunications Act and for accelerating the roll-out of the information highway in Canada.

Implementation:


Date: 17 August 1997 Date: 17 August 1997
Telecommunities Canada Inc. Industry Canada
Per: Michael Gillespie Per: Michael Binder
President
Asst Deputy Minister
Jon Hall
Secretary