Lone Eagle Update January - October 2006
by Frank Odasz, frank@lone-eagles.com
Update Summary:
The following update briefly details ten Alaskan trips, six Canadian conferences, and consulting activities for four major projects;
1. The Montana Choice Rural Ecommerce National Demonstration Project
for the U.S. Department of Labor2. The CTC VISTA Project (Americorps Community Technology Center
VISTA Volunteers Training Project)
3. The AMEP E-RAVEN Ecommerce Portal (Alaska Manufacturing
Extension Partnership’s Rural Alaskan Village Ecommerce Network
(RAVEN)4. The Alaskan Healthy Village Project – an integrated approach to Native
Internet Empowerment involving K12 entrepreneurship training and
multimedia cultural expression.
These projects are likely to adopt many of the best practices and resources generated through the Montana Choice Rural Ecommerce Project (described at the end of this document) as well as the many USDA-funded Ecommerce curriculum projects funded in partnership with Idaho State University’s College of Technology Workforce Training Office. Related resources are at http://lone-eagles.com/future-proofing.htm
Five Alaska Healthy Village Project Presentations
January-October 2006
The Healthy Village Project abstract is online at
http://lone-eagles.com/healthyvillage.htm
- In late January 2006, I was asked by Alyeska Worldwide (a project of the Yukon Koyukuk School District) to present for the director of Alaska's USDA Office, Bill Allen. The Healthy Village team presented for 45 minutes, and Bill said we blew his socks off. The theme was integrating youth entrepreneurship in an individualized K12 instruction model to build the foundation for village-based rural ecommerce for the 21st Century.
- Bill Allen then asked if we would please return the following week to present for the first meeting of the new Council for Economic Policy for Rural Alaska (CEPRA) and the Denali Commission (distributes $180 million for infrastructure per year) - at 5pm after a long day of meetings their group gave us 60 minutes to present and the reaction was enthusiastic.
- Then, Wes Keller, aid to Senator Fred Dyson, invited us to present for the Alaska Alberta Bilateral Council which is dedicated to sharing best practices and world class expertise on energy, environment and Indigenous Internet Applications. So, we returned to Juneau a third time where our group again presented for 60 minutes with Senator Fred Dyson attending.
- Senator Dyson became an enthusiastic supporter and invited the Healthy Village Team to present for the State Senate Health, Education, and Social Services (HESS). The Healthy Village Team returned a fourth time to present for the Senate HESS (Health Education and Social Services) committee.
- Another presentation was requested by representative Mark Neuman who had asked us to present for the State House of Representatives’ Education Committee for one hour which was televised statewide on the “Gavel to Gavel” program. (State CSPAN).
Lone Eagle Consults for Creation of the E-RAVEN Ecommerce Portal
for Alaskan Native Art
Lone Eagle Consulting worked directly with Alaska Manufacturing Extension Partnership (AMEP) www.ak-mep.org regarding development of rural Ecommerce curriculum associated with their current 18 ecommerce centers, projected to expand to 36 centers. AMEP’s new Village Ecommerce web site is under development at http://e-raven.com with descriptions and Lone Eagle Resources currently posted at http://lone-eagles.com/e-raven.htm In partnership with the Alaska Native Arts Foundation over 722 artists have signed up and $450,000 of art has been sold over the last two years.
May Alaska Trips
6. Lone Eagle attended an AMEP Ebay workshop in Hooper Bay, Alaska to meet Mayor William Naneng and to advise on future training programs.
7. Lone Eagle delivered a Lone Eagle Ecommerce presentation in Anvik, Alaska which has a new $230,000 village-run ISP satellite system.
June Alaska Trip
8. June 19-23, 2006, Koyukuk, Alaska, presented for the Denakkanaaga Youth and Elders Conference, http://www.denakkanaaga.com Presented on use of multimedia to preserve the knowledge of elders for future generations. Created multiple flipalbum CDROMs, one of which produced 135 historical photos narrated by Angela Huntington, wife of Sydney Huntington.
July Alaska Trip
9. July 6-7, 2006, Anchorage, Alaska, presented at the Alaska Federation of Natives Leadership Forum conference "Native Internet Empowerment and Rural Ecommerce" and served on a panel moderated by Chris Buchhold of AMEP along with GCI and DRS/TAMSCO regarding village Internet infrastructure.
August Alaska Trip
10. August 23-26, 2006, Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks - Met with Native organizations to explore telework opportunities. Representatives from a major telecommunications company were introduced by Jerry Ashton, www.cfoadvisors.com and Frank Odasz, http://lone-eagles.com/
As a direct result,
The Tlingit Haida were selected for 25 call center jobs totaling over $500,000/year in wages.
New Initiatives and Resources to create more such successes:American Indian Sourcing www.AmericanIndianSourcing.com
AmericanIndianTV www.AmericanIndianTV.com
ORCA - Outsourcing Readiness Capability Assessment
http://lone-eagles.com/orca.htm A village assessment tool for marketing village skills to corporations for call center and telework jobs.
The Alaskan Healthy Village Concept
http://lone-eagles.com/healthyvillage.htm
It has become necessary to integrate Community Internet Learning across all institutional “silos” of Health, K12, higher education, economic development and cultural institutions.
Lone Eagle Alaskan Ecommerce Resources
http://lone-eagles.com/afn-resources.htmExtensive Native resources shared at the AFN Leadership Forum July 2006
Best Lone Eagle Resources
http://lone-eagles.com/future-proofing.htm
What is Community Networking; And Why You Should Care
http://www.comtechreview.org/fall-2005/000347.html
See also http://lone-eagles.com/mainstream.htm
International Indigenous Conference Presentations
Lone Eagle Presents on Indigenous Broadband Applications in Mexico City, for the Asia Pacific Economic Council, and for Six Canadian Conferences across four provinces
The following International update is on International trends related to Rural and Indigenous Internet applications and benefits. The recent Canadian Telecommunications Policy Review Report describes the goals of the new Canadian government for creating a national ICT adoption strategy. There is interest on many fronts for an International Indigenous Portal and Trade Network.
From Oct ’05-May’05 , West-to-East, including Vancouver and Osoyoos, British Columbia, Calgary, Alberta, Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Ottawa, Ontario. Note links to extensive Canadian innovations are included in the article
Peer-to-Peer Social Networking; The Next Big Thing
http://www.cpcs.umb.edu/vista/report/?q=node/67
Background on Industry Canada's Community Technology Centers and Rural Ecommerce Initiatives
Industry Canada – In 1995, a Community Access Point (CAP) program began a ten-year mission establishing computer labs in rural and urban communities to help everyone learn about the benefits of Internet (bridging the digital divide.) Half a billion was spent over a ten year period. Since govt. funding ended March 06, 2006 half of the 8800 CAP sites have shut down.
Industry Canada is very interested in sustainable Ecommerce-related CAP models for future funding. While Ecommerce growth was part of the original mission, the growth never materialized and will now be central to whatever funding is provided for the next ten years. Canada has a three billion dollar surplus, in addition to the booming economies of BC and Alberta.
Dec. 2005, Mexico City, Mexico, the Microsoft Telecenter Support Network www.telecentre.org paid for Lone Eagle to present at the First International Indigenous ICT conference in Mexico City sponsored by the International Telecommunications Union, the Mexican Govt., the Canadian IDRC, and several Latin American ICT groups. An interim International Indigenous commission was formed. Descriptive documents are available on request. Lone Eagle had dinner March 14, 2006, with the director of the new Microsoft Telecenter Support Network. They have recently published new book on the Evolution of the Telecenters Movement.
The Navajo and OnSat communications have an MOU and new resolution with the International Telecommunications Union regarding deployment of solar-powered satellite systems for Latin American Indigenous Telecenters.
Circuit City and UPS have funded $8 million to the Telecenters of the Americas Partnership (TAP) www.tele-centros.org to instigate Ecommerce and trade between South and North American latino telecenters. TAP has recently partnered with the Euro-telecottages Assoc. totaling 20,000 Telecenters. Lone Eagle Consulting and the Association for Community Networking www.afcn.org serve as advisors.
October 2005, Vancouver, British Columbia, Lone Eagle presented a full day workshop to 22 rural network directors representing 600 CAP sites in BC, with the top CAP director from Ottawa attending. Background http://lone-eagles.com/industry-canada-talk.htm Canadian Innovations http://lone-eagles.com/canadian-links.htm
February 24th-26th 2006, Vancouver, British Columbia, Lone Eagle presented four Ecommerce presentations at the British Columbia Pacific community networking conference and First Nations Summit.
Schedule and descriptions at www.2006summit.ca1. Empowering Rural Entrepreneurs with Ecommerce Support Systems
2. An Executive Overview on the BEST Rural Broadband Applications
3. Creating an Entrepreneurial Culture in Alaskan Native Villages
4. Join us for a Ecommerce Entrepreneurship Web-Raising! All attendees will create a
Free Ecommerce Web Site and Learn About Affiliate Programs, E-marketing, and new opportunities
March 13-14, 2006, Ottawa, Ontario, Lone Eagle participated in the Aboriginal Women’s Roundtable full-day event in association with the 2006 National Aboriginal Connectivity and E-services Forum “Sustainable Connectivity as an engine for Social and Economic Growth” in Ottawa. Lone Eagle participated in a session discussing international strategies for the Aboriginal Canada Portal and Connectivity Working Group.
March 15th, 2006, Ottawa, Ontario, Lone Eagle presented a full two-hour Executive Overview to the Director of Policy, Information Hwy Branch, Industry Canada, and his staff in charge of determining the future of CAP, Broadband, and Aboriginal Internet empowerment goals.
April 21-22nd Osoyoos, British Columbia, At the recent British Columbia Rural Summit conference www.bcruralsummit.ca the emphasis was on ‘Strengthening the Links Between Our Rural Communities.” The purpose of this conference was to address the issue that despite dozens of networking advocacy organizations and significant broadband deployment - provincial attitudes restrict the willingness of many community leaders to actively share information with each other – thus limiting the growth potential of all concerned. Realizing the “Promise of Broadband” requires we all learn to knowledge sharing tools routinely.
Two two-hour sessions:
1. "E-Commerce and Rural Community Opportunities -
Making the Living You Want Living Wherever You Want"
2. "Creating People-Centered Community Knowledge Networks -
Promising Practices for developing rural leadership strategies to
initiate wide spread community skills transfer"
April 23-26, 2006, Calgary, Alberta, At the recent Asian Pacific Economic Council (APEC) conference, www.apectel33.ca representing 21 Nations, the telecommunications working group (APEC TEL) http://www.apectelwg.org/ shared Indigenous broadband applications, the newest telecommunications technologies and focused on how best everyone can work together to evolve standards and liberalize trade – for mutual benefit. APEC TEL has recognized the need to share applications success stories across national borders, as on-demand videos, video web logs, podcastings, and portals of all types. Lone Eagle presented “An Executive Overview on the BEST Indigenous Broadband Applications”
May 5, 2006, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Keynote "The Power of All of Us" for Manitoba Distance Learning Conference “Co-operation in Learning: Putting the WE in I.T.” http://www.madlat.ca/conference2006/ sponsored by the Manitoba Association for Distributed Learning and Training (MADLaT).
Lastly, International trends are articulated in this full-length version of the article published by the CTC VISTA Report linked below:
Community Networking Best Practices and Global Citizenship:
A Knowledge Management Trend Report
http://lone-eagles.com/global-citizenship.htmLone Eagle’s work with the National Americorps
Community Technology Centers VISTA Project2005-2006 Frank Odasz served as the community networking coordinator for VISTA volunteers working in community technology centers nationally as reflected by the following two articles and updates in the Spring CTC VISTA project newsletter.
CTC VISTA Report Spring 2006
http://www.ctcvista.org/digest/fall06/cn_mediaWhat is Community Networking; And Why You Should Care
http://www.comtechreview.org/fall-2005/000347.html
Many related links are listed in the overall publication.
Lone Eagle’s Work with the “Montana Choice” U.S. Department of Labor National Ecommerce Demonstration Project
The Montana Choice Ecommerce Project Ends (Due to Federal Funding Cuts associated with Katrina and Iraq)
The Montana Choice Ecommerce demonstration project for the U.S. Dept. of Labor has generated extensive resources to support individual and community strategies for participating in the global digital economy. 60 rural community presentations have been delivered statewide including presentations for the Governor’s Economic Development Council, Montana’s Telecommunications Companies Association, and the Small Business Development Center directors.
The Montana Choice Demonstration Project
http://lone-eagles.com/montana-choice.htm A five-year U.S. Dept. of Labor demonstration project which has established an aggressively innovative national test-bed for generating individual web-based self-employment as well as community strategic action plans, community mentoring programs, and more.
The Montana Choice Community Empowerment Process
http://lone-eagles.com/montana-choice-2005.htm
Common Sense first steps recommended for rural leaders supported by extensive new training resources included in this resource listing.
Suggestions for the Montana Governor based on lessons-learned from the Montana Choice Project
http://lone-eagles.com/montana-suggestions.htm