Shaping "Digital futures" in Alberta: Community engagement for rural broadband development

Abstract

Background: Despite rich literature on rural and remote broadband and community networking initiatives in Canada, limited research is available on the sequencing, mechanisms, and processes of community engagement for this purpose. Analysis: The authors use a case study of the Digital Futures initiative in Alberta, Canada - a biannual symposium that engages a range of public, private, and community stakeholders to discuss rural broadband - to illustrate the iterative formation and application of such mechanisms. Conclusion and implications: The authors demonstrate how an engaged approach to communications research situated in the unique context of the involved community of practice - in this case, stakeholders involved in addressing broadband deployment and sustainability in Alberta - can help generate a cycle of research and praxis that reflects the normative goals of the scholarship of engagement.