High-throughput networks could provide a range of benefits to rural and remote communities, including improved access to education, healthcare, employment, and government and emergency services. However, there are also potential challenges associated with the use of reliable high-speed broadband technologies, such as high cost of devices, social disruption, unreliable electricity supply, and a lack of capacity to support and maintain beneficial applications.
Across Canada, several communities lack access to fast and reliable Internet, resulting in their exclusion from education, healthcare, banking, employment, and other online services and innovations. High-speed Internet access in rural and remote communities can be impeded by unreliable electricity supplies, limited accessibility of services, and high cost of devices and infrastructure. Along with providing benefits, there are challenges associated with the introduction of high-speed Internet. It can undermine local businesses, reduce social participation, and increase exposure to electronic fraud.
The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) asked the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) to examine the legal, ethical, social, and policy issues associated with deploying and adopting reliable high-speed Internet in rural and remote communities. To this end, CCA assembled a multidisciplinary expert panel to examine and interpret the evidence and provide insight that can inform policy and practice in Canada.
The new CCA Expert Panel on High-Throughput Networks for Rural and Remote Communities will include Professor Marina Pavlović, a Faculty Member at the Centre for Law, Technology and Society, and an Associate Professor in Faculty of Law, Common Law Section at the University of Ottawa.
Prof. Pavlović is one of Canada’s foremost experts in consumer rights in the digital society and on technology and telecommunication policy and regulation. In 2018, she was appointed by the Ministers of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and Canadian Heritage to the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Legislative Review Panel, an expert panel tasked with reviewing Canada’s communication legislative framework.
Congratulations to Professor Pavlović!