Bridging the Divide: Exploring Native Approaches to Science Through Analysis of Implementation of a Complex Information Technology in Alaska Native Communities

该奖项资助了一个研究项目的规划和初步开发，该项目旨在研究在阿拉斯加西南部的阿拉斯加原住民村庄Togiak实施尖端信息技术，即Fab Lab。 布里斯托湾校区、阿拉斯加大学费尔班克斯分校（UAF BBC）和阿拉斯加原住民联合会（AFN）将与伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-尚潘分校（UIUC）的尚潘厄巴纳社区Fab实验室和人文、艺术和社会科学研究所（I-CHASS）合作，在阿拉斯加州托吉亚克建立Fab实验室。 该项目是与阿拉斯加原住民联合会和Togiak村合作开发的，此前由NSF ASSP资助的非常成功的示范项目在2010年阿拉斯加州费尔班克斯举行的阿拉斯加原住民联合会年会上介绍了Fab Lab概念。 AFN大会Fab Lab成功地证明了可以在阿拉斯加建立一个可运营的Fab Lab，人们一旦了解了该技术，就会看到其潜力，并希望成为该州Fab Lab发展的一部分。 在大会期间，来自全州17个不同社区的40名个人报名参加了关于如何将Fab Lab带到他们社区的信息。 非科学人员的与会者也能够观察到如何利用万维网来交流想法和共同开展项目工作，并在这样做的过程中建立全球联系，利用技术来发展能力，即使是在最偏远的地方。 由于该州这些非常偏远的地区缺乏机会，该项目在该国官方失业率最高的人口中具有很大的长期经济发展潜力。

This award funds the planning and preliminary development of a research project to study implementation of cutting edge information technology, a Fab Lab, in a rural Alaska Native village in southwest Alaska, Togiak. The Bristol Bay Campus, University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF BBC) and Alaska Federation of Natives (AFN) will partner with the Champaign Urbana Community Fab Lab and the Institute for Humanities, Arts, and Social Science (I-CHASS) of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) to implement a Fab Lab in Togiak, Alaska. This project was developed in collaboration with the Alaska Federation of Natives and the village of Togiak following the very successful demonstration project, funded by NSF ASSP, that introduced the Fab Lab concept at the annual Alaska Federation of Natives Convention in Fairbanks, Alaska 2010. The AFN Convention Fab Lab was successful in demonstrating that an operational Fab Lab could be set up in Alaska and that people, once introduced to the technology in action, would see its potential and would want to be a part of Fab Lab development in the state. During the convention, forty individuals from seventeen different communities around the state signed up for information on how to bring a Fab Lab to their community. Non-scientist participants were also able to observe how the world-wide-web can be used to share ideas and work on projects together and, in doing so, build global connections and use technology to develop capacity in even the most remote location. This project has strong potential for long term economic development among a population that has some of the highest official unemployment rates in the country due to lack of opportunity in these very remote regions of the state.