NNA Track 2: Exploring The Benefits and Challenges of Community-Powered Connectivity In The New Arctic

航行新北极(NNA)是NSF的十大想法之一。NNA项目解决了快速变化的北极地区汇聚的科学挑战。北极研究需要为国家、更大区域和全球的经济、安全和韧性提供信息。NNA增强了从地方到国际的新的研究伙伴关系，使下一代北极研究人员多样化，加强正式和非正式教育的努力，并在适当的情况下整合共同创造知识。该奖项通过支持具有明显潜力的规划活动来实现这一目标的一部分，以开发新的、前沿的研究想法和方法来解决NNA的目标。它整合了自然环境、建成环境和社会制度的各个方面，解决了重大的社会挑战，创造了重要的教育机会，并与国际和当地和土著社区进行了接触，北极电信已成为应对该地区正在经历的从环境变化到全球化的前所未有的变化的关键工具。不幸的是，小型农村和土著社区很少被纳入电信问题的讨论，使他们得不到充分的服务，也无法利用技术进步来确保其自身的复原力。该项目正在开发一种模式，供北极小社区用来设计和实施社区技术基础设施，以支持他们的独特需求。这些发现促进了人们对如何开发和利用技术来支持农村和土著社区管理不断变化的北极环境、与环境科学家合作、寻找教育和可持续经济机会以及保护他们的文化的理解。这项研究正在增强北极小社区的能力，并有助于对如何设计更公平和更容易获得的技术形式的科学理解。在理解如何最好地设计数字基础设施和服务以支持北极社区的独特需求方面仍然存在重大差距。针对这些差距，本项目提出以下问题：(1)如何为北极崎岖和与世隔绝的条件和社区共同设计和设计电信基础设施？(2)电信基础设施和数字服务如何最好地支持北极社区应对快速变化的环境和社会条件？(3)加强连接对北极社区和人民有何社会、文化和经济影响？该项目通过研究在因努维亚卢伊特社区部署社区网络来回答这些问题。研究人员与互联网协会和因努维亚卢伊特区域公司合作，举办了一系列讲习班，让社区参与网络的发展，评估网络的长期运作，并探讨连通对社区的社会文化和经济影响。这些活动的主要成果包括在社区中安装网络，测量和评估网络的性能，以及增加对北极土著社区如何使技术适应自己需求的社会科学理解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Navigating the New Arctic (NNA) is one of NSF's 10 Big Ideas. NNA projects address convergence scientific challenges in the rapidly changing Arctic. The Arctic research is needed to inform the economy, security and resilience of the Nation, the larger region and the globe. NNA empowers new research partnerships from local to international scales, diversifies the next generation of Arctic researchers, enhances efforts in formal and informal education, and integrates the co-production of knowledge where appropriate. This award fulfills part of that aim by supporting planning activities with clear potential to develop novel, leading edge research ideas and approaches to address NNA goals. It integrates aspects of the natural environment, built environment, and social systems, and addresses important societal challenges, builds significant educational opportunities, and engages internationally and with local and Indigenous communities Arctic telecommunications has emerged as a key tool in responding to the unprecedented changes being experienced in the region, from environmental shifts to globalization. Unfortunately, small rural and Indigenous communities are seldom included in discussions of telecommunications, leaving them underserved and incapable of leveraging technology advances to ensure their own resilience. This project is developing a model that small Arctic communities can use to design and implement community technology infrastructure to support their unique needs. Findings advance understanding of how technology can be developed and used to support rural and Indigenous communities as they manage a changing Arctic environment; collaborate with environmental scientists; seek out education and sustainable economic opportunities; and preserve their culture. This research is empowering small Arctic communities and contribute to scientific understandings of how to design more equitable and accessible forms of technology. Significant gaps remain in understanding how digital infrastructures and services can be best designed to support the unique needs of Arctic communities. In response to these gaps, this project asks: (1) How can telecommunications infrastructure be codesigned and architected for the rugged and isolated conditions and communities in the Arctic? (2) How can telecommunications infrastructure and digital services best support Arctic communities in responding to rapidly changing environmental and social conditions? (3) What are the social, cultural, and economic implications of increased connectivity for Arctic communities and peoples? The project answers these questions by studying the deployment of a community network in an Inuvialuit community. Researchers, in collaboration with the Internet Society and the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation, are holding a series of workshops that involve the community in the development of the network, evaluate the long-term operation of the network, and explore the socio-cultural and economic impacts of connectivity for the community. Major outcomes of these activities include the installation of the network in the community, measurement and evaluation of the network’s performance, and increased social scientific understanding of how Arctic Indigenous communities adapt technology to their own needs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.