[Advisors] Growth of Fab Labs in Canada

Sun Jan 10 09:17:42 PST 2016

Bonjour,

This concern for the required cost and expertise is essential for the development of these ressources. 

We have developed our expertise over the last five years and we are ready to accompany the development "coast to coast" with organizations that wish. Our proposal is a co-promoters mobilization process and key partners to carry out a "codesign bottum-up" over the next two years that allows to ensure that these resources meet the needs of communities. 

We do not know if it will result in a program, what would be the tags, we wish to define it with the citizens, but we are assured that it will result in a better understanding and the development of initiatives and we hope strengthening current efforts Fab Labs initiatives and makerspaces. We believe that some CAP sites be breeding grounds and new spaces will emerge. Fab Labs have also been developed for "developing countries" and are present in rural areas.

We started our Fab Lab with a 3D printer, that can replicate, at $600, with costing around a value of 5000 to 50000 there are several possibilities, and to achieve this the users also contribute by sharing equipments. The animation as we know it in the internship program is similar, what is important is to welcome the skills present in our communities (including traditional skills) and develop these new digital skills, but especially the skills of the twenty-first century, just like when the internet arrived. 

The network helps to develop these skills and fast forward concrete projects for social inclusion, entrepreneurship and social innovation. Fab Labs, makerspaces and Medialabs are in development in libraries, colleges, universities, we think it is important that they also grow in community groups. We think that Canada should be more present in that movement. 

We know that there are probably not listed initiatives, and we yearn for the network to enrich the potential of these resources for the resilience of our communities.

We will be happy to answer all the questions raised by this invitation. 

Garth thank you for sharing your initiative and for your interest, Marita, thank you for your interest, I’m available for a Skype meeting.

Best,

Monique

Here is a first picture of Fablabs who have registered with the Fab Foundation : http://www.communautique.qc.ca/assets/files/reflexion/appropriation/fab-labs-ameriques-7oct-15-mf.pdf <http://www.communautique.qc.ca/assets/files/reflexion/appropriation/fab-labs-ameriques-7oct-15-mf.pdf>

All the Fab Labs who have registered with the Fab Foundation: http://www.fabfoundation.org/fab-labs/ <http://www.fabfoundation.org/fab-labs/> 

Monique Chartrand
Directrice générale
Communautique
355 rue Peel, suite 111
Montréal, H3C 2G9
514 948-6644 poste 221
http://ca.linkedin.com/in/moniquechartrand

> Le 2016-01-10 à 03:11, Brian Beaton <brian.beaton at knet.ca> a écrit :
> 
> Monique ... Thanks for  this invite and for the information about the development of Fab Labs. I do have some questions and concerns about TC taking on supporting these types of "developments".
> 
> One issue that I hope the TC team might consider before they take on developing these Fab Labs as a "new access program" or expanding them as "the development of this network in line with values and impacts already established by CAP sites" is the requirements for establishing these "labs". Some questions:
> * What are all the costs involved in setting up and operating each lab? 
> * What skillsets are required to support their operation in a community? 
> * What types of facilities and equipment are required? 
> * What size of population and type of community is required to properly support their operation? 
> * Which communities will have to pass on being able to support these labs? 
> * Will remote and rural communities continue to become wastelands as their populations are drawn to urban centres to access these types of resources and opportunities?
> * Where will the funding come from to support their development?
> * Who will be eligible to access these funds and who will once again be ignored?
> 
> I was around before the CAP program got taken over by the urban access sites when it was intended to support public access in the thousands of small remote and rural communities across Canada. It began by targeting communities under 5,000 people in 1994-95 then moved to supporting access in those under 20,000 people before it eventually opened the door in 2000 or 2001 to supporting public access urban libraries and then urban public access networks in urban centres. It never finished serving all the small, remote and rural communities because there was never enough money to take care of all the urban sites.
> 
> CACTUS is looking to TC to support their lobbying efforts with the CRTC and the large cable providers to fund their 290 media centres across Canada (and probably have CACTUS administer the funding program). Of course these existing 290 media centres are television production centres in locations that can support the technical, facilities, network, production and financial requirements for TV programs. I really liked the motherhood statements made by CACTUS about community ownership and control of the resources to support media centres in all communities. But I also think everyone needs to take a second look and hopefully a very cautious look at what TC is really supporting with these types of "developments" that add to the multitude of access options available to the folks in over-resourced public urban environments. 
> 
> Most of the remote First Nations I work with are without a public library because their populations are just too small to support one based on the funding model established by well-intended folks in urban centres. Not too many of the THOUSANDS of small remote and rural communities across the country have the type of capacity required to support a "Fab Lab" today and probably never have it. Lots of these communities never had the opportunity back in the 1990's and 2000's to participate in CAP because they did not have the connectivity at the time to support an access site. Will a "solution" be for another "mobile lab" that can be taken around to these unserved environments so the young people can learn that they have to move to urban spaces to access these types of opportunities?
> 
> Now the folks who established the "fab labs" wants TC to support their efforts to expand these facilities and opportunities. Is TC willing to abandon its position as an advocate for the underserved and unserved communities across Canada that struggling to access affordable and equitable connectivity? Should TC be lobbying on behalf of urban environments that can already support these types of facilities?
> 
> I wonder ... and I wish there were enough resources to make these opportunities available to everyone ... just some early morning thoughts that I woke up troubled with ... 
> 
> Woliwon
> 
> Brian Beaton
> Researcher, First Nations Innovation Project
> Doctoral Candidate, Faculty of Education, Critical Studies, University of New Brunswick
> Research Associate, Keewaytinook Okimakanak Research Institute
> Settler ally of Indigenous peoples and future generations
> Contact Details:
> Snail Mail: Box 104, Station A, Unceded Wolastoqey Traditional Lands, Fredericton, NB, E3B 4Y2
> T: 506-261-1344
> E: brian.beaton at unb.ca  
> http://firstmile.ca 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: advisors-bounces at tc.ca [mailto:advisors-bounces at tc.ca] On Behalf Of Monique Chartrand
> Sent: January-09-16 7:28 PM
> To: advisors advisors
> Subject: [Advisors] Growth of Fab Labs in Canada
> 
> Happy New Year to you,
> 
> We work more than ever this year to the growth of Fab Labs in Canada. We are counting on thirty developing projects in Quebec but we realize that the rest of Canada seems to show some delay. 
> 
> I would like to explore with you the possibilities that Telecommunités Canada may join us as co-promoter of an approach to find the breeding grounds in Canada and contribute to help on working conditions to their developpement (perhaps a new access program).
> 
> We are advancing well with McConnell Foundation, and we are to identify which organizations would be interested in co-promoting or partnering in the development of this network in line with values and impacts already established by CAP sites. 
> 
> I also wonder if among you there would be developers or partners interested in participating in this development in your provinces.
> 
> Looking forward to reading you,
> 
> Monique
> 
> 
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