Parkland County, Alberta

ICFF-ParklandCounty_small.jpgLe comté de Parkland est une municipalité de la taille d’un comté qui a appliqué le modèle de réseau à accès ouvert – mis au point par les centres urbains de Stockholm à Dublin, en Ohio – spécifiquement pour répondre aux besoins d’une région rurale. Situé à la frontière ouest d’Edmonton, capitale de la province de l’Alberta, et à quelques heures de la vaste industrie d’extraction des sables bitumineux de la province, le comté de Parkland est prospère. Ses principales industries comprennent la production d’énergie, la foresterie, le charbon, le pétrole et le gaz, la fabrication de pointe, le transport, la logistique et l’agriculture. L’un de ses trois parcs d’affaires est le plus important en Amérique du Nord. La majeure partie de cette activité économique est concentrée à l’est, dans la zone économique d’Edmonton. Les petites villes, villages, villages et hameaux à l’ouest, pour toute leur beauté naturelle, manquent d’opportunités d’emploi et voient un exode régulier de la jeunesse. Un facteur de l’isolement de l’Ouest est le manque d’accès à la large bande, qui a le potentiel de niveler les règles du jeu économiques.

Building Communications

In 2012, Parkland County completed the core of a network of 18 communication towers, ten in the west and eight in the east. Capitalized by grants, the towers have power and terrestrial connectivity and are open to operators of first-responder networks, mobile and wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs), who need only rent space on a tower and install a radio to be in business. Parkland County has rugged terrain and is heavily forested, so plans call for construction of an “in-fill” network of smaller towers to extend service to even more of the population. The business model projects breakeven on operating costs within four years, with the more popular towers in the east helping to subsidize the less popular ones in the west, and take-up by WISPs, systems integrators and government agencies is strong.

Parkland County has adopted the Intelligent Community model of broadband-based development, and is now focused on growth of a knowledge-based workforce, innovation and digital inclusion. It has partnered with Green Hectares, an Alberta-based nonprofit that delivers tech-based education, mentorship and knowledge sharing to build vibrant rural economies centered on agriculture. Village halls were long the center of rural life in Parkland County, and the government has launched a Rural Community Network program that equips the halls with free Wifi, linked to the tower network. WiFi access gives new life to the halls’ role as community centers, and Parkland County is supporting the volunteers who run them with Web site development and an online reservation system for the rentals that generate their modest income. Six of 28 halls have already committed to the program and many more are expected. The same public-sector network now supports e-government applications from online applications to the streaming of Council meetings. While still early in its development as an Intelligent Community, Parkland County is proving how the model can succeed in the rural places of the world.

In the News
Read the latest updates about Parkland County.

Population: 30,568

Website: www.parklandcounty.com

Smart21 2014

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