DRAFT OPERATIONS PLAN FOR A BRITISH COLUMBIA CAP COLLABORATIVE NETWORK

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NOTE: This plan is intended to suggest what might be accomplished and how by a serious attempt to build a British Columbia CAP collaborative network.

VISION (a short inspiring statement of underlying purpose of the CAP network) Nurturing collaboration among CAP sites to help citizens use the Internet and other communication technologies to improve their quality of life.

STRATEGIC INTENTIONS
Mission (a more detailed statement of purpose of the Network)
i) Assist CAP Site Leaders to collaborate and share ideas and experiences to deal with a wide range of needs that they documented in preparation for the workshop
These needs included a desire for assistance in making meaningful connections to:

• other site leaders
• Industry Canada
• practical “how to” tools for running a site
• best practices in CAP sites
• resources and entrepreneurial ideas for sustaining their site
• tool kits for skill development related to:
• Knowing (new information and new ideas)
• Doing (powerful processes for implementing)
• Being (sets of personal attributes for practising innovation and building relationships)

ii) The assumption is that if the CAP network was functioning successfully it would dramatically assist the CAP sites and Industry Canada (and others) to collaborate in a meaningful way in order to accomplish the Mission of the CAP sites more efficiently and effectively
iii) The potential contribution (Mission) of CAP sites in British Columbia was described by workshop participants in the following terms:

• Provide free access to the Internet to support lifelong learning as well as educational, cultural and recreational needs of the community
• Build a bridge over the widening “gap between the haves” and the “have nots” and close the digital divide for disadvantaged groups
• Stimulate communication, education, exploration, empowerment and confidence in citizens
• Assist a diverse group of individuals in the community to take a more active role in the knowledge culture and stimulate broad-based educational opportunities to raise the economic level of the community
• Provide equitable access and training for all community members to new information and communication technologies that may be enriching at a number of levels including personal, interpersonal, educational, political and economic
• Help youth learn how to prepare themselves for success in the new economy
• Be a powerful support for community development efforts of various kinds (job creations, improved learning, job search, health and safety issues, labour laws)
• Engage the schools in a meaningful way with many organizations in the community

FUTURE GOALS

Note: A small group at the Vancouver workshop made the first contribution to setting some target goals for the future. The intent was to use their imagination to set some Stretch Goals.

By the year 2004 our goal is to have:
• all the CAP sites well interconnected into a functioning collaborative network;
• 10% of people who have used CAP sites in British Columbia over the past five years be inspired to return to some type of formal learning program (community colleges, technical institutes, etc.);
• 10% of people who have been using the CAP sites over the past five years now employed in the high tech sector;
• a significant number of the unemployed people who used our sites over the past five years now gainfully employed; and
• many CAP community sites now operating out of store front locations and offering a wide range of training workshops as well as access to the latest in information and communication technologies.

OPERATING PRINCIPLES OF THE NETWORK The Assumptions which we discussed and slightly revised during the workshop will provide the starting point for describing the principles which are driving the creation of this network and which should then shape the values that guide its operation.

OBJECTIVES FOR THE NETWORK (Specific significant initiatives which if accomplished over the next year would move us towards achieving our Vision, Mission and Stretch Goals).

The workshop groups developed a list of six objectives that might be undertaken in creating and launching a collaborative network.

A CAP collaborative network in British Columbia, if created, should initiate in the following 12 to 18 months major activities that will attempt to accomplish the following:

• support the sharing of “Best Practices Related to a Wide Variety of Challenges”;
• identify various initiatives to help sites identify user needs;
• identify the Measures that Matter Most to the Success of the Site and help teams track indicators for each area of measurement and find easy ways to use the results in making decisions;
• are aimed at improving internal and external communications about CAP (its purpose, its stretch goals, its accomplishments) and which help to clarify and strengthen the CAP brand;
• support training for staff and users on the appropriate use of new information and communication technologies; and
• identify and share a wide range of innovative initiatives aimed at generating resources ($ and in-kind) for sustaining sites.

NEXT STEPS

• What follow up steps to the week of workshops would you suggest?
• Some initial ideas already suggested are:
• Create an ad hoc team of volunteers from the five workshops to consider how best to document the results of the workshops, distribute them and obtain feedback from the participants
• Create an ad hoc team of volunteers from the five workshops to explore the options for structuring a collaborative network, branding it, and initiating some activities.

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