e-NEK Project Overview

e-NEK is a program of the Vermont Council on Rural Development.  The goal of the e-NEK project is to spur economic development in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom by providing education and technical assistance to small businesses, at-home businesses, and the workforce, enhancing their knowledge and use of broadband-enabled (high-speed) Internet. Rather than simply offering general Internet education, the e-NEK project will work with participating communities in the region that have an available broadband service, and will provide assistance and resources to support  business opportunities of existing and prospective rural entrepreneurs. The project will also work with local community leaders to create an e-Community that supports the local physical community.

e-Community

The purpose of an e-Community is to strengthen the economic and social fabric of a community by augmenting the physical community with Internet knowledge and applications with a local focus. An e-Community will provide an infrastructure to encourage the participation of Internet based technology for economic and community development. e-Communities are also about place – physical space in the local area where novice users can experience broadband and see applications, and trade ideas with their neighbors. This space may be in a public school or library, or be a WiFi hotspot at a local café. e-Communities may also be Internet-based forums or web casts of subjects or events of very local interest, and services offered via the Internet by local businesses to service local customers. An e-Community should not undermine the community by removing local personal interaction, but should enhance local connections. Simple examples are an Internet-based community calendar or email reminders of local events.

e-Community Advocates

A key component of the eNEK project is to establish and support a local group of advocates in each community, who will be instrumental in interfacing with the community, and will be the core of an e-Community. Advocates will also promote the use of the Internet to strengthen local physical communities by providing applications, resources and assistance at a local level. Local applications could include local business directories, web-casts of town meetings or school events, and forums on topics of local interest such as town history, all of which will provide more experience and knowledge of ways to use the Internet.  More information about the role of advocates is at e-Community Advocates.