GEAI, as a prominent community actor, wants to play a more meaningful role in providing broadband to rural areas for the wider development of Ballinaglera. Computers, printers and other equipment are currently accessible to locals in the Ballinaglera Community Hall. GEAI volunteers are also present to support everyone that might use the space.
Within Ireland there’s a strong sense of community consequently innovation and utilities are often delivered by local communities and not by the central government. Recently, the Irish State rolled out The National Broadband Plan a few years ago to bring the stable connection to areas that face low-quality internet connection (which is the majority rural townlands). By the year 2022, Broadband Plan received €177 million in funding.
A project that GEAI greets. Indeed, it will help each community to set up digital hubs for locals, and therefore, facilitate their daily life in administrative or other terms.
What are digital hubs?
The ability to connect in a matter of a few clicks is one of the best technological achievements of our civilization. With the progress of world internet network systems, that now can store and analyse more and more information, stable connection is vital to our work or even daily routine. To put it simply, digital hubs are physical spaces where you can access superfast broadband. Besides stable connections, another purpose of digital hubs is to support people who need to enhance and develop their digital skills.
According to the University of Lincoln, England, we can identify four types of Digital Hubs, depending on their capacity, size and additional services provided. Of course, every country and even counties within a country may have a different approach toward organisation, so we have to keep that in mind.
Public Internet Access Point:
The first Hub and most common would be Public Internet Access Point. As the name specifies, the main goal of this type of Digital Hub is simple, yet quite important – provide high-speed internet to local people and businesses that may require it. This type can also provide Information Communication Technology sessions to local groups from time to time. In Ireland, Broadband Connection Points (BCP), organized under the One Rural Future scheme and Broadband Plan by the Irish government, is the closest you can find to this type of Digital Hub. BCP were used to be located solely in local libraries, but now you can find them village halls and community centres and are the way to go for fast internet connection in rural and isolated townlands.
Co-working Space:
The second hub would be Co-working Space or Working Incubator. As the COVID pandemic forced millions of people to move to remote working conditions of the public safety, Irish Government expanded this type of Digital Hub in recent years. A lot of workers need a stable internet connection on regular basis, as well as facilities to conduct meetings, conferences and calls. Irish government launched the National Hub Network initiative to meet the demand from business for provision of high-speed broadband in remote rural areas to enable the workforce to operate remotely and to bring closer all Community Hubs in the Republic. Community Hubs serve as co-working spaces in this regard, where you can enjoy any of the activities listed above. A little side note, BCP we’ve mentioned earlier, can also serve as co-working if the installation has enough space.
Advice, Training and Support Space:
It is the third type of Digital hub, which operates usually on a regional level, as it usually requires not only stable connection and free space but trainers and equipment as well. This type of installation aims to provide various size businesses and citizens with training, advice and support in information technology. Unlike in Public Internet Access Point type of Digital Hubs, training is done on a regular day to day basis by a full-time professional.
Sector-specific Spaces:
The last one would be Sector-specific Spaces – the rarest of them all, as the main goal of those types of Digital Hubs is to provide equipment to specific sectors. This equipment may range from simple scanners and fax to new 3D printers, data centres and much more.
All these types can co-exist within borders of one or several counties, depending on the size of the region, its population density and infrastructure. Public Internet Access Points and Co-Workings Spaces would be ideal for Leitrim and other rural areas of Ireland, combining both stable internet connection, socialization and needed information technology skills. With new schemes from the Irish Government and EU funds, the quality a local digital environment will soon improve, and GEAI will surely make its contribution!
Written by: Ilya Linevich
