New program trains Indigenous IT specialists for First Nations communities

A new program is helping train Indigenous IT specialists for First Nations communities, widening the sphere of learning as connectivity grows in more remote locations.

Many First Nations communities, such as Brokenhead Ojibway Nation in Manitoba, don't have any IT professionals and have had to rely on IT services outsourced from the big cities.

"The fact that we don't have that on-site support right now and the fact that we have so many businesses that are growing -- over 210 staff members -- in Brokenhead, we need this. We need these services," Brenda Greyeyes, who works as the employment, training and economic development manager for Brokenhead's community resource centre, told CTV News.

But the Indigenous IT Training Program aims to fill this critical need, while offering career development opportunities for community members. The one-year program teaches participants everything from addressing network programs, troubleshooting computer hardware issues, and even protecting against ransomware and other cybersecurity threats.

"We would go into First Nations communities, we would bring the training to them. We would take more of an outcome based approach, more of an Indigenous learning style," Joel Dandeneau of ID Fusion, the Indigenous-led IT company spearheading the program, told CTV News.

Jasmine Benoit has been learning about IT work through the program since October. She did a career reboot, leaving a job in early childcare, and hopes to work in her home First Nation when she graduates from the program.

"That's my goal is to work in my home community and provide prompt IT services to all the entities and businesses within Brokenhead," Benoit told CTV News.

"It's different, but it's also fun because you get to learn how things work."

Dandeneau believes a program like this is critical as more Indigenous communities are building out their fibre-optic infrastructure and getting better connectivity.

"We want to be proactive and having those individuals that can support that technology going forward," said Dandeneau.

"This is an opportunity to take that learning to them, and to build that capacity, create jobs, and then show the value to the community," he added.

So far, the program has involved two technicians in three different Manitoba First Nations, and there’s talk of expanding the project to more northern and remote communities.

"What we're going to do is take the learnings from this project and ask, what does the next model look like? And then how can this model be sort of rolled out to other First Nation communities across the country? So we're pretty excited by testing this," Dandeneau said.