Researchers seek validation for data collected during economic study
-
Share on Facebook
-
Share on Twitter
- Copy Link
The Building Northern Capacity through Entrepreneurship research project is in the midst of visiting communities to find out if the economic development data collected during the project is accurate.
Associate Professor Dr. Lee Swanson said the five-year project, led by the University of Saskatchewan’s Edwards School of Business, is now in its final year and he’s in Île-à-la-Crosse this week present his work. Swanson presented some of his results at a regular La Ronge Council meeting last week, where he informed the councillors he’ll be back in July to hold a more comprehensive meeting, which will be open to the public.
“We’re going to ask the community members to validate the information we collected,” Swanson said. “We collected a massive amount of data, about 1,400 pages of analyzed data so far, and we’ve spoken directly to over 375 people, and that was just phase two alone.”
With the vast majority of data already compiled and studied, Swanson noted northern communities share similarities but also have differences when it comes to building economic capacity. For example, he said, more remote communities such as Hatchet Lake may have more difficulty developing because residents don’t have access to a highway like those in La Ronge too. There’s also a technological gap, Swanson added, where northerners don’t have the same services as other Saskatchewan centres when it comes to resources like Internet speed.
