Building ICT Capacity within aboriginal communities Building ICT Capacity within aboriginal communities, with a focus on user skills training that meets the needs of all communities’ members, as well as each individual community may be challenging. The common themes of successful training models in First Nation communities are a need to develop various training models, that may include train the trainer, in house community training, distance education, continuing education, e-learning models, accreditation and technology capacity. The critical success factors are affected by knowledge transfer, meaningful training, forward planning, sustainability and long and short term commitment. Training needs to be planned, scheduled, and delivered in a community relevant and individually customized in order o garner greater success. Success factors must be clearly designed and measured, so expectations are achievable. Issues in planning and implementing capacity building may range from who is in the project planning group, where is funding, who should take the training, how will selection occur, will Chief and Council support, how can community members be included, will technological software and hardware be managed? One of the first considerations in embarking on building ICT capacity through user skills training is the infrastructure available. This relatively available in most communities, and most internet connections have been established. There is requirement for public access sites for training and study. Again, community connectivity is not a relevant issue. Training programs will be successful when the individual communities have input into the design of the training program. It has been established that the single largest determinant of success in training within aboriginal communities is customizable programming that is developed in partnership with the community. They must be part of the recruitment, selection, retention, and evaluation process. Training...