RADF Investment: $5 million

Other Investment: $243,880

Total Investment: $5.24 million

Project Period: January 2009–October 2011

T: 780.449.1006

Project Description

ARDN is a project based in Sherwood Park. It promotes research, transfers knowledge, and shares skills that improve the well-being of rural Albertans. With Rural Alberta Development Fund support, a virtual network will gather, package, and enhance access to rural development data housed in 21 Alberta post-secondary institutions. Access to this collective material provides more opportunity for training and project collaboration among network partners.

Expected Outcomes and Benefits

All projects go through a selection process to ensure they will improve the quality of life for Albertans. This project meets this objective through the following outcomes and benefits:

• Increase collaboration between Alberta’s post-secondary institutions
• Increase access to a common pool of knowledge for rural communities and institutions across Alberta
• Provide virtual access to post-secondary programs for rural Albertans
• Develop partnerships to enable collaborative research, knowledge transfer, product and process development, and greater access to education and skills training
• Serve as example of how technology can be used to give rural Albertans easy access to training and information