Subject: Ottawa Miscellaneous 2

From: Dan Eddleman <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 1 Apr 93 11:36:27 EST

Forwarded message:
>From [email-masked]  Thu Apr  1 10:29:46 1993
Date: Thu, 1 Apr 93 10:30:10 EST
From: [email-masked] (Christopher P. Tully)
Message-Id: <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Subject: ottawa miscellaneous 2

====================================================================
1.8.5.1

Fact Sheet:

			 Telecommunications
			 ------------------
	  - Building an Information Infrastructure for Ontario -

In its report to the province in August 1992, the Advisory Committee on
a Telecommunications Strategy for Ontario addressed the importance of
telecommunications to Ontario.  The committee adopted a compelling
vision of Ontario's future:  Through the enabling effect of
telecommunications, Ontario - and in turn Canada - will be the best
place in the world to live, work, learn and do business.

The committee called for an adequate infrastructure to realize this
vision.  This infrastructure would include a vast array of services and
information in multiple media - voice, data, image and video -
delivered through high- capacity, interacting networks to every home,
school, library, office, factory and laboratory in the province.  These
services would be used by Ontarians who know how to obtain information
and put it to work.  The net result would be a completely
computer-literate society.

This advanced information infrastructure would harness the power of
technology to transform Ontario.  The following sections suggest what
this vision could mean for living, working, learning and doing business
in Ontario.

Best Place to Live
------------------
Telecommunications connects us to the global village.  Through
satellite hook-ups, we are instant witnesses to history whether it's
the Earth Summit in Rio, the fighting in the Balkans or the
constitutional referendum across Canada.  News is what is happening
now, rather than what has already happened.

Today's networks also join us to more immediate circles our families,
friends, co-workers and business associates.  All these human
connections will be further enhanced as technology evolves.

An advanced information infrastructure will foster social equity.  It
will overcome the barrier of distance, which has kept residents of
northern Ontario and other remote areas from full participation in
society.  It will also serve as a liberating technology for people with
mobility problems, such as senior citizens and persons with
disabilities.

New Lifestyles
--------------
Continued progress in telecommunications will increase convenience in
our fast-paced lifestyle and open up new leisure options.

Videotex, for example, is a two-way system that displays graphic
information on a computer terminal linked to a telephone line.  This
makes possible teleshopping, electronic messaging, chat lines and other
services in the home.

North American videotex is still in its infancy compared with the
French system, Minitel, which provides 12,000 services, such as an
electronic phone book, restaurant menus and news updates.  In the
future, Canadians may enjoy a similar range of alternatives.

Already, many banks and financial institutions offer bank by phone
services - which enable the customer to pay bills and complete other
transactions by pressing the telephone key pad.  The cashless society
is coming, in which consumers pay for purchases by directly debiting
their bank accounts through online systems.

Multimedia networks on the horizon will allow us to transmit and
manipulate information of any kind as easily as we use the phone
today.  Multimedia terminals are expected to combine all the elements
of the telephone, computer and television into a single device, which
has been dubbed the telecomputer.

This new technology will make interactive or two-way television a
reality.  Users will be able to go beyond the passive viewing mode to
relate to others.  For example, interactive commercials could allow
consumers to plan a vacation by watching videos of the destination they
intend to visit.  These multimedia networks will also enable users to
access video databases holding thousands of movies and other programs.

Today's mobile cellular phones help people keep in touch while on the
move.  The next step beyond the cellular phone will be personal
communications services or PCS.  In the PCS concept, customers use
pocket-sized cordless phones to place and receive calls almost
anywhere.  Each customer has a personal phone number rather than a
number tied to the workplace or home address.

Electronic Government
---------------------
Telecommunications can also enable better government.  The provincial
government is using technology to reinvent the way it functions,
creating an administration that is more open and accessible, provides
better customer service and delivers programs more efficiently.

In the long run, the Ontario government may well put all its public
information and services online.  Using technology similar to automated
banking machines, the government could reach people in many more
locations across the province 24 hours a day.

Health Care
-----------
"Telehealth" refers to the application of communications technology to
the health care system to improve the quality of care and increase
productivity.

A recent trial at Ottawa Civic Hospital tested an electronic patient
file.  This system reduced to a matter of minutes the time between the
processing of X-rays in the radiology department and the delivery of
information - including both X-ray images and a diagnostic report - to
physicians in the wards.

This project foreshadows the day when an emergency room doctor about to
perform surgery on an accident victim from out of the province could
electronically access medical records from the patient's own
physician.  The surgeon could also consult with other specialists
across town or across the country while sharing three-dimensional
images of the victim's injuries on screen.

Drug care can be improved through telecommunications applications.  In
the future computerized systems will record all a patient's
prescriptions in order to alert physicians and pharmacists to the
danger of drug interactions.

Modern communications can make a life-or-death difference.  Ontario's
air ambulance system uses satellite technology so paramedics in flight
from remote locations can communicate with doctors on the ground.  A
number of municipalities have adopted the 911 phone number for
summoning emergency assistance, and this system should eventually be
extended province-wide.

Information systems will also strengthen management of the health care
system in various ways - from more efficient processing of medical
claims to tracking service delivery patterns for planning purposes.

Best Place to Work
------------------
Almost all workers depend on telecommunications to help with their
jobs.  Changes in technology are leading to changes in the workplace.

Video conferencing, based on the transmission of video signals over
telephone lines, is one of the fastest growing areas in the
telecommunications field.  More and more organizations are finding
video conferences a viable alternative to business travel, thereby
reducing costs, saving time and in many cases reducing personal
stress.  Some day, desktop video conferencing (dialed through a phone)
may become as commonplace as the fax machine is today.

The underlying technology here, digital signal processing, is also a
key element in developing electronic voice recognition and response
systems.  These breakthroughs could eventually provide simultaneous
translation between two people speaking different languages over the
phone anywhere in the world.  Such a system would be an invaluable tool
in the global economy.

Telework is gaining momentum as more and more workers operate out of
their own homes with links to the employer's premises by voice and data
phone lines and fax machines.  In the future video links will allow
even more tasks to be performed at home.  Teleworkers don't have to
commute, saving time and reducing air pollution.  People with physical
disabilities could be one group to benefit substantially from the new
options opened up by telework.

New levels of productivity will be reached with the electronic
secretary, likely to evolve with the application of intelligence to the
telecom network and customer equipment.  A personal electronic manager
could direct calls to the home, the workplace or the car, block
unwanted calls, reroute other calls to colleagues, and perhaps even
take dictation and send correspondence to a printer.

Best Place to Learn
-------------------
In a knowledge-based economy it will be essential for workers to
upgrade skills continually.  We'll have to learn a living.
Telecommunications will help us do this.

A distance education system known as Contact North is enabling more
residents of northern Ontario to obtain a university degree or college
diploma.  Under the program, teachers in a central location are linked
to students in classrooms, community centres or their own homes.
Students and teachers connect through speaker phones, electronic
blackboards on which both student and teacher can write, video
cassettes and fax machines.

It is clear we have embarked on the path toward the electronic
university or the university without a campus.  The next step could be
to reach the estimated 12,000 students who take correspondence courses
each term from Ontario universities, and the additional 12,000 students
who take high school correspondence courses developed by the Ministry
of Education.  By providing access to an interactive network plus
course software, we could improve both the quality and the timeliness
of the learning experience.

Perhaps the most advanced application of telecommunications to learning
is the National Technological University in the United States.  This is
a consortium of U.S. universities offering programs to help technical
professionals stay current in their fields and broaden their management
skills.  Credit and non credit courses are beamed via satellite to
remote classrooms in participating companies and government agencies.
A Canadian version of this concept is under development in Ontario.

One Place to Look
-----------------
Access to information is the key to participation in the learning
society.  Ontario's public libraries are using telecommunications and
computer systems to boost efficiency and customer service.

Today's library technology is not merely storage, as in the past, but
retrieval and communications to help customers find what they want in
other libraries as well.  Through interlibrary loan systems and
telephone and computer networks, a local librarian can usually obtain a
requested item within a week.

Tomorrow, customers will be able to find what they want themselves and
have it in hand when they leave the library, or as they search from
home or office.  Empowered by technology, the library of the future
will package information of all kinds in all formats and deliver it on
time, wherever the customer needs it.

Best Place to Do Business
-------------------------
Telecommunications gives all organizations, large and small, a crucial
competitive edge.  Companies require the latest communications services
to operate efficiently and stay close to their customers.

For many firms, applications such as electronic data interchange and
electronic funds transfer are much more cost-effective than paper-based
systems.  Just-in-time inventory is a key practice in today's
manufacturing industries:  through communications networks, inputs are
ordered directly and automatically from suppliers to arrive when needed
during the manufacturing process.

In the future multimedia links will provide easy access to information
of many kinds voice, data, image and video.  Over the next few years we
expect a growing use of telecommunications to share visual information
between employees of the same company, suppliers and ultimately
customers.  Electronic marketplaces will enable manufacturers and
retailers to exchange information instantaneously, dramatically cutting
operating costs.

Thousands of companies are now doing business electronically.
Eventually, it will become the norm to eliminate paper and rely
entirely on electronic records.

A provincial high-speed network will facilitate research and
development in Ontario in the 21st century.  Scientists in different
locations will be able to collaborate, and designers will be able to
work simultaneously on the same product.

Small Business
--------------
Telecommunications can help level the playing field for small business
in relation to big business create new opportunities for small
communities.  Through telecommunications, small firms will have a
global reach.

The tourism industry is an example of how telecommunications can
increase the competitiveness of small business.  Since spring 1991 the
Ministry of Tourism and Recreation and industry representatives have
been developing a central reservation and information system for
Ontario tourism.  This will lead to higher occupancy rates and better
customer service.

The Challenge Ahead
-------------------
The quality of life we enjoy in the next century will depend directly
on the action we take now to exploit the benefits and opportunities
flowing from modern telecommunications.

Supported by a strong telecommunications sector, we need to develop a
host of specialized information networks or pathways in Ontario for
researchers, students, libraries, businesses, consumers and other
communities of interest and knit these pathways together into a
"network of networks".  These interlocking systems will bring all the
people of Ontario into the information age.

====================================================================
1.8.5.2

FACT SHEET:

	       COUNCIL FOR AN ONTARIO INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE
	       -------------------------------------------------

What is the Council for an Ontario Information Infrastructure?

  The council is an advisory  body reflecting a range of
  telecommunications interests.  Its formation was a key recommendation
  of the Advisory Committee on a Telecommunications Strategy for the
  Province of Ontario, which reported in August 1992.

What is the council's mandate?

  The government has established the council to champion the campaign
  for an Ontario information infrastructure under the provincial
  Telecommunications Strategy.  An information infrastructure is a vast
  array of information and services transmitted in multiple media -
  voice, data, image and video - through interlocking electronic
  communications networks to people who know how to obtain and utilize
  the information to meet their needs.

  The council will review progress in achieving the goals of the
  Ontario Telecommunications Strategy and recommend further actions as
  required.  In addition, it will provide advice to the government on
  telecommunications and information infrastructure issues and sectoral
  concerns.

Exactly what will the council do?

  The council will advise the government on:

     - directions and priorities for initiatives and activities to
       carry out the information infrastructure campaign;

     - trends and developments in telecommunications/information
       technology and the information economy in Ontario and worldwide;

     - sector issues and developments;

     - Ontario's telecommunications infrastructure and network
       development;

     - the government's use of information technology and
       telecommunications;

     - matters referred to the council by the minister on behalf of the
       government.

  The council will also undertake the following activities:

     - lead an awareness campaign to promote an Ontario information
       infrastructure to stakeholders and the public;

     - initiate partnerships among private and public organizations;

     - recommend priorities and review applications under the
       Telecommunications Sector Framework and the Ontario Network
       Infrastructure Program.

How will the council be structured?

  The council will consist of a chair, two vice-chairs and members from
  telecom stakeholders.  All members will serve as individuals, not
  representatives of an organization or institution to which they
  belong.

  Given its broad mandate, the council may set up subcommittees, as
  well as ad hoc committees with a chair from the council and members
  from within or outside the council.

How will the council operate?

  The council will be free to determine its method of work in line with
  its role and mandate - and consistent with government administrative
  guidelines and directives and the laws of Ontario and Canada.

  The council chair will provide direction in the event that
  conflicting views are provided by council members.  The council
  itself will determine whether it will operate on a majority or
  consensus basis, and how to deal with minority views for specific
  issues or activities.

  The council may elect to establish working groups, including members
  and outside experts, to deal with specific issues or questions.

==================================================================
1.8.5.3

FACT SHEET:
		 ONTARIO NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM (ONIP)
		 ---------------------------------------------

A JOBSONTARIO PROGRAM

What is ONIP?

  The Ontario Network Infrastructure Program (ONIP) is one major
  component of a comprehensive, long-term telecommunications strategy
  for the province of Ontario.

What is the purpose of ONIP?

  ONIP will support innovative user-based telecommunications network
  projects.  The goal is to accelerate the long-term development and
  use of high- capacity,  interconnected, multimedia networks to homes,
  offices, schools, factories and laboratories throughout the
  province.

  As a jobsOntario program, ONIP will focus on long-term investment in
  Ontario infrastructure to promote the restructuring of the provincial
  economy.  A key objective is to help Ontarians learn how to obtain
  and utilize information to meet their needs and create future
  opportunities for employment.

What will be funded under ONIP?

  ONIP is a $100 million, four year program, beginning in 1993.  It
  will share the costs of user-based telecommunications network
  projects.  It includes the following mechanisms to assist broadly
  based partners:

  1) Studies and plans - To share the costs (up to 75 per cent) of
			 undertaking feasibility studies and business
			 plan development

  2) Network implementation - To share the costs (up to 50 per cent) of
			      undertaking initial support for
			      user-based telecommunications networks
			      and making these networks operational.

What are the criteria for assistance under ONIP?

  All ONIP proposals will be assessed on the extent to which the
  proposal, as described in a business plan, meets the province's
  economic renewal priorities outlined in the Ontario Budget and the
  Industrial Policy Framework.

  The criteria include the following:

     - supporting economic restructuring (through investments that help
       the economy adapt to structural change) by strengthening the
       competitive fundamentals underlined in the Industrial Policy
       Framework:

     - continuous innovation (e.g., improving products and processes)

     - increasing technological capability (e.g., creating and
       diffusing technology)

     - raising skill levels (e.g., developing specialized skills)

     - establishing companies' home-based activities in Ontario
       (e.g., increasing local value-added)

     - developing linkages and networks (e.g., stimulating
       partnerships)

     - building international capabilities (e.g., expanding
       international trade).

     - supporting community economic and organizational development
       (including community infrastructure development and access to
       specialized training)

     - supporting maintenance of and improved efficiency in the
       existing infrastructure base through optimizing the use of
       infrastructure (e.g., investing in new technology which reduces
       the demand on, or increases efficiency of, present
       infrastructure).

What is the process for approving proposals for funding?

  The Council for an Ontario Information Infrastructure, a
  non-governmental body, will review all proposals and make
  recommendations to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade.

  All potential partners are encouraged to work with staff of the
  Communications Division of the ministry to ensure their business
  plans are complete and to expedite the progress of their proposal
  through the approval process.

Have any projects been approved?

  Three projects recommended by the Advisory Committee on a
  Telecommunications Strategy for the Province of Ontario have already
  been approved in principle:

  1.  A telecommunications-based municipal economic development
  strategy in
      northwestern Ontario

      The provincial government will share with the local communities
      the costs of a feasibility study for a telecommunications-enabled
      community economic development strategy in northwestern Ontario.
      Atikokan, Sioux Lookout and a First Nations community will
      participate.

      A broadly based local group - representing municipal governments,
      band councils and the commercial, industrial, telecommunications,
      education, social service, labour and health sectors - will pull
      together the components of what such a community economic
      development strategy may contain.  Assistance is being provided
      to help implement the process, to  prepare a report on the
      feasibility of the idea and to build an appropriate
      implementation plan.

  2. A community-based network in the Ottawa-Carleton area

     Through ONIP, Ontario will share with local organizations the
     costs of establishing and operating a community network in the
     Ottawa-Carleton area over three years.

     A group of volunteers is starting up a computer-based community
     network service called the National Capital FreeNet (NCF).  Over
     500 social service agencies and other community-based
     organizations have expressed an interest in making their
     information available to the public on this free network.

     Financial assistance will help to expand the technological,
     managerial and training capacity of the network to cope with the
     expected increase in traffic.  The National Capital FreeNet,
     operational in 1993, will provide information from 500
     organizations to 50,000 individual and organizational members by
     1995.

  3. Investment in Ontario's research and education network

     The provincial government will make a major investment in
     Ontario's existing research and education network, ONet, over the
     next three years.  ONIP will share the costs of upgrading and
     enhancing the network and expanding its services and membership.
     Ultimately, ONet will be an important component of a broader
     provincial research and education network.

     ONet was established in 1988 and currently has 78 members.  The
     network links researchers in Ontario universities, colleges,
     centres of excellence, provincial and federal government
     facilities and industrial research centres (such as Alcan, IBM,
     Bell Northern Research, Gandalf and Newbridge).  In addition, it
     enables Ontario researchers to connect with colleagues elsewhere
     in Canada and around the world.

     In spring 1990, ONet joined with nine other regional networks to
     form a national backbone network, CA*net.  When further developed
     and upgraded, ONet can be a strategic part of the proposed
     CAnadian Network for the Advancement of Research, Industry, and
     Education or CANARIE.

     With ONIP support, ONet will increase its present capacity so
     member institutions and researchers can exchange greater
     quantities of information and new members can join.  This
     upgrading will add new services and facilitate more sophisticated
     collaborative research and educational activities.

     Financial assistance will also help develop a new "dial up"
     service, which will provide low cost access, particularly for new
     private sector members.  ONet will move from primarily a
     volunteer-based organization to permanent full-time personnel to
     meet the growing demand for ongoing maintenance and user support.

     ONet is committed to the goal of improving Ontario's industrial
     competitiveness and social services under the Telecommunications
     Strategy.  The development of ONet's high-speed network
     infrastructure for research, education and technology transfer
     will further this goal.

   Together, these ONIP projects demonstrate the value of information
   infrastructure initiatives.  They show how stronger networks can
   help communities and organizations develop the skills and tools to
   meet the challenge of economic restructuring and renewal.