High_tech

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April 2000

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High-tech in the Land O'Lakes By David Brison A group of 85 people from Frontenac and Lennox-Addington weathered a spring snowstorm on April 8th to attend a conference in Cloyne. They were there to hear how new and improved technology might be put to use in our area. Jim MacPherson, Coordinator of the Land O'Lakes Communications Network, gave the welcoming address on behalf of his organization and Mazinaw On-Line (a Cloyne based group which offers Internet access, maintains a community Internet access site, and provides training). In his introductory comments he said: "We are not here today to worship the "wire" but to ask some 'what if' questions: What if our students were able to interact with students from around the globe in real time? What if an x-ray taken at a hospital in Kingston could be sent real time to a medical centre in Northbrook? What if a person in Germany could click on an interactive map of the Land O'Lakes region and book a two night stay in a B & B in Sharbot Lake?" The workshop is one of a series, Connecting Rural Ontario, being held in rural communities throughout southern Ontario. The Data Services Improvement Program (DSIP) workshops are hosted by Regional Networks for Ontario (RNO) and The Ontario Rural Council (TORC). These workshops are coming at a time when DSIP is nearing the completion of a massive program to provide rural communities with high-speed data and Internet service so that they can be on an equal footing with service in urban centres. The Ontario Provincial Government and Bell Canada, working with independent telephone companies, such as North Frontenac Telephone, are putting high-speed data services in place in all of the rural telephone exchanges in Southern Ontario. Rural businesses and agencies will be able to develop applications, such as video-conferencing, that are not possible with regular Internet service. The presentations and lively discussions at the conference centred on how we might use technology to become a "smart community". A "smart community" works with all sectors of their community (health, agriculture, education, business, municipal) to develop applications appropriate for their region. Conference participants heard about some developments that are underway in their own region: high_tech

Shannon McPherson, a mature student from Ompah, described an on-line course she had taken. After her four children reached school age, she decided to complete her education and enrolled in Sharbot Lake High School. She had an opportunity to take a course on-line from St. Lawrence in Kingston. "I was able to do the work on my own schedule. It was organized so that I could chat on-line with other students and communicate regularly with the instructor. It was an easy way to learn, although at the time I was just learning about computers and didn't have one of my own", she said. She is now enrolled full time at St Lawrence but would like to take more on-line courses during the summer. Matt Atwood, a student at Sharbot Lake High School, and Jim MacPherson, presented a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) pilot project on a Land O'Lakes section of the Trans-Canada Trail. On a computer-generated map, they located the Heritage Centre in Tweed, the Shell Station in Kaladar, historical markers in Mountain Grove, and The Lakeside B&B in Sharbot Lake. A viewer can call up this map on the Internet and then zero in on places of interest along the trail. high_tech

Our eastern neighbour, Lanark County, is already benefiting from the new technology. Bob Leitch and Barrie Crampton, of the Lanark Communications Network (LCN), described some of the practical applications they have developed: - the 10 municipal governments in Lanark County have agreed to jointly use high-speed network access and GIS systems, and have made progress on a common payroll system; - Lanark hospitals have been linked with each other, and with Ottawa and Kingston hospitals, in order to share laboratory and diagnostic services; - the Perth campus of Algonquin College has been linked with their main Ottawa campus - they are also exporting their heritage carpentry courses worldwide. The LCN is one of five finalists for a $5 million "Smart Communities" grant from the federal government. high_tech

The Ontario government has recently announced a program, Connect Ontario, that will provide $50 million to 50 communities to develop the kinds of "Smart Community" applications that the LCN has pioneered. Another $32 million is available for a land-related GIS program, GeoSmart. Andrew Kuczer, Senior Advisor, Ontario Ministry of Energy, Science & Technology was present to discuss how communities should apply for these funds. The Land O'Lakes Communication Network was encouraged by conference participants to prepare a letter of intent to apply for these funds. This letter is due by May 1, 2000.