Federal government announces winners in national Smart Communities contest

Interactive and multimedia projects make up the lion's share of the federal government's Smart Communities award winners announced May 11. Industry Canada will distribute $60 million to a dozen projects across Canada to integrate information and communication technologies into community life, and the development of new digital tools features strongly in the winners' plans - including IP-based video conferencing, video-on-demand training courses, advanced online applications, and the role of multimedia in e-commerce. Smart Community Winners ABORIGINALThe Kuh-ke-nah Network of Smart First Nation: Sioux Lookout, ONNORTHYellowknife Smart City Project: Yellowknife, Dettah, N'dilo, NWTPROVINCIALSmart Choices Project: Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody, BCCalgary InfoportTM: Community Empowerment Project, ABThe Headwaters Project: Northern Saskatchewan including La Ronge, SKManitoba Smart Network: Brandon, Neepawa, Souris, Carberry, MinnedosaSmartCapital: Regional Municipality of Ottawa - Carleton, ONLe Carrefour Virtuel De La Mauricie:Shawinigan, Shawinigan-Sud, Grand-Mère, QCLa Péninsule acadienne: Baie de Miramichi, Tracadie Sheila, Centre-Péninsule, Lamèque-Shippagan-Miscou, Caraquet, NBWestern Valley Smart Community:Annapolis, Digby, Clare, Annapolis Royal, Bridgetown, Middleton, NSVirtual Charlottetown: Charlottetown, Town of Cornwall, Town of Stratford, PEISmartLabrador: Technology On Top Of The World Labrador, NFAnnounced in last year's federal budget (CNM, March 1/99), the program will fund Smart Community Demonstration Projects in each province, one in the North, and one in an aboriginal community. More than 45 communities applied for funding through the program, which is awarding up to $5 million per community. The Manitoba Smart Network, Ottawa's SmartCapital and Quebec's Carrefour virtuel de la Mauricie are three of the winning projects, and each intends to incorporate a high degree of multimedia capability into their plans. The Manitoba project will integrate rural hospital lab facilities, a state-of-the-art hospital patient registry, IP-based video conferencing, transportation of medical imaging, ecom training and application and video-on-demand educational courses. Manitoba Smart Network executives say this stage is the first part of a longer-term plan to connect other communities in the province. In Ontario, the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) won its bid to demonstrate high-speed webcasting and create interactive educational services. The SmartCapital initiative will also establish a public services portal, and create multimedia showcase sites connected to fibre optic pipes, including advanced research labs, to demonstrate high-bandwidth online applications. Quebec's Carrefour virtuel de la Mauricie will "study the technological aspects of multimedia applied to commerce (particularly to e-commerce), the relationships created by these new technologies, and the role of multimedia in the expansion of commerce towards more flexible products (hardware, software, new services, etc.)." Carrefour says the project will be rolled out in three phases, concentrating on the Shawinigan area's e-commerce needs, tourism and, finally, education, welfare and community services sectors. The project winners are currently in negotiations with Industry Canada to receive their funding, but most will likely be underway by the end of the summer. For descriptions of each projects' proposals, visit http://smartcommunities.ic.gc.ca/.

Federal government announces winners in national Smart Communities contest

Broadcast | May 18, 2000

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