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PRESS
RELEASE
For immediate release
May 23, 2003
CONTACT NORTH/CONTACT NORD PART OF GROUP OF EXPERTS TO ADVISE ON NATIONAL FUNDING PRIORITIES FOR ADVANCED Videoconferencing and Collaborative Technologies
Sudbury & Thunder Bay (Thursday, May 22, 2003) – Contact North/Contact Nord, Northern Ontario’s Distance Education & Training Network, has been invited to join a group of leading researchers and experts from post-secondary institutions, research centres and businesses to advise CANARIE (Canada's advanced Internet development organization) on future funding options for advanced videoconferencing and collaborative technologies.
Organized by CANARIE, The Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION) and hosted by York University, this working session on Advanced Videoconferencing and Collaborative Technologies Workshop takes place on Friday, May 23, 2003, in Toronto.
Contact North/Contact Nord, along with its strategic private sector partner, ADCOM Videoconferencing, will share its wide-ranging expertise in videoconferencing and collaborative technologies. Contact North/Contact Nord operates one of the largest videoconference networks in Canada and is Canada’s Largest Distance Education & Training Network.
"We are delighted to help CANARIE define specific ways that broadband networks could support the more effective use of videoconferencing and other collaborative technologies", said Lois Tobin, who spearheads the Ontario Centre for Excellence in Videoconferencing, a joint Contact North/Contact Nord – ADCOM Videoconferencing initiative. "We look forward to sharing with CANARIE and the group of experts our 16-year experience in videoconferencing and collaborative technologies applications through providing expanded services to small and remote communities across Northern Ontario."
As a complement to its audioconferencing and vidoeconferencing networks, and as part of its overall e-learning strategy, Contact North/Contact Nord is in the process of linking its access centres with a next generation live virtual classroom platform.
Ms. Pat Dion, Coordinator, Information Technology, will represent Contact North/ Contact Nord at the May 23 session on funding priorities for Advance Videoconferencing and Collaborative Technologies.
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About Contact North/Contact Nord
As Northern Ontario's Distance Education & Training Network established, governed and administered by Northerners, Contact North/Contact Nord’s mission is to increase and improve affordable and equitable access to quality education and training for Northern Ontario residents, to support regional and community economic development and to promote a culture of lifelong learning.
About CANARIE
CANARIE Inc. – Canada's advanced Internet development organization – is a not-for-profit corporation supported by its members, project partners and the Federal Government. CANARIE's mission is to accelerate Canada's advanced Internet development and use by facilitating the widespread adoption of faster, more efficient networks and by enabling the next generation of advanced products, applications and services to run on them.
About ORION
The Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network – ORION – is a new high-speed, optical network that brings affordable world-class broadband access and connectivity to Ontario’s research and advanced education (R&E) institutions.
ORION was created to bring leading-edge network capability to Ontario’s publicly funded research and education community and to become a catalyst for creative and innovative next generation Internet applications.
About the Ontario Centre for Excellence in Videoconferencing
Contact North/Contact Nord and ADCOM Videoconferencing jointly established the Ontario Centre for Excellence in Videoconferencing in early 2000 in order to create an environment that fosters design, development and introduction of advanced videoconferencing systems and provides a setting for research and evaluation in the effective use of videoconferencing technologies.
Contact:
Louise
Gaudrault
Marketing Coordinator
Tel.: (705) 525-7261
Fax: (705) 560-5548
e-mail: louise@mail.cnorth.edu.on.ca
