Beat Watch
High-tech birth certificates in B.C. fight ID theft
British Columbia is enhancing the security of its birth certificates with the announcement of a new high-tech format beginning January 2008. The province’s Health Minister George Abbott claimed the new birth certificates “will be one of the most hi-tech and durable documents in the world.”
Asset manager puts York Regional Police force back on the streets
Deploying leading edge hardware and software wasn’t the biggest challenge Ontario’s York Regional Police faced when it embarked on a mission to become “technology leaders in policing.”
Calgary sets up one-stop HR shop
Following the deployment of its 3-1-1 telephone access to city services and programs, The City of Calgary has implemented a similar approach to provide HR-related services and information to 16,000 city employees.
Passport Online breach adds to privacy chief’s audit list
The federal privacy commissioner will look into the reported data breach that enabled an Ontario resident to access the personal information of other passport applicants using Passport Canada’s online application system.
Interoperability tops list of first responder issues, says survey
Interoperability is the number one issue facing Canadian first responders with respect to improving their ability to enhance public safety. This was one of the key findings of a survey released yesterday by the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) and commissioned by the Canadian Police Research Centre (CPRC).
Alberta earmarks $2.4M to boost telehealth network
The Alberta government is expanding its telehealth network in order to provide Albertans living in rural and remote areas with better access to health care services.
Governance
Moving toward collaborative governance
The growing importance of inter-jurisdictional collaboration in service delivery framed a recent national meeting of federal, provincial and territorial deputy ministers responsible for service delivery.
Feature
Web 2.0: Government’s social networking debate
The government is scrambling to deal with social networking and other Web 2.0 technologies that are spreading like wildfire across the nation, particularly among the young. Some say social media can revolutionize government communications, while others say they are enormous time-wasters. How should governments tackle this new beast?
Compliance
Looming statute leads Halton Region down the path of compliance
In 2009, every municipality in Canada will be required to record and report the value of all its assets. Local government and commercial software vendors with expertise in inventory asset management and public sector business processes are working hand-in-hand to develop effective solutions to prepare for the introduction of the new legislation. The Regional Municipality of Halton in Ontario is one such municipality.
Tech Travel: Nova Scotia
Known for its lighthouses, iconic Blue Nose ship, scrumptious seafood and lively Celtic music, Nova Scotia may not be the first province that pops into your head when you think of technology leaders in Canada. But that may soon change.
E-Security
Government faces Facebook reality
The power of social networking struck the federal government with unmistakable force in December. Industry Minister Jim Prentice had intended to introduce new copyright legislation before Parliament’s holiday break. Professor Michael Geist of Ottawa University believed that Canadians did not know enough about the issue so he launched a Facebook group, Fair Copyright for Canada, on the first of December with, as he wrote, limited expectations.