Mari-Len De Guzman

They're lean, they're mean, but they're not green when it comes to high-tech gadgets. York Region's finest has put technology in the front seat of police cruisers, enabling law enforcers to have more presence in the community. Representatives from the York Regional Police discuss how they're addressing the challenges of a tech sprawl.

British Columbia will be issuing a new, highly secure birth certificate document beginning January 2008. The province's Ministry of Health says the new format will help British Columbians protect themselves against identity theft and other forms of fraud. Other provinces are expected to follow suit.

Alberta's Ministry of Employment, Immigration and Industry has launched a new Web site designed to provide a single resource for immigrants. Federally funded through Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the new portal offers all the information newcomers need to know to live and work in Alberta.

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. Dubbed HR Service Centre, the initiative gives city workers one phone number to call for HR-related issues and questions, said Gilles Champagne, manager of enterprise support systems with The City of Calgary.

Public sector organizations are moving towards more energy-efficient data centres through server consolidation and virtualization, according to a survey released this week. Despite the hype, however, analysts find that most of the movement are not being driven by ecological ideologies, but a bid to rationalize operational costs.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced last week it will add enhanced driver's licences as one of the approved identification documents for Canadians travelling south of the border. With RFID being eyed as a likely technology to be used to develop these highly secured driver's licences, Ontario's privacy watchdog raises caution to ensure proper implementation.

The 2007 Canadian Information Productivity Awards recognized 24 winners from the public and private sectors, in what was the largest entry turnout in the event's history. InterGovWorld spoke to two of the winners from the public sector - the City of Calgary and B.C. Ministry of Labour and Citizens' Services - about their winning entries.

The Canada Foundation for Innovation is investing nearly $28 million to fund research in 35 universities and colleges across the country, comprising 139 research projects in various areas including information and communications technologies and environmental science, according to a statement issued by CFI.