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For a nation to flourish in the emerging knowledge economy, the opportunities
of the Information Age must be exploited to full advantage. In 1995, Canada
developed a "Connecting Canadians" strategy to lead the country
towards becoming the most connected country in the world. The Canadian
standard of living and quality of life is directly linked to our success
in the knowledge economy. The Government of Canada has implemented several
key programs to foster knowledge creation and innovation in order to achieve
this.
SchoolNet and LibraryNet are programs designed to bring Internet resources
to Canadian public schools and libraries. Through these programs, Canada became
the first country in the world to connect all their public schools and libraries
to the Internet. CAP (the Community Access Program) has put 10,000 remote communities
online, while SMART Communities aim to have Canadians realize the benefits
that information and communication technologies have to offer.
A new model of social and economic development has emerged. Canada's challenges
of vast size and remote populations have found access to the Internet to be
transformative. Our panel of speakers, including Lisa McPhail, Anne Peters,
and Michael Williamson (all former librarians!) will highlight some of the
experiences they have had in shaping programs and policies to meet Canada's
unique needs.
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