Mark Els

Unless we're living under skies of brimstone and hellfire, most companies shouldn't have to replicate every piece of data to protect their business from the next cataclysmic event. Nor should they necessarily have to cough up millions for a mirror site that traces every network transaction.

The Ministries of Transportation and Community Safety & Correctional Services went home last night with two Diamond Awards each from Showcase Ontario. While law enforcement was a common theme in Transportation's awards, Deputy Minister Shelly Jamieson talked earlier today about some of the other "intelligent transportation" initiatives on the go.

Public sector organizations are keen to embrace the more interactive online applications of Web 2.0 technology, but innovation is being held back by a lack of IT skills in human resources, according to recent findings from a global government survey. Delegates at the 2007 Lac Carling Congress say they wish to engage the public more actively in order to better serve their constituent needs.

Canada Revenue Agency has come under scathing attack for its crisis management tactics. Liberal Revenue critic Judy Sgro has urged federal Revenue Minister Carol Skelton to get back to Ottawa to address the needs of her crisis-stricken department.

Public service and information are hard to fathom from the Blue Pages. Blue Pages directories read like hieroglyphics, with none of the great storytelling. In the age of citizen empowerment, Blue Pages are too complex and too bureaucratic to empower anyone. Municipalities know this, so instead they're moving hundreds of government departments out of the telephone book and onto a single number.

Public service and information are hard to fathom from the Blue Pages. Blue Pages directories read like hieroglyphics, with none of the great storytelling. In the age of citizen empowerment, Blue Pages are too complex and too bureaucratic to empower anyone. Municipalities know this, so instead they're moving hundreds of government departments out of the telephone book and onto a single number.

The City of Mississauga, Ont., has implemented an IP telephony system from Cisco Systems Inc. throughout the municipality's 78 facilities, as well as Cisco's IPCC product suite in its central call centre. While upgrading Mississauga's telecom system to VoIP was based on hard dollar returns, higher service levels proved a compelling driver in its own right to put VoIP into the call centre.

Ottawa turned on its 311 call centre in the fall of 2005 and also operates a walk-in service centre that's staffed by representatives from all three levels of government. After several years of planning, the national capital is ready to begin plans for upgrading to VoIP.