The valuable service the Ottawa Food Bank provides is fixing toget more accessible, thanks to a new web-enabled communicationstool.
A two phase project, dubbed FoodNet, to be completed next May,includes an agency boundary-mapping system and rapid agency-look-uputility, according to Ottawa Food Bank executive director, PeterTilley.
The first phase has been completed and consists of a foodordering system and information sharing module, said Tilley.”FoodNet will become the most high-tech food bank in Canada.”
The Ottawa Food Bank is partnering with six public and privatesector partners, including the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Cognos,Adobe Systems, Cisco Systems Canada Co., Rogers TelecommunicationsInc., and the Social Planning Council of Ottawa.
“The FoodNet project came about through a need for them tobetter communicate with their member agencies,” said Tilley.”Because as we were growing in the last six years from 67 to 112member agencies…we found it would be nice to have a universalcommunication system.”
The Ontario Trillium Foundation, an agency of the Ministry ofCulture, offered the funding — $75,000 over the next two years –to start up a project that would look at getting all memberagencies Internet compliant.
“We’re not there yet, but thanks to the