Presentation to APEC Telecommunications and Information Working Group (APECTEL)
Keewaytinook Okimakanak staff presented a paper and a powerpoint presentation to the APEC Telecommunications and Information Working Group (APECTEL) in Kuala Kumpur, Malaysia. The March 25 Broadband Workshop agenda, provided delegates with background information about the issues and developments concerning the deployment of broadband infrastructure in rural communities.
"Why Broadband for APEC Underserved and Unserved Rural Communities - Why Not!" was a paper prepared by Brian Beaton discussing some of the socio-economic benefits for bringing broadband services into rural and remote communities. The internet based video connection with the conference site was established using a software tool called Multimedia Conferencing System (MCS) and a separate Document Conferencing software package along with a live chat session. Due to the internet connections in Malaysia, everyone was able to see and hear the presentation fairly well but the return feed to Sioux Lookout from Malaysia could not provide a video image and the sound was garbled so the live chat was used as the prompt for the exchanges. The powerpoint presentation ended up being controlled by the technician in Malaysia because the document server was not set up at the conference site.
In preparation for the session there was a three hour testing of the system the week before the event where the powerpoint presentation was sent over to the firm organizing the A/V portion for the session. Eric Tsang from the Communications Research Centre in Ottawa attended the event in Kuala Kumpur and wrote about there being problems with the audio but overall the presentation went well. Various people from Industry Canada including Susan Johnston, Kathy Fisher and Vicki Schouten worked on including the Keewaytinook Okimakanak story on the agenda.