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The new antennaes are now being installed by the Thunder Bay team involving a partnership between Keewaytinook Okimakanak, Nishnawbe Aski Nation and Matawa. The team is working with Superior Wireless to install the Aperto antennaes that will deliver the quality of service required to host video conferencing services from the partner sites.

Visit the project web site at http://www.research.knet.ca/meet_me/home for more information and pictures of the installs.

A meeting with Superior Wireless on Friday, July 7 provided everyone with the latest update on the progress of the work for this project.

216 Algoma Street is now the new official home for the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Research Institute. Click here to see some pictures of the new building.

Wawatay Native Communications Society's Thunder Bay office moved into the building in the middle of June. The KORI team completed their move at the end of June.

All the broadband connections are now in place supporting the high speed data, IP telephones and the IP videoconferencing. Click here to see the pictures of the connections.

There is still some unpacking to complete and arranging of furniture but everyone seems very pleased with their new facilities.

Everyone is invited to stop by for a coffee anytime.

The Kuhkenah Network Operations Centre backup power system performed 100% last night when the main hydro line from Dryden had a massive failure starting shortly before 5 pm. 

When the blackout began the switch over from the battery system to the generators went smoothly. The generator at the satellite hub site kept the 38 satellite served communities across the northern parts of Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba online. The generator at the K-Net Operations Centre kept all the servers and services online. The battery supply for the fibre hub kept that circuit operational and the Bell Canada system was able to remain online throughout the 7 hour blackout.

The back-up system is now certified as full functional! 

Thanks to Industry Canada FedNor for the investment in the backup system.

The Chiefs of Keewaytinook Okimakanak are meeting in Balmertown as a regular board of directors meeting for their organization on July 5 and 6, 2006.

Click here to see some pictures of the Chiefs and guests.

The six Chiefs of the Keewaytinook Okimakanak include:

• Chief Royal Meekis, Deer Lake First Nation
• Chief Roy Gray, Fort Severn First Nation
• Chief Joe Meekis, Keewaywin First Nation
• Chief Eli James, McDowell Lake First Nation
• Chief Isaac Linklater, North Spirit Lake First Nation
• Chief Jacob Strang, Poplar Hill First Nation

Guest presenters include:

• Grand Chief Stan Beardy, Nishnawbe Aski Nation
• Deputy Grand Chief Goyce Kakegamic, NAN
• Bill Nothing, Acting Executive Director, NAN

On Friday, June 30, the Northern Indigenous Community Satellite Network consortium submitted their business case requesting two additional transponders to Industry Canada's National Satellite Initiative. The business case proposes to build a second redundant hub in Montreal, construct local loops in all the partner Aboriginal communities and purchase 2 additional transponders from Telesat Canada to support broadband applications and bandwidth demands over the next ten years. Telesat Canada is partnering with the consortium to make this project possible.

Keewaytinook Okimakanak is also working with Industry Canada FedNor and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation to raise the funds necessary to complete the work proposed. This includes local community networks in those unserved communities and the purchase of the bandwidth necessary to deliver these services.

From the business case Executive Summary ...

The project submission is a result of a partnership established between the Kativik Regional Government (KRG), the Keewatin Tribal Council (KTC) and Keewaytinook Okimakanak (KO). Each organization serves as an operating partner in the Northern Indigenous Community Satellite Network (NICSN). Kativik Regional Government will be the lead agency for the project.

NICSN represents 8 underserved and 35 unserved communities in the northern regions of Quebec, Manitoba and Ontario with a combined population of 46,000 people. In order to deliver an ”equivalent to terrestrial” service, NICSN has been able to raise $8 million of the $31 million dollars as their contribution to the overall project.

We are requesting $22,138,670 from the Canada Strategic Infrastructure Fund in order to deliver the required equivalent to terrestrial services and applications in these communities.

The project being proposed will enable the purchase of two additional transponders to augment existing capacity, and will deploy a second hub to eliminate the single point of failure which exists now. This redundant hub will support the increased demand for critical applications on the satellite network. Broadband applications such as telehealth, distance education, justice discovery and remand hearings, as well as access to government and business products and services, have exceeded existing capacity for effective delivery. The satellite network, presently operating at full capacity, cannot support any further expansion of existing applications or introduction of new ones without scaling up.

As the additional transponders are allocated, the network staff at K-Net Services in consensus with the operators will assign transponder capacity to the network operators in support of the various application demands of their clients and communities. Traffic assignments will be done from the hub site in Sioux Lookout as it does not require travel or site visits. The second hub will be located in Montreal.

The augmented bandwidth will allow for the current and requested demand for multi-site videoconferencing and will have the capacity to support multiple, simultaneous videoconferences. Benefits will accrue from reducing travel costs by shifting them to service provision, thus increasing the quality of life for citizens living in remote areas. Access to services will be improved using Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) currently in place to a fuller extent. Additionally, this will ensure the remote communities will be able to participate fully and equitably with those in the rest of Canada and become healthier places to live, work and play as a consequence of this investment.

Visiting the band offices and schools in the three Matawa member First Nations provided an opportunity to discuss the introduction of the new wireless broadband connections that will be put in place in the band offices, health centres and schools in each of these communities.

Developing local and regional support systems that will promote the operation of a community broadband network is one of the goals in each of the First Nations.

Technical Services Advisor Position

Check out Public Works Dept.

Click here for the job ad

Notice of Opportunity to Inspect the Draft Environmental Study Report is now available

Visit http://publicworks.knet.ca for more information.

Click here to view the news story with a copy of the notice that was published in the newspaper.

The first episode of Down to the Butt is now finished. It is available online for everyone's viewing pleasure at http://nahsema.knet.ca/multimedia/episode1_v2-16.html

This production was completed through the Keewaytinook Okimakanak Tobacco Control Strategy Program funded by Health Canada. 

The animation team included Derek Kenny (Lac Seul), Blue Mason (Keewaywin) and Jesse Fiddler (Sandy Lake). The script was prepared by Tina Kakepetum-Schultz.

Tina is interested in getting everyone's feedback about this production. Please email her at tinakakepetumschultz@knet.ca to let me know what you think about this production.

The Alberta SuperNet Research Alliance hosted a two day conference in Calgary for community representatives from all the communities across Alberta that are now connected by their new broadband fibre network. The Alberta SuperNet Opportunities Conference (http://supernet.ucalgary.ca/opportunities/) brought together a variety of presenters sharing information about how this new broadband network can be developed and utilized.

The Keewaytinook Okimakanak presentation highlighted the development of the local Community Broadband Network model being supported by the Kuhkenak Network. Emphasis is placed on sustaining the local broadband connection by building and supporting local capacity that is able to support and connect the various local agencies, businesses and homes to utilize and pay for this  service.

The Research Alliance urged Albertans from all communities to register online for this exciting public conference. Registration fees were $225 and included 2 days of expert panels which were structured to help explore the opportunities of the SuperNet in each community.

As part of SuperNet's commitment to community involvement, they provided one free conference registration to each of the 429 communities on SuperNet. Axia also sponsored 30 remote community members with a $500 allowance to travel into the conference - a draw took place from those members who registered online.

The conference was intended to celebrate this unique initiative and participants were treated to the following activities:

• the Alberta SuperNet Research Alliance sharing findings from their research into community based issues and opportunities from the past three years of the project;
• 429 communities learned about and shared information on the countless opportunities now available through broadband;
• experts and professionals from education, health care, disaster and emergency, libraries, tourism, industry, and more exhibited the applications and technologies that are made possible by broadband;
• delegates were provided with numerous opportunities to network throughout the conference and shared experiences and expertise with one another.