NORTH BAY – Canada’s first annual Rural & Remote Broadband Conference has announced additional rural community influencers who will address conference attendees on November 12-14.
Caledon Mayor Allan Thompson, chair of the Rural Ontario Municipalities Association (ROMA) will tell delegates why he believes broadband should be considered an essential service, an idea for which he made headlines.
The first Q&A session will be led by Melanie Pilon, Dubreuilville Ontario’s economic development officer. She is also co-chair of the Northeastern Superior Region Broadband Network (NSRBN) – a group of five First Nations and five municipalities who have come together to address the broadband gap that exists in their diverse region.
Chad West, County of Kings, N.S. IT manager will provide an overview of his Valley Community Fibre Network. Built in 2008, the VCFN is jointly owned by the towns of Berwick, Windsor, and Wolfville, the County of Kings, the District of West Hants, Acadia University, and the Nova Scotia Community College. In addition to its owners, the VCFN currently serves users from the educational, health, research, and business sectors.
As well, Mitch Thomson of the Olds Institute will provide his insights and lessons learned to date. Thomson is the executive director of Alberta’s Olds Institute for Community and Regional Development. OI is recognized for the pioneering work it has done to develop community-based broadband services, having created their own ISP and offer gigabit internet, IPTV and VoIP. The company also retails electricity, natural gas and green energy to consumers in over 50 communities and use the profits from their social enterprises for community and economic development.
The rest of the roster of speakers Victor Fedeli, Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade; Chris Seidl, executive director, telecommunications for the CRTC; and John G. Jung, chairman and co-founder of the Intelligent Community Forum.
Early Bird registration for Public Sector and Community Leaders expires September 30th. Click here for registration packages and details.
