INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Doig River First Nation Gets Connected

With the flick of a switch, the families and businesses of the Doig River First Nation are now able to access broadband Internet service in their community for the very first time.

Doig River is also one of the first communities to be connected under Pathways to Technology, a $40.8-million province-wide First Nations connectivity project managed by the All Nations Trust Company (ANTCO), with funding from the Province and the Government of Canada.

Previously, Doig River's Internet access was limited to only satellite and dial-up.  Now, with better and faster access to Internet services, the Band and its 260 community members will be able to improve local health care, open up educational and cultural opportunities for children and families, and manage resources more effectively.  As well, local businesses will be able to more easily expand beyond the borders of the community, creating jobs and greater economic opportunities.

In the next three to five years, the Pathways project expects to connect or enhance connectivity to more than 50 remote First Nations communities that currently have no Internet access or only limited service.

The Pathways to Technology project has also recently signed a $23-million contract with TELUS to connect the majority of these communities, many located in the TELUS service area.  Doig River is the first community to be connected by TELUS as part of the project.

Government of BC News Release

Internet Body Approves New Web Suffixes

Agence France-Presse

A global body that charts the course of the Internet voted to allow the creation of new website domain suffixes by private companies, enabling major firms to replace ".com" with their own brand.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) voted overwhelmingly in favour of the proposal at a meeting in Singapore despite fears that opening up new suffixes could cause some confusion.

"This is the biggest change to domain names since the creation of '.com' 26 years ago," said Theo Hnarakis, chief executive of Melbourne IT Digital Brand Services, a California-based company that provides online branding services.

Under the changes, businesses would no longer be restricted to the list of generic top level domains (gTLDs) that include .com, .net and .org when they apply to register a website address.

Industry observers say global giants such as Apple, Toyota and BMW, to cite examples from various regions, could be in the vanguard of launching websites with their own domain names.

Hnarakis told AFP that the companies that will benefit most are "big brands with a clear marketing and customer education strategy to exploit the name for competitive advantage."

© Copyright (c) AFP