Wireless Internet for Elgin Amtelecom is well under way with the installation of County-Wide wireless Internet for Elgin ; testing is underway at the Aylmer wireless transmission station (covering the Eastern 1/3 of Elgin). The fibre route has been completed to the Elgin County Building and is proceeding North to Talbotville and the Cargil Grains Elevators (location of the 2nd wireless transmission station). The fibre route will then proceed to the West Elgin water tower (location of the 3rd wireless transmission station) Amtelecom plans to have the entire wireless system active by mid December and is asking anyone who may be interested in more information or joining a waiting list to sign up for their service to call 1-800-440-7472. Elgin/St Thomas Connects web portal The Elgin/St Thomas Connects portal is moving quickly toward completion. Local municipal government websites are nearly completed being reformatted and overhauled for use on the portal. Following the completion of this municipal content migration at the end of October, the testing phase will begin and last until December. This winter the portal will be officially launched, initially containing comprehensive, easy to access information on local government services, local business, social service, and tourism directories, and community calendar. Also available will be a comprehensive searching function of our stakeholders, such as the health unit and the conservation authorities. Following the initial portal launch, more sites and functionality will be added on a continued basis based on community and stakeholder feedback. Economic Impact Study on IT and Broadband in Elgin Completed As part of the Elginconnects project, a study was commissioned to evaluate the extent of broadband usage among rural businesses and what opportunities exist to improve the business climate in Elgin. The study first evaluated what the current situation was in Phase 1, the baseline. Then, Phase 2 , the economic gap analysis was performed to determine industry clusters in Elgin , and where IT might assist Elgin business. Lastly, an Economic Development Plan for agriculture and IT in Elgin was developed; Phase 3 The Executive Summary as well as the Project Summary (overview of the 3 phases) are also available separately.

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SR Telecom News Release on behalf of Elginconnects and vendor Amtecom regarding Amtelcom's wireless Internet equipment purchase. Click here for a copy of the full release

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VIEW PRESENTATIONS FROM SMART FAIR
Aylmer Ontario - March 18, 2021

Allan Anderson: PDF or HTML	Paul Wilker: PDF or HTML
Donna Lunn: PDF or HTML	Donna Lunn: PDF or HTML
Maddock:  PDF or HTML	Barrie Crampton:   PDF or HTML
Debbie Miller: PDF or HTML	Industry Canada:   PDF or HTML

Industry Canada is pleased to invite you to the Ontario Smart Fair hosted in part by Elgin County Community Futures Development Corporation on Thursday March 18th, 2004 in Aylmer, Ontario - Agenda (PDF) Industry Canada Smart Fairs highlight the successes of Smart Communities (SC) Demonstration Projects. Ontario is fortunate to have two demonstration projects: 'Smart Capital', developed by Ottawa Carleton Research Institute (OCRI) in Ottawa and the Aboriginal SC project, developed by K-Net in Sioux Lookout. Smart Capital is to be the focus of a Smart Fair on March 18th, in Elgin County. The Aboriginal SC project was highlighted as part of a very successful Smart Fair held in Manitoba before Christmas but will be joining the Fair via video-conferencing for the panel discussion and throughout the day as they host their own web based event (view KNet Online International Gathering -PDF). Throughout the day, there will also be a trade show highlighting government programs, community applications and private corporations related to connectivity. The objective of the fair is to showcase excellence in E-Communities. This fair will provide a venue for Broadband champions, Community Access Program (CAP) managers, Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) leaders, and E-Community champions; to learn and share best practices and experiences. The Ontario Smart Fair will showcase 'Smart Capital' and will highlight successes achieved in rural communities throughout Ontario. The Elgin CFDC will lead the discussion on rural challenges and solutions. These discussions will offer the opportunity for rural community IT Champions to showcase their progress in becoming 'SMART'. During the afternoon, there will be five round table breakout sessions including (1) e-government, (2) e-business, (3) e-learning, (4) e-health, and (5) e-agriculture. Elginconnects Community Portal Implementation Now Underway! Go to "Portal News and Information" to read more. Elginconnects Connect Ontario Information Session - View Presentation (PDF) February, 27, 2004 - 9-11:30 am County of Elgin Basement Meeting Room The first step in the process will be a community event to be held at the County of Elgin Building on February 27. The event will have a number of purposes. The first will be to review the various elements of the project so that all stakeholders are re-familiarized with them and can begin to think about how they might participate and benefit from them. The second purpose of this event will be to have the portal vendor, EDS, provide details as to how the portal will work, and models as to how community organizations and municipalities can relate their electronic content and services to it. This will be a great opportunity to learn about the portal and to ask any questions you may have regarding your participation. A copy of the agenda for this meeting is attached, and will give you a better idea the areas to be covered. With the broad topics to be covered, it may be advantageous for more than one representative from your organization or municipality to attend. This meeting will not be too technical in nature, but more on a functional level - looking at how these new applications can fit into your current processes and operations. We ask that you respond to this invitation with an indication of those planning to attend, with a note of their area of responsibility in the organization. This information will help the meeting facilitators better prepare the information to be presented and discussed. Responses would be appreciated by Feb 24th to: Debbie Millar by phone at 613-256-5777 or by email at [email protected]. Any questions relating to this event can also be directed to Debbie. Join Donna and her team in launching this important process across the Elgin/St. Thomas community! Activities Elginconnects currently involved in: Farm and Agribusiness information database for Elgin to be used by emergency services. High Speed Internet introduction through Elgin County in association with partners. New Employees: Jeff Witczak, Technical Manager Janusz Ratajzak, Systems Admin