Village Gamer

Tiny Hippos released a small update to its Ripple Emulator product today. The Version 0.4.8 update includes Compass support for PhoneGap and Accelerometer bug fixes. Ripple is a multi-platform mobile environment emulator that runs in a web browser and is custom-tailored to HTML5 mobile application testing. Ripple aims to reduce the challenges being faced by mobile developers caused by today’s platform fragmentation in the marketplace.

AChecker 1.1 by ATutor has been released. Built with the assistance of the Ontario Government’s Enabling Change Program, AChecker is a free open source Web content accessibility evaluator used to assess Web pages for conformance with international accessibility standards. This release adds a number of significant new features, including:

*CSS Evaluator: Access the validity of external stylesheets, embedded stylesheets, and inline styles while evaluating the accessibility of a Web page.
*Colour Contrast Evaluation: Ten new accessibility checks have been added to evaluate foreground and background colour contrast to ensure text is readable by everyone.
*Paste HTML from Clipboard: Evaluators can now paste the source HTML of a Web page into AChecker to have it evaluated. This makes it possible to assess pages that are not accessible from the Web, such those on an Intranet, or on a local personal computer.
*Updater: Administrators can now keep their AChecker installation up to date in between releases with the AChecker Updater. The Updater lets them apply patches to fix bugs, to add new features as they become available, and to add new accessibility checks as they are created.
*AChecker Translator Site: There are currently English and Italian translations of AChecker. Sign-up for a translator account on atutor.ca if you don’t already have one, and help translate AChecker into your language.

Following in the steps of its award-winning predecessors, Teach My Toddler and Teach My Baby, Teach My Preschooler is the third product from the Toronto-based Teach My brand and recently named one of Dr. Toy’s 100 Best Children’s Products and received iParenting’s Greatest Products of 2010 award.

Developed with education consultant, Judith Rowlands, M Ed., Teach My Preschooler is designed to give preschoolers a head start, develop fine motor skills, encourage parent/child interaction and increase school readiness skills. The kit is divided into four sections; Ready to Read, Print, Count to 100 and Early Math. Each section is fully-coordinated with books, flashcards, posters, a print guide and a magic drawing board.

“There is an increasing demand among parents to find simple, educational products without the technology of lights, sounds or music to help their children master the basic fundamentals of learning,” says Christy Cook, mompreneur and founder of Teach My. “Teach My Preschooler is a back-to-basics, all-in-one learning kit that provides modern, educational tools to help preschoolers master reading, printing, numbers to 100 and early math.

Teach My aims to take the guesswork out of early learning. The award-winning Teach My Baby is the first and only all-in-one learning kit for babies 6 to 18 months. The kit introduces First Words, First Numbers, Self and Sound & Touch. For children 18 months to 3 years, Teach My Toddler, is designed to help toddlers master the basics: alphabet, numbers, shapes and colors.  Teach My kits are available online and at specialty retailers across North America for $49.99, and will be at Booth #5748 at the NY Toy Fair.

PNI Digital Media has selected the Strangeloop Site Optimizer to accelerate its Digital Media Platform, which allows the world’s largest retailers to offer personalized products such as photo prints and photo books, ordered online and produced on demand for pick up and purchase at a consumers preferred retail location. The PNI Digital Media Platform connects 14,000 retail locations, 9000 of which offer a one-hour pick up of photo prints and photo gifts ordered online. The implementation of the Strangeloop Site Optimizer came just in time for PNI to take advantage of the peak holiday season, which typically sees more than 5 million image uploads and more than 150,000 orders during a single day.

“We tested Strangeloop’s Site Optimizer after a careful review of all the delivery-based web acceleration technology available in the market,” said Aaron Rallo, President of PNI Digital Media. “We were immediately impressed with Site Optimizer’s ease of deployment, performance benefits, and its ability to scale across our enterprise.” Read the rest of this entry »

2K Games has unveiled the new web site for The Darkness™ II, the sequel to the million unit-selling 2007 title, The Darkness™, will be coming to the Xbox 360®, PlayStation®3 and Windows PC in fall 2011. Developed by Digital Extremes and based on the supernatural horror comic book series created by Top Cow Productions, Inc., The Darkness II takes players down a brutal and personal path as Jackie Estacado, wielder of The Darkness – an ancient and ruthless force of chaos and destruction.

The Darkness II breaks out of the sea of conventional first-person shooters with its fervid Quad-Wielding gameplay, which will allow players to slash, grab, and throw objects and enemies with their Demon Arms while simultaneously firing two weapons. The game is layered with the use of dark versus light, steeped in deep and twisted storytelling, and engulfed in stylistic violence that is visualized through a hand-painted graphic noir technique that stays true to its comic book origins.

“The Darkness II is a well of dark and imaginative violence, and it’s a stylized and beautiful nightmare,” said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. “The Darkness II continues the 2K Games tradition of delivering quality, innovative games that are filled to the brim with atmosphere and deep storytelling. The game takes a unique stance on fighting in the dark versus light. Combined with the arsenal of weapons at Jackie’s disposal and the gruesome attacks of the supernatural Demon Arms and Darkness powers, we’re proud to announce another title that delivers on our core values of creating games for gamers.”

The Darkness II will feature award-winning comic book writer, Paul Jenkins, who will provide a tightly integrated narrative that weaves dark humor with hardcore tenderness.

Take a step back from the familiar and comfortable, and prepare to embrace The Darkness.

It’s been two years since Jackie Estacado, now the Don of the Franchetti crime family, used The Darkness to kill the men responsible for his girlfriend’s murder. He’s been unable to shake the memory of Jenny’s death since bottling up his supernatural power, and now The Darkness wants out. A sudden, unprovoked attack on Jackie’s life heralds the start of a full-scale mob war, which has clearly been orchestrated by some outside force. The botched attempt opens the door for The Darkness to reemerge, and sets Jackie on a journey to hell and worse, as he unravels the mystery behind the attack and the motivations of The Darkness itself.

“Sometimes that whooshing sound you hear is that of comic fans holding their collective breath,” said Marc Silvestri, founder and CEO of Top Cow Productions and co-creator of The Darkness comics. “So often disappointed when a favorite character gives birth to a lame movie or video game, us fans have come to expect the worst. And sometimes we get it. But not with The Darkness II. Yeah, call me biased, but this second installment of Jackie Estacado’s epic saga is – in my humble opinion – one of the most brutally cool games I’ve ever played. 2K Games hammered this one out of the park.”

Fans of TransGaming Studio’s Garage Inc. game will be happy to know that the title will be available on the Big Fish Games portal tomorrow – unless you’re a BFG Game Club Member, then you can play it via the portal today.

Today’s PlayStation®Network update will include the long-awaited demo for HOARD™, Big Sandwich Games’ critically acclaimed action strategy game about dragons and their treasure. The full game is already available for purchase on the system.

“HOARD™ is at its strongest with a controller in hand,” says Tyler Sigman, the game’s designer. “We know that the addictive gameplay really sells itself when players get a chance to try it. We also know that a lot of consumers still don’t know HOARD™ exists, so we’re glad to finally make the demo available and remove that obstacle to new people trying the game!”

The demo will allow gamers to sample their fire-breathing, gold-collecting skills on several maps and game modes, including a 2-player local (“couch”) co-operative level. The full game includes 4 game modes, over 35 maps, leaderboards, trophies, and any combination of local and online multiplayer making HOARD™ one of only a few great options for 4-person couch-party style play.

HOARD™’s innovative gameplay and design focus on rock-solid short-session experiences earned it a “Best Quick Fix” award and “Best Competitive Multiplayer” nomination in IGN’s Best of 2010 Awards.

The full version of HOARD™ is for sale now on the PlayStation®Network for $14.99, and includes dozens of hours of gameplay and over 100 unique badges to be earned. HOARD™-themed avatars and wallpapers are also available.

Building on Burn the Rope’s phenomenal success in the App Store, Big Blue Bubble, Inc. is pleased to announce its upcoming major update to the top-selling iOS game. Praised by critics and gamers alike, Burn the Rope will be better than ever with new bug types, fast-paced bonus rounds, a new world of 16 never-before-seen-levels and beautiful Retina display support! We have also created a new “Burn the Rope Lite” version for those of you who prefer the try before you buy approach. Read the rest of this entry »

2010 was a banner year for Vancouver’s airG, who saw its mobile social network grow to more than 55 million cumulative unique users worldwide, sending more than six billion instant messages on their mobile devices. Through partnerships with more than 100 mobile operators in 40 countries and support for more than 30 languages, airG is the most widely available mobile social network in the world.

“What distinguishes airG from other online social networks is its unique blend of social discovery, social utility and social entertainment,” said Vincent Yen, Co-Founder, airG. “Over the past ten years we have seen the popularity of airG grow consistently to more than 55 million cumulative unique users, with more than one million new users experiencing airG each month.”

airG enables mobile users to easily find, connect and share their world with their existing friends as well as millions of new people from around the world. airG’s proprietary social entertainment platform includes features like user identities and status updates, photo and video sharing, social games, instant messaging and virtual goods.

As a testament to the phenomenal power of airG to connect and entertain people on their mobile phone, in 2010 airG’s users shared more than 2.3 billion photos, sent more than 74 million virtual gifts, had an average of 30 new friends they met in the community, generated more than 7.9 billion minutes of use, and spent more than 77 minutes each day using airG.

“As Smartphones and mobile devices become the de facto channel to access the internet, we believe mobile social networking will grow at a faster rate than online,” added Dejan Mirkovic, Vice President Marketing and Corporate Development, airG. “With the extraordinary rate of growth airG experienced in 2010, we are on track to double the size our mobile social network by 2012.”

Some Canadians will enjoy even faster mobile internet access speeds this March when TELUS launches its new Dual Cell upgrade to HSPA+ (DC-HSPA+). This new network capability supports extremely fast manufacturer’s rated peak download speeds of up to 42 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of up to 11 Mbps( depending on the device being used, network congestion, distance from the cell site, local conditions and other factors). TELUS’ HSPA+ network is now a fourth generation (4G) network according to current International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standards (December 6 2010 ITU News Release:  ITU World Radiocommunication Seminar highlights future communication technologies), and this latest innovation will ensure that TELUS continues to bring the latest in mobile technologies to Canadians.

The first device to take full advantage of this new Dual Cell capability will be the Sierra Wireless AirCard 319U 4G Internet Key, available to TELUS customers in March on Canada’s fastest coast-to-coast mobile network. That is, the fastest according to TELUS’ tests of data throughput speeds in large Canadian urban centres available from national HSPA+ service providers. Internet access speed provided by the network operator may vary due to the device being used, network congestion, distance from the cell site, local conditions and other factors. Speed on the Internet is beyond the wireless network operator’s control and may vary with your configuration, internet traffic, website server and management policies, and other factors. Read the rest of this entry »

You can’t travel back in time, but you can travel across Canada to experience a wide variety of historical and interactive getaways. From the monumental struggles between the British and French and the eventual Acadian expulsion, to the Klondike Gold Rush and the sacred sites now guided by the Haida Watchmen, the crucial turning points that define our history still resonate with us today.

“These places bring the past alive in a way books and television can’t. People young and old can get a feel for what things were like in the past. And for young people, a positive experience at a historic site will often ignite a lifelong interest in further explorations of our history and heritage,” said Nelle Oosterom, Senior Editor of Canada’s History magazine. “This special project is a fun way for us to do two things: draw attention to ten National Historic Sites that we feel are leaders in creating unforgettable visitor experiences and secondly, encourage Canadians to tell us how they have been impressed, enthralled, entertained, or enlightened at the historic places they’ve experienced.”

In honour of Parks Canada’s centennial, Canada’s History magazine and Adventure Canada invite you to share your stories. Whether your experience is as a visitor, an employee, a volunteer or someone who has helped to build or construct one of almost 1,000 National Historic Sites, Canada’s History wants to hear about your memories of these storied places.

Canadians of all ages are encouraged to write an essay of no more than 500 words about their favourite National Historic Site, and submit it online along with a photograph. Entries to the Storied Places Contest will also be accepted by email (storiedplacescontest@canadashistory.ca) or by regular mail at:

Storied Places, Canada’s History
Main Floor, Bryce Hall
515 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB, R3B 2E9

The grand prize is an all expenses paid cruise for two from Greenland to Newfoundland tracing the Voyages of the Vikings and visiting one of our top national historic sites, L’Anse aux Meadows. Other prizes will be awarded for runners-up and honourable mentions. Deadline for entries is July 25th, 2011.

There is also a school-based contest that will run until December 31st, 2011. Teachers and students who submit entries as part of a class project will be eligible to win the “ultimate class field trip” to Ottawa. Five regional prizes, involving a visit to a National Historic Site are also available to be won.

Canada’s History has selected its top ten places that bring history alive in Canada on the basis of historical significance and visitor experience. This is the definitive “bucket list” for Canadian historical tourism. They are:

Fortress of Louisbourg, N.S. – Shine a Light on Canada’s Seafaring Past
Louisbourg was once one of the busiest seaports in North America, thanks to the lucrative cod fishery of the Grand Banks. France spent 26 years constructing the strongest fortress on the continent. During the siege of 1758, the British dismantled every stone and brick. In 1961, the Canadian government began reconstructing the Fortress of Louisbourg and it now spans five hectares and features fifty buildings. Read the rest of this entry »

Trend Micro has announced the 2nd annual “What’s Your Story” video contest. The contest combines the powerful tools of Internet reach and user generated video to encourage young people to tell their stories and share ideas about online safety.

The Contest’s three entry categories mirror some of the largest challenges to being safe online: Being a Good Online Citizen, Using a Cell Phone Wisely, and Maintaining Your Online Privacy. Canadian residents (outside of Quebec) aged 13 and older can create and submit a video of two minutes or less about how best to stay safe when engaging in online activities such as texting, instant messaging, or using social networking sites.

“What’s Your Story is a creative, fun and relevant way for everyone from teachers to aspiring film makers, their friends and families to become more involved in their own online safety,” said Lynette Owens, director, Trend Micro’s Internet Safety for Kids & Families. “The level of engagement that teens in particular exhibited last year convinced us to expand the reach of this year’s contest beyond Canada and the U.S and into the UK. We are delighted to be joined this year by some of the world’s leading organizations advocating for youth online safety. Together, we believe ‘What’s Your Story’ promotes the positive use of the very thing we are trying to keep kids safe on.”

Trend Micro Internet Safety for Kids & Families has teamed with some of the world’s leading organizations that either provide access to kids online or advocate for their safety. The 2011 judging panel includes: Childnet International, Common Sense Media, ConnectSafely, Facebook, JENNiRADIO, myYearbook, Q2/UK, and Webwise Kids.

Unlike other video contests that rely on static and subjective criteria, “What’s Your Story” actively engages participants throughout the entire process through an on line review process. Video makers can share their submissions and encourage others to view and vote, which means voters also become active participants in the process. Only the highest-rated and most-viewed videos will be considered for prizes by the contest judges.

Ontario teens KJ Proux and Matt Bendo were finalists in the Being Safe on Line category for their video Pull the Plug on Bullying. A 30 second version of the video was shown 18 times daily on the CBS Superscreen in New York’s Times Square during the month of November 2010. Canada is one of the most connected countries on the planet and the highest percentage of regular on line users are teens. According to Statistics Canada, close to 99 percent of teens living in Canada use on line tools in their daily lives.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOwArod2d0s]

What’s Your Story 2011 will award a grand prize of $10,000.00 U.S. to the winning entry, with special $500 US categories for schools and individuals who submit entries. Contest submissions are due by April 5th and winners will be announced on April 26th.

Trend Micro also has a grant programme to provide financial, in-kind donations, or volunteer support to eligible organizations or initiatives that help educate families, parents, kids, teachers and schools on using the Internet safely and securely.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, Amazon.ca has released its second annual ranking of the Top 20 Most Romantic Cities in Canada. They are:

1. Victoria 2. Guelph 3. Calgary 4. Saskatoon 5. Oakville (new) 6. Regina 7. Kingston 8. Kelowna 9. Nepean (new)
10. Burlington (new) 11. Winnipeg 12. Richmond Hill (new) 13. Edmonton 14. London 15. Kitchener (new)
16. St. Catharines (new) 17. Burnaby (new) 18. Thunder Bay 19. Richmond 20. Ottawa

This list was compiled by comparing Amazon.ca sales data of romance novels, sex and relationship books, romantic comedy DVDs and Michael Bublé CDs since Jan. 1, 2011, on a per capita basis in cities with more than 100,000 residents.

A closer look at Amazon.ca’s “most romantic” data reveals that:

* Victoria proves brains are sexy too, not only earning the honour of all-around Most Romantic City 2011, but also as the biggest consumer of romantic books.
* British Columbia is home to the top spot but more than half of the most romantic cities (11 in all) are in Ontario.
* Canada’s metropolises (Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver) fail to make the cut this year, bested by smaller challengers like Nepean, Oakville and Richmond Hill.
* Last year’s winner, Saskatoon, falls to No. 4, though still remains a healthy lover of romance novels.
* Crazy Love: Though not quite placing in the Top 20, Brantford, Ontario, holds the distinction of being the single-biggest per capita purchaser of Michael Bublé CDs.
* Kingston is the place where residents are most likely to curl up in front of a romantic DVD, with Calgary and Nepean as the close runners-up.
* Always the bridesmaid: Calgary is the most consistent consumer of romantic products, landing in the top three of every category surveyed – though never No.1.

The above data is interesting, but just for the record, the original press release from Amazon’s HQ in Seattle listed Calgary as being in British Columbia, so if you’re waiting on an order shipment…

Toronto animation school Max The Mutt™ has redesigned its Classical & Computer Animation & Production Diploma program. The updated 4 year curriculum focuses on character animation based on Warner Bros and Disney guidelines. With the school continuing to grow, Max the Mutt™  is opening additional facilities at 1139 College Street.

This Career College currently at 952 Queen Street West was founded in 1996 in a small studio by professional artists and animators. Max the Mutt’s founder, Maxine Schacker is an accomplished artist whose work has been exhibited in Montreal, Toronto and New York. She studied with world-famous Instructor of Drawing and Anatomy, Robert Beverly Hale, at the Arts Students League of New York.

As the success of the animation program grew, the school added programs in Illustration for Sequential Arts, and Concept Art for Animation & Video Games.  Most of the instructors at Max the Mutt™ are current, working professionals who teach on a part-time basis. All want to teach at Max the Mutt™ because of the serious, professional students, small classes, and ability to input the curriculum.

The new facility will house most of the courses for years 2, 3 and 4 of the animation diploma program and some of the 3 and 4 year courses for Concept Art students. Max the Mutt™ Productions Inc. will also be housed at this location. An additional benefit of the new location is an exciting art gallery. Max the Mutt™ plans to have ongoing shows of work done by students, alumni and faculty. A spring exhibition will celebrate the opening of the new facility showcasing work by the Max the Mutt™ faculty.

The updated 4 year animation curriculum includes a stimulating experience of working in a studio environment. Students from Max the Mutt™ will enter the industry with hands-on production experience, a skill that is extremely attractive to the industry.  The goal at Max the Mutt™ is to create and maintain a vibrant, ethical community dedicated to passing on skills to upcoming generations.

The Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance (GTMA) has made the digital media sector a priority for growth and innovation to foster a homegrown industry, and this morning it showcased student-industry collaboration results at the GTMA International Digital Media Forum.

In 10 months, Ryerson University’s Digital Media Zone – a collaborative digital media workspace for young entrepreneurs – has fostered 115 jobs, supported 100 innovators and incubated 20 companies, several of which are garnering partnerships from around the world. Sheridan College opened the Screen Industries Research and Training Centre in March of 2010, and it has already provided full-time work for 25 students and exposed over 200 to its collaboration with Toronto’s Pinewood Studios, Canada’s largest sound stage complex. Meanwhile, Seneca College is a leading collaborator with the open source software industry with partners that include Mozilla, creator of the popular web browser, Firefox.

The Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance brought all of these collaborators – and more – together for a showcase of the Greater Toronto Area’s (GTA) world-class digital media education, entrepreneurship and collaboration projects. “Ubisoft’s decision to locate a major studio in Toronto that will create 800 jobs over the next decade is another leading indicator of global interest in our extraordinary focus on digital entertainment,” said Gerald Pisarzowski, Vice-President of Business Development with the Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance.

The GTA’s digital media strengths are a dream come true for companies like Toronto-based Starz Animation that, with five feature films, has the largest profile of any independent studio in the world. “The digital media sector in Toronto is very competitive and growing worldwide,” said Jeff Young, Vice-President of Finance and Business Development for Starz Animation. “There is a constant demand for talent and having the breadth of top-quality graduates right here is an advantage that allows us to keep growing. Some of the top graduates from the Toronto-area used to dream of jobs at Pixar or Dreamworks, but now they want to stay in Canada.” In its 45,000 square foot facility, Starz employs 300 artists, and a large majority of them are graduates from Ontario’s digital media programs.

“The DMZ model is really a platform for regional digital media growth,” said Valerie Fox, Director of Ryerson University’s Digital Media Zone. “We’ve already graduated three companies out into the GTA and there are 17 more in the pipeline, creating jobs right now. By bringing young people together to create products, industry solutions, new companies, jobs and opportunities, the DMZ is helping to build Toronto’s future as a global hub of innovation and economic development.”

“It’s a blending of skill sets – that’s what we are trying to do here,” said John Helliker, Director of the Screen Industries Research and Training Centre (SIRT) at Sheridan College, “Our focus with industry partners is innovation. We don’t want button pushers. Our students can combine the technical and the artistic with a sound business sense. The key is college-university-industry partnerships.” SIRT reflects Sheridan’s conscious decision to build a presence in Toronto’s film and television studio district.

The partnership programs from Sheridan, Seneca and Ryerson have created skills and products that include a Mobile Transit Companion app for sight and hearing impaired transit users of the Paris Metro, an interactive fashion runway for L’Oreal, group-buying technology for eBay’s Kijiji, interactive graphical programming software “processing.js,” 3D stereoscopic animation prototype testing, and animation for the upcoming feature film “Gnomeo and Juliet,” the largest animated feature film ever produced in Canada that will be released on February 11th, 2011.

Today’s GTMA International Digital Media Forum was beamed live to Cisco TelePresence™ locations in Europe using technology developed by the event’s sponsor, Cisco. Cisco TelePresence is a ground-breaking category of products that combine advanced audio, true high-definition video and interactive elements to create unique, “in-person” experiences between people, places and events. The event was simultaneously broadcast to London, Paris, Rome and Hallbergmoos (Munich).

There were presentations by five colleges (Sheridan, Seneca, George Brown, Humber, Centennial) and five universities (Ryerson, York, Toronto, OCAD U, UOIT) from the Greater Toronto Area. Ontario government representatives and industry representatives also made presentations.  Dean Morrison (PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada) will presented on Greater Toronto’s internationally competitive digital media-focused tax incentives and Stephen Green (Green and Spiegel LLP) spoke about immigration policies.

The CATAAlliance initiative i-CANADA and IBM Canada have announced that IBM is becoming a Diamond Sponsor of the i-CANADA program, designed to spur the development of Intelligent Communities across the country. i-CANADA’s goal is to use advanced communications and collaborative applications to generate economic growth, build skills, support new social initiatives and improve the delivery of government and business services.

“The need to create Intelligent Communities is more urgent than ever”, said Pat Horgan, IBM Manufacturing, Development and Operations Vice President. “To compete in the 21st century economic environment, cities will need to better apply advanced information technology, analytics and system thinking to develop more entrepreneurial citizen-centric approaches to their development. By doing so, they can better attract, create, enable and retain their citizen’s skills, knowledge and creativity. Forward looking civic leaders will alter their investment strategies to optimize city services around highly skilled, innovative citizens and communities, as well as knowledge-intensive businesses. IBM supports fully the i-CANADA program of catalyzing the country as an Innovation Nation through the development of intelligent communities of world top class.”

“We are pleased to see the power and momentum of IBM enrolled in our program dedicated to the creation of intelligent communities across the country”, noted Bill Hutchison, Chair of i-CANADA. “IBM’s Smarter Planet initiative and their advanced Smart Cities Assessment tools and associated services are helping cities all over the world to identify strategic areas of competitive improvement. The world’s leading i-Nations consistently have high rankings in innovation, productivity, job creation and social prosperity. Our goal is to bring at least 30 Canadian communities into their ranks as defined by the Intelligent Community Forum in New York.”

Mr. Hutchison added that “We see i-CANADA as the new “National Dream”, much like the original railroad across the country, but with the 21st century view where communications are the rails of light, carrying knowledge and ideas between the shining communities of a global intelligent economy. The vision for i-CANADA is a nation of provincial and local Intelligent Communities large and small, urban and remote, featuring great places to live with innovation cultures leveraging unified and intelligent communication infrastructures, supporting growth in jobs and the economy in tandem with social prosperity for all citizens.”

OpenText has been awarded a framework agreement for Digital Continuity, developed by Buying Solutions and The National Archives in the UK as part of the government’s project to improve digital information management throughout the public sector.

Digital continuity is the ability for an organization to use information in the way that is needed, for as long as it’s needed. Usable information is essential if the public sector is to operate transparently and legally while maintaining accountability.

The Digital Continuity Framework is part of a broader Digital Continuity Service offered by The National Archives and provides a shortlist of suppliers which can be accessed by anyone in the public sector to help them manage their digital continuity. OpenText has been awarded a framework agreement for two Lots: digital archiving solutions and data quality solutions.

OpenText’s Senior Account Manager for Central Government, Stephen Walsh, said: “The exponential growth in digital data volumes presents a challenge to any organization; but it places particularly huge demands on public sector organizations. Without effective data management systems in place, digital information can become incomplete, unavailable or unusable over time. If government bodies cannot guarantee access to this data, it can have a serious negative impact on service provision to the public – and also threatens their ability to operate legally.

“The UK government fully appreciates the necessity of managing digital continuity, but it’s often difficult for individual public sector organizations to know how to improve their digital information management, or how to procure technology and services that will help them do this. The Digital Continuity Framework is an extremely welcome tool that makes it easy for the public sector to procure the tools they need to manage this mountain of digital data,” continued Walsh.

The Digital Continuity Framework agreement is for two years, with the option to extend it for two additional one year periods. The criteria for the Data Quality Solutions Lot of the framework required technology that enables users to access data from a variety of structured data sources; relate data between distinct data sources; and profile the data using patterns, rules and statistical methods. It also required the ability to drill-down into the actual data from a profile produced by the technology; provide a range of reporting options; and suggest or fix identified data quality issues.

The Digital Archiving Solutions Lot specified technology that can acquire information from a live system into the archive; manage retention policies applied to the archived information; place archived items on hold to override any other retention policy; and ensure the integrity of the archived information. Furthermore, it must enable user discovery and retrieval of the archived information; report on the contents of the archive; control access to the content of the archive and record provenance data about items transferred into the archive.

“The award of the Framework agreement for Digital Continuity recognizes OpenText’s expertise in the field of digital data management; and we look forward to working with public sector bodies to help them ensure that key digital information remains accessible and usable in the long term,” said Walsh. Read the rest of this entry »