Executive Director's ReportFor the year of 2012 Hello NCF members, Thank you to members, staff and volunteers for the warm welcome and assistance provided to me when I started in October. I would especially like to thank Ross Khoui for the excellent support he gave to me to help make the transition as smooth as possible. Last year, 2012, saw some significant infrastructure changes for NCF. In the first half of the year, we changed our DSL network supplier directly to Bell's wholesale division. This change gave us more control over the quality of our services. We were able to make the transition thanks to the generous support of Cisco Systems, who donated a special router that aggregates data traffic to and from the network. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Cisco for their generous support of the National Capital FreeNet. The trend toward DSL continued in 2012, though many people in the National Capital Region are relying upon dial-up. Access to the internet to communicate and interact with others has become as essential to everyone as other utilities such as electricity, water and natural gas. NCF relies on donations to the Assistance Fund to assist others less fortunate participate online. Volunteers play an important role in the day to day operations of the NCF; in the office, on the phone, aiding registrations, writing documentation, and especially in helping other members by answering technical questions both in the office and online. 2012 saw an increase of the number of our volunteers. I would like to extend a big thank you to all the volunteers who give so generously of their time and expertise to help NCF. Our goals for 2013 include extending the range of our DSL offerings (including faster services) and improving member support. We could do more and even lower the price of services if we had better economies of scale, so one of our main goals in 2013 is to increase membership. NCF helps make the National Capital Region a better place. Thanks for your participation! Regards, Curtis Curtis Taylor |