Non-profit groups to profit from E-Connections Project By Bruce MacDonald Realtime Online OTTAWA (1250 hr., Aug. 15/94) - A massive plan to design and develop the means to bring interoperable e-mail service to Ontario's non-profit and labour groups was announced at the Canadian Community Networks Conference. Sponsored by the Ontario Network Infrastructure Program (ONIP), the E-Connections Project has set a goal of being self-sufficient within three years and expects to train thousands of people in computer networking technology. Headed by McGill University scientists Leslie Regan Shade and Ian Duncan, the project will examine all areas of computer networking ranging from the basics of Internet use to the sophisticated visions of Stentor, CANARIE and even the soon-to-be-established Telecommunities Canada. The project's most immediate goals are: --a report on e-mail use and information automation; --a technical proposal and business plan for implementation; --the production of training and promotional materials in support of the long term project goals. Among the groups which will benefit from the project are 4,000 community-based non-profit groups, 2,000 provincial labour organizations, 650 co-ops and non-profit housing groups, 3,000 non-profit child care centres and some 600 women's organizations across Canada. As Leslie Regan Shade said at the opening of her address to the gathering: "I'm trolling for access to the information highway." -30-