ONTARIO NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM (ONIP) A JOBSONTARIO PROGRAM What is ONIP? The Ontario Network Infrastructure Program (ONIP) is one major component of a comprehensive, long-term telecommunications strategy for the province of Ontario. What is the purpose of ONIP? ONIP will support innovative user-based telecommunications network projects. The goal is to accelerate the long-term development and use of high- capacity, interconnected, multimedia networks to homes, offices, schools, factories and laboratories throughout the province. As a jobsOntario program, ONIP will focus on long-term investment in Ontario infrastructure to promote the restructuring of the provincial economy. A key objective is to help Ontarians learn how to obtain and utilize information to meet their needs and create future opportunities for employment. What will be funded under ONIP? ONIP is a $100 million, four year program, beginning in 1993. It will share the costs of user-based telecommunications network projects. It includes the following mechanisms to assist broadly based partners: 1) Studies and plans - To share the costs (up to 75 per cent) of undertaking feasibility studies and business plan development 2) Network implementation - To share the costs (up to 50 per cent) of undertaking initial support for user-based telecommunications networks and making these networks operational. What are the criteria for assistance under ONIP? All ONIP proposals will be assessed on the extent to which the proposal, as described in a business plan, meets the province's economic renewal priorities outlined in the Ontario Budget and the Industrial Policy Framework. The criteria include the following: - supporting economic restructuring (through investments that help the economy adapt to structural change) by strengthening the competitive fundamentals underlined in the Industrial Policy Framework: - continuous innovation (e.g., improving products and processes) - increasing technological capability (e.g., creating and diffusing technology) - raising skill levels (e.g., developing specialized skills) - establishing companies' home-based activities in Ontario (e.g., increasing local value-added) - developing linkages and networks (e.g., stimulating partnerships) - building international capabilities (e.g., expanding international trade). - supporting community economic and organizational development (including community infrastructure development and access to specialized training) - supporting maintenance of and improved efficiency in the existing infrastructure base through optimizing the use of infrastructure (e.g., investing in new technology which reduces the demand on, or increases efficiency of, present infrastructure). What is the process for approving proposals for funding? The Council for an Ontario Information Infrastructure, a non-governmental body, will review all proposals and make recommendations to the Minister of Economic Development and Trade. All potential partners are encouraged to work with staff of the Communications Division of the ministry to ensure their business plans are complete and to expedite the progress of their proposal through the approval process. Have any projects been approved? Three projects recommended by the Advisory Committee on a Telecommunications Strategy for the Province of Ontario have already been approved in principle: 1. A telecommunications-based municipal economic development strategy in northwestern Ontario The provincial government will share with the local communities the costs of a feasibility study for a telecommunications-enabled community economic development strategy in northwestern Ontario. Atikokan, Sioux Lookout and a First Nations community will participate. A broadly based local group - representing municipal governments, band councils and the commercial, industrial, telecommunications, education, social service, labour and health sectors - will pull together the components of what such a community economic development strategy may contain. Assistance is being provided to help implement the process, to prepare a report on the feasibility of the idea and to build an appropriate implementation plan. 2. A community-based network in the Ottawa-Carleton area Through ONIP, Ontario will share with local organizations the costs of establishing and operating a community network in the Ottawa-Carleton area over three years. A group of volunteers is starting up a computer-based community network service called the National Capital FreeNet (NCF). Over 500 social service agencies and other community-based organizations have expressed an interest in making their information available to the public on this free network. Financial assistance will help to expand the technological, managerial and training capacity of the network to cope with the expected increase in traffic. The National Capital FreeNet, operational in 1993, will provide information from 500 organizations to 50,000 individual and organizational members by 1995. 3. Investment in Ontario's research and education network The provincial government will make a major investment in Ontario's existing research and education network, ONet, over the next three years. ONIP will share the costs of upgrading and enhancing the network and expanding its services and membership. Ultimately, ONet will be an important component of a broader provincial research and education network. ONet was established in 1988 and currently has 78 members. The network links researchers in Ontario universities, colleges, centres of excellence, provincial and federal government facilities and industrial research centres (such as Alcan, IBM, Bell Northern Research, Gandalf and Newbridge). In addition, it enables Ontario researchers to connect with colleagues elsewhere in Canada and around the world. In spring 1990, ONet joined with nine other regional networks to form a national backbone network, CA*net. When further developed and upgraded, ONet can be a strategic part of the proposed CAnadian Network for the Advancement of Research, Industry, and Education or CANARIE. With ONIP support, ONet will increase its present capacity so member institutions and researchers can exchange greater quantities of information and new members can join. This upgrading will add new services and facilitate more sophisticated collaborative research and educational activities. Financial assistance will also help develop a new "dial up" service, which will provide low cost access, particularly for new private sector members. ONet will move from primarily a volunteer-based organization to permanent full-time personnel to meet the growing demand for ongoing maintenance and user support. ONet is committed to the goal of improving Ontario's industrial competitiveness and social services under the Telecommunications Strategy. The development of ONet's high-speed network infrastructure for research, education and technology transfer will further this goal. Together, these ONIP projects demonstrate the value of information infrastructure initiatives. They show how stronger networks can help communities and organizations develop the skills and tools to meet the challenge of economic restructuring and renewal.