IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

In a recent study done by Juniper Research ranking the top five smart cities in the world, Toronto, Ont. received the bronze medal.

The market research and analysis company ranked 50 world cities based on an evaluation of many different smart city aspects, including transportation and infrastructure, energy and lighting, city management and technology, and urban connectivity.

This prompts an interesting question and opportunity – What is meant by a single network? Is it a single supplier, or a single logical environment?

A new study released this week shows that telehealth in Canada has grown by more than 35 per cent annually over the past five years. According to Canada Health Infoway -- the government-funded organization that invests with provinces in telehealth initiatives -- the country now has more than 5,700 telehealth systems in at least 1,175 communities across the country.

While many people think of dial-a-nurse systems when they think of telehealth, the term actually refers to a whole spectrum of services and includes all kinds of telephone and Web-based technologies for delivering health services.

Ladysmith's Susan McAdam saw the toll travel took on her ill 85-year-old mother as they drove to a respiratory specialist in Victoria.

She was stressed and in pain, with her condition only worsening during the hour-long ride.

"It was really hard on her," McAdam said. "We'd have to travel down to Victoria only to have a 10 minute appointment and turn around."

Global initiatives deploy technology to improve quality of life in urban centres

When nudged about the possibility of Sidewalk Labs striking up an initiative in Vancouver, the response from one representative of the Google sister company was rather coy.

Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet Inc. (Nasdaq:GOOGL) subsidiary specializing in using innovation to address urban issues ranging from transportation to energy consumption, is best known for its smart-city ambitions along Toronto’s waterfront.

Next month, the Ontario Telemedicine Network, which links roughly 3,000 healthcare professionals at 1,200 hospitals and medical clinics throughout the Canadian province with 2,200 videoconferencing stations, will make it possible for physicians and other caregivers to participate from their PCs. The go-live, involving 50 health professionals, will use software provided by Vidyo, based in Hackensack, N.J.

The goal, officials say, is to link healthcare providers and remote patients through their own computers.

RelayHealth has been in use in the United States for more than a decade where 17 million patients and 32,000 doctors use the web-based service.

Since it was launched in the late fall by McKesson Canada, RelayHealth is in the process of working with two pilot sites to implement its service, which is aimed at allowing patients and health-care providers to exchange information. The ability to share test results, book appointments, make electronic referrals along with prescription renewal and refill requests are among its touted features.

eHealth Saskatchewan CEO Susan Antosh said, “We are emerging into a world of huge possibilities in technology allowing people access and information to empower them to be an active partner and decision maker in care options”.

In a new study published in Health Affairs a group of American researchers looked at the records of patient visits to a sample of office-based physicians to find out whether doctors with electronic access to imaging results ordered more tests than doctors without them. Surprise, surprise: the researchers found that the digital doctors were 40 to 70 per cent more likely to order imaging, and even blood tests, than doctors without access.

Barcelona’s chief technology and digital innovation officer believes the protection of personal data is a “fundamental right” for citizens.

Francesca Bria, who is the city’s top expert and adviser on policies related to technology, information and digital strategies, is a leading proponent in Europe of “data sovereignty” — ensuring that citizens, rather than big tech, get to control the way their data and the data collected in public spaces is used.

Longtime health care IT executive Sarah Kramer, no stranger to large and complex challenges, now faces the biggest challenge of her career as she assumes the post of president and CEO of eHealth Ontario, an agency created recently to harness information and technology to improve patient care in Ontario.

The survey, called Leadership in Customer Service: New Expectations, New Experiences, lists e-government service delivery in 22 countries. This year, Canada is followed by the United States, Denmark, Singapore and Australia.

The government plans to consolidate 100 different email systems into one government-wide email system, reduce the number of data centers from 300 to 20, and streamline over 3,000 networks within and between government departments.

Canada is setting up a new entity called Shared Services Canada to oversee the consolidation and to provide IT services and security going forward. The new entity will be part of the Ministry of Public Works and Government Services. Shared Services Canada will consolidate the existing IT resources and personnel from 44 separate departments and agencies.

Ten years ago, Canada held the distinction of being the top ranked country in the world for the breadth and sophistication of its electronic government services. Citing the Canadian government's integrated, strategic approach, annual assessments by Accenture found that more important services were offered online in Canada than anywhere else.

All regions of the country will face systemic skills shortages, according to a report by Ottawa-based Information and Communications Technology Association (ICTC).

ICTC believes the job market is undergoing “a radical change in skill sets”.

The research firm says recent graduates of co-op programmes will generally find work. However, graduates of traditional ICT programmes and foreign-trained workers will have a much harder time finding work.

While the Ontario government is dealing with the political fallout of the eHealth Ontario scandal and Ottawa reviews its funding commitments to Canada Health Infoway, a new research report suggests Canada may need to fill approximately 12,000 IT-related health-care jobs within the next five years.

The Canadian government offers cloud-based services through a ‘Community Cloud’ to its 325,000 Federal employees and 140 departments, including a pension and payroll enterprise app and Web 2.0 collaboration tools.

Canada Health Infoway was born in 2001 out of an idea that has deep intuitive appeal: Wouldn’t it be nice if the health records of all of us, every Canadian, could be stored electronically in one place? Imagine the possibilities: A prescription flows electronically to a pharmacist, the information assembled with other health data — lab work, previous health problems, surgical procedures — making it possible for the patient — and health professionals — to have a full and complete record of his or her medical history.

Infoway was the vehicle created by Ottawa and the provinces to spearhead the creation of such a national electronic health system. In the dreams of bureaucrats and politicians, the objective was to electronically hook something like 400,000 health care professionals, pharmacists and doctors, more than 700 hospitals, thousands of private clinics, and 33 million Canadians into one big national interoperable system.

Canada Health Infoway (CHI) is investing billions in the architecture for a national electronic health record (EHR) system, which will likely be in place in most provinces by 2015, says Wayne Gudbranson, CEO of The Branham Group, an Ottawa-based technology research firm.

Of the total amount allocated to Infoway, $380 million of the new money will be directed to speed up the implementation of electronic medical record systems.

EMR systems are the gateway that will enable physicians and nurse practitioners to securely access vital patient information including diagnostic images, blood test results, drug histories and clinical reports.