NB 800
Aug. 8, 2002
FREDERICTON (CNB) - The majority of the recommendations made by the Premier's Roundtable on eNB and Innovation will be implemented, Premier Bernard Lord announced today during a meeting with the members of the round table.
"I am very pleased with the recommendations made by the roundtable members and confident of the results to come," Lord said. "In fact, the government supports 36 recommendations from the interim report, and 14 of these are already being implemented."
Premier Bernard Lord receives the interim report from Al McDonald. (Large photo.)
The premier said the government response includes an action plan with objectives for the government to meet in four areas: e-government, e-learning, e-business, and e-infrastructure. "These are objectives we are already working on as government," he said. "New Brunswick is making tremendous gain in these areas."
To date, 35 government transactional services, 172 forms and hundreds of information items are available online. The New Brunswick Community College network (NBCC) has over 100 courses available to people in New Brunswick and throughout the world. There are currently 24,500 people employed in 687 companies in the knowledge industry in New Brunswick - almost the same number of workers as in the forest industry.
"The eNB strategy is designed to create opportunities for all New Brunswickers to participate and prosper in the 21st century economy and the information revolution by harnessing together the resources of the public, private, and academic sectors," Lord said.
"The strategic direction and recommendations contained in the interim report of the Premier's Roundtable on eNB and Innovation are consistent with Greater Opportunity: New Brunswick's Prosperity Plan," Lord said. "This direction and the recommendations will contribute to the development of action plans that will enable New Brunswick to become a global leader in the digital economy of the 21st century."
The eNB strategy is an important cornerstone of embracing innovation, a key building block of Greater Opportunity: New Brunswick's Prosperity Plan. The plan details specific measures for realizing the government vision, such as providing all appropriate government services online by the year 2005, facilitating e-business transactions, promoting e-learning, and upgrading all New Brunswick schools and community colleges to broadband technology by 2003.
The government response is available online at: http://www.enb.ca.
02/08/08
MEDIA CONTACTS: Amanda Harpelle or Etienne Allard, Office of the Premier, 506-453-2144.
02/08/08
