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BCNETwork News
December 2005
BCNET READIES KELOWNA FOR ROLE AS BURGEONING RESEARCH, EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER
This week, BCNET will light-up the Optical Regional Advanced Network for Kelowna’s research and higher education community as well as open opportunities for business development in the community. Using high-speed dedicated wavelengths called lightpaths, BCNET has interconnected University of British Columbia Okanagan, Okanagan College, Kelowna General Hospital, Interior Health Authority and the BCIT Aerospace facility at the Kelowna International Airport to the world-wide research and education network. This high-bandwidth link will employ a connection that is ten thousand times faster than the commercial Internet.
CANARIE is provisioning the intercity lighpath connections that will interconnect Kelowna to Vancouver, Victoria, Prince George, Surrey and Kamloops.
The result is improved productivity and new possibilities--research and business can now happen in Kelowna that could never have occurred previously.
Part of the need for BCNET’s expansion into Kelowna was prompted when UBC Okanagan opened its doors this fall on what was previously the Okanagan University College campus.
Barry McBride, Deputy Vice Chancellor, UBC Okanagan, echoes Zilm’s sentiments. “Interconnecting UBC Okanagan to the ORAN (Optical Regional Advanced Network) will bring greater productivity, collaboration and innovation to this community,” he said. “With a focus on research, the UBC Okanagan campus will be able to connect with researchers across the province and around the world and be part of a world-class research network.”
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“With over two hundred faculty at our Kelowna campus, there are many researchers who are pursuing projects whose potential need for high-volume data transfer as well as the ability to collaborate with other institutions through videoconferencing or data modeling will be met by this advanced network solution. Fundamentally, this high-bandwidth link is a vital piece of building a world-class research facility,” said Gwen Zilm, Associate Vice President, Information Services, UBC Okanagan.
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IMPROVED PRODUCTIVITY, NEW POSSIBILITIES
Bringing the high-speed dedicated ORAN to town through the Kelowna Transit Exchange will not only benefit the higher education community. In future, businesses will also be able to access select services at the KELTX for a minimal charge. These services will include connecting to the community via free peering at the exchange; data sharing with other businesses or research and education affiliates; multi-homing through multiple Internet Service providers to provide redundancy and ongoing reliability; and higher-bandwidth connections.
“There is no doubt Kelowna is excited about the opportunities this provides for High Tech research and development in our city,” said Ron Born, City Manager, Kelowna. “We believe we have a great future as a major player in the new ‘connected’ world and we feel very fortunate to benefit from the great partnering that has occurred between UBC Okanagan and BCNET. We look forward to many more opportunities and jobs for our citizens as these partnerships mature – building on the wonderful entrepreneurial spirit that exists within our community.”
Robert Fine, Executive Director for the Economic Development Commission, Regional District of Central Okanagan, explains, “The Economic Development Commission has been a big supporter of BCNET and the KELTX, not for what it brings to the Region in the short term but rather the long term. Providing bandwidth for researchers to allow UBC Okanagan and its partners to meet their full potential is the obvious short-term benefit, but the creation of the exchange in Kelowna is another key step in building up access to and availability of technology infrastructure in the community.”
EVIDENCE OF A BURGEONING TECHNOLOGY CENTER
It is this access to technological infrastructure that will enhance the credibility of the area as a burgeoning centre of high-tech industry. “I think the key benefit to the technology and business community will be in the credibility that the advanced network capability confers on Kelowna as an emerging high-tech center,” said Hans DeBruyn, Board Director, Okanagan Science and Technology Council and Principal, Okanagan Technology Consulting Inc. “Although Kelowna has historically been well connected, the addition of the state-of-the-art ultra-high-bandwidth facilities for research and education confirm that the city, the Landmark Technology Center, and RackForce Hosting are leading-edge facilities. A high-tech business looking to locate here would perceive this as evidence that the area can supply the needed infrastructure.”
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