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Weekly Situation Report – March 20, 2020

March 20, 2020

TECHNATION is now fully remote – and firing on all cylinders! More than ever, the role we can play to unify technology, government and community is becoming increasingly clear.  Our goal through this Weekly Situation Report is to:

  • Keep you up to date on the actions we are taking on your behalf to emphasize industry concerns and recommended actions to government.
  • Inform you of opportunities we represent as a conduit back into government to highlight industry challenges – or technology advantage – along with our recommendations.
  • Highlight upcoming relevant programs and events.
  • Feature members many offers to support Canadian business and citizens during this crisis.

Our goal remains to fully support you, our members, as well as the tech industry as whole – despite these challenging times; and we have refocused some of our efforts to do so.  Please don’t hesitate to reach out to let us know how we can be of help.

We need your input!  If you missed yesterday’s message from our President and CEO, Angela Mondou, click here or visit our website (www.technationcanada.ca).

  • The Government of Canada has introduced tens of billions of dollars to support businesses and workers. Read announcement.

TECHNATION is taking active steps to keep an open and ongoing dialogue with government leaders. Here are a few of the activities we have been/will be focused on:

  • This morning, TECHNATION sent a letter to federal, provincial and municipal leaders, regarding emergency or shelter-in-place measures, to ensure they include IT, IT infrastructure, and delivery and transportation services as essential business exemptions.
  • Earlier this week, TECHNATION sent letters to federal, provincial, and territorial governments expressing our members’ concerns regarding end-of-year deadlines.
  • Both the Federal and ON PSBC’s work continues; virtual meetings will be held going forward. Details including registration are provided in Programs & Events section below.
  • The Federal PSBC will host a consultation on profit guidance and procurement pricing online on March 26, 2020 from 10:30 – 11:30 a.m. Members are welcome to register here.
  • Digital Health Canada and TECHNATION’s Health division will be reaching out to provincial ministers early next week, urging leaders to maintain focus on the twin goals of alleviating strain on the Canadian health system and mitigating potential economic downturn. The letter will be shared next week.
  • In collaboration with members of the Industry Cybersecurity Best Practices Advisory Group, we’re finalizing a notice to municipalities and SMEs titled COVID 19 & Cybersecurity Vigilance which provides basic, practical cybersecurity advice to counter the increased threat from opportunistic cyber attacks.
  • Our Career Ready Program is still accepting applications. Students can still work and be supervised remotely. Contact careerready@techncationcanada.ca for more information.

Please be reassured we will be back offering virtual events, webinars and being available for personal one-on-one discussions shortly. Here’s what is still happening:

Federal Public Sector Business Committee: March 26, 2020.  Joelle Paquette and Sebastien Aubertin-Giguere from PSPC to present on the Electronic Procurement System and the Contract Simplification Initiative. All Register – All members welcome

Health Advocacy Committee: April 22, 2020. Go-to-Meeting

 April 17, 2020. How can we shape the Future of Work? Virtual ‘Student Work Challenge’ Workshop. Prepr Foundation.  Register – 50% Discount Code MAGNET50

If you have an event that you feel would benefit the technology sector or a presentation that offers a learning vs a product/service pitch, please let us know and we would be happy to consider for a forum discussion online.  Contact Christine Leonard, cleonard@technationcanada.ca

#TechComesTogether

Each week we will highlight the offers, opportunities and services available through our members to the communities at large.  Thank you all – to everything you are doing!

  • Amazon Web Services (AWS): Launched the AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative, committing an initial investment of $20 million to accelerate diagnostic research, innovation, and development to re: COVID-19 and other innovate diagnostic solutions. Learn more
  • Bell Canada: Waiving extra usage fees for all residential Internet customers; and providing consumer and small business customers with Turbo Hubs, Turbo Sticks and MiFi devices an extra 10GB of domestic usage and a $10 credit on their existing plan for each of their current and next billing cycles. Data charges incurred before March 19th will still apply. Learn more
  • Cisco: Until July 1, 2020, existing customers can exceed their user limits on Cisco products, including WebEx, Duo Security,  Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client. New customers can access a free license. To have the initial 14-day period extended to 90 days, contact the Cisco sales team. Learn more
  • Facebook Canada: Joined with the National Arts Centre to provide $100,000 in artists fees to support online performances between now and March 31, 2020 . Learn more
  • Microsoft Canada: Offering a free tier, which supports up to 300 users, unlimited chat and search, 10 GB of file sharing, collaboration on Office documents, and over 250 integrated apps and services including web versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Learn more here. Also, is providing resources to help Canadian organizations transition smoothly and cohesively into a remote working environment. Take a look at their top tips here.   Click here to learn more about what else Microsoft is doing.
  • Pluralsight: Made available two of their remote work courses free for a limited time. One course topic is how to become an effective manager of remote teams; the second course you’ll learn how to integrate remote workers into your team environment. Pluralsight is also fielding numerous requests to add licenses to their online tech skills learning platform to existing plans and urgent requests to set up new users to its platform. Contact Larry Paquette, Account Executive, Canadian Federal Government, Pluralsight at 613-314-4062 or larry-paquette@pluralsight.com Learn more about what Pluralsight is doing by clicking here.
  • Rogers Communications: Is waiving long distance charges & providing more flexible payment options to customers during this time in need. Learn more about what Rogers is doing for both home and business customers.
  • TELUS: Has committed $10 million for COVID-19 response help to support and enhance public healthcare capacity and community response across Canada; and is waiving all Easy Roam®, travel passes and pay-per-use roaming charges for postpaid customers in all countries. Also offering flexible payment options. Learn more. Through their National Cyber Security practice, is working with a number of clients to secure the dramatic, and immediate shift to remote work styles. Contact Warren Harvey, Director – TELUS Cyber Security Practice (harvey@telus.com) if you would like additional information around the services you should be thinking about and any related ‘packages or offers’.

If you have any information you would like shared through this Report, contact Janet Gibson Eichner, at jgibson_eichner@technationcanada.ca.  To share information through our social channels, reach out to Katerina Kramble, at kkramble@technationcanada.ca.

The post Weekly Situation Report – March 20, 2020 appeared first on Information Technology Association of Canada.



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