I for one, am extremely excited about this news.  It has been too long that Canada has been held hostage by the current providers and their restrictions on rates and data plans.  Especially when it comes to expanding businesses and innovation, we need to have access to the affordable technology options that our international competitors have, in order to maintain our presence as a globally competitive nation.

http://newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2009/29/c9483.html

TORONTO and PARIS, July 29, /CNW/ -- Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and
NYSE: ALU) has been awarded a multi-million dollar, three-year contract to
help build Globalive Wireless' new nationwide 3G mobile network in Canada.

Globalive is focused on launching a new national wireless operation,
serving consumers across Canada.  In 2009 Globalive was awarded spectrum
licenses by Industry Canada after successfully bidding more than CDN $442
million in the government's Advanced Wireless Services auction.

"Our commitment is to provide Canadian consumers with unmatched value.
For that we need future-ready technology that enables the delivery of
high-capacity, cost-effective IP-based services," said Ken Campbell, Chief
Executive Officer of Globalive Wireless. 

Read the full article here: http://newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2009/29/c9483.html

and see Globalive's website for more announcements AND your opportunity to send them your requests: http://www.wirelesssoapbox.com

Happy Tracking!

Kathryn

This past week I was honored to be in attendance at the 3rd Annual Society for Prehospital Educators in Canada's (SPEC) AGM and Conference in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Great Big Solutions continues to be a proud supporter of this Society and the annual event, in its continuing efforts to promote national collaboration amongst Prehospital educators.

I was privileged to meet many new faces, even those of which we have been working with over the years and hadn't had the opportunity to meet in person until now.

One of the most prevalent topics of the conference was Simulation training.  So many of the educators around the country are expanding their use of Simulation in their programs to enhance the skills of their students.  This topic at the event spanned everything from the use of Stress Innoculation and Cortisol testing, to Clinical Simulation Centers in hospitals, to the evaluation of student judgement in the Clinical Setting using high-fidelity simulation.

Simulation and its use in Prehospital programs has been debated recently, especially in discussions relating to the national competency profile for Paramedics in Canada.  There seems to be a push towards more Simulation experience as a tool for students to capture experience in high-risk, low-frequency skills.  With all of the evidence for simulation being proven as an environment that can enhance a learner's skill set in this area, it becomes (to me) a question of WHY it hasn't been as widely accepted as a proven tool in the field of Paramedicine training; when it comes to program budgets and investing in the technology, simulation time (%) allotted to Paramedic programs as compared to other Health Science fields, frequent high-fidelity experience to be recognized equally as less frequent experience on patients in the field.

We are interested in opening up this conversation to the Educators of all Health Science programs across the country, as in the end it affects all of us.  The more information and opinions we can share, the more changes we can make in the end.

Please comment if you have something to share about simulation training.  Are there research projects that you think would be advantageous to perform in order to address some of the concerns from the other side?

My thanks again to the members and executive of SPEC for including Great Big Solutions in their recent event.

Thanks, and happy tracking!

Kathryn

The Canadian Pharmacy Technician Educators Association (CPTEA) invited Great Big Solutions to speak about CompTracker at their recent conference at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, on June 20, 2009.

Rod Wolchyn from Great Big Solutions was on hand to present the concept of electronic student tracking, and answer any questions that might arise from the Educators in attendance.

Educators representing about 30 Canadian colleges and universities were present, from every region of the country.  The instructors from our existing CompTracker Community (currently using CompTracker) commented on how their colleagues' programs have benefited since using our software. 

We will be arranging demos of the latest version, CompTracker 5.0, as soon as its available late this summer, so if you'd like to have a sneak peek just give us a call!

If you think your industry might benefit from using CompTracker and would like us to speak at your school or Conference, please feel free to get in touch and arrange a presentation!

Happy Tracking!