May 13, 1996
(Executive Council)

The following is being distributed at the request of the Conference of Atlantic Premiers:

Premiers sign agreement to implement Atlantic Canada On-Line

The latest public-private partnership was struck May 10 in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, as the four Atlantic Premiers signed an agreement with a consortium led by Unisys Canada Inc. to set up and run Atlantic Canada On-Line.

Atlantic Canada On-Line (ACOL) will be an innovative commercial information service, designed to make government information more easily accessible to the business and consumer audiences who use it on a regular basis. For example, information held by deeds and registries could be made available by the ACOL service and marketed to law firms, who could easily access the information from their office computer terminal.

"Unisys is proud to be a member of this public-private partnership. It speaks highly for what can be accomplished with cooperation between the public and private sector and with the cooperation of all of the Atlantic provinces," said Unisys Canada President and Chief Executive Officer, David Wagner. "We are committed to this project and will be investing over $10 million over the next five years to turn the government information and data into a commercially marketable service."

According to Nova Scotia Premier John Savage: "This project is proof of what can be accomplished through regional cooperation. The economic implications, in terms of revenue generation, are tremendous. Existing data will be made more accessible and will be re-packaged such that it is more commercially desirable. In essence, we will be enhancing the public's ability to do business with government."

"As for taxpayers, they will get an indirect return on the data they pay us to collect, without any financial investment in the project. The provinces will see increased revenues as a result of new and increased use of the information currently available," added Savage.

Revenue will be generated by fees paid for access to the databases. A percentage of fees, dependent on contracts agreed upon by each participating government department, will be shared by the government and Unisys.

The Atlantic provincial governments will retain controlling ownership of the data, and the right to exercise veto power over its use and marketing. All statutes and regulations of the four governments concerning privacy and confidentiality of information will apply. In addition, government investment will be limited to supplying its publicly available information to Unisys and its partners.

Unisys' major partners in this venture are Ameritech, recognized specialists in electronic access to government records, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois; The CCL Group of companies, including CorporaTel, Corporate Communications Limited and Corporate Research Associates; and Software Kinetics, an ISO 9001 certified software engineering company.

All services to the public and government information providers will be available in both official languages in New Brunswick, with provisions for future designations of other areas to receive dual linguistic services.

Contact:

     Lisa Nelson                   Wayne Green
     Province of New Brunswick     Province of Newfoundland & Labrador
     (506) 453-7927                (709) 729-2850

     David MacNeill                Daryl Montgomery
     Province of Nova Scotia       Province of Prince Edward Island
     (902) 424-7487                (902) 368-5831

     Judy Blackwood
     Corporate Communications Limited
     (902) 493-3202

Atlantic Canada On-Line
Questions & Answers

What is Atlantic Canada On-Line?

• Atlantic Canada On-Line will be an electronic government information access service. This service will enable businesses and consumers to easily access government information such as deeds, court information and/or marriage, birth and death certificates, from a office or home computer terminal.

Who will run ACOL?

• Atlantic Canada On-Line will be managed by a private sector consortium led by Unisys Canada Inc. Other members of the consortium include Ameritech, The CCL Group and Software Kinetics. The four provincial governments will retain controlling ownership of the government data and the right to exercise veto power over its use and marketing.

How much will this initiative cost the provinces?

• There will be no financial cost to any of the provincial governments. The role of government will be to provide the information data bases. Unisys as the equity partner of the consortium, will invest $10 million over the next five years to develop, implement and manage the project.

How much will it cost to use the system?

• The fee structure for access to the service has not yet been determined but will be based on the type of information requested and the expected volume of requests for any particular type of information.

Will any government jobs be lost as a result of this initiative?

• This project is not intended as a means of downsizing government. Depending on the level of demand for the service this initiative has the potential to generate both public and private sector employment.

When will the service be available for use?

• It is anticipated that the service will be available by the end of 1996.

How will Unisys and the consortium be paid?

• A percentage of user fees for the service will be shared by the government and Unisys. Percentages will be based on individual contracts developed between the consortium and each participating government department.

Atlantic Canada On-Line
Backgrounder

• This initiative began in July of 1994 when the Conference of Atlantic Premiers commissioned a consulting study to determine the feasibility of establishing a regional information service that would provide on-line access to government databases in Atlantic Canada.
• In May of 1995, the Conference accepted the consulting report and in June released a competitive procurement for the establishment of a regional electronic access service called Atlantic Canada On-Line (ACOL).
• A consortium led by Unisys Canada Inc. was chosen as the preferred supplier to the Atlantic Provinces for the creation, implementation and management of Atlantic Canada On-Line.
• The consortium, headed by Unisys, also includes Ameritech, the CCL Group and Software Kinetics.
• Unisys will manage the project and lend its experience as information and technology providers. Unisys has over 25 years experience in Atlantic Canada in systems integration and public- private partnerships.
• Ameritech brings a specialized knowledge of electronic access to government records with its CivicLink service. Ameritech currently provides electronic access service to government information in Chicago, Illinois, Indianapolis, Indiana, Prince George's County, Maryland and Los Angeles, California.
• Ameritech's CivicLink is an information gateway service modelled after BC OnLine, which has been in service for nearly seven years.
• Software Kinetics, an ISO 9001 certified software engineering company, will provide systems integration. Through their business relationship with Software Kinetics, iStar Internet Inc., Canada's largest Internet provider, will act as access provider to the Internet.
• The member companies of the CCL Group will bring an array of communications services to the consortium. Corporate Research Associates will provide all market research, CorporaTel will act as the client service centre for ACOL and Corporate Communications Limited will provide the communications services for the consortium. The CCL Group has offices in Halifax, Saint John and Moncton.
• Atlantic Canada On-Line will provide businesses and consumers electronic access to many of the information databases currently maintained by government. Potential applications are property records (land title and assessment) court records and vital statistics (marriages, births and deaths).
• Unisys will invest $10 million over the next five years in the review of government information and in turning that information into a commercially marketable service.
• Similar systems to Atlantic Canada On-Line currently exist in British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba.
• Atlantic Canada On-Line will complement other major government projects underway to create more sophisticated information infrastructure in each of the four Atlantic Provinces. These initiatives include Nova Scotia's Wide Area Network; New Brunswick's Service New Brunswick; Newfoundland's Enterprise Network and Prince Edward Island's Province-Wide Network.
• The term of the agreement between the four Atlantic Provinces and the consortium is seven years.