Background Information
Industry Canada's Information Management/Information
Technology (IM/IT) Program helped to strengthen the voluntary
sector through technology. It was part of the Government of Canada's
Voluntary Sector Initiative (VSI), a joint initiative between
the Government of Canada and Canada's voluntary sector. The VSI
works to strengthen the voluntary sector's ability to serve Canadians
while enhancing its relationship with the Government of Canada.
The Information
Management/Information Technology (IM/IT) Joint Table was
one of six VSI Joint Tables. It was created to provide recommendations
on how to improve the technological capacity of Canada's voluntary
sector. The Table released the report Strengthening
Voluntary Sector Capacity Through Technology in February 2003.
The IM/IT Joint Table made five recommendations
to improve the sector:
- Create a funding agency campaign
to encourage funding agencies to change their current policies
and procedures to permit investments in IM/IT;
- Foster access to IT planning, hardware
and software, training and technical support to help voluntary
sector organizations have ongoing access to IT planning and
expert advice, current hardware and software appropriate to
their needs, training to keep up with technology, and technical
support at the lowest possible rates;
- Build a voluntary sector portal,
a Web site containing voluntary sector-related information and
providing a meeting place for the exchange of ideas and the
sharing of best practices;
- Create a funding exchange, a
web-based interactive funding service to connect funding agencies
with organizations requiring funding. This will help decrease
the amount of resources used to provide and acquire funding;
and,
- Launch a technology awareness campaign,
to raise awareness among voluntary sector boards and managers
regarding the benefits of technology and to provide information
on how organizations can use IT effectively.
Industry Canada's Information Management/
Information Technology Secretariat was responsible for managing
the implementation of the IM/IT Joint Table report. The
IM/ IT Secretariat worked closely with an advisory
group, comprised of representatives from the voluntary sector
and the federal government, in implementing the IM/IT strategy.
Announcements, Press Releases and Fact Sheets
provide additional information on the activities undertaken by
the IM/IT secretariat.
