Case Study: RISE and Allstream bring new services to rural communities through videoconferencing

"Extended range of services while reducing annual travel and carbon footprint by 24,950 km and 1.4 million kg."

Alberta’s local libraries have long been dedicated to finding innovative ways to deliver information and services to people living and working in small communities. Several years ago, three regional library systems planned to use videoconferencing to connect with each other and two larger public libraries to facilitate meetings and collaboration. The Rural Information Services InitiativE (RISE) was the name given to this partnership. To date RISE has deployed 81 videoconferencing units across the Chinook Arch, Shortgrass and Marigold regional library systems.

Industry
Municipal services.

Challenge
RISE was formed to deliver informa­tion to people in Alberta’s rural and remote communities. The initiative has introduced videoconferencing services in local libraries with the goal of improving health delivery, increasing skills development and fostering economic growth within rural communities.

Outcomes

• Extended a range of services – such as distance education, health programs and author readings – to rural communities across southern Alberta
• Increased productivity and saved library staff 293 work hours
• Reduced regional travel by 24,950 km and carbon footprint by 1.4 million kg (3,093,800 pounds) per year
• Enabled convenient distance education and training for both library staff and the public by making recorded training sessions available online

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