Canadian government explores iPad use for high-ranking officials

Federal bureaucrats in Canada's capital city may be ditching their paper and pens and picking up iPads to conduct their official government business. A report from the Niagara Falls Review details a new initiative that could place the tablets into the hands of Ottawa's high-ranking officials.

A pilot program involving 20 treasury board workers has been in place since the fall, and early estimates suggest the iPad could save the government about CDN$700 per employee per year. Most of the savings would come from a reduction in paper and printing costs as documents (up to 30 pages of paper per day) would be disseminated digitally. Using iPads may also increase efficiency as government workers could use them for note-taking and document reading both within their office and from remote locations.

The current pilot program involves 20 employees outfitted with iPads at a cost of $23,500. Rolling out the tablet device to Ottawa's 6,743 high-level officials would cost a whopping $7 million. While the initial price tag would be high, the reduction in paper and printing costs may offset this initial investment.

Canadian officials are not alone in considering the use of the iPad. An iPad was recently spotted in the U.S. House of Representatives and the House is mulling changes that would allow regular usage of the tablet device on the House floor.

[Via MacTech]

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Source: http://niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2897516

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Federal bureaucrats in Canada's capital city may be ditching their paper and pens and picking up iPads to conduct their official...

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John C

Has anyone seen how these politicians act in parliament!? Violently waving pages around as they scorn the opposition? These poor iPads will be destroyed in record numbers.

Can we just save some more money and send them emails instead? I'm pretty sure they all have laptops.

Also, I grew up reading the Niagara Falls Review. Was even in it once or twice. So strange seeing it mentioned here.

December 22 2010 at 3:33 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

abseaz

Lol agreed with Patrick.. confusing article title
http://www.squidoo.com/iPad-Canada

December 21 2010 at 9:01 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Patrick Nielsen Hayden

Why is the word "province" in the headline, and the word "municipal" in the first sentence? This entire story is about Canada's federal government.

December 21 2010 at 4:55 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Mbleau

December 21 2010 at 3:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Andy

Interesting thought process, I wonder about the carbon footprint as well since all the paper is generated on photocopiers and printers. It's only the tip of the iceberg.

December 21 2010 at 2:26 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Bob

Merry Christmas to everyone http://bit.ly/czhoY7

December 21 2010 at 1:59 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

David

This is actually about Canadian federal bureaucrats using iPads for work. Neither provincial officials (in the headline) nor municipal ones (in the body of the post) have anything to do with it.

Also, less seriously, the story's from QMI Agency, which is a Canadian news wire. It appeared in the Niagara Falls Review, but it's not really a Niagara Falls Review story.

December 21 2010 at 1:54 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply