The new Ottawa Convention Centre (OCC) will have the most sophisticated information communication technology programme of any centre in Canada.

When the OCC opens next April, it will be run from a data box the size of a bookshelf. Thanks to the internet, the entire OCC facility will be operated by an invisible network that eliminates the need for rooms full of power-hungry equipment and miles of customised cables and wires.  Instead, one data centre will service all media types (voice, audio/visual, data and other multi-media services) and integrate controls for lighting, heating, cooling - and security. These services will respond electronically to interactive ‘touch pad’ monitors in each of the meeting rooms.

“The new OCC will have unprecedented capability in terms of staging, multi-media production, and seamlessly integrated information communication technology,” said Pat Kelly, president of the OCC.

With high technology expertise from Mitel Networks and Combat Networks, the result is a data centre capable of running all the technology. Clients of  OCC will have immediate access to audiovisual equipment and expertise at any time. The network backbone of the centre is specifically designed to support ‘next generation’ technologies - from built-in widescreen projection to the most advanced wired and wireless network in Canada.