What's Happening in Calgary, AB…

The Canadian government has launched a short-term pilot project to save paper and slash printing costs by replacing bureaucratic briefs with iPads. The project, using the tablet computer manufactured by Apple, is being watched with interest by Print companies in Calgary, a city with one of the highest populations of wireless users in the country.

Twenty officials in the federal treasury and several senior deputy cabinet ministers have already been assigned iPads in the $23,500 pilot project. Senior officials are reported to receive 30 pages of reports and notes daily, which would be accessible by the light-weight, portable Apple iPad. The iPad was chosen over the conventional laptop because the batteries last longer and its tablet-style design allows for easy note-taking.

Pierre-Alain Bujold, spokesman for the federal treasury board, says the aim of the pilot project is to see whether the digital device could improve efficiency in the federal workplace. Bujold adds that if the project produces results, it will be rolled out to officials in other federal departments.

To outfit all high ranking bureaucrats in the nation’s capital, the federal government would have to pay about $7 million, and at a saving of $700 per person a year, it would take just under two years to see a cost saving. But, ask anyone in Calgary about new technology turn-over, and they will tell you that as soon as iPads pay for themselves in paper savings, the technology will be out dated. Government officials may wish to follow the example of many local businesses in reducing printing costs and paper usage by sourcing work to reputable Stationery printers operating in Calgary.

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