Executive Committee Report Tuesday, 18 July 1995 1. Expiring NCF Newsgroups ----------------------- Issue: The Board newsgroups were created with a ten year expiration for all articles listed and NCF subcommittee groups were created with no expiration at all. We need to set realistic expiration dates on newsgroups lacking shorter expirations. This will benefit the functioning of the news machine. Action: It was agreed that sixty days was a good expiration date for all newsgroups. Board discussions can be expired into an archive. -Andrew will post the change to the Board discussions for comments. -Ian will have to build a tool for the archiving function. 2. Regional Information Service (RIS) Update ----------------------------------------- Issue: The Ottawa Carleton Research Institute (OCRI) has been awarded a $1.9 million Infrastructure grant in order to advance telecommunications -based applications specifically of interest to the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton. We have been meeting with the people involved to ensure that NCF members will be able to access the RIS. Action: -Lisa Donnelly and Julie Chahal will continue to meet and work with ORCI and the RMOC as needed. 3. Purchasing Equipment Upgrades ----------------------------- Issue: NCF needs to obtain a variety of hardware to upgrade the system to a better level of performance prior to any other system expansions. A list was created and we are in the process of getting price quotes. The funds will come out of our existing cash balance and the orders will be placed in August. These purchases are considered part of the budget and will not be costed towards the RMOC grants. Action: - Jeff Bossert and Lisa Donnelly are obtaining price quotes. - Gordon Pearson will pursue hardware donations. - Dave Sutherland will place the actual orders. 4. Possible Master Index of NCF Flowcharts and Documentation --------------------------------------------------------- Issue: The Treasurer is interested in seeing an increase in System documentation. Much of NCF's information can be found in various places on-line but it can be confusing to a newcomer. Action: - Jeff Bossert will be working on this over time. - Ian Allen, NCF's System Administrator, will work on applications documentation as time permits. 5. Researching Outsourcing Options for NCF --------------------------------------- Issue: At this point in time the most obvious area for outsourcing would be our pipeline. Currently we purchase our bandwidth from ONET and utilize the Carleton T1 line. Carleton University will eventually be metering usage of their T1 line and charging based on actual usage. This could greatly impact the fees NCF will be required to pay. Action: Beginning in August, NCF will pay a flat fee to Carleton for our pipeline. This agreement will be in effect until 1 May 1996. - Dave Sutherland will make the necessary arrangements with ONET and Carleton. * * * * * * * * Lisa K. Donnelly, Executive Director, National Capital FreeNet