Your Canadian Geospatial Briefing for September 30th: Trans-Canada Hwy built over sinkhole; AT&T expands IoT; New 5G plan if Canada band Huawei; Contemplating the future of higher education
Trans-Canada Hwy built over sinkhole
CBC news has collected images from the National Air Photo Library dating as far back as 1930. These images show that over the last eighty years, the Trans-Canada highway in Oxford, NS was built over a sinkhole.
This area is home to a reoccurring potholes and a network of sinkholes from Oxford to Springhill. Instead of building a type of bridge to go over the hole shifting the weight of the highway away from the issue, builders are instead simply filling the hole with rocks.
The province of Nova Scotia will be conducting a study in the next few weeks. “Safety of our roads and infrastructure is the highest priority of the department. In the interest of caution, we are doing a more in-depth geotechnical investigation at this location over the next few weeks to determine if there are any changes in the subsurface geology near the interchange. This will help identify any current or future impact to our highway infrastructure.”
Trans-Canada Highway near Oxford, N.S., built over sinkhole, archival images confirm
AT&T expands IoT
AT&T, a US operator, has recently finalized a roaming deal with Bell Canada, Rogers Communications and Telus. Chris Penrose, the president of AT&T stated; “More and more of our enterprise customers are launching IoT applications across international boundaries…Having access to the first North American footprint for LTE-M through these roaming agreements will help them simplify deployments, scale their IoT plans and put them on the path to 5G.”
AT&T expands IoT reach with Canada deal
New 5G plan if Canada band Huawei
If a conservative were to be elected in Canada, Andrew Scheer announced that they would ban Huawei from constructing a 5G network due to national-security concerns. The current government has decided to postpone any decision until after the upcoming federal election.
Canada may have a lot to gain from the presence of 5G, such as better download speeds and wireless transmission, technological breakthroughs. “According to the professional-services company Accenture, the 5G revolution could add as much as $40 billion annually to the Canadian economy by 2026”.
Huawei is deeply rooted in our Canadian networks, yet a post-ban policy and its effect on our Canadian technological market has not been articulated.
If Canada bans Huawei, leaders better have a new plan for 5G
Contemplating the future of higher education
University Affairs spoke to 7 individuals in a variety of regions and components of the Canadian university enterprise to better understand the direction higher education is taking. These individuals spoke on concerns regarding financial obligations, the pros and cons of our rapid technological change, and the “vital role to play in helping society navigate through the deepest challenges of our time, from climate change to the dangers of misinformation and rising intolerance”.
Below are a few highlights from individuals interviewed by University Affairs.
“I’m inspired by the increasing global dimension of education.” – Glen Jones
“I’m intrigued by the potential for self-paced, gamified and competency-based educational approaches to shift student motivations from grade and credits to actual learning again.” – Ken Steele
“We have a particular responsibility towards science in the French-speaking world.” – Lyne Sauvageau
“When we have a more inclusive group, we end up with more comprehensive questions and experimental designs.” – Graham Gagnon
“Universities should not reflect the world we live in but reflect the world we want to live in.” – Vianne Timmons
7 university leaders contemplate the future of higher education in Canada
