As you look around Kanata you can't help but notice the number of companies with weird names, dot-coms or ending in "-tel". That is the business side of Kanata, but what about our homes: just how wired and plugged-in are we?

So I decided to find out with my own survey. Granted this is not scientific and wouldn't pass any statistical analysis tests, but I believe the results do serve as an indicator, even if they are not statistically accurate.

Looking around for available stats to compare to, I found information dating from 1997, that about 36% of households in Canada had computers, and that was up from 31.6% the year before.  Also in this table are statistics such as: telephones 98.6%, cable 73.7%, modem 21.5%, cell phone 18.6% and Internet connection (any kind) 16%. Then from the OCRI website I found some basic stats about Ottawa. These were not dated, and stated that about 56% of houses in Ottawa have computers, and that about 41% of homes have modems in their computers, and about 36% have access to the internet. That makes Ottawa the most wired city in Canada.

Since Kanata is "the" place to be for hi-tech, I could only guess that similar numbers should be higher here, but by how much?

So I did a small survey of four Grade 9 classes at A.Y. Jackson Secondary School. This survey may not be accurate but I think the numbers speak for themselves. Out of a sample of 81 students this is what I found:

99% of students have a computer at home; 98% of students have and use internet access at home; 40% of students use dial-up (modem) access to the internet; and 57% use either DSL or cable high-speed access. In addition to these internet connectivity questions I also asked two more questions with the following results: 59% of households have more than one computer; and 25% of households have a network.

While these results are not statistically accurate I have no reason to expect substantial differences in other Kanata communities. A.Y. Jackson's coverage area includes Glen Cairn and Bridlewood, and there is no reason to expect Beaverbrook, Kanata Lakes, Morgans Grant, Stittsville, Richmond, Munster or Dunrobin to be any different.

The heart of Kanata's business is high-technology, but we also live with this technology and embrace it in our everyday life. "Keeping up with the Jones's" used to be a comparison of vehicles, but have you installed your network yet?

Paul Cripwell
President of J. P. Cripwell Associates,
- a freelance consultant in high technology applications and knowledge management.
email: paul@jpcripwell.com
J.P. Cripwell Associates