Indian and Northern Affairs Canada Uses SiteScape Forum to Facilitate Treaty Negotiation Discussions in British Columbia.

Business/Technology Editors

MAYNARD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 22, 2002

SiteScape Inc., a leading provider of Web-based collaboration software and services, today announced that Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), a Canadian government department responsible for First Nations, Inuit and Northerners, is using SiteScape Enterprise Forum(R) to facilitate on-line discussions in support of federal treaty negotiations in the province of British Columbia. INAC is also using Forum to assist senior managers in sharing ideas and exploring options in treaty negotiations.

INAC is responsible for meeting the Canadian federal government's constitutional, treaty, social, economic, political, and legal responsibilities to First Nations, Inuit and Northerners. To fulfill this mandate, INAC must work collaboratively with First Nations, Inuit and Northerners, as well as with other federal departments and agencies, provinces and territories. Increasingly, INAC's role has become one of facilitating change and bringing together the partners and interests needed to increase the quality of life and self-sufficiency of Canada's Aboriginal and Northern people.

According to Ross McNaughton, senior business analyst for INAC's Economic Development and Special Initiatives Sector, "SiteScape Forum is being used by a variety of groups within INAC and in a variety of ways; it is particularly helpful in connecting colleagues and various parties who are geographically dispersed, as well as for sharing large amounts of information."

Currently, the Federal Treaty Negotiation Office (FTNO) in British Columbia uses SiteScape Forum as a central clearinghouse to support the activities of the B.C. Federal Caucus. Meetings are organized and scheduled on line, and all relevant information is made available to members. Membership consists of federal senior officials from across Canada whose mandate and operations are directly affected by treaty negotiations. In addition, Forum allows the FTNO to exchange information with members and to receive advice from them on issues regarding treaty negotiations. The province-wide Treaty Advisory Group, composed of third-party stakeholders who have an interest in treaty issues, uses Forum to facilitate their on-line discussions. A third user, an internal working group, uses SiteScape Forum to link participants involved in the assessment of policy change in support of treaty negotiations.

"In the near term, INAC is looking to set up Forum workspaces for a number of additional groups," stated McNaughton.

About SiteScape(R)

SiteScape, Inc. produces Web-based collaboration software and services that provide immediate return on investment. SiteScape Enterprise Forum and WebWorkZone, a hosted collaboration service, allow employees, customers, business partners and suppliers to easily communicate and share information in a secure, Web-based environment. SiteScape products facilitate business processes such as knowledge management, project management, communities of practice, workflow and elearning. The company has numerous Fortune 500 and Global 2000 customers, clustered in a wide variety of industries, including energy, construction, high tech, automotive, trade associations, education, health care, legal, and government. For more information about SiteScape, visit http://www.sitescape.com.

SiteScape and SiteScape Forum are registered trademarks of SiteScape, Inc.