Canku Ota
	(Many Paths)
	An Online Newsletter Celebrating Native America
	October 20, 2001 - Issue 47
	Government of Nunavut Wins Technology Award
	by Government of Nunavut Press Release

IQALUIT, Nunavut (October 17, 2001) - Culture, Language, Elders and Youth Minister Peter Kattuk was thrilled when the Living Dictionary was announced the winner of the Technology in Government Week Distinction Award, recognizing Innovative Service Delivery in the Provinces. "It recognizes the importance of what we're doing for language preservation and promotion in Nunavut," Minister Kattuk said. Winners were announced at the Distinction Awards Gala on Monday, October 15, 2001 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec. More than 800 people were in attendance, including representatives from the two companies that designed the website: Multilingual E-Data Solutions and Macadamian Technologies. The Government of Nunavut was one of three gold medal winners in its category. "The Living Dictionary website is a way of remembering words from our past, but also a way to record and trace the changes in our language," Minister Kattuk said. "These changes are necessary to the healthy future of Inuktitut and the Living Dictionary allows users to participate in this growth." The term *Living Dictionary* came from Dave Smith, former Chief Information Officer of Nunavut and Jim Howse of Multilingual E-Data Solutions, the company that conceived of the project and presented it, in 1999, to a group of interested parties drawn from the Nunavut government and from Nunavut Tunngavit Inc. The company Nortext was instrumental in arranging for the initial glossaries to be available for loading. The Inuktitut name *Asuilaak* (that which has been long awaited) was chosen by the dictionary steering committee chaired by Carmen Levi in February, 2000. Approval for the project was received early in the year 2000 and a working prototype was mounted at the end of March, 2000. The first production version of the dictionary was launched in October 2000. The Government of Nunavut was one of three finalists among the 15 provincial nominations. Technology in Government Week recognizes and celebrates the IT advancements governments are making at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels in operations and service delivery. More than 200 nominations were received for this year's Distinction Awards. The Website for the Living Dictionary is http://www.livingdictionary.com and is managed and maintained by the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth. For more information, contact: Louise Walker A/Manager, Communications and Planning Executive and Intergovernmental Affairs Government of Nunavut Phone: (867) 975-6000 Fax: (867) 975-6099 Email: lwalker@gov.nu.ca

Living Dictionary http://www.livingdictionary.com/

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