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The right place at the right time with the right people:

Ottawa's telecommunication expertise and infrastructure, due in large part to the many R&D programs at Canadian high-tech firms in the National Capital Region (Bell Northern Research, NorTel, Cognos, Corel, Newbridge, Mitel, SHL Systemshouse etc.), provided a very favourable atmosphere for the professional and personal interests of Dr. Pardos, Ambassador of Spain, who came to Ottawa with a demonstrated history of incorporating computer technologies into his work in the Diplomatic Service .

Support from Academia

Credit must be given first to Dr. Robert Prichard, President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Toronto, and Dr. David Sadleir, then Director of Computing. These men advised Dr. Pardos in December 1993, at the presentation to the General Consuls in Toronto of the 'Northern Telecom Program of Iberoamerican Languages and Cultures', to investigate the computer network advances taking place in Ottawa. On Jan 13, Dr. Pardos met David Sutherland, Director of Computing and Communication Services at Carleton University and President of the National Capital FreeNet (NCF), discovering how the Embassy could become involved with the community computer network.

Creating an information service on FreeNet (1994)

The objective of Dr. Pardos was to implement an electronic information service for the Embassy. This complemented the goals of NCF and individuals from both organizations collaborated to produce "Sí, Spain". Factors essential to the Embassy becoming an Information Provider were:

• The personal interest and dedication of Dr. Pardos and Mr. Ricardo Mor, the Cultural Counsellor and the original menu maintainer; and the hard work of Professor José Félix Barrio, Education Attaché and the Information Provider and Menu Maintainer since March 1995.

• Obtaining technical and administrative support from the NCF staff and Board of Directors;

• Choosing a sound table of contents for a simple, but efficient, Main Menu. (The information services of the French and Italian Embassies on FreeNet served as an initial guide);

• Developing a methodology to select content to be included in the Main Menu (how to adapt the information produced by the Foreign Service to the structure of the FreeNet menu).

• Accessing sources for the most accurate and official information, in English and Spanish;

• Setting policy for sponsorship of public access dial-up lines for NCF.

• The official visit to Ottawa of the Spanish Minister for Industry, Mr. Juan Manuel Eguiagaray, in May 1994, gave the Embassy an opportunity to officially present "Sí, Spain" to both the Spanish and Canadian governments.

Migration to the World Wide Web (1995)

Almost a year into being an information provider on NCF,the access statistics for "Sí, Spain" indicated information for Spanish citizens abroad was the most popular area of "Sí, Spain". It was accessed both locally and from around the world via telnets to NCF. It was unexpected that this particular area would be serving an interest/need for information that was not currently being met. This prompted the Embassy to consider expanding the reach of their information service. A migration to the World Wide Web would allow the Embassy to continue providing information at a local level while developing "Sí, Spain" into a more extensive, dynamic and interactive information system for citizens of Spain, and other citizens interested in Spain, all over the world.

David Sutherland put the Embassy in contact with Prof. Neal Holtz. of Carleton University and Mr. Fred Williams of DocuWeb Information Services Inc. who provided the necessary expertise. At that time, diplomatic relations betweeen the Embassy of Spain and the Canadian government were complex and difficult. The decision to create a Web server happened to coincide with the 'Fisheries Crisis' between Canada and Spain in early 1995.

The Fisheries Crisis (March 1995)

The Turbot war between Canada and the EU. and the seizure of the Spanish fishing vessel the ESTAI, on March 9, 1995, was widely publicized on the Internet at the WEB site of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DOF) http://www.ncr.dfo.ca/ (at that time). This confirmed for the Ambassador the necessity for the Embassy of Spain in Canada to be on the Web. Three days later the Embassy placed a "Fisheries Crisis" area on "Sí, Spain", in FreeNet by moving the files from the Web server which was still under construction. Several days later the "Sí, Spain" World Wide Web server was opened on the Internet.

Coverage of the dispute by the national media in Canada focused on a single ecological and conservationist position. Daily reporting of the dispute by more than 30 world wide Radio and TV stations, broadcasting from St. John's in Newfoundland, and by practically all the news agencies and news papers in the world produced daily information on this issue. It is not surprising that from March 12th to the end of the conflict, the 'Fisheries Crisis' area had one of the highest access counts in "Si Spain".

The months of March, April and May in 1995 were a turning point for the development of "Sí, Spain" as well as marking the first OFFICIAL use of the Internet, during a diplomatic crisis, by an Embassy.

• The Embassy could now publish the first official statements of the Spanish Foreign Minister, Javier Solana Madariaga and the Agriculture and Fisheries Minister, Luis Atienza Serna, the same day they were issued in Madrid or in the London Financial Times http://www.DocuWeb.ca/SiSpain/history/fisherie/position/menu.html .

• As the situtation developed, the Embassy created a comprehensive information area for fisheries. Although this area provided information on the development of the conflict itself, it also provided background information and a historical perspective, thus allowing the Embassy of Spain to freely express its point of view on this contentious matter.

• During the early stages of the dispute, the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) also opened a special page in their Web site, containing their allegations on the conflict. Although some of the allegations were never developed, like the one called 'What drove Canada to prohibit the Spanish from fishing Greenland Halibut (Turbot)', the Embassy was able to refute these allegations publicly and immediately, something they were unable to do via the traditional media. The DOF WWW site has since removed all files relating to the fisheries crisis. They were originally available at http://www.nrc.dfo.ca/enforcement/action_e.html

• As mentioned previously the Fisheries Area had one of the highest access statistics with users coming from around the world, including many from Spain from March 12th to the end of the crisis. This response was due in large part to an Internet announcement campaign for "Sí, Spain" initiated by a private telecommunication foundation, FUNDESCO. located in Madrid.

The Next Steps

Since the end of the fisheries dispute the Embassy has concentrated on developing a more personal presence on their server (homepages for Ambassador Pardos and Cultural Counselor Mr. Ricardo Mor, and Professor José Félix Barrio), expanding on IberWeb (a Web site dedicated to the 20 Iberoamerican countries) and incorporating more interactive elements into "Sí, Spain". By sharing its experience in the development of Sí,Spain the Embassy has played a leading role among the Diplomatic Corps in Ottawa to introduce the Internet as a tool for Diplomacy. On October 5th, over 80 Embassies attended an Internet presentation "World Diplomacy and the Third Millennium" co-hosted by Carleton University, the Embassy of Spain and the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps. The presentation focused on how the Internet can help diplomacy realize its ultimate goal: to facilitate an information exchange among countries, cultures and citizens and open up the lines of global communication. Following the presentation, Carleton students helped Diplomats gain hands-on experience by 'surfing the WEB'.

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