Le Salon des Maires is an annual event held for Mayors, local government officials and Parliamentarians from every region of France. The French Senate is a strong supporter of efforts to bridge the Digital Divide and is therefore hosting ESA Telecom demonstrations at its booth. These demonstrations, done in co-operation with BySky, Telesat, March Networks and Espresso Productions, will let visitors see projects which act in the global framework of bridging the Digital Divide. For many of these distinguished guests this will be their first opportunity to appraise which new technologies are available in other ESA member states.
Two ESA funded projects have been invited to demonstrate their potential for France; both with proven contributions to bridging the Digital Divide. TeLeCare from Canada is a tele-medicine project allowing 'remote patient diagnosis and monitoring' via satellite. It allows a nurse to video-conference with a patient several hundred kilometers away. The other project is the award winning 'Espresso for Schools'; this tele-education project, from the UK, broadcasts multimedia content to UK schools. Currently reaching 1750 institutions, the service goes out to over 400,000 users.
Both projects have been in operation in their home countries for some time already. Le Salon des Maires will be a valuable opportunity for them to show how France can benefit from them.
The invitation only event will be held on November 18 through 20 at the Parc des Expositions, Porte de Versailles, in Paris France. Each year between 5000 and 6000 mayors attend.
