Building Bridges in Vancouver Communication spans cultures - multicultural aspects of business and training in British Columbia

Training & Development, May, 2001 by Haidee E. Allerton

"For example, we localized The Silk Road into Japanese and French. For people in North America and Western Europe, the Silk Road starts in China and ends in Venice. To the Japanese, the Silk Road starts in Japan. From the Japanese perspective, Buddhism didn't come to China across the Silk Road, it came to Japan. We'd built the CD-ROM for the American marker so we had to change a lot of the content--add stories of more interest to the Japanese and take out things that weren't relevant to them or would be controversial. The way we originally organized the information--our mistake instead of giving users a way to organize the information--was such that we had to program different links to the content. Japanese audiences are more interested in Marco Polo in Asia; U.S. audiences are more interested in Marco Polo in Europe."

One of Forth's projects is LISA, Localization International Standards Association, which is developing open standards for e-learning. In fact, he has organized a conference, drawing e-learning experts from around the world, that will take place in Vancouver this month. As for DNA Media, he says, "We want to be the best of breed in technology solutions that can support languages and business models of training in different markets and that can integrate systems to deliver e-learning to different cultural markets. We also want to make sure there's enough content for different cultures and that it's flexible."

Forth notes, "Online learning can be learner driven and can support the learning requirements of trust, relevancy to people's lives, and responsiveness to their needs. But the Web supports communities; it is not a community."

DNA Media certainly walks the multicultural talk. Its busy, focused but amiable group of workers range from Czech to Chinese to Dutch to...you name it. Forth spent 10 years working in Tokyo. As for personally walking the technology talk, let's leave it at this: In Forth's five-member family (him, his wife, and three kids), there are eight PCs, and everyone but the youngest child has his or her own laptop.

Lines of communication

Bob Joseph meets us in the Longhouse conference room at BC Hydro corporate offices in downtown Vancouver. Longhouse is a type of aboriginal dwelling, and Joseph's job is manager of aboriginal relations, cultural relations and corporate training. Because BC Hydro's transmission lines cross more than 500 aboriginal reserves, its employees need to be made aware of aboriginal rights, customs, and laws protecting their lands. BC Hydro's Statement of Principles includes vows to consult with aboriginal people regarding its projects, respect aboriginal rights and status, minimize negative impact on the environment with regard to aboriginal land, and negotiate rather than mediate and mediate rather than litigate. "We check what we do against our statement of principles," says Joseph.

BC Hydro's Aboriginal Cross-Cultural Awareness Program has been delivered to more than 4,700 Hydro employees (out of 5,500) and numerous external clients. "We've acted as an outside consultant to rail companies, financial institutions, and resource companies in industries such as forestry," says Joseph. "They've asked us, 'What are you guys doing...what's this model that you have?' Our cross-cultural training focuses a great deal on building relationships. We took a look at changes happening here in British Columbia, such as self-government negotiations between aboriginal peoples and the federal government. Also, many different First Nations are involved in modern-day treaty negotiations." First Nations peoples are bands, legal entities defined by the Canadian Indian Act.