Backblog | Digital Economy Strategy

The government posted its Reports on Plans and Priorities for dozens of departments and agencies yesterday. The Industry Canada report makes for interesting reading as there is a section on the still missing Digital Economy Strategy that includes targets for e-commerce buying and selling in Canada.

Industry Minister Christian Paradis spoke at the Canada 3.0 conference in Stratford yesterday, providing an update on the government's digital economy plans. Paradis trumpeted some of the measures in the budget as well as the trio of related laws - privacy reform, copyright reform, and anti-spam legislation (which he indicated he expects to take effect next year). He also noted the urban-rural divide on broadband access, which he seems to think can be addressed through rural deployment obligations in the forthcoming the spectrum auction (the final consult to be released today [April 25, 2012]).

The lack of progress on the Canadian digital economy strategy has been a source of frustration for many as the still-unreleased strategy has been largely missing in action. Late last year I dubbed it the government's Penske File, a reference to the Seinfeld episode involving a non-existent work project. While Canada is still without a comprehensive strategy, elements have begun to emerge in recent weeks.

Later today, Industry Minister Christian Paradis will deliver a speech that will provide an update on the government's digital economy strategy. The speech is likely to point to the recently launched Digital Technology Adoption Pilot Program, talk about moving forward with copyright and privacy legislation, describe work on spectrum, and indicate that a decision has still not been made on the removal of foreign investment restrictions. In other words, basically repackage several earlier speeches on the same issue.

I just returned from a meet-and-greet arranged in Kitchener by Communitech to connect early stage technology companies to potential investors. Although tonights event felt a bit like an awkward high school dance, I think that the efforts being made by Communitech in K-W are exceptional.

Industry Minister Christian Paradis gave a speech today [September 19, 2011] at the Wireless Canada Technology Showcase. The talk included references to forthcoming copyright reform, the reintroduction of privacy reforms (formerly Bill C-29), and plans to move forward with spectrum auctions.

The International Telecommunications Union yesterday released its Measuring the Information Society 2011 report, which benchmarks information society developments worldwide.  The centrepiece of the report is the ICT Development Index, which tracks 11 different indicators focused on access, use, and skills (the eleven indicators are: fixed telephone line subscriptions, mobile subscriptions, international Internet bandwidth, households with a computer, households with Internet access, percentage of individuals using the Internet, broadband subscriptions, mobile broadband subscriptions, adult literacy, secondary and tertiary enrolment).

Dwayne Winseck examines the growth of the Canadian network media economy from 1984 to 2010.

The OECD has released its latest round of data on broadband services in 33 of the world's most developed countries [update: While today's release [June 23, 2011] is new and incorporates this information into the OECD Communications Outlook 2011, a reader points out the broadband data was first released two months ago].

Given the critical role it plays in communication, culture, and commerce, most people now recognize the importance of Internet access. My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes a new report for the United Nations Human Rights Council takes Internet access a step further, however, characterizing it as a human right.

With the new Parliamentary session set to kick off today [June 2, 2011] with the election of a new speaker, new cabinet members are busy brushing up on the myriad of issues they will face in the coming months. The appointment to cabinet comes with a private mandate letter from the Prime Minister that sets out his expectations and policy goals.

Christian Paradis delivered his first public speech yesterday [May 31, 2011] as Industry Minister at the Canadian Telecom Summit.

Silicon Valley like its metallic namesake is shiny and alluring to those in the tech and digital media sector. In comparisson, Ontario often seems dull and staid. Although Canada has had its share of tech and Net success stories over the years, the news and blogs are saturated with coverage of the happenings in the Valley. Often Canadian tech companies are only covered in mainstream media when they sell out or move down south.

New Treasury Board President Tony Clement has said he's committed to advancing the government's open data efforts. Clement noted that initaitive is consistent with what he was trying to do as Industry Minister on the digital economy strategy.