Innovation Agenda consultation to include digital infrastructure

OTTAWA — Creating an environment where Canada can compete in the digital world is a “key priority” for the government as it develops its much-touted Innovation Agenda, which officials announced Tuesday would undergo public consultation this summer. During an afternoon press conference, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains, flanked by colleagues Bardish Chagger, Minister of Small Business and Tourism, and Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science, outlined six “areas for action” the government will focus on to “build Canada as a global centre for innovation.” Bains agreed that the concept of “innovation” is nebulous and that it can mean different things to different people. According to Bains, innovation can be defined as “the desire to challenge the status quo.” “It’s about finding solutions to problems. And the outcome of innovation, fundamentally is improving one’s quality of life, standard of living. It’s about good quality jobs. And that’s what I need to do, and my colleagues need to do, is communicate that to the public.” In addition to competing in a digital world — including capitalizing on technologies such as digital manufacturing, cloud computing and high-speed Internet connectivity — the other five areas of focus are: promoting an entrepreneurial and creative society, supporting global science excellence, building world-leading clusters and partnerships, growing companies and accelerating clean growth, and improving ease of business. A website where Canadians can offer suggestions will be launched and roundtable discussions will be held across the country during the summer as part of the consultation process, which will seek to answer questions about the future of the country’s digital infrastructure and how Canada can support businesses looking to scale up into billion-dollar players. “The idea is to make sure we have a policy that generally achieves the outcomes that we want, which is: how do we make sure people are empowered in the digital age to succeed?” Bains said, noting the number of students who need the Internet for schoolwork and businesses that complete transactions online. “And we want to make sure that these companies that are in rural and remote regions — we’ve identified between 1,000 and 1,300 communities — have the ability to have fibre directly to the institutions, the hub-and-spoke model, that will enable them to improve on these areas.” During an appearance at the Canadian Internet Registration Authority’s Canadian Internet Forum earlier this month, Innovation Canada’s associate deputy minister Kelly Gillis said “the Internet is the infrastructure that the Innovation Agenda will run on.” When asked if the Innovation Agenda would include a national broadband strategy, like CRTC Chairman Jean-Pierre Blais called for in April, Bains said “this is really about the digitization that’s taking place in all sectors.” He cited the government’s five-year, $500-million rural broadband program (of which no details have been released) as evidence it believes in investing in broadband connectivity. “And this is, again, part of our overall innovation strategy and we’re going to flesh out a policy that really allows Canadians to take advantage of the connectivity that we have and also include the speed as well,” Bains said. Bains added that he didn’t see this summer’s consultations as duplication of the work the CRTC has already done in its basic telecom services proceeding, which included a three-week public hearing in April. He noted that Liberal MPs participated in the hearing and discussed their viewpoints with him and that “if the CRTC has advice, we’re willing to take that into account… as well.” Bains added: “We don’t have all the answers and we’re willing to engage and work with others to make sure we have a robust plan that gives us the desired outcome we want.” — With reporting by Charelle Evelyn at cevelyn@thewirereport.ca and editing by Anja Karadeglija at akarad@thewirereport.ca

Innovation Agenda consultation to include digital infrastructure

News | June 14, 2016

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Innovation Agenda consultation to include digital infrastructure

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