Response to the Government of Canada's Consultation Paper on a Digital Economy for Canada

Summary

The Council of Ontario Universities (COU) welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback on the Government of Canada's consultation paper, Improving Canada's Digital Advantage: Strategies for a Sustainable Prosperity.

Ontario universities recognize the importance of building a strong, globally competitive ICT and digital media sector and believe that they have critical contributions to make in helping Canadians to achieve this goal. Specifically, Ontario universities feel that they are able to contribute in three key areas: talent and skill development; research and innovation, including digital content development; and university/industry collaboration.

In order to support and strengthen their contribution, as well as that of industry partners, Ontario universities are proposing the creation of a new National ICT/Digital Media Network that would connect clusters of ICT and digital media excellence across Canada. They are also recommending that the Government of Canada, in partnership with the Government of Ontario, continue to recognize the importance of and support the continued sustainability of Canada's high performance computing backbone, without which researchers would be unable to access the processing, storage, networking and visualization capacities that they require to undertake complex research and analysis in areas such as ICT and digital media.

Submission

July 9, 2010

Introduction

In its document, Improving Canada's Digital Advantage: Strategies for Sustainable Prosperity, the Government of Canada outlines five key challenges to strengthening Canada's ICT and digital media sector: capacity to innovate using digital technologies; building a world–class digital infrastructure; growing the information and communications technology industry; creating Canada's digital content advantage; and building digital skills for tomorrow. Ontario universities are committed to doing their part in helping to address these challenges by building on and leveraging their assets in areas related to talent and skill development; research and innovation, including digital content development; and university/industry collaboration.

Talent and Skill Development: Responding to Creating Canada's Digital Content Advantage and Building Digital Skills for Tomorrow

Through critical skill and knowledge development, universities grow talent. Students leave our labs and classrooms armed with expertise and know–how that not only helps to enable personal success throughout their lives, but also provides Canada with graduates who have the skills and knowledge required to support its ongoing social and economic prosperity. Specifically, universities provide the ICT and digital media sector with a critical source of talent. Universities graduate students in key areas such as computer science and engineering; they also nurture the creativity and analytical skills of those in humanities and social sciences who will provide the creative force needed to drive the creation and development of digital content that is uniquely Canadian. In addition, they support the skill development of young digital entrepreneurs, marketers, and administrators who will help to ensure that the results of our creativity and innovation are brought to market, as well as the talents of those who will develop critical public policies guiding our collective approach to important issues such as copyright and security or privacy concerns.

Research and Innovation: Responding to the Capacity to Innovate Using Digital Technologies and Building a World Class Digital Infrastructure

The advancement of excellence in research is one of the primary missions of Ontario universities. This research can take many forms. Some of our research is driven by a passion for invention or fundamental research that ultimately pushes the boundaries of our thinking and experience far beyond our world of today. Other research is driven by a desire to enable innovation that results in the more immediate development of new policies, products, and services. No matter where research falls along the discovery continuum, it has the potential to contribute significantly to Canada's economic and social prosperity. In particular, our university researchers are actively engaged in pushing the limits of our thinking and finding solutions to problems in the area of ICT and digital media. Many institutions have researchers and students who are seeking new and innovative ways to apply digital technologies to some of the most complex questions facing Canadians today. Others are developing new digital platforms, identifying ways to increase access to spectrum, and pursuing important questions related to the public policy frameworks and decisions that guide both investment in and usage of ICT and digital media. Federal granting councils have played a critical role in supporting much of this research and Ontario universities would urge the Government of Canada to continue its important investments in this area.

University/Industry Collaboration: Responding to Growing the Information and Communications Technology Industry

Over the past decade, universities have greatly increased their collaboration with industry partners. Together they have generated many ground–breaking innovations in areas as diverse as animation, diagnostics, financial algorithms, water remediation, food safety and digital security. Investments by stakeholders such as the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario in industry–led centres of excellence have played a key role in ensuring the successful outcomes of this work.

Ontario universities feel that they continue to have a key role to play in working with industry to build and sustain Canada's communications and technology industry. Specifically, they have identified the following as areas of opportunity for collaboration with industry:

• Digital infrastructure with sectors such as next generation networks, microelectronics, ICT, and satellite;
• user–consumer innovation with sectors such as social media;
• digital media content and ICT application innovation with sectors such as digital media, creative industries, and mobile applications;
• access, literacy, and governance with sectors such as educational technology; and
• health, including diagnostics, digital records, and health monitoring technologies.

Choosing a Model that Works — Addressing the Challenges and Moving Our Yardsticks

A New National ICT/Digital Media Network

In order to strengthen their contribution to the ICT and digital media economy and to better leverage existing assets, Ontario universities have identified several areas for greater focus and further investment:

• better connectivity amongst National Centres of Excellence (NCEs), Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECRs) and other institutions that are actively engaged in the area of ICT and digital media;
• clearer pathways to collaboration between university researchers and industry; and
• greater opportunities for student/young researcher involvement in the field of ICT and digital media, including greater contact with industry.

Ontario universities have further identified a potential model that could be used to strengthen outcomes in these areas and would propose the creation of a new National ICT/Digital Media Network.

Under this new model, universities would envision a highly collaborative and distributed network of NCEs, CECRs, and other institutions that are actively engaged in the area of ICT and digital media. This would provide a critical focal point or national cluster on ICT/digital media. Specifically, the new Network's goals would be to:

• define and strengthen critical linkages amongst researchers, industry, existing networks, and other R&D assets;
• provide an opportunity to build on and reinforce existing collaboration and pathways between universities and industry partners, with a particular emphasis on SMEs; and
• enable opportunities for students and young researchers to apply their skills, knowledge and interests in the area of ICT and digital media in a variety of sectors.

The Network would also provide an ideal platform from which to establish international linkages with foreign industry and researchers.

Sustaining our High Performance Computing Backbone

Canada's future success in the field of ICT and digital media is highly dependent on a strong high performance computing backbone. Its importance cannot be underscored enough. Without it, researchers and industry experts would be unable to access the processing, storage, networking, and visualization power that they require to undertake the complex research and analysis that is needed to build and sustain Canada's globally competitive advantage in ICT and digital media.

In order to ensure the ongoing sustainability of this fundamental building block to success in the area of ICT and digital media, Ontario universities would urge the Government of Canada, in partnership with the Government of Ontario, to continue its investments in both the operating and capital costs needs of high performance computing networks across the country.