Comments

Submission

I'm going to quickly go through the Discussion Questions in each section. Capacity to Innovate:

1. Focus on key sectors or overall economy: It's both. The digital infrastructure by definition emphasizes development and growth in the research and business tech, telecom, computing, and digital content sectors. These innovations and implementations disseminate through the other sectors through adoption; education, healthcare, finance, etc. The strength has to come from a solid digital infrastructure and provide relevant adaptability and dynamic continuous change and hopefully improvement to communications and transactional technologies that underpin a supply/demand market economy, with its attendant regulatory parameters; hence, a digital economy.
2. Conditions best incent and promote adoption: Relevant applications, accessibility, sharing, low cost, security/privacy.
3. Successful digital strategy for your firm/sector: flexible corporate profile, accessibility, with a viable business model.
4. Anti–spam, etc., new legislative or policy changes: The online space will change and grow as our societies do; the regulatory impasse with the convergence of broadcaster/carrier/computing capabilities is a challenge yet to be met. As boundaries blur in virtual space, parameters of national ownership, cultural sovereignty, Second Life/avatar spaces hint at possible "policing"; we're learning as we go.
5. Regulatory & policy regime to promote e–commerce: solve the content/carrier issue, accept that people want to access content/goods and services, and create parameters for effective business models and strategies for both suppliers and consumers. There may always be a few shoplifters, but if you create a "bar code", a reasonable price and payment and delivery procedure, most people will pay for the products they seek. Trying to control or force people isn't going to work in the free–form digital world.

Building a World Class Digital Infrastructure:

1. Speeds and services: These will need to be determined based on existing and projected needs for each of these communities. You have to know where you're at before you can get to where you want to go. This is the customization component of a digital economy — one size does not fit all or their pocketbooks.
2. What steps: Come up with a strategy and implement it — the public is getting wary about a real strategy coming into being — they're suspicious it's all research and no delivery. Roles depend upon who is responsible for what; there probably ought to be a public oversight body to ensure public interests are addressed, yet ensure private interests are protected and supported.
3. Radio spectrum: CRTC and Industry do their job.
4. Rural and remote: regional and municipal assessments and consultations with these areas — find out from them what their priorities are.

Growing the Info and Telecom:

1. Current investments: It appears that current investments in university–community areas are profitable, RIM–Waterloo, Autodesk–UofT. How do you develop a template of that for other regions in Canada and implement it?
2. Find out what the priority R&D issues are in this area, and where they're most developed in the world, then find out which ones Canada can improve upon without duplicating efforts.
3. Destination of choice: you know this one — secure profits and global relevance.
4. Talent needs: creation of technical "versatilists", not specialists. Enrollment in computing has declined as other fields absorb those requirements; this is a natural outcome of digital penetration throughout an economy.

Digital Media:

1. Digital Content Advantage: reliable, respected, sustainable virtual marketplace for Canada and the world.
2. Core elements: Effective and attractive business models. Subsidize/discount (create incentives to make it attractive to be bilingual) French language producers for creating English content and vice–versa; find ways of connecting audiences for and producers in Aboriginal/ethnocultural communities in Canada and abroad. I have an Aboriginal playwright friend in the U.S. I'd love to do a cultural exchange with an appropriate counterpart in Canada, and take that exchange online.
3. Digital content contributing: It's who we are — our cultural identity, motivation, inspiration, product creator.
4. Hard/soft infrastructure: that has to come from what the gov't and private corporations are able to do, in a sustainable manner, and be inherently flexible as the technology changes. 3D glasses and screens are all the rage, but there's 3D paint that doesn't even need a screen to show the image. There are all kinds of innovations that come into play; the infrastructure and its oversight bodies have to be flexible enough to cope with them.
5. Encourage investment: Relevant proposals have to be made, customized to prospective investors. Digital media is a higher risk than traditional media and its rate of return has to be convincing, or the risk defrayed.
6. All Canadians, disabilities, etc.: Build in flexibility and adaptation into the technologies; customize them and make them inclusive. We can, to a certain extent, control the direction and application of the technologies; it's our creativity that informs them.

Building Digital Skills:

1. Critical challenges in skills: Upgrading non–users and new adaptors, particularly non–English or non–French speaking immigrants.
2. Address challenges: Immigrant training, schools at various levels, training for unions/guilds/associations.
3. Labour market entrants: incorporate training in trade schools or provide it through their associations.
4. Current workforce: provide programs for/in conjunction with business associations. Different tactics for SMEs than large corps: Yes; the information disseminated is the same, but the scale is different; conferences can be an equalizer, or package incentives tailored to each.
5. Impact learning: It's become dynamic and prolific, and will continue to be so. Information sharing protocols need to be developed along with appropriate models of file–sharing. And we need to develop ways for filtering information, thinking for ourselves, and respecting and appreciating experience.
6. Digital divide: Wi–fi, find out what the needs are for the digitally underdeveloped and then engage them to address them effectively. Motivate them with empowerment.

Conclusion:

1. Targets: Yes, targets ought to be set or it won't get done. Timelines, operating plan, key contacts and tasks at municipal, provincial, federal levels, university and private stakeholders.
2. Timelines: Conception: 6 months; framework/design: 3–6 months; implementation/set–up: 6–12 months.