Future Proofing our Country — Supporting a Bold Vision for Canada's Digital Economy Strategy

Summary

A submission under the Digital Economy Strategy Consultation by ORION — the Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network.

The Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION) is one of Canada's largest regional advanced networks. Our mandate is to provide the critical enabling high–capacity infrastructure and value–added services to Ontario's research, education and innovation community.

In this submission, we respond to the "Capacity to Innovation Using Digital Technologies" section of the consultation paper. We focus on what a successful digital strategy should address and the role and contribution of the research, education, discovery and innovation communities.

Many of the fundamentals for implementing a comprehensive Digital Economy Strategy are in place. Our country has made significant investments in people, resources and facilities over several years, which we can now leverage to support a common strategy, with clearly defined goals and targets.

Our submission calls for a concerted and integrated vision and strategy that reflects a common commitment by government, business, public and private organizations, researchers, educators and citizens to "future–proof" our economy. We call on government to play a leading role in developing and selling the vision, creating innovative strategies and approaches, and harnessing our resources in business, society, research and academia to make a difference.

Submission

July, 2010

Introduction

We now function in a "digital world". Canada's ability to compete and succeed in a rapidly evolving and hyper-competitive global economic environment depends on our ability to adapt to the transformational forces that are changing our way of life.

Canadians need the skills, the tools and the knowledge to harness our country's resources and capabilities in order to succeed.

Capacity to Innovation Using Digital Technologies

The Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION) is one of Canada's largest regional advanced networks. Our mandate is to provide the critical enabling high–capacity infrastructure and value–added services to Ontario's research, education and innovation community.

We welcome the opportunity to share our thoughts through the Digital Economy Strategy Consultation and we look forward to be fully engaged in both the development and the implementation processes.

In this submission, we respond to the "Capacity to Innovation Using Digital Technologies" section of the consultation paper. We focus on what a successful digital strategy should address and the role and contribution of the research, education, discovery and innovation communities.

Context

Research and discovery and the enabling innovation support systems they rely on face a rapidly changing environment.

Research, for instance, increasingly spans the globe, allowing researchers to access facilities, resources and partners regardless of location. They operate in real–time, across disciplines and institutions, and rely on collaborative technologies and digital data resources.

Today, successful researchers, educators, learners and digital technology innovators increasingly need access to sophisticated communications infrastructures to maintain their competitive advantage. Global "big science" initiatives generating staggering quantities of data have raised the bar to participation for most jurisdictions and institutions.

Much of our economic, business, and research activities are now undertaken within virtual, network–based environments that will allow us to access virtually any resource or capability, from anywhere, at any time and with any device.

Our Digital Economy Strategy must address this disruptive technology environment and unleash the new innovation capabilities that they make possible.

Fundamentals are in place

Many of the fundamentals for implementing a comprehensive Digital Economy Strategy are in place. Our country has made significant investments in people, resources and facilities over several years, which we can now leverage to support a common strategy, with clearly defined goals and targets.

CANARIE and Regional Networks

Our country enjoys a world–class and globally celebrated national advanced network organization, CANARIE, which provides Canada with the critical national backbone and essential international linkages we need to engage fully in the global research and innovation community. We have important regional networks across the country, including ORION, that support and deliver new and innovative ways of conducting research, support national and international scientific collabortions, and enable public and private sector partnerships that lead to new discoveries and commercialization of research.

High Performance Computing

Across Canada and around the world, research is increasingly dependent on access to high performance computing, dedicated high–speed research networks and data resources and tools. Canada has significant high performance computing resources and expertise that rank among the best in the world. In Ontario, SHARCNET, HPCVL and SciNet generate important scientific discoveries and introduce new and potential areas of further research and commercialization.

Our human capital

Canada retains its most valuable asset in the knowledge and expertise of its people, in particular our innovators, entrepreneurs and research and innovation leaders in our academic and research institutions and innovative companies and market leaders. Canada's Digital Economy Strategy must leverage the creative and dynamic potential of this inter–connected and motivated innovation community.

Achievements in critical fields of research

Canada can point to world–class centres of excellence and leading research–intensive universities and institutions with achievements in life sciences, physics, environmental sciences, advanced manufacturing, engineering, and many other areas. Canada's achievements in digital media are also being acknowledged around the world, and presenting new opportunities for economic development, investment and wealth and job creation.

Funding

At both the federal and provincial levels, we have effective funding programs in place, including programs from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the various granting councils, and in Ontario, through the Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI) and others.

Future Proofing our Country — steps we can take now

While many of the fundamentals are in place, we face challenges in being able to leverage our collective capabilities in a fully integrated way.

Our goal should not be simply driven by the need to "catch up", but rather to give our nation a clear framework to build on the foundations we have in place, to shape a truly transformative digital economy that integrates all elements of our society, from public services, to business and commercial enterprise, to research and education, to leisure and culture.

Many steps can be undertaken relatively quickly to strengthen the foundation upon which we can develop and implement a "future proof" Digital Economy Strategy.

• ORION fully endorses the joint submission, Canada's Digital Environment for Research, Innovation and Education, by CANARIE Inc., Compute Canada, the Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN), the Canadian Research Knowledge Network (CRKN) and the Canadian University Council of CIOs (CUCCIO). We add our voice to the call for an integrated strategy that facilitates the alignment of resources and priorities in research, education and innovation sectors, including:
  • the development of a vision, management and operational strategy;
  • the adoption of an integrated approach to planning and funding;
  • the creation of new coordination mechanisms;
  • the creation of new approaches for managing sustainability;
  • a mechanism to ensure global coordination of activity; and
  • the elimination of institutional, regional and disciplinary disparities.
• ORION encourages federal support for CANARIE. This is vitally important to ORION, to all other Canadian regional networks, and to the millions of researchers, faculty, students and partners that rely on a robust national advanced network infrastructure that provides the pan–national and global connectivity we need to participate in the global digital economy.
• We encourage confirmation of ongoing support, within a more sustainable funding framework, for Canada's High Performance Computing resources and capabilities and a vision of how to integrate and extend the availability of these capabilities to more institutions and more users across Canada.
• We encourage strategies and service delivery models that recognize the integrated, end–to–end infrastructure requirements of research, discovery and innovation.
• We encourage a strong commitment to extend broadband access to communities, businesses and residents across the country, like some of our competing jurisdictions have undertaken, with aggressive targets for speed and availability. We need to be creative in exploring new models such as open access networks and undertake a much more aggressive broadband agenda for Canada.
• Canada's Digital Economy Strategy needs to address knowledge development and training in digital economy skills as a national priority, with an aggressive effort to marshal expertise and capabilities from across the country.
• We should also encourage full engagement of our youth, with creative strategies and resources to solicit their ideas, energy and enthusiasm. They are the Canadians who have the most to gain in the successful implementation of a national Digital Economy Strategy.

Conclusion

Our country needs a concerted and integrated vision and strategy that reflects a common commitment by government, business, public and private organizations, researchers, educators and citizens to "future–proof" our economy.

Government must play a leading role in developing and selling the vision, creating innovative strategies and approaches, and harnessing our resources in business, society, research and academia to make a difference.

ORION looks forward to being part of the ongoing discussions and fully supporting the process.

Who we are

Hundreds of times faster than the Internet, ORION is Ontario's ultra high–speed research and education network. ORION links 1.7 million Ontario researchers, scientists, students, teachers and staff who depend on ORION for teaching and learning and to enable their research collaborations and discoveries in physics, cancer research, environmental science and technologies, social sciences and the humanities and multiple other disciplines. It connects users and institutions to each other, and through CANARIE — Canada's advanced research and innovation network — to high–capacity research and education networks, partners and collaborators across Canada and around the world.

Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network