Speaking Notes

The Honourable Gary Goodyear, PC, MP
Minister of State (Science and Technology)

16th Annual Government Technology Exhibition and Conference

Ottawa, Ontario
October 6, 2009

Check Against Delivery

Thank you for inviting me to kick off the 16th edition of the Government Technology Exhibition and Conference (GTEC).

I want to thank and congratulate the conference organizers and exhibitors for putting together a first-class event.

As Canada’s Minister of State for Science and Technology, I am pleased to participate in this year’s conference.

As you know, two years ago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper launched our government’s Science and Technology (S&T) Strategy.

Since then, we have been delivering on our commitments by investing heavily in S&T to create jobs, strengthen the economy and improve the quality of life of Canadians.

In fact, our government is now investing more in S&T than any other government in Canadian history — $10.2 billion every year.

This year, faced with the global recession, we decided to invest an additional $5.1 billion into S&T as part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan. We’ve put $2 billion into upgrading our country’s labs and research and training facilities at universities, colleges and CEGEPs, and $750 million into scientific equipment at our post-secondary institutions, through the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

We’re investing $250 million in modernizing federal government laboratories, $1 billion in clean energy technologies, $200 million in National Research Council Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program, $110 million in the Canadian Space Agency and $87.5 million in Arctic research.

Our government is investing more money in Canada Graduate Scholarships and industrial internships.

We are doing this because innovation and research are key to Canada’s future prosperity.

It is for this same reason that our government is committed to developing an action plan on the digital economy — one that will secure Canada’s position at the leading edge, driving innovation and prosperity for decades to come.

As you know better than most, information and communication technology (ICT) has a profound impact on businesses and governments, enabling them to better serve their client bases near and far. ICT transforms how they expand their reach, enhance their ability to access information and customize their products. Saving time. Improving quality. And making their operations more efficient. I was recently told that the digital revolution is as profound as the Industrial Revolution.

As part of Canada’s Economic Action Plan, we have clearly demonstrated an understanding that the ICT sector is an important part of Canada’s economic past, present and future. To this end, we are making significant investments to support the digital economy.

For example:

• $225 million is being invested over three years to develop and implement a strategy to extend broadband coverage to unserved communities;
• a 100-percent capital cost allowance was introduced for computer hardware and systems software; and
• eligible research expenditures under the scientific research and experimental development tax credit are being increased to encourage innovation.

I should add that earlier this year, Minister of Industry Tony Clement and I participated in the Canada 3.0 Conference, where we heard from a number of ICT industry players. It was clear that we have the people and the technology to make Canada a powerhouse in the digital economy, and we will be exploring ways in which to capitalize on the private sector’s expertise to make this a reality.

Complementing Canada’s Economic Action Plan is the S&T Strategy. When we launched the Strategy in 2007, the ICT sector was identified as a key driver, and we have followed through on that vision.

We have provided substantial new funding for Canada’s world-renowned Networks of Centres of Excellence program. The Centres have an enviable track record of harnessing the research strengths of academia, industry and government to make a difference on issues of social and economic importance.

We also invested $350 million over five years to create the new Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research, which will explore and exploit the commercialization of technologies, products and services.

And we’ve followed up on the recommendations of the Science, Technology and Innovation Council, which was set up to identify sub-priorities under our S&T Strategy in areas of strategic importance to Canada.

The Council recommended that we focus our investments on areas with particular promise. Chief among them are new media, animation and games, wireless networks and services, broadband networks and telecom equipment.

Ladies and gentlemen, as much as we want to encourage economic growth and job creation, we are also looking for new ways to address challenges in serving the public.

New technology tools offer tremendous potential to improve the delivery of government services to Canadians — potential we are starting to realize.

Many of you in the private sector are likely already aware of the online service offerings designed to help businesses get up and running and succeed in a global economy.

New technology tools are proving especially useful to federal policy makers. For instance, we are increasingly harnessing the power of the Internet to improve citizen engagement. Our recent consultations on copyright reform made use of websites, blogs, Twitter and YouTube. We received over 8000 submissions and over 31 000 visitors to the website, and more than 2500 comments on the discussion forum.

We are also capitalizing on new technologies to improve emergency preparedness planning for situations such as this fall’s anticipated H1N1 outbreak. ICT gives us the speed we need to coordinate and rapidly deploy emergency personnel and resources. It also offers flexibility for our employees, enabling people to work remotely, if necessary, to ensure business continuity.

Working together, we can maximize the skills and strengths each of us bring to the table to attain our collective goal of better service delivery.

As I look out over this auditorium, I am reminded, yet again, that there are incredible opportunities for a country as rich in talent and technology as ours.

And, as GTEC makes clear year after year, the Government of Canada is determined to fully capitalize on them.

So I wish each of you every success over the next several days to advance our shared objective of building a dynamic, competitive, 21st-century economy.

All the best for a most productive and rewarding conference.

Thank you.