The past month has been a busy season for on-line conferences and webinars. In October, I wrote “Finding advantages in learning online”, talking about the ease of joining online sessions for continuing education.
Another opportunity is coming up next week with the release of a new report, “Investing in Canada’s Digital Infrastructure: The Economic Impact of Wireless/Wireline Broadband and the Post-COVID Recovery”, being presented by Accenture and the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association.
The report is the subject of “The Digital-led Recovery: The Role of Telecommunications in Canada’s Economy & the Post-COVID World”, a one hour webinar to be held December 9, at 11:00 am Eastern time.
The session will look at the role telecommunications will play in the post-pandemic economy.
The event will be hosted by CWTA President & CEO, Robert Ghiz, who will join the Association’s SVP, Eric Smith, as well as Tejas Rao, Managing Director and Global 5G Lead at Accenture.
Registration is free.
The subject matter appears to complement a recent GSMA study discussing how 5G spectrum policy drives economic growth. Recall, that study found “5G will contribute US$150 billion in additional value add to the Canadian economy over the next 20 years”, a figure that seemed to be in-line with an earlier Accenture study that forecasted a GDP impact of $40B by 2026.
Over the past nine months, the response to the pandemic has served as a catalyst for a digital transition, driving policy makers to examine ways to accelerate targets for universal connectivity. It’s worth considering another aspect to our forced transition to a work-from-home economy. In an interview last week in the Times of Israel, Aharon Aharon, the outgoing chief of Israel’s Innovation Authority, expresses some concerns about the potential impact on Israel’s renowned tech ecosystem. “Once employers get used to working with workers remotely, there are no limits on where they could be, he said. On the flip side, Israeli workers may prefer working in Israel for an international company with higher salaries and better conditions than those offered by a fledgling local startup.”
Those comments could be equally applicable to other geographies, and follow a recent survey that found that working from home raises productivity but may be negatively impacting the culture of startups.
As we look ahead to a new year, we need to consider how national policies can create advantages to benefit domestic technology companies, technology workers, and the economy as a whole.
It has to start with ensuring world class digital infrastructure and digital literacy.
What are the next steps?