Vision 150

A Canadian Press story is on the wires talking about an upcoming consultation for Canada’s digital economy. I thought it was telling that the story concluded talking about rural connectivity. A story in the weekend Globe and Mail also talks about the digital divide, looking at connectivity.

As people turn their minds toward Canada’s version of the FCC’s 100M2 vision for the United States [100 million homes connected to 100Mbps internet], I was wondering if too many people are too narrowly focussed on plumbing, rather than stepping back to look at the bigger picture. The CP story talks about the federal consultation being broadly focussed – with participation from federal departments.

Clement will be joined by Heritage Minister James Moore for a look at improving digital content, and by Human Resources Minister Diane Finley, who will examine how well Canadians are trained at using and creating new technologies.

This kind of broad perspective is needed. I often find that too many people are confusing specific access technology solutions with requirements. I have written before about how frequently people define their needs in terms of a familiar solution, but that often results in constraints on imagination in developing more creative proposals.

If you go to a hardware store looking for nails, you are never going to consider more advanced, more elegant, perhaps stronger ways to put two pieces of wood together. Nails are only one particular technology that may not always be the best solution.

If we define our broadband needs in terms of a specific technology, we will fail to consider all of the more creative solutions that could possibly be a better fit. So, when people say that we need one particular technology to solve the broadband challenges, we need to find better systems engineers who can more appropriately define the problem in terms of the real requirements.

As Canada approaches its 150th year in 2017, I would like to see a grander vision than just plumbing – especially a focus on a specific broadband access technology. The United States didn’t put people on the moon by saying that it needed to design a Saturn V rocket. That is why we need a broader digital vision – the kind we can hope will emerge from the upcoming consultation. If we think that Canada’s role in the digital economy will be set by just installing plumbing, then we will have nothing more than a high speed outhouse, competing against more broadly based digital strategies.

The 2010 Canadian Telecom Summit opens in two months and it will feature panels looking at International Perspectives on ICT Strategies and progress on the development of Canada’s National Digital Strategy.

Have you registered yet?

Scroll to Top