It is the beginning of a new year. A chance to make a fresh start.
So perhaps, it is time for us to take a fresh look at a long overdue file, the national digital strategy.
In the absence of a formal national digital strategy statement, it is hard to point to any catastrophic failures in our ability to compete relative to the rest of the world. But that is hardly an encouraging statement of leadership in this era, is it?
Although some like to point to the availability of ultra high speed internet access services in other markets, Canadians are leaders in adoption of social media and spend more time online than others. Canada’s software industry is faring well especially in gaming development and we have a strong application development sector. And the fact remains that most Canadians have access to broadband speeds well in excess of 100 Mbps.
Still, we can do better.
Many people, including many in government, confuse a digital economy strategy with a need to hand out cash for digital infrastructure or other forms of government spending.
I disagree. Releasing a strategy does not need to cost billions of dollars, despite the political attractiveness of a handshake in front of a ceremonial over sized cheque.
As I have written numerous times, the private sector has already been investing in infrastructure to deliver the supply side of the adoption calculus. While digital services adoption is a metric that is commonly used in global rankings, most people seem to focus on only one variable in the calculation. As a result, we have seen billions of tax dollars thrown toward broadband infrastructure in remote regions, with ever diminishing returns. The latest program saw close to $10,000 per household in subsidies, having the effect of permanently disrupting the business case for competitive supply of services.
Government handouts for internet access services should not be part of a digital strategy. Over the years, you may have seen that I am not a fan of most kinds of corporate government handouts.
So what is it that I am looking for?
I would like to see increased activity to promote demand. We need programs to ensure that low income Canadian households have affordable access to a connected home computer. It was nearly 5 years ago that I first suggested that we should consider computers and connectivity as part of Canada’s social safety net. Five years later the need is even greater. A little over a year ago, Greg O’Brien spoke of the embarrassment of relegating so many low-income Canadians away from digital participation.
We need skills development programs to increase the comfort that all Canadians have getting on-line. We need to ensure that all Canadians are able to access government services on-line.
Over the past year, more banks and utility companies started to charge fees to receive a paper bill. As a result, Canadians who can’t afford a computer or internet connection are precisely the ones getting hit with additional monthly charges. That doesn’t seem right.
We can do better.
In 2012, we saw the federal government launch red tape reduction programs, while at the same time preparing to proclaim an overly burdensome anti-spam law. The problem I have with Canada’s anti-spam law is that it goes well beyond stopping spam and will have the effect of inhibiting adoption of digital technologies by small business. A new restaurant or neighborhood business will not be permitted to buy an email mailing list to announce its opening, but can still print thousands of flyers to get dropped off by the post office. Does this make sense? The anti-spam law was prepared without an overall digital strategy and as a result, it contains provisions that over reach, that go beyond targeting spam and extend to restrict electronic commerce.
We can do better.
As we develop digital strategies. we need to make sure that existing programs that allocate funds for Canadian media development continue to be sustainable in a globally interconnected on-line world.
The digital economy strategy consultation was launched with great promise, uniting 3 government departments: Industry, Heritage and Human Resources & Skills Development.
It doesn’t take billions of dollars to enact a digital strategy, but it does require a commitment to follow a path once the strategy is enunciated. We need to start with take a vision statement that makes clear what we want a Digital Canada to look like – and then ensure that we engage in activities to lead us toward that goal.
That is what I want to see. As a country, we can do much better to lead in a digital world.
Is that asking for too much?