Every time I read parts of the report from the Telecom Policy Review panel, I pick up on something else. It continues to validate my view that this is a well thought piece of work with considerable depth.
I noticed a comment in Section 9 this afternoon:
Canadian universities that had been active in the area of telecommunications regulation, notably McGill, Toronto and Simon Fraser, have seen departures of their leaders to other areas of study, retirement or to other countries.
The report’s recommendation 9-2 attempts to address this:
Industry Canada should make a multi-year commitment to fund ongoing policy research to support improved policy making and regulation in the telecommunications and information and communications technology sectors. Research grants should be awarded by a qualified, independent panel, and the research results should be made publicly available in a timely manner.
With the recent cynicism about areas of research such as the mating habits of flying squirrels expressed by Ontario’s Tory leader, I hope a Conservative Minister of Industry takes this issue seriously. It seems to me to be one of the easier recommendations to implement and one that will be able to have both immediate and long term benefits, on our under-funded campuses and for our institutions of government.