How do you eat an elephant? Easy – one bite at a time.
It is an old adage, but one that is often forgotten in the face of daunting goals.
I wonder if the release of Canada’s National Digital Strategy has been held up because officials are trying to make it too all-encompassing.
In November 2010, then Industry Minister Tony Clement said the strategy would be released in the Spring of 2011 (i.e. 2 years ago).
This coming spring, we will formally launch our digital economy strategy. It will be a living document, one that will continue to evolve to meet the changing needs of changing times. But it will be an important milestone in Canada’s path to greater competitiveness and innovation.
Now 2 years overdue, as time passes our expectations for the document are also evolving. Three years in the making, some may be expecting the document to be nothing less than an all encompassing recipe book to guide Canada’s participation in a global digital economy.
Look at the breadth of questions for which input was sought 3 years ago when the Digital Economy Strategy consultation was launched:
Consultation Questions
- Innovation Using Digital Technologies
- Should Canada focus on increasing innovation in some key sectors or focus on providing the foundation for innovation across the economy?
- Which conditions best incent and promote adoption of ICT by Canadian business?
- What would a successful digital strategy look like for your firm or sector? What are the barriers to implementation?
- Once copyright, anti-spam and data breach/privacy amendments are in place, are their other legislative or policy changes needed to deal with emerging issues?
- How can Canada use its regulatory and policy regime to promote Canada as a favourable environment for e-commerce?
- Digital Infrastructure
- What speeds and other service characteristics are needed by users (e.g., consumers, businesses, public sector bodies) and how should Canada set goals for next generation networks?
- What steps must be taken to meet these goals? Are the current regulatory and legislative frameworks conducive to incenting investment and competition? What are the appropriate roles of stakeholders in the public and private sectors?
- What steps should be taken to ensure there is sufficient radio spectrum available to support advanced infrastructure development?
- How best can we ensure that rural and remote communities are not left behind in terms of access to advanced networks and what are the priority areas for attention in these regions?
- Growing the ICT Industry
- Do our current investments in R&D effectively lead to innovation, and the creation of new businesses, products and services? Should we promote investments in small start-ups to expand our innovation capacity?
- What is needed to innovate and grow the size of the ICT industry including the number of large ICT firms headquartered in Canada?
- What would best position Canada as a destination of choice for venture capital and investments in global research and development mandates?
- What efforts are needed to address the talent needs in the coming years?
- Canada’s Digital Content
- What does creating Canada’s digital content advantage mean to you?
- What elements do you want to see in Canada’s marketplace framework for digital media and content?
- How do you see digital content contributing to Canada’s prosperity?
- What kinds of infrastructure investments do you foresee making in the future? What kinds of infrastructure will you need in the future to be successful at home and abroad?
- How can stakeholders encourage investment, particularly early stage investment, in the development of innovative digital media and content?
- Building Digital Skills
- What do you see as the most critical challenges in skills development for a digital economy?
- What is the best way to address these challenges?
- What can we do to ensure that labour market entrants have digital skills?
- What is the best way to ensure the current workforce gets the continuous upskilling required to remain competitive in the digital economy? Are different tactics required for SMEs versus large enterprises?
- How will the digital economy impact the learning system in Canada? How we teach? How we learn?
- What strategies could be employed to address the digital divide?
- Improving Canada’s Digital Advantage
- Should we set targets for our made-in-Canada digital strategy? And if so, what should those targets be?
- What should the timelines be to reach these targets?
It was an aggressive shopping list of issues to be addressed from the outset. So much more has been added as the government released all sorts of announcements in the interests of furthering a national digital economy strategy.
Open data? Digital government? Support for new media development? Cyber security? Copyright? E-commerce? Digital wallets? Crowdfunding? Rural and remote community connectivity? Distance education? Computers for low income households? Spectrum policy? Vertical integration? Lawful intercept? Skills development? Digital literacy? e-Health? Anti-spam? Foreign investment reform? National broadband and mobile testbeds and incubators? Support for accessibility tools? Integrated first responder emergency broadband networks? Evolution of 911 emergency access? Digital TV spectrum? Role of CBC? Privacy? Security?
Will the document still be an important milestone along Canada’s path to increased competitiveness and innovation? Have the expectations for the National Digital Economy Strategy become elephantine, so big that we are certain to be disappointed?
At this point, I wonder if a collection of briefs may be better than trying to address every issue all at once in a single magnum opus.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.