More than 60 leaders who shape Canada’s ICT industry will speak at The 2017 Canadian Telecom Summit, June 5-7 in Toronto. The event will include over a dozen keynote addresses offering insights into the future of Canadian ICT, examining the services, technologies, consumer & business trends and regulatory & policy initiatives that drive the information economy.

This year, in addition to the ever popular Regulatory Blockbuster, we are featuring sessions devoted to:

• Cyber Security;
• Disruptive Innovation;
• Customer Experience Management;
• Network Innovation & Service Integrity;
• Advanced Mobility & IoT.

With so much public attention focused on telecommunications & broadcast issues, no other event is quite like The 2017 Canadian Telecom Summit in covering the industry from every angle.

Now in its 16th year, The Canadian Telecom Summit has become Canada’s most important annual ICT event, attracting attendees from around the world.

For 3 days, The Canadian Telecom Summit delivers thought provoking presentations from the prime movers of the industry. This is your chance to hear from and talk with them in both a structured atmosphere of frank discussion and high-octane idea exchange and network in a more relaxed social setting of genial conversation.

After being immersed in a full program of keynotes and panel discussions, plan to attend our not-to-be-missed Cocktail Reception. This is a chance to unwind, enjoy some delicious food & drink, catch up with colleagues and make new professional acquaintances.

Come meet with leaders from services and equipment suppliers, applications developers, policy makers, regulators and major customers.

Book your seat early.

The Canadian Telecom Summit is the only event you need to attend. For the complete agenda, visit the conference website or download the brochure.

Save $250 by registering before May 1.

Special Networking Events: All participants are invited to join us for our annual cocktail reception Monday evening, June 5.

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Continuing Professional Development: Time spent attending substantive sessions at The Canadian Telecom Summit can be claimed as “Substantive Hours” toward the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements.

For years, I have found the issue of technological neutrality in legislation to be a fascinating area.

Eleven years ago, I wrote about “Illegal content on the internet,” looking at how the industry needed to find ways to tackle child abuse images on the internet.

Carriers are not being asked to be censors. Canada already has laws that forbid certain types of content. If the illegal content is in printed form, our customs agents confiscate it at the border. If these existing laws are to have meaning, we should be taking steps to close the digital loophole.

There are numerous cases where we treat digital content differently from the same material in print form. Generally, those differences result in more lenient regulation of digital content than the print equivalent. The most significant exception to this rule is commercial marketing messages, which are subjected to extremely harsh legislative restriction in electronic form (For a discussion of CASL, see “Snacking on digital policy,” from 3 years ago), but are freely distributed in paper form.

European states, such as Germany, have been closing its digital loopholes for more than a decade. In 2006, I wrote about an EU directive requiring that service providers retain “data necessary to trace and identify the source of a communication” in order to provide law enforcement officials with access to the same information they would have in a paper environment. In 2008, I noted that France ordered ISPs to block hate content. In 2009, I wrote that Germany took steps to protect copyright for content on the internet. At that time, I asked “Are Europeans going to lead in treating digital and conventional content within a technology neutral legal framework?”

Earlier today, Reuters reported “German cabinet agrees to fine social networks over hate speech.” The report attributes to Justice Minister Heiko Maas the statement: “There should be just as little tolerance for criminal rabble rousing on social networks as on the street”.

Why do we still treat the digital world differently?

A few months ago, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains said “The digital economy is the economy.” He is right.

Perhaps in recognition of the transition of the economy, Canada’s recent Budget promised a review of the legislation that governs the internet:

To ensure that Canadians continue to benefit from an open and innovative Internet, the Government proposes to review and modernize the Broadcasting Act and Telecommunications Act.

In this review, the Government will look to examine issues such as telecommunications and content creation in the digital age, net neutrality and cultural diversity, and how to strengthen the future of Canadian media and Canadian content creation.

As part of that review, Canada might consider exploring those areas in which the digital economy receives different treatment from legacy and determine whether each of the distinctions are appropriate.

The word “innovation” is at the core of the Trudeau government’s economic policy, appearing 368 times in the budget released 2 weeks ago [pdf, 2.6MB]. The term is part of the new name for Canada’s industry department.

So it shouldn’t be surprising that innovation figures prominently in Canada’s business community. The communications and information technology and services sector is no different. The theme for The 2017 Canadian Telecom Summit [June 5-7, Toronto] is “Competition, Investment and Innovation: Driving Canada’s Digital Future.” The event will explore what drives a more innovative economy, with leading thinkers examining the subject from various angles.

Dan Breznitz, Munk Chair of Innovation Studies, will be speaking June 5. On June 6, Len Waverman, Dean of the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University, will host a panel discussion including Christine Calvossa, Deputy CIO of the FCC and Jack Mintz, President’s Fellow at the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy. And wrapping up on June 7, Namir Anani, CEO of the Information and Communications Technology Council, will host a panel that includes Jacques Magen, Chairman of Celtic-Plus EUREKA cluster, who will be able to share perspectives from Europe.

The full agenda for The 2017 Canadian Telecom Summit is available at the conference website, or you can download a printable brochure.

Have you registered yet?

For three full days, The Canadian Telecom Summit delivers thought provoking presentations from the prime movers of Canada’s information and communications technology and services industry. The Canadian Telecom Summit gives you the chance to hear from and talk with them in both a structured atmosphere of frank discussion and high octane idea exchange and schmooze in a more relaxed social setting of genial conversation.

The leadership of the telecom, broadcast & IT industries will converge at the Toronto Congress Centre to discuss the key issues and trends that will impact this critical sector of the economy. Join more than 400 of your peers, suppliers, policy makers, regulators, customers and competitors in attending telecom’s most important gathering.

The past year has witnessed the release of a number of significant regulatory and policy decisions that are certain to impact telecommunications and broadcasting industries for years to come. The government is calling for a review of the Broadcast and Telecom Acts. That is why we are so happy that our speakers at The 2017 Canadian Telecom Summit will once again include the regulatory and government affairs leaders who will influence the direction taken in this legislative reform. They join more than 70 other industry leaders.

Why not plan on joining them from June 5 to 7?

The Canadian Telecom Summit has become the place for Canada’s ICT leaders to meet, interact and do business, inspired by high-octane interaction, top-level keynote speakers and thought-provoking panel discussions.

These companies and many more will all be at The Canadian Telecom Summit.

You should be there too. Register today!

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Continuing Professional Development: The time spent attending substantive sessions at The 2017 Canadian Telecom Summit can be claimed as “Substantive Hours” toward the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements.

For the first time in recent memory, the Federal Budget [pdf, 2.6MB] released yesterday looks at measures to increase adoption of internet services. Typically, the government has allocated money toward stimulus of rural and remote broadband, without considering the more significant challenge of increasing the demand side in urban and rural communities.

Open Media was quick to criticize the lack of additional funding, “It’s a real letdown to see the government discuss innovation without any new funding commitment for Internet infrastructure, despite the CRTC’s historic ruling in December that every Canadian should have affordable, reliable Internet access.” However, the budget maintains the $500M in support for rural internet infrastructure announced last year, the vast majority of which is set for spending beginning in the 2018-19 fiscal year. In addition, the CRTC established its own rural internet support programme, setting up $750M in new funding, so it is difficult to see how the Federal Government could have responsibly gone beyond its current level of commitment.

I have said before, what is needed most from Ottawa doesn’t take money, we needs leadership. Yesterday’s Budget is promising from the perspective of starting to say the right things and starting to send the right signals.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Canada is tied for 8th out of 75 countries in terms of Internet inclusivity. Canada does particularly well on measures of Internet affordability—ranking first overall. Canada is also successful in terms of Internet quality and availability and in terms of having local and relevant Internet content. An area where Canada can improve, however, is by addressing digital divides that result in some Canadians being underserved by the digital economy. The Digital Literacy Exchange and Accessible Technology Development programs proposed in Budget 2017 will enable Canada to make progress in this important area.

An entire section of the Budget is entitled “Making Home Internet Access More Affordable for Low-Income Families”

Since 2008, the pages of this blog have been calling for government leadership to promote low income options for internet service and home computers. Income verification has been among the biggest challenges for service providers that wanted to offer a discounted service to low income households. Up until now, the Federal Government was unwilling to help, leading service providers to work with provincial and municipal agencies to identify qualifying households. The Budget represents the first time the Federal government has acknowledged its role in promoting such solutions.

Access to the Internet opens up a world of opportunities—from social connections with friends and family to new ways to learn and work. Most Canadians are already online, but many low-income families face financial barriers to access, such as the cost of purchasing a computer and the high cost of an Internet connection at home.

Budget 2017 proposes to invest $13.2 million over five years, starting in 2017–18, in a new Affordable Access program, which will help service providers offer lowcost home Internet packages to interested low-income families.

As the cost of computer hardware is also a barrier for some families, a target of 50,000 computers refurbished through the existing Computers for Success Canada program will also be distributed to families, along with the low-cost Internet packages.

In October, I wrote “Building a broadband research agenda,” calling for “serious research into why people don’t subscribe to broadband.” The budget has allocated $5M to begin the process.

To better understand how Canadians use digital technology, Budget 2017 also proposes to allocate $5 million over five years, starting in 2017–18, for Statistics Canada and private sector-led surveys on the impact of digital technology in Canada.

The Budget also promises “to review and modernize the Broadcasting Act and Telecommunications Act.”

In this review, the Government will look to examine issues such as telecommunications and Canadian content creation. Further details on the review will be announced in the coming months. s review, the Government will look to examine issues such as telecommunications and content creation in the digital age, net neutrality and cultural diversity, and how to strengthen the future of Canadian media and Canadian content creation. Further details on the review will be announced in the coming months.

I have written before that Canada is long overdue for a review of digital policy matters. Recall that the Telecom Policy Review panel called for a fresh look every 5 years. That was in 2006.

I try to be a “glass half-full” kind of guy, tainted with a healthy measure of cynicism. Canada’s telecom policy has been drifting aimlessly for more than a decade, with random measures introduced into legislation absent a cohesive digital strategy. In other posts, I have suggested that Ottawa has delivered “Inconsistent messages; predictable turmoil.” But I am optimistic that a new review of legislation will provide the opportunity for a fresh start.

A year ago, I wrote “Overdue for digital leadership.” Are we now getting onto the right track?

As I have suggested before: Set clear objectives; Align activities with the achievement of those objectives; Stop doing things that are contrary to the objectives.