Search Results for: literacy

The UK communications industry regulator, Ofcom, has issued its latest media literacy bulletin [pdf, 383KB], including news of initiatives to increase digital literacy.

There is an article about an initiative called First Click, launched by the BBC, in partnership with the Post Office. It is described as “a major media literacy campaign to encourage those who have never used the internet to take the first steps to get online.”

The bulletin also describes a new social networking safety programme, Safe, for primary schools and a project called Fix the Web, that aims to use crowd sourcing to improve accessibility for visually impaired users.

Increased broadband penetration by stimulating demand. What a novel concept!

There were a couple of interesting stories last week that I found to be related.

First was a report that said that as many as a third of university students at some Canadian schools are unable to pass an English language proficiency exam. The story suggested the blame is spread between insufficient attention to grammar in the schools, coupled with students migrating their texting and social networking shortcuts into papers.

The second story was documenting a finding by the Pew Research Centre that blogging by teens and young adults has declined over the past 3 years. As any of us with that demographic in the household knows, Facebook has become the medium of expression.

I’m not convinced by the researcher’s explanation:

Teens in the U.S. have been told that putting your personal information out there publicly is a very bad idea — that it’s not safe, that people will come and harm you and your reputation. And I think because Twitter is so often used in a public way, teens, given all those cautions, don’t see the utility of it.

I think this is wishful thinking; there is still way too much personal information being shared on too many sites. [As an aside, I am going to ‘un-follow’ people who insist on tweeting the fact they are at Harveys or the bank or wherever; I just don’t care! Mark Evans also questions the viability of Four Square]

Is the decline in blogging, together with a migration to ‘short update’ tools like Twitter or Facebook, related to the decline in language proficiency?

Loosely associated with these articles was a presentation that I attended yesterday by Robert Watson of Sasktel. Among the takeaway messages I learned that Sasktel is expecting an enormous turnover in employees over the next few years due to retirements. The company has been active in area high schools, helping to increase the future labour pool by stimulating more kids to study relevant fields for future employment with the telco. A few years ago, I wrote about the need for us to inspire an innovation generation and I also wrote optimistically about some programs I have seen that are stimulating the pool of candidates.

Now, we need to make sure that we also find kids who can express themselves without resorting to emoticons for punctuation.

Businesses are in business and are supposed to make money. Milton Friedman’s 1970 article in the New York Times, said it succinctly in its title, “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits”.

Businesses do not set out to be non-profits. One might even say that profit – making money – is the primary purpose for any business. In a Harvard Business Review article about the Friedman doctrine, Justin Fox wrote “You might disagree with Milton Friedman’s famous claim that the sole social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. But you can’t deny that it sounds simple and straightforward.”

In the opening segment of a podcast on The Hub, Rudyard Griffiths and Sean Speer discussed “the bizarre reaction from commentators and politicians” to Bell Canada’s recent financial results, “and what it signals about Canada’s policy-making mindset when it comes to big business.”

[Rudyard Griffiths] The key thing here that drove this steep cut by Bell to defend their free cash flow, to defend their dividend, to defend their share price, to defend their ability to access capital, to finance the infrastructure investments they need to make, all goes back to that CRTC decision to allow their competitors onto their fibre networks in Ontario and Quebec, but did not require Bell’s competitors in Western Canada to do the same. This decision effectively, like semi-nationalized these fibre networks on the part of Bell. And you can say ‘That’s great. It will lead to lower prices for fibre in Ontario and Quebec.” OK. It also led to 4,000 job losses and an increasingly difficult situation for Bell to create the free cash flow that it needs to operate as a high dividend yielding business, which is its value-proposition to investors, who give it capital in the first place to do all the things that the government wants it to do.

An open letter from Bell’s CEO described the challenges associated with the transformation of the company.

At Bell Canada every year we can expect to lose over $250 million in legacy phone revenues. At Bell Media, our advertising revenues declined by $140 million in 2023 compared to 2022. Across Bell Media’s news operations, we continue to incur over $40 million in annual operating losses despite having the most-watched network of local TV stations.

Financial illiteracy can be the only explanation for politicians of all stripes drawing a parallel between the $40M annual operating losses at the news operations and $40M in regulatory relief provided to Bell Media.

In the National Post, Terence Corcoran writes, “It’s a toss-up as to which of the two — Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or British Columbia’s NDP Premier David Eby — deserves top billing as the economic and political ignoramus of the month.”

For some reason, the concept of profit seems to have escaped the leaders understanding of business. The opportunity to make a profit is how investors are attracted to a segment. That is how businesses grow, invest in infrastructure, hire people, pay taxes, contribute to the country’s overall economic well-being.

More than a dozen years ago, I asked why profit is dirty word. Canadians need to get over that hang up. We need to celebrate entrepreneurs and investors that want to make money.

Businesses are in business. In business to make money. That’s a good thing.

Could government online safety legislation make it less safe to be online?

The mandate letter for Canada’s Minister of Canadian Heritage includes a section calling for online safety legislation. The challenge is how to do this within a democratic framework. The Heritage website says:

The Government of Canada is committed to putting in place a transparent and accountable regulatory framework for online safety in Canada. Now, more than ever, online services must be held responsible for addressing harmful content on their platforms and creating a safe online space that protects all Canadians.

There is a lot captured in those two sentences.

It sounds good if you say it quickly, but challenges arise when you pause to think about each clause. Putting in place a transparent and accountable regulatory framework? Holding online services responsible for the harmful content on their platforms? Holding the services responsible for creating safe online spaces?

Sri Lanka recently passed an Online Safety Bill [pdf, 130 KB] that has created concerns among civil liberties groups and the US government.

The Sri Lanka bill creates a 5-person Online Safety Commission with the powers and functions (among others):

1. to issue directives to persons, service providers or internet intermediaries, who have published or communicated or whose service has been used to communicate any prohibited statement, requiring them to provide to persons who have been adversely affected by any prohibited statement, an opportunity of responding to such prohibited statement;
2. to issue notices to persons who communicate false statements that constitute offences under this Act, to stop the communication of such statements;
3. to issue directives to persons who communicate prohibited statements under this Act, to stop the communication of any such statements;
4. to issue notices to any internet access service providers or internet intermediary to disable access to an online location which contains a prohibited statement by the end users in Sri Lanka or to remove such prohibited statement from such online location;
5. to refer to the appropriate court for its consideration any communications that may be in contempt of court or prejudicial to the maintenance of the authority and impartiality of the judiciary, and to provide such assistance as may be required from any court in respect of any matter so referred to such court; and,
6. to make recommendations to service providers, internet intermediaries and internet access service providers to remove prohibited statements.

Canadians should be concerned about government over reach on freedoms of expression. [A veteran Member of Parliament introduced a private members bill this past Monday that limits “promotion” of fossil fuels.]

Canada held a public consultation in 2021. At the time, the summary observed that “respondents signaled the need to proceed with caution.”

Writing about the UK’s Online Safety Bill last April, the post explored whether government regulations might actually make it less safe to be online. Concerns with the UK bill included censorship powers over digital speech and content, and the creation of backdoors into encryption systems, which could then be exploited by malevolent actors.

The editor of Telecoms.com observed “Given the degree of technological and ethical illiteracy shown in the drafting of this bill and its passage through the House of Commons, there seems little hope that the Lords will understand what’s at stake.” Ottawa observers might ascribe similar levels of illiteracy to Canadian parliamentarians.

The UK Bill received Royal Assent late last year. Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, has started establishing regulations to enforce the new bill.

As Canada’s government resumes, will it move forward with online safety legislation? Do Canadians have sufficient trust in our government institutions to agree with moving forward?

Will lower cost connections get more people online?

That is the objective of a number of initiatives being offered by telecom companies across the country. Programs provide devices and services to disadvantaged individuals and families.

Long time readers of this blog will recall that Rogers launched its Connected for Success internet program, the first-of-its-kind program in Canada in 2013 in Toronto. The company expanded the program to subsidized tenants and members of housing partners across the Rogers internet footprint in Ontario, New Brunswick and Newfoundland. In 2021, Rogers added new speed options and TV bundles to meet customers’ evolving needs and expanded eligibility to make the program available to more low-income Canadians. Over the past year, the program expanded across Western Canada and Northern Ontario; a new national Connected for Success wireless 5G program was launched.

Rogers offers an array of services branded under Connected for Success. According to Rogers, Connected for Success is available for over 2.5 million eligible recipients of Provincial income support, Provincial disability benefits, Rent-geared-to-income tenants of a non-profit housing partner organization, Seniors receiving the federal Guaranteed Income Supplement, or the Resettlement Assistance Program. In addition, households receiving the Maximum Canada Child Benefit and Maximum Guaranteed Income Supplement are eligible through the federal Connecting Families program described below.

• Rogers Connected for Success 5G mobile plan features: Access to 5G/5G+ network; 3GB (at speeds up to 256 Mbps). Data at reduced speeds thereafter;
  Unlimited Canada-wide talk and text; Unlimited international texting and picture/video messaging from Canada; U.S. & International Preferred Rate included; Call Display with Name Display; Voicemail; Call Waiting and group calling; Access to Roam Like Home; 2,500 Call Forwarding Minutes; and, Spam Call Detect. Customers can also get a no-cost 5G smartphone with financing as long as they keep this mobile plan for 24 months. (Customers can bring their own 5G-enabled device if preferred.)

TELUS offers a portfolio of services branded under“Connecting For Good”:

• Mobility for Good: Mobility for Good for youth provides a free smartphone and plan to youth aging out of foster care, helping them successfully transition to independence. Mobility for Good for seniors provides access to a discounted smartphone and low-cost mobility rate plan for Canadian seniors receiving a Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) amount of $6,500 or more annually, ensuring that they stay connected to loved ones and can access important resources and information.
• Internet for Good: TELUS Internet for Good offers low-cost, high-speed Internet to qualified low-income families and seniors, youth aging out of care and people with disabilities in need.
• Tech for Good: Available nationwide, Tech for Good helps improve quality of life, independence and personal empowerment of people with disabilities by offering customized recommendations and training on assistive technology for mobile devices, computers and laptops.
• Health for Good: TELUS Health for Good initiatives like mobile health clinics and free or low-cost access to TELUS Health MyCare™ counselling and TELUS Health Medical Alert services make healthcare more accessible for marginalized individuals who often face significant barriers accessing quality health care.

Nationally, lower cost connections are available to eligible low income households, branded under the federal government’s Connecting Families Initiative. This program is overseen by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED). The costs are covered by various Internet Service Providers across Canada.

There are 2 plans offered under Connecting Families.

• Plan 1: $10 per month which includes: Up to 10 Mbps download speed; 1 Mbps upload speed; 100 GB of data.
• Plan 2: $20 per month which includes: Up to 50 Mbps download speed; 10 Mbps upload speed; 200 GB of data.

There are Connecting Families service providers nearly everywhere in Canada: Access Communications Co-operative; Beanfield Technologies; Bell Canada (including Bell Aliant and Bell MTS); Cogeco; Coopérative de câblodistribution de l’arrière-pays (CCAP); Hay Communications; Mornington; NorthwestTel; Novus Entertainment; Quadro; Rogers; Rural Net; SaskTel; Tbaytel; TELUS; Vidéotron; and, Westman Media Cooperative.

There are still too many Canadians who aren’t online despite all of these options for lower cost connections for internet and mobile services and devices. As we have discussed before, there are non-price factors inhibiting people from connecting to broadband services.

Alberta recently launched a free digital literacy training program, available in English and French, with 19 courses divided between Basic and Intermediate streams. I’ll have more about this in the coming weeks.

What more do we need to do to get more people online?