Clement announces digital strategy consultation, says ‘this will not be done overnight’

STRATFORD, Ont.—The federal government will draw up a digital economy action plan with the collective input of stakeholders and the public, but the plan could take up to 18 months to develop, Industry Minster Tony Clement said at the Canada 3.0 conference Monday. “This will not be done overnight or on the back of an envelope,” he said. “Other countries have tentatively taken between six and 18 months to develop their strategies. We want to conduct due diligence and make sure the strategy reflects what we have heard and make sure we get this right.” On Monday, the government launched a two-month public consultation period to inform the action plan. Industry Canada, Canadian Heritage and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada will take part in the public consultations. They are the culmination of more than a year of consultation by the federal government. In June 2009, Clement announced that a digital economy action plan would be launched in the fall of 2009, but it did not materialize. Clement said Monday that the country is falling behind internationally and that he has made the digital economy a personal priority. “How is Canada doing at integrating into our economy? The truth is, not great,” he said. “At the moment, Canada is at the middle of the pack of member countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development , in terms of how rapidly we adopt digital technologies, the strength of our industry, and the speed and price of our online infrastructure. Frankly that’s not good enough.” To build its digital strategy, the government will collect public input through online and formal submissions until July 9, 2010. According to the government’s consultation website, launched Monday, the government will be hosting a select number of roundtable meetings “in conjunction with already planned stakeholder conferences.” The details for these meetings have yet to be released. The government will also hold provincial and territorial meetings to “help build a consensus on what needs to be done.” During a speech at the conference, Clement said the first step toward a digital strategy is to identify areas of focus. Clement pinpointed issues such as broadband access, Canadian content and spectrum management, but the government is keeping its priorities open. “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?” asks the consultation document. The consultation document divides issues for discussion into five sections: capacity to innovate using digital technologies; building a world-class digital infrastructure; growing the information and communications technology industry; creating Canada’s digital content advantage; and building digital skills for tomorrow. Speaking at the Canada 3.0 Forum Monday, CRTC chairman Konrad von Finckenstein said Canada is in need of a digital strategy to improve national productivity and competitiveness. Von Finckenstein called for “new comprehensive legislation for the whole field of communications.” He also called for a review of regulatory practices. “Our old concepts of regulation increasingly will not apply in a digital world that is free of boundaries. Tools like licensing, access control and quotas may come to be of limited or no use. And they may become less and less enforceable,” he said. Bernard Courtois, president and CEO of the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC), told The Wire Report he is pleased with the discussion paper. “We’re very happy to see that Minister Clement, Minister Finley and Minister Moore are involved,” he said. “We think it is a comprehensive discussion paper … We’re glad to hear that Helen McDonald is saying it’s going to be around the fall to wrap this up.” Courtois said the consultations should touch on next-generation broadband networks, innovation, productivity, research and development, government involvement and e-health. Foreign ownership in the Canadian telecommunications sector is referred to once in the consultation document—noting the government’s commitment to loosen the rules and hold consultations. “Foreign ownership restrictions have been identified as a priority area of concern in the past and will receive renewed government scrutiny,” it says. “In the coming months, the Minister of Industry will indicate the steps to be taken in regard to pursuing further liberalization in this sector.” The consultation document also raises the issue of spectrum allocation as the government plans to provide spectrum for mobile broadband services. “The demand for spectrum is expected to increase due to the explosive growth predicted in wireless broadband usage,” the document says. “In order to meet these demands, Industry Canada intends to provide access to additional spectrum through re-purposing the 2500 MHz band to allow flexible use, including mobile broadband services, and making available the 700 MHz band for next-generation wireless as the analogue broadcast services are transitioned to digital television in 2011. Consultations are also planned for the 70, 80, 90 GHz bands and the 1.4 GHz band for broadband use.” Copyright reform, on which the government held consultations last summer, will not be a large component of the digital economy consultations. The government intends to introduce a copyright reform bill this spring. Norm Bolen, president and CEO of the Canadian Film and Television Production Association (CFTPA), told The Wire Report that he is pleased with the focus on content creation. “I think this is a good start,” he said. “A lot of the discussion in the past several about a digital media strategy focused on infrastructure … But there has been very little focus on content. We believe we have a great opportunity to create jobs and economic activity around content.” Bolen said the government should reconsider its current funding models for content. “We don’t want to kill the old industries like television and film. But we need to put more emphasis on supporting the transition into the digital realm,” he said. “When we talk about infrastructure, one of the key issues is the inability of our content creation companies, our entrepreneurs, to capitalize their businesses.” Speaking at a panel on fibre networks, Hélène Joncas, chief strategy officer of Canada's Advanced Research and Innovation Network (CANARIE), said infrastructure should be an important part of the consultations. “There are jurisdictions that invested when they did their infrastructure program. I think there was a missed opportunity here,” she said. The government is strapped for fiscal resources, however. When asked about federal government funding at a news conference Monday, Clement said it is not the issue. “When I talk to university presidents, they say to me, ‘Your funding from government, that’s not the main issue anymore. You are funding enough.’ Now what we have got to do is take it to the next level and make sure that our output is adopted by society,” he said. “That’s not just dollars and cents in the business world.” kfournier@thewirereport.ca

Clement announces digital strategy consultation, says ‘this will not be done overnight’

Broadcast | May 10, 2010

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