Gov’t and industry leaders meet in June to discuss need for a national digital media strategy

Industry minister Tony Clement, Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty and industry heavyweights will meet in Stratford ON June 8 for what organizers hope will become a catalyst for spurring both government and industry to embark on a digital media strategy for Canada. Organizers say Canada’s critical mass of expertise and resources in digital media puts the country in a great position to be a global leader – assuming gaps between researchers, industry, and government can be bridged. “What we are building here is an eco-system of digital media capability of which there are many stakeholders and players of which obviously academia and research play a key role as does industry, as does funding,” says Kevin Tuer, VP digital media and managing director of the Canadian Digital Media Network, one of the key organizers of the forum. The network received $10.7 million in federal support through the Centres of Excellence in Commercialization and Research program. Achnored by the Digital Media Convergence Centre and the University of Waterloo’s Stratford Institute, the network is designed to create momentum in Canada’s digital economy through focused commercialization, access to critical resources and strong partnerships between business and research communities. Tuer says the Stratford gathering will “help us understand the strength that we do have in Canada from a digital media perspective”, adding that it is an opportune time for stakeholders to work together for effective policies that will boost Canada as a leader in the digital sector. While he admits that one of the gaps that need to be addressed concerns funding, Tuer notes that a narrow definition of digital media—one that focuses on video and gaming—hampers a holistic understanding of the sector’s diverse role in a variety of sectors, including health, product development and mining. Tom Jenkins, executive chair and chief strategy officer, Open Text Corp. and one of the organizers, echoes Tuer’s concerns about the narrow definition of digital media. “Most people haven’t had the time to really understand the reach and the implications of it all. Usually, when we have discussions, we have discussions from a telecommunications point of view or from a web site point of view or from a regulatory point of view”, he says. The forum, known as the Canada 3.0 Forum, runs from June 8 to 9 and is expected to attract about 800 to 1,000 participants, according to Jenkins. Senior government officials like Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty, federal Industry minister Tony Clement and Ontario’s minister of research and innovation John Wilkinson are scheduled to address the conference. Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO, Research in Motion, and Gary Maavara, VP, Corus Entertainment, are also expected to speak, as well as CRTC chair Konrad von Finckenstein. Organizers hope forum participants will discuss issues about a national digital strategy for Canada, an issue that has gained momentum in the past few months. National Film Board chair Tom Perlmutter and von Finckenstein have called on industry stakeholders to push for a national digital strategy that will allow Canada to effectively tap into the knowledge-based economy. Tuer says such calls recognize Canada’s potential to become a global leader in digital media, adding that what’s lacking is a strategy to ensure resources are effectively directed towards putting together all the ingredients for a digital media strategy. “That’s part and parcel of what the Canada 3.0 forum is there to do. It’s there to come to an understanding on what pieces of the puzzle we do have, identify what we are missing, and basically put together a strategy.” University of Waterloo president David Johnston says having key leaders from the federal and Ontario governments is critical if the forum is to become a launch pad for discussions into a national digital media strategy. “We hope that very quickly following this conference in June 8 and 9 we might see an initiative by government to pull together a group of people who would articulate a national digital media strategy,” says Johnston, who chaired the federal government’s Information Highway Advisory Council in the 1990s. The conference will consist of workshops and discussions that will touch on a variety of digital issues including linking researchers with industry and offering governments an opportunity to influence technology development. A digital boot camp with 28 booths will be set up to educate participants on digital media, including issues on social media, says Jenkins. “It sounds funny but a lot of people don’t know what Twitter is and they don’t know what social media is,” he says.

Gov’t and industry leaders meet in June to discuss need for a national digital media strategy

News | 06/01/2009 5:44 pm EDT

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