Ontario ready to lend support for national digital strategy: McGuinty

If recommendations for a national digital strategy are embraced by the federal government, Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty says he’s ready to lend his government’s support and collaborate with his federal counterparts to make Canada a leader on digital issues. “First of all, I think if we put our ear to the ground so to speak, we will quickly conclude that there is a parade that’s forming. It’s taking place virally. I think our responsibility in a position of leadership is to jump to the front of that parade and lend some direction to it,” McGuinty said Tuesday in response to a question from Tech Media Reports on the final day of the Canada 3.0 conference in Stratford, Ont. The conference, dubbed as “one of a kind”, was organized by the Canadian Digital Media Network and industry heavyweights, who hope it will become a launch pad for discussions and creation of a national digital strategy. McGuinty’s comments echo a statement by federal industry minister Tony Clement, who on Monday, promised to work with industry leaders to develop a made-in-Canada digital strategy. However, McGuinty suggested that a national digital strategy is best executed when there is collaboration between provinces and the federal government. “So the purpose of this conference is to come up with recommendations that will serve as the foundation for a national digital media strategy. We will continue to do in Ontario everything we can on our own but we’d love to be part of a broader national effort,” he said. Earlier in a keynote address to the conference, McGuinty said digital media has always been a priority for his government as a vehicle for spurring economic growth, adding that Ontario has invested $3.2 billion overall to support research and innovation. “It’s why we have tax incentives such as the Ontario Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit. It’s why we have the Ontario Media Development Corporation,” he said. John Wilkinson, research and innovation minister for Ontario, said his ministry looks forward to recommendations from the conference on Canada’s digital path. “We are proud to play our role, we look forward to their response but people shouldn’t have any misunderstanding. We’ve been doing this for four years in Ontario and we are going to continue. As the premier said, a national strategy would be better, but without one it doesn’t mean that we are actually going to take our foot off the gas,” he told Tech Media Reports. The conference had five working sessions in which participants recommended policy for the government on a slew of digital issues. It is expected that one of the key recommendations would be calling on the government to create a national digital strategy. Industry leaders in the digital sector are pushing the federal government to embrace a national digital strategy. On Monday, Industry minister Tony Clement said the federal government will host a digital conference on June 22. Bernard Courtois, president and CEO of the Information Technology Association of Canada, told participants on Monday that the meeting was initiated by Mike Lazaridis, president and co-CEO, Research in Motion (RIM). According to Courtois, about 15 industry leaders met Clement to discuss hosting the conference, which will be held in Ottawa. But as discussions on a national digital strategy dominated, attention quickly turned on the role of universities and other institutions of high learning. In closing remarks, Ian Wilson, strategic advisor for the University of Waterloo’s Stratford Institute said academia is a “test lab for 3.0” and Canadian institutions have to embrace digital issues more aggressively. “Our institutions need help to catch up and learn how to adapt to it,” said Wilson, who recently retired from the post of Librarian and Archivist of Canada. “We have to mobilize our knowledge resources, and get them off the shelf.” Lazaridis said universities are crucial because that’s where talent exists. To spur growth, major investments must be directed at the high tech sector and universities, he said. Discussion also focused on the challenges universities and colleges face on digital issues. Jeannette Kopak, director, business development and corporation at the Centre for Digital Media in B.C., said in an interview that most universities have already embraced digital but are likely to face problems in changing their curricular fast enough to embrace a holistic definition of digital. “I think what schools are going to have to do is that schools are just going to have to recognize that digital media is everywhere, technology is changing fast and they are going to be agile enough to adapt and integrate digital media into their curriculum.” Digital centres, such as the University of Waterloo’s Stratford Institute, are a good idea but Kopak cautions against having too many of them arguing that the population dynamics in Canada just don’t support it. “I think you need to create centres for specific things but I think the most important thing is to network the centers because Canada is a really small country and we can’t have competing centres,” she said, adding that digital centres are set to be established at Ryerson University, in Quebec, Alberta, and B.C.

Ontario ready to lend support for national digital strategy: McGuinty

Broadcast | June 10, 2009

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