Post Tagged with: "paradis"

Canada’s Digital Economy Strategy: The E-commerce Targets Revealed

The government posted its Reports on Plans and Priorities for dozens of departments and agencies yesterday. The Industry Canada report makes for interesting reading as there is a section on the still missing Digital Economy Strategy that includes targets for e-commerce buying and selling in Canada. The department states:

Industry Canada will continue to implement measures in support of the Digital Economy Strategy to accelerate adoption of digital technologies, promote trust and confidence in the online marketplace and foster a globally competitive ICT sector based on a modern legislative framework, a robust digital infrastructure and a digitally skilled workforce.

Leaving aside the fact that there is no digital economy strategy – or at least the government has still not released the long overdue document – the report also includes a target to determine whether the Canadian online economy is “governed by an effective policy and regulatory framework.” The government’s performance indicator is the percentage of Canadians buying and selling online, with the targets set at 43% of Canadians buying and 15% selling.

May 9, 2012 — 4 comments — News

Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before: Digital Economy Strategy Coming Later This Year

Industry Minister Christian Paradis spoke at the Canada 3.0 conference in Stratford yesterday, providing an update on the government’s digital economy plans. Paradis trumpeted some of the measures in the budget as well as the trio of related laws – privacy reform, copyright reform, and anti-spam legislation (which he indicated […]

April 25, 2012 — 6 comments — News

Cutting Community Internet Access Program Highlights Absence of Digital Strategy

The recent federal budget was a hefty 498 pages, but my weekly technology law column (Ottawa Citizen version, homepage version) notes it still omitted disclosing the decision to eliminate funding for the Community Access Program, Canada’s longstanding initiative to provide an Internet access alternative for those without connectivity. The world has changed dramatically since the CAP was first launched in 1995, but the decision to cut it without establishing alternative solutions for low-income Canadians who are not online is a disappointing development that highlights yet again the absence of a national digital strategy from Industry Minister Christian Paradis.

The CAP was once a foundational element in the federal government’s effort to connect Canadians. In the late 1990s, many did not have Internet access at home and wireless data plans were still years away. Today, the majority of Canadians have residential broadband access as well as wireless connectivity through their smartphones or other devices.

The decision to cut the CAP therefore does not come as a surprise.

April 18, 2012 — 9 comments — Columns

Ottawa Foregoes Bold Vision on Telecom

After months of delay, Industry Minister Christian Paradis unveiled the government’s telecom strategy last week, setting out the details of the forthcoming spectrum auction and tinkering with longstanding foreign ownership restrictions. Spectrum allocation and auctions, which focus on the availability of frequencies used to provide wireless services, involves fairly technical questions that few outside the industry follow closely. Yet the impact of spectrum policy has far reaching effects on consumers, since the right policies can foster greater competition, better services, and lower prices.

While the headlines have focused on changes to the foreign ownership rules, my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) echoes my initial post on the decision by arguing the government’s policy choices are rather timid.

March 22, 2012 — 7 comments — Columns

Ottawa Picks Bland Over Bold on Telecom Policy

Appeared in the Toronto Star on March 18, 2012 as Ottawa Foregoes Bold Vision for Telecom After months of delay, Industry Minister Christian Paradis unveiled the government’s telecom strategy last week, setting out the details of the forthcoming spectrum auction and tinkering with longstanding foreign ownership restrictions. Spectrum allocation and […]

March 22, 2012 — Comments are Disabled — Columns Archive