The government’s national AI strategy is largely framed around the notion that Canada has an AI adoption problem. At the launch last month, Prime Minister Mark Carney said that “only 12% of Canadian businesses are using AI today” and presented the strategy as a plan to address concerns that Canada lags behind other countries. AI Minister Evan Solomon echoed the same issue and put a specific number on it, targeting an increase from 12 per cent to 60 per cent. The AI adoption issue helped justify billions in spending and the suite of new legislative reforms. I’m supportive of many of the measures, but a closer look at the statistics and comparisons the government used shows that it relied on outdated data and dubious comparisons. In fact, Statistics Canada had actually released new data on business adoption of AI days before the strategy’s release that placed it at 19.2%, yet the government instead pointed to the older figure of 12 per cent, which made a stronger case that adoption was lagging and that new government support was needed.
Post Tagged with: "statscan"
Statscan Data Points to Canada’s Growing Digital Divide
Statistics Canada released its bi-ennial Internet use survey last week and while much of the immediate reaction focused on the continuing growth of Internet use (due largely to increased usage by those aged 65 and older), my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) argues the bigger story is the ongoing Canadian digital divide that confirms the strong link between household income and Internet use.
Statscan reports that 83 per cent of Canadians use the Internet, yet a closer examination of the data reveals a significant gap that is closely correlated to income. Moreover, the data also shows that Canada’s high wireless prices now play a role in the digital divide, with only a quarter of lower-income Canadians using Internet wireless services.
Statscan Data Points to Canada’s Growing Digital Divide
Appeared in the Toronto Star on November 2, 2013 as Statscan Data Points to Canada’s Growing Digital Divide Statistics Canada released its bi-ennial Internet use survey this week and while much of the immediate reaction focused on the continuing growth of Internet use (due largely to increased usage by those […]
Statscan To Make All Online Data Free
Big news on the open government front where Embassy is reporting that Statistics Canada will make all of its online data free starting early next year.
Statscan Releases Latest Sound Recording Economic Data
Statscan has released its latest data on the state of the recording industry in Canada. The data shows a slight decline in revenues in 2009, but that expenses dropped further, resulting in an increase in operating profit margin to 16.3 percent. Music publishers experienced increases across the board – more […]
Recent Posts
A Surveillance Treaty in Disguise: The Trouble With Canada’s Quiet Decision to Sign the UN Cybercrime Convention 
Rushing Lawful Access Backfires: Wyden Letter on Bill C-22 Highlights Political, Trade and Business Risks 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 276: Information Commissioner Caroline Maynard on Canada’s Access to Information Failures and Why Access Delayed is Access Denied 
Why the Government’s Plan for a Social Media Ban in Bill C-34 Is Unconstitutional 
Outdated Data and Dubious Comparisons: Digging into the Government’s AI Strategy Adoption Claims
