The future is here, but is Canada ready to take advantage of it?
On Feb. 6, global internet giant Google announced it was tripling its workforce to almost 5,000 jobs across Canada. The week before, homegrown Canadian darling, Shopify, announced 1,000 new jobs in Vancouver. Microsoft, Facebook, and Amazon are all hiring. The digital economy generated more than $100-billion in growth last year. And 2019 was a record […]
Innovation never sleeps—and neither should we
The digital era is completely revolutionizing how we live, play, and work. Smartphones, industrial robots, and self-driving cars are just a few examples of how this new landscape is creating unprecedented opportunities—and new challenges, too. From Day 1, our government has made it clear that our intention is to do everything possible to help Canadians […]
Inclusive innovation must be part of a new social contract
Innovation has delivered great social and economic benefits and is necessary to address Canada’s grand challenges, ranging from climate change to opioid addiction to food security. But Ottawa has struggled for decades with how best to encourage innovation. At the same time, innovation is seen as a key contributor to many of the global environmental […]
Navigating the innovation doldrums
Canada’s economy is stuck, as are the economies of other advanced nations. The last two decades yielded only meagre progress in living standards, and there is little reason to expect that the new decade will bring any more success. Certainly, there is no sign of a roaring economy similar to that experienced in the ‘20s […]
Understanding IP and data key skills for leaders in the intangible economy
Generating and protecting data and intellectual property (IP) are critical to business success in today’s innovation and data-driven economy. Today, more than 90 per cent of the value of the S&P 500 is intangible assets. Increasingly then, company value rests in IP and other intangible assets rather than in tangibles like real estate or machinery […]
Whither science in the Canadian ministry?
With the elimination of the standalone science minister in the Trudeau administration, some in the research community have expressed concern that this has downgraded the future of science and its clout within government. But it is worth remembering that science and its constituency have always had continuous partial attention in the cabinet. Almost half a […]
Privacy and data should be a top priority for ‘energetic’ Innovation Minister Bains, say experts
Tackling privacy and data issues should be a key priority for Innovation, Science, and Industry Minister Navdeep Bains as the Liberal government seeks to demonstrate how the newly rejigged department can help individual Canadians, say lobbyists, former departmental officials, and policy experts. But some experts are questioning what role Mr. Bains (Mississauga-Malton, Ont.) and the […]
Innovation
The CRTC, wireless prices and MVNOs: an explainer
OTTAWA—In a week’s time, a panel of CRTC commissioners will meet in a windowless room in Gatineau, Que., to hear from the country’s biggest telecom companies, small and aspiring players, and advocates about how to improve Canada’s wireless market. The most contentious issue of the two-week hearing, and one that the various sides have been […]
Evidence shows Huawei should be allowed a role
TORONTO—If Canada is to take the next big step in the digital economy—moving to the world of ultra, high-speed communications—the Trudeau government must soon decide whether the Chinese telecommunications giant, Huawei, should be allowed to participate. The evidence says Huawei should be allowed a role. Canada has been reviewing its position for some time. In […]
