Andy Carvin's Waste of Bandwidth

Canada: Policy and Practice in Bridging the Digital Divide

Susanne Stein presents at the Hong Kong conference

Susanne Stein of EverydayLife.org and the Canadian Film Center gave an overview of Canada’s efforts to bridge the digital divide. “Canada has been consumed with a preoccupation with the information society,” she said, as the country has declared its dedication to making ICT access as inclusive as possible. Because of Canada’s enormous size, ICTs are vital to keeping its people connected. The country is fortunate to have high levels of venture capital funding for investment in ICT innovations, leading to many initiatives across the country.

Canada is a world leader in Internet and broadband access, though surprisingly its level of cell phone penetration is lower than some western countries, with a level of less than 40%. About 80% of the country has been deployed for broadband. Much of this was due to a 1997 broadband taskforce that sought to extend broadband to all communities. Today, half of all homes with Internet access in Canada use broadband; only Korea’s broadband levels are higher.

ICTs have had a major impact on Canada. In 2002, there were $13.3 billion in e-commerce sales, while in terms of education, Canada ranks first in terms of online course availability and 2nds and overall courses online worldwide. Canada’s e-government initiatives are also regarded as some of the best; according to Accenture, only Singapore rates higher in e-government services deployment. Canada’s Government Online initiative has spent nearly $300 million on e-government deployment, and now nearly 50% of Canadian users have used e-government services.

Stein concluded by presentation by quoting former Prime Minister Chretien: “In the 21st century, our economic and social goals must be pursued hand-in-hand. Let the world see in Canada a society marked by innovation and inclusion, by excellence and justice.”

Posted by acarvin at May 10, 2004 11:51 PM | TrackBack