As part of its ongoing dialogue efforts, ITAC encouraged Finance Canada at a meeting yesterday to focus on integrating ICT adoption in Canada’s Economic Action Plan as a means to improve Canada’s productivity.

ITAC’s President and CEO Karna Gupta met with a staff member in the Office of the Minister of Finance to promote dialogue between its membership and Finance Canada.  “Our overarching message is that ICT has a significant impact on the economy in terms of jobs and growth.  The adoption of technology is the most effective way to increase our productivity and competitiveness”.

As an example, Mr. Gupta said that measures to incent the use of e-commerce by Canadian businesses might be considered. More specifically, Mr. Gupta said the Government needs to track the impact of changes to the policy on Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) as this has had a significant impact on ITAC members.  As well, he noted that the venture capital industry is struggling, and proposed that ITAC members could provide input on the most effective ways to leverage public and private sector funding.

Detailed discussions with Finance Canada officials are in the planning stages.  As well, ITAC is preparing to participate in pre-budget consultations.

For more information, please contact Cindy Baker (cbaker@itac.ca).