ITAC Releases ‘Canada’s Networks and the Digital Economy’ Study

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News Release

 

Increased Use of Digital Technology Critical to Vibrant Economy in Canada

Toronto, Ontario: November 13, 2013. Canada’s digital networks are clearly among the best in the world, and our national focus should be on increasing the usage of advanced technology by Canadian business, according to an extensive study—‘Canada’s Networks and the Digital Economy’—released today by the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC). The study examines the extent of Canada’s high-speed networks, and concludes that the country is at, or near, the top of the global class in terms of household penetration, broadband connectivity, and web usage. Despite that infrastructure and consumer adoption rate, Canadian business—particularly small/medium businesses (SMBs)—has been slow to invest in hardware, software, and employee training in ICT.

“Canada has everything in place to allow consumers to take advantage of the benefits of greater connectivity, such as access to government services, healthcare, education, and other critical sources of information,” says Karna Gupta, ITAC President and CEO. “It is essential for the country to have a robust marketplace that encourages investment in network facilities so that telecommunications choices are available to Canadian businesses as well as consumers.”

The study concludes that government should focus on the broad, transformative goal of driving technology adoption across all sectors of the economy, but especially the adoption of online and other digital tools by SMBs.

“It is clear that Canada is extremely well positioned to be a world leader in the digital economy,” says Gupta, “but the lag in adoption by SMBs needs to be addressed. This study makes it very clear what is required, and ITAC would be pleased to work with government to flesh out the picture and discuss what is needed to address the situation.”

The study is available at itac.ca.

About ITAC:

The Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) is the voice of the Canadian information and communications technologies (ICT) industry. ITAC represents a diverse ICT community spanning telecommunications and internet services, ICT consulting services, hardware, microelectronics, software and electronic content. ITAC’s community of companies accounts for more than 70 per cent of the 572,700 jobs, $155.3 billion in revenue, $6.2 billion in R&D investment, $30.4 billion in exports and $11billion in capital expenditures that the ICT industry contributes annually to the Canadian economy. The ICT sector currently represents 4.9 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) and accounted for 9.4 per cent of all real GDP growth since 2002. ITAC is a prominent advocate for the expansion of Canada’s innovative capacity and for stronger productivity across all sectors through the strategic use of technology.

 

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For further information, please contact:

Lynda Leonard

Senior Vice President, ITAC

(613) 238-4822 ext. 2223