Digital Policy Salon: ICTC Horizon Digital Future Summit February 2022

Canada’s socioeconomic prospects are at a crossroads in this globally competitive landscape. We need to have critical conversations about the choices we face, the trade-offs we make, and the policies we embrace to position Canada on the global stage.

Discover what’s on the horizon for the digital economy at ICTC’s 2022 Digital Future Summit this February, featuring perspectives from global and community leaders on business trends, markets, policy, and best practices.

Internationally renowned keynote speakers, including Dr. Roberta Bondar, the first Canadian woman in space, will kick off this largest virtual summit of its kind. A roster of other insightful keynote presentations will include Johan Rockström, internationally recognized scientist on global sustainability issues; Ron Keller, expert on international financial, economic and geopolitical matters who was the former Dutch Ambassador in Russia, Turkey, China; and Hon. Perrin Beatty, President and Chief Executive Officer Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

ICTC Horizon is the largest virtual summit of its kind, aiming to draw over 3,000 participants, including industry leaders, policy makers, innovative thinkers, and community participants. Spend February 1st and 2nd with us and leave knowing how to prepare for our future. 

You’ll hear diverse perspectives from 50+ global and community leaders that have an eye on the horizon.

We’re not just talking about Q&A sessions. Meet the speakers in exclusive breakout rooms, network with thought leaders, and be part of a real-time discussion about the future of our digital economy.

Keep the conversations going after it’s all done and revisit your favourite talks and content.

Register today for ICTC Horizon to gain exclusive access to global leaders with an eye on our changing economic horizon!

If you’re interested in becoming an ICTC Horizon partner, please contact Tyler Farmer at t.farmer@ictc-ctic.ca.

ICTC overviews are bite-sized summaries of our research. Read all of the ICTC overview series here.

This report examines the top technical skills and soft or human skills required by educators and students in K-12 Canadian schools.

It includes a discussion of the following:

This study extends on ICTC’s 2020 study, Class, Take Out Your Tablets: The Impact of Technology on Learning and Teaching in Canada.

Digital technology use in classrooms has been accelerating over the years. COVID-19 marks a step-change in the digitization of the economy and society.

K-12 students need to become increasingly comfortable with technology to prepare for the future.

Teachers need to develop new skills and knowledge required to fully utilize digital technology (whether in the classroom or in a hybrid classroom/online setting).

Technology can facilitate educational advances by enabling:

Read the full overview here 📝

On October 25th, at 1:30 pm EDT, you’re invited to join ICTC for two world-class presentations on smart health and wellbeing.

​Free, accessible, and equitable healthcare for all is central to Canada’s national identity. Too often, however, healthcare fails to help the people who need it the most. New health and wellbeing technologies help to identify and bridge these care gaps, often providing increased access to underserved communities and creating innovative solutions to complex problems. Paradoxically, however, health technologies sometimes perpetuate inequities. A lack of relevant skills, funds, or infrastructure can hamper adoption. This webinar will explore how Canada can leverage the potential of smart health and wellness to help heal Canadian communities.

​Our distinguished guests are:

Register Today 🗓

On October 13th, at 3 pm EDT, ICTC invites you to join Maya Watson, Research & Policy Analyst at ICTC, and her esteemed subject matter experts for a virtual discussion on the state of Canada’s agricultural technology ecosystem and the sector’s current challenges and future opportunities.

Canada is a force for innovation when it comes to agricultural technologies, be it cucumber-picking robots to variable-rate mating disruption. In 2019, three of Canada’s agri-food tech startups made AgFunder’s top 20 list and the country had the 7th highest total dollar value for new investment deals. To keep Canada’s agtech sector competitive and sustainable, agricultural technology innovation must prioritize farmer input. But often farmers are not involved in the planning and research stages of agtech development. Initiatives such as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s “Living Labs” help bridge the gap between research and implementation by testing emerging technologies “in the context and scale in which they will be adopted: on local farms under real agricultural production conditions.” Private-sector consultations with farmers and partnerships with local companies further support Canada’s unique agtech ecosystem.

Join us to explore important questions, engage with experts, and learn how farmers across Canada are impacting innovation and leveraging technology and data to enhance the fruits of their labour.

Register Today 🗓

Microcredentials—short courses designed to quickly teach new skills or upgrade existing ones—have long been offered by colleges, but the pandemic seems to have kicked their popularity into high gear. “I don’t think a week has gone by recently when I haven’t heard of a college developing a new microcredential, and this is largely a response to the labour market,” says Denise Amyot, president and CEO of Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan). In November of last year, one in four Canadians was considering a career change, according to the LifeWorks (formerly Morneau Shepell) monthly Mental Health Index, which measures the mental health status of employees during COVID across Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Australia. Layoffs and reductions in hours affected many sectors, but lower-income jobs—especially non-unionized workers in retail and hospitality—were particularly hard hit.

The good news is that education is adapting.

Microcredentials are the hot new thing. They cover a broad range of topics and are short enough that people can complete them while studying or working. They’re also often very specifically suited to particular industry needs, meaning that in theory they offer a good payoff in terms of enhancing employability.

Still, as this article points out, the system of recognition for microcredentials in Canada has thus far been a bit of a “patchwork”, leading to confusion about what, exactly, microcredentials are. According to a survey by the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario, however, when given a clear definition of microcredentials, almost a quarter of Canadians would be interested in pursuing them. To help standardize understanding and expectations around micrcredentials, Colleges and Institutes Canada created a National framework for microcredentials.

The energy surrounding microcredentials is in part related to their potential. As the number of jobs individuals are expected to have over their lifetimes grow, the need to rapidly upskill becomes more relevant. Similarly, as technological change advances exponentially, agility becomes more important for educators, students, and workers. So long as new coding languages and social media platforms continue to pop up, there will be demand to learn them. Creating frameworks and ensuring standardization in such a fluid environment may seem counter-intuitive, but these efforts may be the best way to help transform microcredentials momentum into a universally-respected component of modern education.

ICTC offers a range of e-learning courses as part of its programs. You can read more about them here. - Khiran O'Neill

Nathan Snider, Khiran O'Neill, and Trevor Quan discuss the future of work and share some insights from the research behind the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC)‘s recent study on the topic.

British Columbia is a globally recognized hub for creative technology, providing over 10,000 jobs across animation, visual effects, and video games. A report released today by DigiBC, the provincial creative technology industry association, the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC), and B.C.’s Ministry of Advanced Education and Skills Training (AEST) provides new benchmarking data and key recommendations to ensure this sector continues to thrive on a global scale.

This first-of-its-kind report for the sector, Benchmarking the Creative Technology Ecosystem in British Columbia, examines both the job-development potential and demand for talent across animation, visual effects, and video game companies in the province, along with current post-secondary training opportunities.

B.C.’s creative technology ecosystem has flourished since the 1980s to become a key driver of employment in the wider technology sector. B.C. is a global hotspot for video game production, and more recently it has become a hub for film and animation. Currently, creative technology is a key contributor to the B.C. labour market.

As the report outlines, ensuring the continued success of this sector in B.C. relies on access to skilled talent at all levels, creating greater visibility for the sector, fortifying access to financing, and further collaboration between industry and post-secondary institutions.

Read the full study here 📖