Thoughts on Canada 3.0
As a newcomer to the industry, I found Canada 3.0, held in Stratford, ON May 10-11th, a great place to be immersed in ICT culture. It was a golden opportunity to connect with like-minded, highly creative and collaborative people who are shaping the very world we live in. Most importantly, I appreciate the awareness I gained about the major needs unique to the ICT industry:
- increasing homegrown R&D opportunities
-upgrading our digital infrastructure to accommodate digital innovation and Canada as a digital nation
- increasing digital literacy in our youth and current adult workforce
- producing more Canadian content and becoming identifiable globally
-growing the overall Canadian ICT industry
From the perspective of a former educator, I chose to attend the learning stream, as well as the creating stream. What I was looking forward to most was the opportunity to participate in what was being touted as highly interactive breakout sessions to develop immediate action steps to help create a digital economy. But what actually took place was far from being interactive. Each session was essentially a one-way conversation and ended up being a rather large let down. While the speaker panels were clearly stacked against those who were the most active in the industry, I was relieved to see that in each case, the digital savvy panelists ’represented’ and fought through the noise to be heard – at least by the audience.
What amazes me is Canada 3.0 succeeded in pulling together some of the brightest minds in the business, but neglected to use them as a resource. I know the attendees I spoke to also felt the same way. Why was that? If change is truly going to happen then an open dialogue must take place and those making the changes need to feel they have some ownership over the changes they are going to be making.
Maybe next year…
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