Ottawa to kick off talks toward strategy on big data

OTTAWA • The Trudeau government will take fresh steps Tuesday towards equipping the country for the rapidly advancing era of big data.

The office of Economic Development Minister Navdeep Bains has sent invita- tions to a launch for what it describes as “national digital and data consultations.”

For months, business leaders and academics have been urging Ottawa to create a national strategy to harness the expanding power of the data-driven economy, which is widely expected to produce big economic gains.

But while data holds vast possibilities that can help all industries — there are also potential pitfalls. Privacy and even democratic fears have grown alongside big data’s promise.

The new frontier has forced policy-makers in different parts of the world to take careful approaches to ensure they shield private data from misuse. The development of tools to protect privacy has become a key concern.

The federal invitation, a copy of which was obtained by The Canadian Press, said the transformative power of artificial intelligence and big data will generate new opportunities for job creation and economic growth.

It also acknowledged that the explosion of data generation is leading to new questions around privacy and security.

“We know that we must continue to support an innovation ecosystem which can evolve, adapt and respond,” the government said in the invitation, which also called for participants to join a roundtable meeting Tuesday in Ottawa that will coincide with the launch of the consultations.