Now Canada needs action to build on buzz
Shifting to new kind of economy for 21st century dominates talk up in Alps
DAVOS, SWITZERLAND— As the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum enters its final quarter, there continues to be a lot of buzz about Canada in general and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in particular.
Trudeau had a hectic day Friday that included meetings with international leaders and a session in the grand Congress Hall on gender equality that included Sheryl Sandberg from Facebook and Melinda Gates from the Gates Foundation.
The annual Canadian cocktail party up in the Alps was jammed and the crowd was nothing less than ebullient. My wife, Ana Lopes, and I must have heard people say half a dozen times something to the effect of “you must be so proud of your prime minister.”
Heady times for sure. No doubt the PMO is enjoying it but also fully aware of the concept of a honeymoon. Trudeau also attended a lunch with about 60 people, including many Canadian leaders of business, government and civil society, which turned into a very spirited discussion about Canada’s future.
The lunch was held under strict “Chatham House Rules” so I can’t identify the 20 or so people who spoke. But I am permitted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) to share the gist of the conversation.
Notwithstanding the troubles in the Canadian economy, the tone, interestingly, was one of enthusiasm about the future. One international delegate congratulated the four Canadian ministers present for the aggressive intervention in Davos saying that “The Canadian brand is back on the international stage.”
Virtually every comment made could be described as addressing the challenge of creating a digital innovation economy. It’s understood that the current economic slump is linked to Canada’s reliance on resources industries and that our falling petrodollar only underlines the urgency of shifting to a new kind of economy for the 21st century.
Let me editorialize on the discussion. My opinion is that if we view the task ahead through the innovation economy lens, we can do some great things.
For example, the bold efforts of Canada to move toward carbon neutrality came up several times. To me, these are part of building this new economy. Fighting climate change is not a cost — it’s an investment in new technologies, behaviours and in creating 21st-century, green, high-tech jobs,
Consider the government’s plans of investing in infrastructure. They make a lot of sense. But we can’t just create more of the old infrastructure, we need to embrace the new — for example, developing a national strategy for intelligent, autonomous vehicles.
There was discussion about reinventing the public service for the digital age, which was music to my ears. Several leaders addressed the challenges of talent, changing education and retooling the workforce, not just for today’s skills, but for tomorrow’s. One big theme was how government procurement could stimulate entrepreneurship and competitiveness of Canadian companies to get momentum and grow.
Another theme raised was the need to re-engage Canadian expatriates as a powerful resource in helping Canada expand and be more effective around the world.
One person said that Hong Kong is the fourth largest Canadian city — if you count the number of Canadians living there. Silicon Valley is also deeply populated with Canadians and if Canada develops a vibrant innovation economy, it will be able to get some of them back.
But even if they stay there, they can be effective ambassadors and contributors to Canada. For starters, one civil society leader said, we should reinstate the right of Canadians abroad to vote.
Several people talked about how Canadian firms are not investing in R&D the way they should be, an obvious roadblock on the way to a new economy.
The consensus was that an emaciated dollar is helping us in these challenges, and it was said that the strong dollar cost Canada 7,000 companies by weakening exports. The danger of a weak currency was also cited — that early-stage companies were cheap to acquire by foreign firms.
Thinking about job creation in communities? One minister advised Canada build clusters of excellence around topics such as big data, the internet of things and other disciplines of the fourth industrial revolution (the theme of Davos this year).
To me, nearly every challenge facing the government can be addressed by shifting from a mainly resource to an innovation economy.
Our diversity will help and needs to be reinforced as we reach out better to women and immigrants in order to integrate them into the 21st-century talent pool. We need more girls and young women in the computer science field and we need to fix the male coding culture in our universities and workplaces if we are to attract and keep women.
Canada has the luxury of being selective and is able to get the cream of the crop. According to a recent study by the Education Policy Research Initiative, children of firstgeneration immigrants from the region that includes Syria have a university graduation rate above 90 per cent. And guess what fields they tend to choose? STEM — science, technology, engineering and math — all critical to the digital age.
I got the sense that most in the room were thinking that maybe Canada’s super-positive leader is right and it’s time to get this new party started! Don Tapscott is a bestselling author, most recently of The Digital Economy, adjunct professor at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, and the chancellor of Trent University. He’s reporting on Davos for the Toronto Star. @dtapscott
Our diversity needs to be reinforced as we reach out better to women and immigrants in order to integrate them into the 21st-century talent pool