Ontario wants data to drive economic growth
Protecting privacy key in developing data strategy, minister says during Waterloo visit
WATERLOO — The Ontario government is developing a provincial data strategy that seeks to promote economic opportunities while protecting people’s privacy.
“We recognize that data is a key resource with limitless potential, and we’re developing a strategy to help us drive growth in the digital economy,” Government and Consumer Services Minister Bill Walker said Tuesday during a visit to Magnet Forensics in Waterloo.
The government is seeking public input via an online survey until March 7.
“We want to hear from the people to get a better understanding of how we can drive innovation and unlock economic opportunities for people and businesses in Ontario,” Walker said.
“At the same time, we are committed to safeguarding data privacy and building a better, smarter, more accountable government.”
Walker said his government also plans to create a Minister’s Task Force on Data. Input from the survey and the task force will develop a draft strategy document that will be subject to additional public consultation before it’s finalized.
The strategy will be guided by core principles, “which include a focus on ensuring that data privacy and protection is absolutely paramount, and that data will be kept safe and secure,” said Walker.
“World-leading” privacy protections are necessary to ensure public trust and confidence in an environment full of emerging risks. But businesses must be able to leverage the commercial value that data can offer, he said. Government can also use datadriven technologies to improve services and efficiency.
Walker’s host Tuesday, Magnet Forensics, specializes in digital investigative technology used by law enforcement, military, government and corporate clients for everything from child exploitation investigation to intellectual property cases.
“A successful data strategy for Ontario can unlock economic opportunity in the form of new businesses, quality job creation as well as the transformation of essential public services like policing, education and health care while reducing their cost to taxpayers,” Magnet’s chief executive officer, Adam Belsher, said in a news release.
“These objectives can be achieved in a manner that also respects citizen’s privacy.”