Building a Digital Innovation Nation
Ottawa, ON – ICTC recently launched Canada’s first digital talent strategy – Digital Talent: Road to 2020 and Beyond, in partnership with Microsoft Canada, highlighting a critical key to realizing Canada’s potential as a leader in the global digital economy – SKILLED TALENT! With momentum brewing for increased innovation and job growth at the same time as the rise of digital skills shortages and global competition for talent consuming the economic landscape, it is time to move strategy into action to propel Canada into a successful economic and societal future.
To carve an action path for Canada in the digital economy where we can leverage all talent sources, a collective effort among industry, associations, academia, and policy makers is imperative. As such, ICTC, the Entertainment Software Association of Canada and Canada’s Digital Policy Forum, along with an alliance of talent stakeholders, have come together to form three Canadian Leadership Taskforces: Diversity and Inclusion, Education and Skills, and Industry Growth. The national taskforces will work collectively to drive action to achieve, at minimum, the objectives set out in our national strategy and be inclusive of additional impending mandates and strategies for Canada’ s innovation. The taskforces are comprised of leaders across industries, government and education, each making a commitment to be part of the change and support the achievement of at least one of the objectives. Through each taskforce and, by extension, our broader group of talent stakeholders, ICTC will establish measures and provide regular reports on relevant indicators, established actions and best practices.
The Canadian Leadership Taskforce on Diversity and Inclusion will focus on how best to leverage Canada’s diverse talent and actions to ensure companies have the skilled people needed to compete in the global digital economy to support growth and innovation.
The Canadian Leadership Taskforce on Education and Skills will build actions to foster a strong youth pipeline; support workforce upskilling to enhance digital adoption, and strengthen digital literacy and digital skills for Canadians.
The Canadian Leadership Taskforce on Industry Growth will establish actions that position Canada to more effectively attract and retain global digital talent including immigration pathways; accelerate business growth; foster digital entrepreneurship and creativity; strengthen commercialization of R&D to enhance innovation, and build labour mobility pathways to fill high demand occupations.
To support the taskforces, ICTC is also establishing a Talent Alliance with organizations across the country working on key, critical STEM/talent initiatives – to create an inclusive network of partners, collaborators, change agents and innovators, so that together we can truly transform Canada’s social and economic innovation landscape and nurture the next generation and nation of leaders, creators, enablers, builders and innovators to strengthen Canada. The Talent Alliance will review the taskforce actions to identify areas where there are common interests or existing initiatives to leverage to achieve the proposed actions. Stay tuned for more information about the Talent Alliance. If you are interested in joining the alliance, please contact Sandra Saric, Vice President, Talent and Innovation, s.saric[at]ictc-ctic[dot]ca.
For more information on the national taskforces and to MEET OUR LEADERS, please visit: http://www.ictc-ctic.ca/canadian_leadership_taskforces/
Media Inquiries:
Stephanie Wilson
Director, Strategic Outreach
613-237-8551 ext.147
s.wilson[at]ictc-ctic[dot]ca
