Survey results from the MyPolitics Canada iPhone application from Purple Forge for April 3, 2010:
If a Federal election was held today, which party would you vote for:
- Conservatives
- Liberal
- NDP
- Green
- Bloc
- Other
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Canadian Federal Party Poll – April 3, 2010
April 3, 2010
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Smart Phones, New Politics
January 10, 2010
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Business, Canada, Canadian Politics, Ecosystems, Entreprenuerism, General Interest, Government, Government Policy, Innovation, Jobs, Local Start-ups, New Media, Nortel, Ontario, Opportunities, Ottawa, Ottawa Start-ups, Regional Economic Development, Sales, Silicon Valley, Technology, Trends, United States, US, US Politics, Web 2.0
Ottawa University #8 in Research Income in 2008
November 10, 2009
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Research Infosource published a report titled “Canada’s Top 50 Research Universities List 2009 Analysis“.
Ottawa University came in #8… unfortunately Carleton University didn’t make the list.
Pharmaceuticals to Replace Telecom as Canada’s Top R&D Spenders?
November 10, 2009
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RESEARCH Infosource released a report last week titled “Canada’s Top 100 Corporate R&D Spenders List 2009 Analysis“
Canada’s communications/telecom sector was the number one R&D spend – with 2008 research spending on associated products and services representing 40% of total industrial R&D. Of the top 100 R&D performers, 15 were from the communications/telecom sector.
In 2008, Nortel was the number one R&D spender. Nortel spent more on R&D than number 2 Bell and number 3 Magna combined.
Next year’s report will likely see the pharmaceutical sector replace communications/telecom products as the leading performer of R&D in Canada. According to RESEARCH Infosource -
The full effect of the deteriorating world economy will be reflected in next year’s Fiscal 2009 corporate R&D spending results. It is hard to envisage better overall performance than in 2008. For one thing, it appears that Canada’s perpetual R&D spending leader (Nortel Networks) will be absent from the list in 2009. In consequence, total corporate R&D spending will undoubtedly be affected – in a downward direction.
The full report from RE$EARCH Infosource is available here and is worth reading.
U.S. Imports from Canada down 50%
November 8, 2009
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Import declines seem to have hit bottom and are now on the way up.
Key Economic Indicators
November 7, 2009
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CIBC publishes two documents that provide a good summary of key economic indicators for US and Canada:
The Economist publishes weekly indicators.
BMO publishes three reports:
US at 17.5% Unemployed and Underemployed
November 7, 2009
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The New York Times published an article on November 6th that talked to the point that the “broader measure of unemployment stands at 17.5%“.
The 17.5% rate includes the officially unemployed, who have looked for work in the last four weeks. It also includes discouraged workers, who have looked in the past year, as well as millions of part-time workers who want to be working full time.
The actual rate of underemployment may be even higher since the official government definitions and measures of unemployment miss other underemployment cases.
According to wikipedia, in economics, the term underemployment has three different distinct meanings and applications. All meanings involve a situation in which a person is working, unlike unemployment, where a person who is searching for work cannot find a job. Underemployment can mean:
- The employment of workers with high skill levels in low-wage jobs that do not require such abilities, for example a trained medical doctor who works as a taxi driver.
- “Involuntary part-time” workers — workers who could (and would like to) be working for a full work-week but can only find part-time work. By extension, the term is also used in regional planning to describe regions where economic activity rates are unusually low, due to a lack of job opportunities, training opportunities, or due to a lack of services such as childcare and public transportation.
- “Overstaffing” or “hidden unemployment”, the practice in which businesses or entire economies employ workers who are not fully occupied—for example, workers currently not being used to produce goods or services due to legal or social restrictions or because the work is highly seasonal.
Former U.S. labour secretary Robert Reich has said that he believes the Unofficial U.S. jobless rate could be as high as 20%.
Related:
H1N1 Useful Links
November 6, 2009
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Social Networking + Mobile = Next Killer App
October 26, 2009
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Morgan Stanley recently published data on key economy and internet trends. The presentation is available online at various locations, including SlideShare below:
Some key highlights:
- Mobile internet usage will be bigger than most think
- Apple Mobile share should suprise on upside near-term
- Next generation platforms (social networking + mobile) driving unprecedented change in communications + commerce
Social “Things” and E-democracy
October 26, 2009
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Social networks and services offer interesting possibilities for the future of e-democracy.
E-democracy is a combination of the words “electronic” and democracy.” E-democracy represents the use of information and communication technologies and strategies by democratic actors within political and governance processes of local communities, nations and on the international stage. Democratic actors/sectors include governments, elected officials, the media, political organizations, and citizen/voters.
To many, e-democracy suggests greater and more active citizen participation enabled by the Internet, mobile communications, and other technologies in today’s representative democracy as well as through more participatory or direct forms of citizen involvement in addressing public challenges.
E-democracy is a relatively new concept, which has surfaced out of the popularity of the internet and the need to reinvigorate interest in the democratic process. Access is the key to creating interest in the democratic process. Citizens are more willing to use Web sites to support their candidates and their campaign drives. In the United States just over half of the population vote, and in the United Kingdom only 69% of English citizens do so.
The goal of e-democracy is to reverse the cynicism citizens have about their government institutions. A key element of moving towards e-democracy is increasing the ability of citizens to engage their representatives to share their suggestions and opinions in a dynamic manner.
E-democracy is the first step in moving towards participatory democracy.
Participatory democracy, is a process emphasizing the broad participation of constituents in the direction and operation of political systems. Participatory democracy strives to create opportunities for all members of a political group to make meaningful contributions to decision-making, and seeks to broaden the range of people who have access to such opportunities. Because so much information must be gathered for the overall decision-making process to succeed, technology may provide important forces leading to the type of empowerment needed for participatory models, especially those technological tools that enable community narratives and correspond to the accretion of knowledge.
Both e-democracy and participatory democracy will evolve in steps. Each day we see government organizations providing more and more information and services online. We also see politicians’ increasingly reaching out to their constituents with new and emerging tools such as Twitter and Facebook to share information and solicit opinions.
New technologies will be a major factor in helping us collectively move towards e-democracy and participatory democracy — for example the widespread use and increasing adoption of online tools such as social bookmarking, social networks, social media are increasingly popula – and point to future possibilities for e-democracy.
I believe the evolution, adoption and proliferation of these new e-democracy and participatory democracy technologies will be driven by a new breed of politicians.
Political candidates looking to unseat incumbents will increasingly look towards e-democracy and participatory democracy as a means to reach out and engage disenfranchised voters and constituents. Using new technologies will allow these candidates to talk directly to what is important, to hear both the “silent majority”, as well as the “vocal minority”. Incumbent politicians, stuck in the old ways of engaging constituents and votes may well find themselves swept away by more progressive and innovative candidates. The beginning of meaningful e-democracy and participatory democracy will start at the polls in the coming elections.
—-
refs:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-democracy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participatory_democracy
Carleton and Ottawa University Publish World Leading Research on Zombie Plagues
August 18, 2009
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A recently published research paper from professors at Carleton and Ottawa University has determined that
A zombie outbreak is likely to lead to the collapse of civilisation, unless it is dealt with quickly. While aggressive quarantine may contain the epidemic, or a cure may lead to coexistence of humans and zombies, the most effective way to contain the rise of the undead is to hit hard and hit often. As seen in the movies, it is imperative that zombies are dealt with quickly, or else we are all in a great deal of trouble.
The research is said to have possible real-life applications to modeling allegiance to political parties.
The full text of this world leading research is available online – When Zombies Attack
For those looking for more practical advice:
Check out this app to spread word of the coming Zombie outbreak – ZOMBIEGRAM.
Government 2.0
August 15, 2009
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Tim O’Reilly spoke at http://www.aifestival.org about Government 2.0. According to People and Places:
He advocated enabling four types of interaction:
- Government to citizen – providing services and information to citizens
- Citizen to government – citizens report on probelms that need government assistance
- Citizen to citizen – not every problem needs to be solved by government
- Government to government – we need better cooperation within government agencies
Tim suggests that there are some lessons from the technology space that could be useful in building Government 2.0
Build open, expandable systems
In open government this might mean open, portable health records, or open data that allows competition by third parties on government contracts.
Build simple systems and let them evolve
Simple systems like the Internet Protocol can act like hourglass models – they run on a diversity of systems, and support a diversity of applications around a simple protocol.
Design for cooperation
The notion of governance via loosely coordinated groups is a Jeffersonian one. And a system like the Internet domain name system looks decidedly Jeffersonian.
Learn from your users
Google was late to the game in mapping. But Google is used by 45% of all mashups online. That’s because when innovators started building mashups of Craigslist and Google Maps data, Google didn’t shut the door, but hired the first guy to build a mashup, and then released an API to make the task easier.
Lower the barriers to experimentation
The government tends to treat projects like the Apollo 11 rocket launch: “Failure is not an option.” It should be. We fail all the time, and we need to learn from it.
Build a culture of measurement
“If it works, do more, if it doesn’t, stop doing it.” We need to watch how our systems succeed and fail, and build systems that respond to user stimuli.
Throw open the doors to partners
Tim celebrates the iPhone ap store, suggesting that it worked vastly better than more controlled models for aplication development on the Blackberry or Nokia phones. Governments need to stop using tools like earmarks, sole source licensing, and no-bid contracts, which lead to a less open ecosystem.
Fixing complex problems requires figuring out what government needs to do, what private entites can do and what coordinated citizens can do. If we build systems that allow all these behaviors, we’ll see a great deal of positive change through Government 2.0
Related materials on Government 2.0:
Lead to Win Reception
June 17, 2009
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Lead to Win held a reception on Monday evening for participants and supporters. Special guests included the Mayor of Gatineau and the acting Mayor of Ottawa. Both expressed their support for the Lead to Win program and new businesses the participants are hoping to launch.
Mayor of Gatineau, Marc Bureau
Acting Mayor of Ottawa, Michel Bellemare
Participants at the reception commented on the strong and growing support from the community for the Lead to Win program.
Past Lead to Win Alumnus David Vicary, CEO of Weyes Eyes and past CEO and founder of Nakina Systems announced that he had secured seed funding for Weyes Eyes, his second start-up venture. For more on this, please read the related Ottawa Business Journal article.
David Vicary, CEO Weyes Eyes
Photos from the event are available online.
The reception was hosted by Développement économique – CLD Gatineau (DE – CLDG).
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BDC Gas Tank is Filled Up!
June 17, 2009
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Industry Canada announced on Monday that they will be providing additional funding for BDC.
The funding allocation includes $350M for BDC‘s venture capital activities that will allow it to make additional direct investments of $260 million over three years in Canadian businesses already in the BDC portfolio, as well as investments in new seed technology companies and later-stage technology companies. It will also allow BDC to commit $90 million over three years to private, independent Canadian venture capital funds.
This funding is in addition to the $75 million in venture capital funds allocated in the Government of Canada’s Budget 2008, which is being used to support the creation of a privately run venture capital fund.
This is great news! BDC has been, and continues to be a key player in helping grow Canada’s innovation, economic growth and economic diversity.
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INTERESTED IN LAUNCHING A NEW TECH BUSINESS? LEAD TO WIN WANTS TO HELP YOU!
June 7, 2009
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Here is a recent call for participants from Dr Tony Bailetti for the 3rd session of the Lead to Win program which starts on July 28th – please spread the word!
INTERESTED IN LAUNCHING A NEW TECH BUSINESS? LEAD TO WIN WANTS TO HELP YOU!
If you are serious about starting a profitable technology business in Canada’s Capital region, we invite you to apply to the next session of the Lead to Win program.
The Lead to Win program is free to qualified applicants – no strings attached, no small print, no surprises. Individuals from 37 organizations are investing to make Lead to Win participants successful for the benefit of the individual and our community.
Details on the program, including past success and testimonials from participants are available at www.leadtowin.ca. If you need additional information over what is at www.leadtowin.ca, please contact:
- David Hudson, dhudson1014@rogers.com
- Ian Graham, ian@thecodefactory.ca
- Ray Barton, ray.barton@vitesse.ca
- Rowland Few, rfew@sce.carleton.ca
- Serge Lafontaine, slafontaine@arrow.com
- Tony Bailetti, Bailetti@sce.carleton.ca
- Yannick Bouchard, bouchard.yannick@gatineau.ca
Spaces in the Lead to Win program are limited – so prospective participants are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.
Application instructions are available online at www.leadtowin.ca.
If you know of others who may benefit from Lead to Win, please forward this email to them – help get the word out!
Regards.
Tony Bailetti
Lead to Win Program
Business, business incubators, Canada, Commercialization, Creative Class, depression 2.0, Economy, Ecosystems, Entreprenuerism, General Interest, Government, Government Policy, Information Technology, Innovation, Innovation Hub, Jobs, Local Start-ups, Microbusiness, OCRI, Ontario, Opportunities, Ottawa, Ottawa Start-ups, Regional Economic Development, Talent First Network, Technology, The Code Factory, Trends, Unemployment, Universities, Venture Capital, Web 2.0
Nortel Collapse and Kanata Future
June 5, 2009
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US and Canada Job Losses Continue – May Numbers
June 5, 2009
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Latest unemployment numbers today:
- Canada – 8.4% (highest in 11 years ) – Ontario is now at 9.4% (highest in 15 years)
- US – 9.2% (up from 8.9% in April)
Other interesting lists:
Canadian Small Businesses Outlook Improving
June 3, 2009
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Survey results from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business showed some improving outlooks among small business owners polled:
- 38% considered the condition of their business to be “good”, 18% “bad”, and 44% “satisfactory
- 18% of businesses were planning to add staff
- 16% of businesses were planning to reduce staff
- Top five business cost concerns: tax, regulatory costs; fuel, energy costs, wage costs; bank account and processing fees; and insurance costs.
- Top three business constraints: insufficient domestic demand; shortage of working capital; and shortage of skilled labor
- Business Barometer index rose to 60.4% (well below historical norms, but up since last survey)
Broadband Infrastructure Projects for Economic Development
June 3, 2009
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A recent report from OECD advocates government policy makers deploy stimulus funds and investment into broadband infrastructure -
Broadband infrastructure, in particular, can be a good target for economic stimulus spending because many projects can be initiated relatively quickly, are labour-intensive, can minimise economic leakages, and may promise stronger marginal impacts on supply and productivity than investing in established networks such as electricity, gas, water and transportation.
The full report is available here and in interesting to read. A wealth of related data on broadband deployments current as of December 2008 (including pricing, policies, penetration, etc) is available from OECD in detailed excel spreadsheets here.
My sense is that Canada’s economy would certainly benefit more from advancing communications infrastructure projects than it would by having another government building or public works project.
Lead to Win May-June Sessions
May 22, 2009
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The 2009 Lead to Win program kicked-off this week. The program was originally planned to support 30 participants per session. Due to overwhelming demand from highly qualified candidates the program capacity was doubled and 61 participants were accepted into the May-June program.
The first three days of workshops went exceptionally well. All participants were highly qualified, highly motivated and highly committed. The workshop was intense and there was a lot of interaction between the participants and the program leaders. A breakdown of the participants company types, target markets, etc. is available: Lead to Win May 2009 Portfolio Snapshot
Photos from the first day of the program are available online -
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| Lead to Win (May 19, 2009) |
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Lead to Win Program Update – April 25th
April 26, 2009
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CTV Ottawa News Coverage This Sunday!
Tune-in to CTV Ottawa TECH NOW with Paul Brent on April 26th at 6PM for a special report on Lead to Win!
City of Ottawa, Carleton University and Business – United in Leadership for the Community
Recent press releases on the Lead to Win program:
Media Coverage
Visit the Lead to Win website to see all the latest media coverage on the Lead to Win program.
Free Re-use of Lead to Win Materials for Other Canadian Communities
All Lead to Win program materials (e.g. online tools, learning materials, processes, network) will be made freely available to other communities who would like to re-use, or adapt, the materials, procedures and network for their own regional benefit. Contact us at lead@leadtowin.ca if you are interested.
Spread the Word!
Please spread the word on the Lead to Win program to prospective candidates, community organizations and sponsors.
Can you Help?
If you know politicians or government leaders in agencies who want to join the City of Ottawa, the Chamber of Commerce and Carleton University in taking a strong, visible leadership position to help make a difference – please make them aware of Lead to Win and ask them to contact Dr Bailetti at 613 829 8885, bailetti@sce.carleton.ca
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Ottawa Tech Jobs Melting Away
April 25, 2009
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The Ottawa-Gatineau unemployment rate took a sharp jump recently and currently sits at 5.2%.
Under the surface, the situation for tech jobs is increasingly serious.
In Ottawa-Gatineau technology jobs have been evaporating at an alarming rate - in just the last 12 months, the region has lost 8,800 tech jobs. This represents greater then a 14% loss. Further, Ottawa-Gatineau has lost almost 30% of its regional tech jobs compared to 2000. Ottawa-Gatineau tech jobs peaked at 74,000 in 2000 and are now down to 53, 800 as of March 2009.
Stats Canada has published that during the 2002 bubble burst – 4 out of 5 laid off tech workers did not find work in high tech, and 2 of 5 left the City of Ottawa.
The tech sector is continuing to shed jobs in Ottawa-Gatineau.
Ottawa-Gatineau faces a significant loss of tech capability and associated economic impact/growth for the region.
Lead to Win is focused on launching new technology businesses in Ottawa-Gatineau to retain and create new tech jobs. If you are concerned about the state of the technology sector in Ottawa-Gatineau or are interested in launching a new tech business in the region, you are encouraged to visit www.leadtowin.ca.
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High Tech? Ensure You Know About the IRAP Small Project Accellerated Review Process
April 18, 2009
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More Beef, Less Bun!
April 18, 2009
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We are in the midst of the worst economic downturn Ottawa has seen, and we are watching our high tech sector melt away.
I find it very disturbing that there are few organizations – other than the Talent First Network and NRC-IRAP – that are stepping up and taking visible, urgent and concrete steps to help out our community.
Talent First Network is aggressively pushing ahead with the Lead to Win program, which has garnered strong community support.
The IRAP team have ramped up their pace, they have streamlined processes to match the urgency of the situation, they are pursuing new programs, and they are on the frontline – engaging the entrepreneurs and high tech businesses who are working to expand existing businesses or build new businesses which will revitalize our high tech sector.
The big question is – Where is the leadership from the other tax-funded organizations? The City of Ottawa, the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation and Industry Canada have spent truckloads of money on the Ontario Centres of Excellence, Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation and The Ottawa Partnership (TOP) – these organizations should be front and center but are virtually invisible.
When it comes to getting results from our tax dollars and leadership from the organizations they fund – it’s time for “More Beef and Less Bun!“ -
In the current economic downturn, I would rather see more of my tax dollars going to IRAP and the Talent First Network. They have the right attitude and they are focused on helping our community.
It’s time for MORE BEEF! LESS BUN!
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Forget Monorails! The New Snake Oil for Economic Development is Green Tech and Clean Energy!
April 18, 2009
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Green tech and clean energy is the new snake oil – and is increasingly being pushed in Ottawa and other communities as “the future of technology” and the source for attracting venture capital, private investment and driving massive economic growth… However the facts paint a different picture!
Venturesource reports steady declines in Venture investment in the green tech and clean energy sectors, with $189 million of Venture Capital invested in 15 deals during the first quarter, down 59 percent from the $457 million invested in 24 such deals last year. This is in comparison to ICT investments, which even in the worst of times are still almost 10 times greater for the same period!
Clean Energy, Green Tech – it walks, talks and looks like a Monorail -
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Canadian Unemployment Rate Hits 8% in March
April 12, 2009
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Stats Canada has reported that Canada’s unemployment rate hit 8% in March. This is the highest rate in seven years.
In March, Ontario unemployment remained steady at 8.7%, however Ottawa’s unemployment rate rose sharply and is now 5.2%.
More details on Canada’s forecast unemployment rates and trends for 2009 is in this blog.
Comparison of Canada’s unemployment rates with the great depression is in this blog.
13% Increase in Individuals Using Ottawa Emergency Shelters in 2008
March 31, 2009
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The Ottawa Alliance to End Homelessness released it’s report for 2008. The report showed a 13% increase in 2008 compared to 2007, of the number of individuals and families using local Ottawa emergency shelters for increasingly longer periods.
Recession Proof Businesses – US Gun Shops
March 26, 2009
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According to Reuters, in the first two months of 2009, around 2.5 million Americans bought guns, a 26 percent increase over the same period in 2008. Gun dealers report this rise in sales to be a consequence of fear of social unrest as the ailing economy pushes the newly destitute deeper into misery.
The Orlando Sentinel’s also reports that gun dealers are experiencing shortages of bullets -
Some say it began with the election of President Barack Obama. Others say it’s about the economic downturn or fear of crime. Whatever the reasons, ammunition has been selling like plywood and bottled water in the days before a hurricane.
Eleanor Duckwall’s blog on the nationwide ammunition shortage that has hit the U.S. provides a comprehensive review of the various possible reasons for the ammunition shortage, which may include:
- An increase in the size and number of paramilitary police units
- An increase in the use of “patrol carbines” in law enforcement
- Fears of draconian gun and ammunitions restrictions
- Economic instability
Related articles:
- US, Canada and European Governments Actively Preparing for Widescale Civil Unrest?
- US gun sales on increase (Financial Times)
- Gun dealers experiencing shortages of bullets (Orlando Sentinel)
- Gun Sales Soar in United States
- Obama Driving Surge in Gun Sales, Firearms Groups Say
- Smith & Wesson, Ruger shares explode
- CBS News Report -
Carleton University Poster Session – Innovation, Talent, Commercialization
March 24, 2009
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I attended the Carleton University engineering poster session on Mar 20th. 89 engineering students displayed the results of 36 4th year projects (http://www.sce.carleton.ca/courses/sysc-4907/webforms/posterLocations.php).
The projects ranged from the abstract to the commercially viable, and from simple to complex. The one thing that stood out in general was the high quality of the students. The projects I found most interesting were the ones which struck me as being commercially viable with further development – examples from the poster session included:
- An application which linked exercise equipment (in this case a treadmill) into a virtual reality world where the treadmill user could “run” through the virtual reality world and potentially interact with other users around the world
- An inexpensive and compact wireless sensors technology that automatically create a wireless mesh communication network to allow easy deployment of sensors (e.g., smoke detector) without the cost of dedicated wires (or even electrical outlet)
- An iPhone-based geo-tagged photo blogging application
- A Nintendo Wii technology-based interactive projection “whiteboard’
Poster sessions like this can be a great way to help advance commercialization of university work and link local investors/entrepreneurs to ideas and talent.
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McGuinty Government Announces $250M Fund
March 18, 2009
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McGuinty’s government announced a new fund today oriented towards helping keep Ontario start-ups moving forward in the face of a non-existant venture capital market. The fund will match private investments dollar for dollar. It is said to be based upon a similar model implemented in Scotland.
This is a great step towards supporting innovation and start-ups.
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