Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon. As you heard, my name is Michael Geist. I'm a law professor at the University of Ottawa, where I hold the Canada research chair in Internet and e-commerce law, but I appear before this committee today in a personal capacity, representing only my own views.
I appreciate the invitation. I'm certainly supportive of the committee's study on the issue of SME adoption of digital technologies.
As the committee has already heard, Canada fares relatively poorly in some areas when compared with peer countries. For example, you heard from Shopify's Harley Finkelstein on the lower e-commerce adoption rates by Canadian firms as compared to those in the U.S. There are many other studies that point to the same concerns. A 2011 CEFRIO study on Canadian SME ICT adoption found that mobile device usage was relatively low; moreover, many of the online collaborative tools—application sharing, web sharing, video conferencing—are only used by a small minority of Canadian SMEs.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce's 2010 study on SME use of e-business solutions arrived at similar conclusions. Moreover, it pointed to Canada's declining rank, whether in the World Economic Forum's global competitiveness index, the OECD's broadband ranking, or The Economist's e-readiness ranking.
Of course, I suggest that the committee is well aware of these shortcomings, as your May 2012 report, “E-commerce in Canada”, cited similar statistics and studies and took note of the performance of Canadian SMEs.
So we have a problem, and while I'm pleased that the committee is looking at this, you'll forgive me if there is a sense of déjà vu about this discussion. This committee is currently also studying broadband and Internet access across Canada, has completed a study on the IP regime in Canada and, as I've just noted, also completed a study on e-commerce. As you know, you're not alone. The Canadian Heritage committee has completed a study on the entertainment software industry in Canada. The Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics committee completed a study on privacy and social media. The Justice and Human Rights committee has studied cyber-bullying. The Senate committee on Transport and Communications last year released a study on the wireless sector.
My point is that our problems with the digital economy, including SME digital technology adoption, are not the result of a lack of study. Many of these issues have been studied intensively for years. At least part of the problem lies in Canada's lack of a cohesive, forward-looking digital economy strategy. That failure is plainly hurting all aspects of our digital economy. It creates business uncertainty, it undermines consumer adoption of e-commerce, harms innovation, and sends an unmistakable signal that this is simply not a policy priority.
For an SME, the effects of Canada's digital economy strategy failure—something I've often termed as Canada's “Penske file”—can be found everywhere. Let me give three quick examples.
The failure to craft a cohesive strategy to ensure a competitive broadband and wireless market means higher costs and less choice for business and consumers alike. High data rates have often meant that the adoption of mobile solutions have been costlier in Canada than elsewhere, which hurts the business case for ICT investment. Further, when Canadian businesses travel to other countries to explore new opportunities, they face some of the highest roaming fees in the world.
Second, on the regulatory front, the digital economy strategy failure has meant that important legislation has stalled, creating legal uncertainty. For example, an SME considering an electronic marketing campaign will want to know what is permitted under Canadian law. I think that this government rightly passed anti-spam legislation in 2010, but the regulation-making process has dragged on for years, meaning that the law has still not taken effect. As a result, there is uncertainty about what is permitted, uncertainty about what will be permitted, and tailoring an e-marketing strategy is difficult.
Third, and somewhat similarly, Canadians want all businesses, including SMEs, to take security and privacy seriously. Making investment in these areas means factoring these issues into account. Yet with Bill C-12, the privacy reform bill languishing in the House of Commons, and, with all respect, inaccurate criticisms of a private member's bill on security breach disclosure requirements, the message, quite frankly, to SMEs is that the Privacy Commissioner may be concerned with the state of privacy law, but it is not a priority.
Now we could talk about, and I hope we do have the chance to talk about, what a digital economy strategy incorporating SME digital technology adoption might look like, including some of the legislative reforms, educational initiatives, skills training, as well as commitments to increase competition and ensure access for all. But my starting point is simply to say that without a broad-based digital economy strategy that weaves together these various issues, we should not be surprised by the lagging performance by Canadian SMEs. Indeed, we've practically scripted it.
I look forward to your questions.