Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you very much for the invitation to appear before you today.
I represent Communitech, which is the Waterloo region technology organization. We're home to almost 1,000 companies in the region.
Given the matter under consideration today, I want to share with you a perspective that goes beyond Waterloo region tech companies, one that we've gained through our national initiative, the Canadian Digital Media Network. We launched the CDMN, as it's called, in 2009 in an effort to connect the Waterloo region tech cluster to clusters across the country. We now have 21 hubs on this network, from Vancouver through to Fredericton.
Every year, the CDMN embarks on a series of regional meetings designed to gather the perspectives of industry, academic, and government leaders. We are measuring progress against an agenda that we affectionately call our moonshot: that anyone can do anything online in Canada by 2017. The moonshot has five priority areas, one of which is connectivity for Canadians of any financial status and geographic location. l'd like to share with you today a few of the highlights of those regional consultations around the priority of connectivity.
In Stratford, Ontario, our participants emphasized the importance of Internet soft infrastructure as a vital counterpart to the physical infrastructure that connects the nation. Just as road and rail are vital to the health of manufacturing, so is fast and affordable connectivity considered critical to the health of digital companies and the technology industry.
In Stratford, they shared a significant interest in private-sector-led solutions to Canada's connectivity challenges. Companies like Fibernetics, with its Fongo application, and Google, with its Fiber to the Home project in Kansas City, are showing how market solutions can address both affordability and connection speed.
In Vancouver, B.C., our delegates told us that the broadband infrastructure, particularly in the City of Vancouver, is not adequate to their needs and not affordable for small business. The most significant issue that they identified is a lack of fibre, which restrains digital media and gaming technology companies. Vancouver-based companies in that niche feel that they're at a competitive disadvantage because they're having difficulty transferring content to their customers.
In response to this level of access, some individual companies are developing their own solutions, but this means that improvements are happening at a micro level, not a macro level.
Northern Canadian delegates gathered in Ottawa and suggested that a national bandwidth development strategy could help address the severe connectivity issues faced in the north. They pointed to business opportunities that could be enabled with improved connectivity. One example that was shared was a Nunavut business trying to communicate with distant customers; they were shipping Arctic char to restaurants in New York City.
In Calgary, delegates agreed that soft infrastructure is critical to the success of commercial activity, but they also argued that the value proposition to companies has to be clear. The private sector needs to demonstrate how faster and less expensive Internet access will allow for the exploration of new companies, new job possibilities, and new wealth creation.
In Fredericton, our participants agreed that Canada's success in the digital economy requires a close, holistic examination of national connectivity. The New Brunswick delegates affirmed that content is actually key to user engagement, and that improving the quality and quantity of digital content will drive greater demand for connectivity. They called for a more transparent connectivity framework and emphasized the importance of convergence between content and infrastructure.
In conclusion, I wanted to relay to the committee what we've been hearing, which is that ubiquitous, affordable, high-speed broadband is a critical investment in Canada's future. We've heard that connectivity is a key factor in new business creation and growth. While no single set of solutions has emerged from our consultations, the CDMN and its partners are eager to participate in discussions like the one you're having here today. Please count on us as a resource to help as you go forward.
Thank you very much.