Mr. Speaker, I hope that you will be so kind as to not subtract that time from my speaking time.
Our plan seeks to strengthen and consolidate the entrepreneurial sector and to make it an engine for job creation and economic growth. We are doing that by focusing on the key drivers of growth and job creation, namely, innovation, investment, education, skills and communities. That is where open data comes in.
We see this as a launching pad for creating businesses and jobs, and supporting economic growth. By partnering and collaborating with the business community, government can provide the raw material that, through entrepreneurial innovation, is transformed into a value-added and highly sought-after finished product. There has never been a better time for this kind of partnership.
We have never had the kinds of tools—whether it be cloud computing, mobile applications or web platforms—now at our disposal. This is only just the beginning; the sky is the limit. That is why, going forward, we are working on developing a new platform for our open data portal, which could include enhanced search capabilities, Web 2.0 features, international open data standards, the launch of interactive forums and the provision of more preprogrammed application interfaces.
By expanding and improving access to government data, we want to further encourage use of these data sets by the public. We also plan to adopt a new open licence—another idea inspired by international best practices in this area—which will free users from now outdated restrictions on the re-use of this data.
Our hope is that smart minds across Canada in small businesses, non-profit organizations and academia will use this data to create new applications that Canadians will be able to access from whatever device they prefer. We believe that leading-edge entrepreneurs can be key to the country's future prosperity, and we want to tap into that resource to revolutionize government and boost Canadian businesses. We want to build this new resource together, with our entrepreneurs and our innovators.
We know that the current portal is not perfect, and we will continue to work to improve it. We want to do this properly in the best interests of everyone.