Positioning entrepreneurs and innovators to succeed in a data-driven economy

Government of Canada seeks public input on ways to use big data analytics to drive innovation and job creation

July 28, 2017 – Toronto, Ontario – Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada

Entrepreneurs, innovators and community builders will benefit from new business and social opportunities as a result of the Government of Canada’s vision to support innovation in a data-driven world.

That message was delivered by the Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development. Minister Bains outlined the Government’s vision at a gathering of business leaders and data experts hosted by Environics Analytics, a leading provider of data services.  

Technologies that enable the continuous collection of large data sets have the potential to make companies innovative and valuable. Large-scale data collection also means that governments, businesses and citizens must continually review privacy and security policies and practices.

That means the Government has a role to play in collaborating with all sectors of the economy and society to promote data-driven innovation while preserving the freedoms that Canadians cherish: privacy, fairness and equality of opportunity.

Minister Bains, who is responsible for Statistics Canada, proposed a vision for an independent, modern and responsive statistical agency. That vision involves:

• identifying new methods of generating and collecting data that move beyond a survey-first approach;
• finding new ways to integrate data from a variety of sources;
• making government data, including microdata sets, easier for anyone to find and use;
• supporting the adoption across the economy of high-throughput tools to analyze and visualize data; and
• ensuring that more end-users, whether they are businesses or individuals, can make evidence-based decisions from data.

Minister Bains invited Canadians to share their ideas on ways to use big data analytics to drive innovation, business growth and job creation while promoting a fair and just society. This effort is part of the Government’s Innovation and Skills Plan, a multi-year strategy to create well-paying jobs for the middle class and those working hard to join it.