ICTC’s Future of Canada Series
From Adversity to Innovation
Technology and Policy in a Post-COVID-19 World
This series has been produced in response to the COVID-19 crisis of Spring 2020.
Almost overnight our world has changed. From traditional 9-to-5 office structures to a rapid movement towards large-scale remote working environments, the professional life for many Canadians has shifted.
With COVID-19 quickly evolving, we’re bombarded by daily announcements of healthcare emergencies, limited medical supplies, and evolving cybersecurity concerns stemming from our new virtual workplace. Likewise, parents have been asked to become over-night experts on educational technologies to help alleviate the pressures placed on our education system. Many households, as a result, are simply fighting to keep their heads above water. For some, this near-constant stream of content can breed anxiety, fear, and even depression — something that, according to experts, can have lasting mental health effects.
One thing that is certain however, is that COVID-19 is reshaping the way we think and analyze the world around us.
The healthcare sector is a perfect example. Responding in part to concerns surrounding Canada’s capacity to cope with the influx of COVID-19 cases, telemedicine infrastructure has become commonplace, instead of an outlier found in remote Northern communities where medical expertise is scarce and demand is high. As Canadians coping with this crisis, many of us are re-examining our circumstances and identifying the ways in which our country can evolve into a more robust and — where appropriate — technologically diverse version of our previous selves. We are quickly becoming practitioners of what’s practical and evaluating what works and what doesn’t, with little allowances for time. As author C.S. Lewis famously quipped, “you never know what you can do until you try, and very few try unless they have to.” Perhaps this current crisis is the catalyst that will lead us to explore new priorities, possibilities, and pathways — in essence, helping us discover innovative potential.
Exploring their capabilities, some organizations across Canada are looking towards technology to help them weather the storm. Canadian tech success stories like BlackBerry are joining the fight to help transition companies to remote-work environments; other leaders like Shopify are acting as micro-lending agencies to small business while some are providing their products completely free of charge to help small businesses.
We can’t change our current circumstances, but we can certainly change our perspective and look for new opportunities that produce better outcomes for Canadians.
While ICTC will be monitoring the effects of COVID-19 and its potential policy impacts through a series of research initiatives over the coming months, we recently connected with experts across Canada to gather some initial feedback on technological innovations or developments that can transform a post-COVID-19 Canadian society.
From arts & culture to technology, education, healthcare and insurance, this series will highlight a collection of insights provided by our contributors on technology’s role in shaping Canada’s future. This week, ICTC President Namir Anani and University of New Brunswick Technology and Entrepreneurship Professor Dr. Dhirendra Shuckla discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on Canada’s digital economy and the role of innovative leadership in creating solutions-driven products during times of crisis.
Business Resiliency in the Face of Adversity
By Namir Anani, President & CEO, The Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC)
The COVID-19 pandemic is a global crisis without recent parallel. In the last few weeks, we have seen its considerable human and economic toll on global and Canadian financial markets; the hardest hit being the manufacturing, oil and gas, tourism, hospitality and travel industries. Global supply chains are continuing to feel the reverberating effect of this pandemic. The remote working and social-distancing environment that is upon us is also testing the construct of our academic institutions and the full premise of the future of work itself. Forecasting the course of this pandemic is far from certain, but recent IMF (International Monetary Fund) data indicates Canada’s economic output will contract by as much as 6.2% in 2020, with recovery taking shape in 2021 if the pandemic recedes in the next couple of months.
The impacts to date, especially on small enterprises, have been nothing short of dire. Many are now navigating the prospects of tightening demand, dwindling supply chains, reduced revenues, and an overly indebted financial landscape. Business continuity, financial stability, alternative supply chains, and operational resiliency are all topics of the day for many of these firms. The market balance of the digital industries is also shifting. Once lucrative retail electronics and hardware manufacturers are now feeling the brunt of this pandemic as consumers prioritize their spend on more essential products and services. IT infrastructure and legacy technology investments are also expected to be curtailed for the time being, in favour of preserving critical business lines and core staff. It is no surprise, however, that the widespread social distancing and stay-at-home directives have prompted an upsurge in online activities. Industries like eCommerce, e-health, FinTech, and creative technology (responsible for video game development, video content and other online media, including even e-learning platforms) along with telecommunications in general are some of the initial gainers in this environment.
Although the effects of the pandemic maybe far reaching, this new reality is encouraging many businesses to innovate and rethink their value chains. Increased adoption of cloud and AI services, deployment of lights-out manufacturing and autonomous systems, the adoption of intelligent supply chains, as well as leveraging low-energy and carbon-neutral processes are all part of the new business construct that is being explored.
While such jolts to our economy are challenging, the upside is that they test our resolve, responsiveness, and ingenuity in the face of adversity. Larger questions about the efficacy and preparedness of our health system, education and training capacity, trade and transportation mechanisms, communications systems, urban planning and sustainable community development are all but few of the verticals that will require an exceptional policy response in the next number of months to pave the way for a robust economic recovery in Canada.
Innovators Providing Solutions in Times of Need
By Dr. Dhirendra Shuckla, P. Eng., Professor & Chair, Dr. J. Herbert Smith Technology Management and Entrepreneurship, University of New Brunswick
In the first three months of 2020, the world is facing an existential global health crisis. As our understanding of COVID-19 evolves, increasing evidence suggests that it may be less deadly than initially thought (with an estimated mortality rate of approximately 2%), although aggressively more contagious (over 2.4 million confirmed cases, with over 166,256 deaths, spread across 185 countries/regions).
The economic and health related impacts of COVID-19 are noticeably greater than that of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, due in large part to the contagiousness of the disease and the increased role of globalization since then. COVID-19 has threatened to overwhelm our medical infrastructure as we know it due to shortages of critical equipment (i.e., PPE) but most notably, ventilators. As such, the crisis has called for innovators to step-up and contribute. Some individuals and organizations are using small-scale manufacturing technologies like RepRap-class 3-D printers and open-source micro-controllers, while others are even finding creative ways to manufacture hand sanitizer.
These innovators have demonstrated the unique ability to respond quickly to medical supply shortages while identifying opportunities in open innovation where rapid development and deployment of existing technologies has a lasting impact.
When considering open innovation, it is firstly important to understand that it is so much more than just developing new widgets. Global health innovation can be defined across four categories: 1. Product, 2. Delivery, 3. Finance, and 4. Process.
Secondly, this pandemic has proven in Canada that innovation platforms that address immediate needs should ensure that sustainability is seriously considered. To monitor this in the future, Canada can begin focusing on sustainable innovation and encouraging its promotion through specialized events such as incentivized competitions. These events could be designed to exclusively promote solutions that can have an immediate impact, with short-term and long-term sustainability in mind.
Thirdly, Canada can consider looking to low and middle-income countries (LMICs) with low-resource settings for innovations and innovation models. This pandemic has shown us that the term “low-resource setting” doesn’t just apply to LMICs. Product innovations such as DripAssist, Gradian, and OneBreath ventilators, which were developed for LMICs, are finding so-called “reverse-innovation opportunities” now.
Lastly, this pandemic has shown Canadians that local communities can be at the centre of defining regional problems and developing solutions. Human-centred design can provide the guiding principles to engage end-users in the process, resulting in transformational solutions.
ICTC’s Future of Canada Series
In times of crisis and recovery, Canada maintains a strong track record of social advancement. As we find ourselves re-evaluating how we’ll respond to a world permanently altered by a pandemic, the larger outcomes remain unknown. What is clear however, is our need for socially-minded, ethical innovation that moves the needle forward to advance Canada’s evolving digital economy.
Other posts in this series:
*The views and opinions shared as submissions to this article are those of the authors and do no not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of The Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC).
