The vision reflects our knowledge of current developments in Canada and abroad and is presented as a positive contribution to current discussion and decision making related to this most important strategic resource.
We identify policy directions and actions which we believe will help to make this vision a reality and enable Canadians to take full advantage of the benefits of a true national information infrastructure.
There is evidence of growing public awareness and understanding of the potential that this strategic resource has for social and economic development of our nation. Harnessing this potential should be given priority on Canada's national agenda.
Stentor Telecom Policy Inc.
Executive Summary
Introduction
The Stentor Vision
* Imagine a Canada ... 6
* The Information Highway
* The Importance of an Information Highway 7
* Why Canada Must Act Now 8
The Reality
* The Current Situation 10
* A New Paradigm for the Future 10
* The Costs and Challenges of Moving Ahead 12
Working Together to Pave the Way
* Roles of Industry and Government 13
* Guiding Principles 13
* An Agenda for Action 14
Conclusion 16
Appendices: Applications
1. Health Care 17
2. Education and Training 18
3. Government Services 19
4. Electronic Commerce 20
5. CANARIE 21
life and competitive economic advantage, telecommunications is a beacon
lighting the way for an economically strong, socially secure and
culturally vibrant Canada.
As a world leader in telecommunications, Canada is well-positioned to
harness the enormous potential of telecommunications and information
technologies for the benefit of all Canadians.
With visionary policies which encourage co-operation, mutual respect and
innovation, we in Canada can build upon our already solid
telecommunications foundation to strengthen our economy and protect and
enhance our standard of living, even in the face of the stiffest global
competition.
We have talented and skilled people and technical and financial resources.
With leadership from government and industry working together in a spirit
of co-operation, these can be applied effectively to expand our
telecommunications infrastructure into a true information highway with
boundless beneficial implications for our economic, social and cultural
well-being.
Stentor envisages a national information highway that is capable of
carrying voice, text, data, graphics and video services to and from all
Canadians, and that provides universal access to basic and advanced
communications and information services through a network of many
networks, owned and operated by different service providers.
For Canadians such infrastructure will mean that: * instant communication
is available by voice, computer and
video;
* intellectual capabilities can be shared electronically for
research, development and improved quality of life; * the best in
education can be delivered equally to a city
classroom or a remote residence;
* a community doctor can have immediate and interactive access
to the best medical minds in the nation; and * Canadians have a key to
continued prosperity and leadership
in a shrinking world and an important added means to build a vibrant
economy that enables them to achieve their personal potential in
independent, self-fulfilling ways.
This electronic infrastructure will stimulate economic activity, generate
employment opportunities and enable improved productivity to help
Canadians deal with global competitive forces which, left unchallenged,
can erode our present living standards.
We as Canadians already have a world-class communications infrastructure
and are fully capable of developing our own information highway, just as
our global competitors are doing in Japan, in Europe, in the United States
and elsewhere in the world.
Canada's potential can be realized most fully when government and industry
clearly demonstrate the will and the determination to act, boldly and
immediately, in a spirit of co-operation. We need:
* a policy, tax and regulatory environment which facilitates,
encourages and supports the timely development of an information highway
employing common technical standards; * private sector co-operation and
leadership in financing,
building, operating and maintaining a modern information highway;
* fair and open access to this highway for all service
providers, in a competitive environment; * affordable services;
* streamlined regulation which protects the public interest
while encouraging creativity and innovation and enabling flexibility to be
responsive to customer needs and the market place;
* protection of privacy and the principles of copyright; * promotion of
Canadian culture; and
* government leadership as a bold and creative user of the
highway by making its own services electronically accessible.
The investment required to create a truly national information
infrastructure is substantial. This should be made by industry, whose
willingness to do so is apparent from the fact that Stentor companies
currently are investing some $4 billion a year in this direction.
The scope of the task, however, requires broader co-operation and, to help
move the process forward, the Stentor companies are prepared to lead in
opening a dialogue with all industry players.
We who sit on the roof of the world ought to see further these
possibilities than others. A.M. Klein
Canadians are worried. They are worried about the present federal and
provincial deficits, chronic and relentless unemployment, an entire
Western world struggling in a recession and a global marketplace in which
Canada is a bit player. And they are worried about the future
present. Their concern is not just for themselves but for the legacy they
will leave to their children.
It is against this challenging landscape that leaders must marshall their
forces for change.
Stentor's vision statement does not deny the realities underlying these
worries but offers a plan for a way out of the economic and social
doldrums. It suggests that we must move forward and move quickly to ensure
that these anxieties do not become self-fulfilling. It talks of a future
built on an infrastructure referred to as an "information highway." It
does that, to be sure, but more; it is a vision in which the flow of
information becomes part of the fabric of society, the woof and warp
supporting the national economy, the Canadian culture and individual
well-being.
As Canada approaches the 21st century, the major challenge is to instill
hope in Canadians in the future growth and prosperity of the nation. This
means creating new jobs and opportunities for Canadians. It will mean
ensuring that technology's promise to make life easier will be kept, that
it won't simply create greater pressures to do more with less and to do it
faster. It will mean building an economic springboard for the future. It
will mean improving efficiencies and reducing the costs of public
services. It will mean putting Canadians in touch with other Canadians. It
will mean recapturing the core values of the Canadian mosaic
it will mean doing all these things while recognizing that the power and
potential of Canada today lie in the immense richness and diversity of its
human and intellectual resources.
Canada's major telecommunications companies believe that the information
highway is the route to a brighter future. It is an opportunity that must
be grasped quickly, with resolution and commitment. This paper describes
what this highway should look like; it outlines the costs, the challenges,
the policy issues and the necessity of accelerating its creation.
Finally, it proposes guidelines for the development of the information
highway, detailing an action plan for both government and business to work
together in ensuring that Canada remains a dynamic and prosperous country
in the Information Age.
Imagine a Canada ...
* Where all Canadians can have access to a total information
and communications world as easily as switching on a light, picking up a
phone or taking a trip across town.
* Where children, no matter where they live in this vast
country, can learn, can grow, can know each other and their country better
through innovative distance education programs.
* Where patients in even the remotest communities have access
to the country's best doctors, clinics and hospitals.
* Where voters and constituents can communicate directly and
openly with their elected officials.
* Where Canadians, at the touch of a button or the sound of
the spoken word, can communicate with other Canadians by voice, computer
or video.
* Where the norm for Canadians includes challenging and
fulfilling jobs and a wealth of opportunities to improve their lives and
the lives of their children.
* Where universities share their expertise with elementary and
high schools.
* Where Canadian workers can continually upgrade their skills
and knowledge through access to the latest training from their place of
work, their community or their own homes.
* Where communications and information services eliminate the
barrier of distance to enable individuals and small business anywhere in
Canada to compete in the global market.
* Where individual Canadians enjoy easy access to
entertainment, to Canadian cultural resources and to social and community
events without regard to physical location.
* Where Canadians with disabilities can achieve true
independence through equal and easy access to communications and
information services.
* Where Canadians can capitalize fully on their collective
intellectual and innovative capabilities to develop new products and
services.
Imagine a Canada where people control directly when, how, why and with
whom they communicate; where they create and exchange information in
whatever form they wish
video
a mountain top or a cottage deck.
Imagine a Canadian information highway where a variety of service
providers brings to all Canadians a panoply of communications and
information services at affordable prices and easy-to-use formats.
Such a Canada is not here yet, but it's on its way. Most of the pieces are
in place
What's missing? The will and determination to act, and to act now to build
Canada's information highway.
The Information Highway
The information highway is a seamless high-speed network capable of
carrying voice, text, data, graphics and video services to and from all
Canadians. The image suggests a ribbon of road spanning the world, but it
is much more than that. Picture a map with its web of highways, tracery
that links every location no matter how small or remote. But the
information highway links people as well as places. It is a system of
interconnected electronic networks providing universal access to basic and
advanced communications and information services. It is a network of many
networks, owned and operated by different service providers offering
connections to a variety of services, applications and content sources.
The information highway will differ from the present system in two
important respects. First, it will link the existing networks of cable,
telecommunications, broadcast, wireless, satellite and computing into a
vast fully interconnected and interoperable system. Second, its
significantly greater power speed
information exchange.
Through such a powerful, interconnected system, all Canadians could take
advantage of Canada's extensive resources in information, communication
and computing technologies. The information highway will link institutions
and resources, from schools and businesses to libraries and laboratories.
It will bring together Canadians from all walks of life and unite
communities of interest from all parts of the country. By connecting the
disparate parts and people of our land, it will reinforce the community of
Canada, encompassing the cultural diversities in a way that physical links
never could.
Right now, Canadians make telephone calls or turn on televisions without a
thought about the technical infrastructure supporting these services.
These activities have become a given in our society. The information
highway will integrate information and computing resources into our daily
lives in the same way, making them a part of the fabric of life for all
Canadians in the 21st century just as our transportation, power and water
systems are today.
The main trunks and arteries of this integrated system of
telecommunications, wireless, cable and remote (broadcast and satellite)
networks will consist of fibre optics and radio technology; copper wire,
coaxial cable, fibre optics and wireless systems will provide the access
roads and bridge the last hundred yards to an individual's home or
business.
Common, non-proprietary standards will unite the various networks in such
a way as to appear a seamless whole to users, making services easy to
access and to use. Data bases and electronic libraries containing material
in video, image and audio formats will all be accessible, with service
directories and electronic "white pages" enabling users to find and
retrieve information easily.
The infrastructure as well as the providers of services on it will include
cable, telephone, wireless, satellite, software and computer companies;
information and service providers such as broadcasting and cultural
organizations, filmmakers, educators and others not yet imagined,
including the individual users themselves. The possibilities are endless.
Customers will have a choice among services, prices and service providers.
Customers will be in control.
By providing universal access to all Canadians, as both consumers and
producers, the information highway will be a truly empowering force of
equality, revolutionizing Canadian commerce and society.
It will enable us to work together, collaborate and have access to
information without regard to physical location. It will be secure against
unauthorized use, and privacy will be fully enforced. It will improve the
way we educate our children, train and retrain our workers, earn a living,
conduct research, manufacture products, deliver services and interact with
family and friends.
It will put individual Canadians in control.
The Importance of an Information Highway
The investments made by Canada over this century to develop our existing
infrastructures (transportation, communications, water and energy
distribution) and our social programs (e.g., health care and education)
are the backbone of the highest standard of living in the world today. The
investment Canadians make to develop the information highway will be
equally important in the next century.
Canada is already well into the Information Age. The resource industries,
our traditional mainstays of growth and wealth such as fisheries, mining,
forestry or agriculture, are declining in both employment and share of the
Gross Domestic Product. The same is true of the manufacturing sector.
Meanwhile, a whole new economy based on knowledge and information is on
the rise: now over half the business activities in Canada are information
and service oriented, and the manufacturing and resource sectors are
becoming much more information intensive.
Canada needs an advanced information infrastructure to support the whole
economy
sectors as well as the newer information, high-tech and service
industries. Such a crucial foundation is too important, and the challenge
too great, to be left in the hands of a single company or alliance of
companies. An integrated information highway must be built if we are to
remain prosperous and healthy into the next century. It will lay the basis
for a surge in the new economy by providing equal and easy access for
individual Canadians, communities, firms and other organizations to the
vast intellectual resources that already exist both inside our country and
out, resources which cannot be tapped easily or economically through the
present communications systems.
The information highway, like a road into a new land, will liberate the
potential of Canada by allowing Canadians to choose
provides that information, and to choose with whom to share it.
Services that are available only to a few Canadians today will be easily
accessible and affordable by all Canadians. For example, from their own
homes, Canadians will be able to:
* view school and community events, city and town council
meetings, electronic museums and art galleries, and a vast selection of
educational programs;
* retrieve books, audio and video-reference material from
electronic libraries;
* shop for, or offer for sale, information-based goods and
services in "electronic malls" where buyers and sellers meet without the
overheads and congestion of today's shopping malls;
* receive government services in real time and at a fraction
of the cost;
* select and download movies, concerts, broadcasts of live
events to watch on computerized television from electronic video stores
offering virtually unlimited choice;
* form "virtual" communities for the creation and sharing of
information and ideas in all walks of life;
* use electronic mail, video conferencing or computer
conferencing from their homes or offices to "attend" business meetings or
simply stay in touch with friends and family; and
* use interactive multi-media to unite far-flung groups into
learning communities through shared experiences.
Films, magazines, newspapers, catalogues, airline schedules, financial
information
to Canadians anywhere, anytime. Doctors will be able to consult with
specialists in any part of the country to diagnose patients more
accurately, treat them faster and release them from the hospital sooner.
Distance education and training applications will remove the geographic
barriers to studying and training and enrich the resources that educators
can use to teach our children and train workers. Software developers will
be able to test and market their products, from their own garages if
necessary. Canada's information and culture industries will be offered
maximum opportunities to reach the consumer and be a more viable
alternative to foreign programming. Opportunities will abound for
enterprising Canadians to apply their abundant intellectual and creative
powers toward the development of new products and services. The sheer
learning that will occur in such an information-rich, technologically
sophisticated but user-friendly system will ensure that Canada has the
high-skill, value-added jobs needed for economic strength and prosperity
in the next century.
By freeing Canadians to create, share and receive information and
knowledge, unencumbered by technical constraints, the information highway
will guarantee Canada a leading role in the Information Age.
Why Canada Must Act Now
Canada must act now or get left behind. It is a simple question of
survival in this fast-changing world. First, many of our trading partners
are moving quickly and decisively to put in place advanced information
infrastructures. Second, technology is changing at a breathtaking pace,
calling into question the viability and utility of existing industry
structures, regulations and policies.
If we don't act quickly to make the information highway a reality,
Canadian industry will fall steadily behind industries in other countries,
Canadian employment will suffer and Canadians' standard of living will
fall.
The information highway will accelerate the development of technologies
and services critical to Canada's international competitiveness; it will
stimulate huge investment from the private sector; and it will give Canada
and Canadians a competitive edge in the international marketplace.
Other countries are moving quickly to develop their own information
infrastructures.
* In 1990, Japan announced a plan to build a fibre-optic
network capable of transmitting advanced communications services to every
school, business and home in the country by the year 2015. This US$250
billion initiative resulted from a national policy to equip Japan's
manufacturers to take advantage of the global broadband communications
market.
* The pan-European project COSINE (Cooperation for Open
Systems Interconnection Networking in Europe) funded by 18 European
countries, will provide high-speed services to the R&D community
throughout Europe. European nations are positioning their industry now to
take the lead in developing innovative research applications for
high-speed networks.
* In 1993, U.S. President Clinton and Vice-President Gore
presented their vision of an advanced communication infrastructure, known
as the National Information Infrastructure (NII). The NII was formally
launched in September of this year with the release of a report entitled
National Information Infrastructure: Agenda For Change. The plan includes
provision for US$2 billion a year to support development of a
gigabit-speed research and education network and to establish a task force
to define and implement the policy for regulatory and tax changes needed
to obtain the private sector investments to accelerate deployment of the
NII. The report calls for communications laws and policies that foster
competition and ensure access in all communications markets. Americans
anticipate that this high-speed communication system will have the same
impact on U.S. economic and social development as the interstate highway
system had in the 1950s and 1960s.
* In October 1993, in the U.S., Bell Atlantic Corporation and
Telecommunications Inc. announced the biggest media merger in history, a
US$33 billion deal that promises a blend of cable and telephone networks
that will completely revolutionize the way we use television. The
revolutionary tool will be a combination of a cable converter, telephone
and personal computer.
These nations all have a vision of improved competitiveness, economic
growth and a better quality of life for their citizens through the
creation of advanced information infrastructure.
Compared to these nations, however, Canada can move even more quickly. Our
telephone, cable and VCR penetration rates are among the highest in the
world. Canadians have the largest volume of information supply per person
in the world. The quality of our telecom networks in terms of fibre
deployment and digitization is second to none. Most of our population is
concentrated in a few urban areas. And finally, we have one major
regulatory authority whereas countries such as the United States operate
with several levels of regulation.
As well, Canada leads the world in many areas of the digital revolution
which has brought about the convergence of once separate technologies.
Digital technology is blurring the boundaries between previously distinct
sectors, spawning vast new product and service opportunities and creating
whole new markets and industries. The digital revolution is also eroding
traditional geographic boundaries both nationally and internationally.
Technical breakthroughs are happening at a dizzying pace, and innovations
not even imagined today are undoubtedly just over the horizon.
While Canada must also look forward as a country, Canadians should not
lose sight of the core goals and values that have helped achieve our
country's eminence among the world's leading industrial democracies. We
are a nation which takes pride in our harsh but diverse geography; in our
cultural sovereignty; and in our rich abundance of assets
blessed, and those which we have forged into the social and economic
fabric. Our fore-fathers took up the challenge of creating strong and
enduring linkages to make our country one. Today, building the information
highway is a similar challenge.
We live in a time of vast change and enormous opportunity. To overcome the
present lag between technology and policy and to ensure our leadership in
the global economy, Canada must act now to develop strong government and
industry commitment to the information highway. Failure to do so will
seriously impede our competitive position as a country and jeopardize our
chances of renewing Canada's prosperity in the Information Age.
The Current Situation
Canada, like most other countries, has a series of separate and distinct
communication, information and entertainment networks. These include
telephone, cable, broadcast, wireless and satellite systems, as well as
publicly funded R&D networks that make up Canada's Internet. Each of these
operates more or less independently, and many of them are governed by
separate statutes, regulations and policies. In effect then, we have a
countryside of different roads, streets and driveways, some of them large,
but none of them linked to create a truly seamless information highway.
In spite of this, more and more Canadians are recognizing that investing
in computing, information and communications technology is the most
effective way to ensure that Canada maintains its competitive edge, its
quality of life and its value-added, high-wage economy.
A few examples ...
* In British Columbia, the Greater Victoria Hospital Society
is using BC TEL's Ubiquity Service for the movement of pathology slides
and for voice and video consultation between health centres, allowing for
instant access to specialists at diverse sites. (See Appendix 1)
* MT&T, in partnership with the government of Nova Scotia, has
implemented the Distance Education Service for Knowledge (DESK),
delivering educational materials across the province through fully
interactive audio, graphics and video options, linking remote learning
sites through network capabilities. (See Appendix 2)
* In New Brunswick, the provincial government with the
participation of NBTel is carrying out pilot programs designed to provide
one-stop shopping for all citizens looking for any provincial service,
from day-care information to road conditions, from employment
opportunities to pension plan changes. (See Appendix 3)
* Real estate companies such as Royal Lepage, working with MPR
Teltech and BC TEL, are pioneering electronic information networks which
enable clients to match their needs more precisely with residential
markets. At the same time, the networks provide a range of services in
mortgage management and insurance from a variety of locations. (See
Appendix 4)
* The Canadian Network for the Advancement of Research,
Industry and Education (CANARIE), developed out of partnership among the
research, business and government communities, will provide high-speed
communications for a range of R&D and educational users across the public
and private sectors, promoting Canadian competitiveness in networking
capability. (See Appendix 5)
Clearly, Canadians from all walks of life are beginning to see the value
and importance of using advanced communications and information technology
to improve the quality of their lives, to make their operations more cost
effective and to maintain their standard of living. The challenge is to
leverage these technological initiatives into a more universally available
and accessible system, a system that is ubiquitous, easy to use, cost
effective and shared
infrastructure, a real information highway. Achieving this will require
vision and commitment from business and government on a truly national
basis.
A New Paradigm for the Future
Open architecture and open standards promote competition, quicker
innovation, healthier industries, and more diverse technology. Mitchell
Kapor, Founder
Lotus Development Corporation
Fundamental to the success of the information highway is the choice of
system and the values represented by it. That choice is up to us.
Canada's current communications environment is one of mainly closed and
proprietary systems. Cable and telecommunications networks, for example,
do not connect nor do they work in tandem with each other. Furthermore,
existing systems vary immensely in their degree of openness. The Internet,
for example, is entirely open in architecture, content and use. The public
telecommunications networks are open in access, use and content but closed
in their architecture. Canada's full-service telecommunications providers
are ready to change this and make their systems fully open. Cable systems
remain closed in terms of their architecture, content and use.
This lack of cohesion and interconnection may have made sense in the past,
when each of these elements had distinct technologies and in some cases
distinct markets. But today, this is no longer the case, and other
countries, such as the U.K., Japan and the U.S., are moving rapidly to
integrate the service environment of their cable, wireless, computing and
telecommunications systems. If Canada doesn't move quickly, how will we
take advantage of the explosion in opportunities to develop our own full
range of advanced communications services? How will we maximize our
information technology base so that Canadians won't be limited in future
service choices? How will Canada ensure its place in the global market for
communications services expected to triple and be worth over $1 trillion
by the end of this decade?
An open environment is inevitable: it will offer to customers the ability
to choose when, where and with whom they exchange information. An open
environment provides new and, particularly for Canada, important
opportunities.
* An open environment, characterized by an open architecture
based on open standards and open use, allows for efficient use of limited
resources.
It also allows for different service providers to compete on the same
terms in all aspects of developing and delivering services. For example,
in an open, fully interconnected environment, cable companies could
deliver voice services, and telephone networks could deliver interactive
multi-media and video services. Open systems put customers in control.
* As Lotus Development Corporation founder Mitchell Kapor has
pointed out, open systems also foster "critical thinking, activism,
democracy and quality" while closed systems seem to breed "consumerism,
passivity, crassness and mediocrity." ("Where is the Digital Highway
Really Heading," WIRED, July/August 1993.)
* An open architecture with common, non-proprietary standards
promotes competition, and competition leads to quicker innovation in the
marketplace, improved business efficiencies, increased consumer choice and
more business opportunities for all players. This translates into more
jobs, lower prices and wider availability of advanced communications
services for all Canadians.
* An open system will strengthen Canada's cultural and
information industries: Canadian films, TV programs and music will be
available to much wider audiences in Canada and abroad. Royalties and
revenues from this increased distribution will stimulate production
throughout Canada's cultural and information industries and lead to the
opening up of new international market opportunities. The cost of
distributing programs will fall, resulting in lower prices for on-demand
information, culture and entertainment services.
An open system will improve the ability of Canadian cultural and
information service providers to offer Canadian products because all
providers will have equal access to the consumer.
* An open system will strengthen Canada's software industry
which, according to recent Industry and Science Canada sectoral studies,
presently suffers from domestic distribution and marketing problems and is
obliged in many cases to seek offshore markets to survive.
* An open environment will provide a variety of opportunities
for individual Canadians to communicate with each other. An information
highway, accessible to all Canadians, will help bridge both the geographic
and psychological barriers that separate Canadians and help link the
cultural diversity that is the essence of Canada.
The choice is clear.
The Costs and Challenges of Moving Ahead
Deployment of advanced communications networks on a mass scale requires
massive investments.
The cable television industry, for example, expects to spend over $6
billion upgrading its networks with digital video compression (DVC)
technology to provide 200+ television channels to homes. The telephone
companies expect to spend even more to provide broadband digital
transmission capabilities to homes. Governments are considering smaller
but still significant investments to upgrade their national and regional
R&D networks. Alternative distribution technologies to homes, such as
direct broadcast satellites, multi-point distribution systems and personal
communications technologies, will also require substantial investment.
Without change, investment required to upgrade the various elements of the
existing system would be potentially prohibitive, but significant savings
could also be realized by a fully interconnected system.
At the national level, collaborative projects such as CANARIE are
important to build test networks and stimulate R&D and advanced
applications. But that is only one part of the solution. The bigger
challenge is to develop capabilities at the local access level that will
allow users to take advantage of all the benefits offered by the national
information highway. This is where the bulk of the upgrading costs lie.
Investment in local development will further stimulate the innovative use
of the Canadian public telephone network, which is already one of the most
advanced in the world.
Given the fiscal state of the country, these costs should not and will not
be covered or subsidized by government. The investments should be borne by
industry. However, for that to happen, a fair and open market is required.
Industry will need assurances that it will be able to recover its capital
based on its market skills and the value it delivers to customers.
These assurances include greater regulatory clarity, a more coherent
government policy and a co-ordinated government effort to allow the
marketplace to function in such a way as to protect the public interest.
In other words, the government must take the lead in rationalizing and
streamlining policy and regulation.
In turn, industry will make the necessary investments while respecting
public policy in support of Canadian culture and other "at risk"
industries and communities of interests.
Working Together to Pave the Way
Roles of Industry and Government
To ensure a successful information highway, consensus is needed on
principles to guide the major players users.
Partnership between business and government is crucial, both generally as
well as in selective collaborative relationships. The roles for both must
be clearly defined:
* Implementation by Industry
Industry's role, in a market-driven environment, will be to plan, design,
implement and develop the networks, services and applications that will
constitute the information highway.
* Facilitation by Government
Government's role will be to create a more favourable policy, tax and
regulatory environment; to promote policies that foster competition and
open access; to provide seed funding for demonstration projects; and to
support the information highway by using its services.
Guiding Principles
Fair and Open Access
Fair and open access must be promoted by public policy and supported
through government regulation. To ensure that all service providers have
equal and open access to the information highway, the government must
modify the regulatory process to ensure that:
* it is flexible and responsive to the needs of consumers and
the Canadian marketplace;
* no undue competitive advantage is conferred on any player or
technology, i.e., that the market and consumers are empowered to choose;
* all Canadians, including service providers, can participate
in the supply of content-based services in a fair, competitive marketplace;
* competition and co-operation among players are encouraged
where appropriate for the benefit of all Canadians; and
* all service providers support Canadian cultural objectives
and institutions to maintain and enhance Canada's distinct and diverse
culture.
Government policy must also allow network operators to integrate elements
of their infrastructures on a cost-effective basis where appropriate.
In particular, it must recognize the inherent differences between urban
and rural areas and must allow those network operators most affected by
current restrictions to develop strategies for rural markets.
Affordable Services
The information highway must be widely available and affordable; both
government and industry have a responsibility to make this happen.
Competition among multiple service providers will help by driving prices
down and by providing a range of services. If government subsidies are
necessary for public policy reasons, they should be provided to end users
directly or through special tariffs as opposed to offsetting the cost of
networks or distribution of services themselves.
Common Standards for Interconnectivity and Interoperability
Common standards for interconnection and interoperability for all
components of the information highway are essential to the success of this
"network of networks." These include technical standards for equipment,
networks, services, applications and interfaces, as well as standards for
common formats for business transactions. Government should support and
sanction such standards, and industry should actively pursue them. It is
the only way to ensure that the needs of users are met, and that the
public interest is served.
Private and Secure Information
It is the responsibility of both government and the industry to ensure
that the rights to privacy and freedom of expression are ensured for users
of services on the information highway. Electronically available
information must be protected against unauthorized access or misuse, and
copyright law must apply just as it does to other media.
Incentives for Increased Research and Development
To accelerate the development of the information highway, both government
and industry must give highest priority to relevant research and
development.
Promotion of Canadian Culture
Government incentives to promote and strengthen Canada's cultural identity
and cultural industries should be applied to all service providers no
matter what technology they use. All service providers should support
Canadian culture and institutions on an equitable basis by providing full
and effective access to and for Canada's information and culture
industries.
An Agenda for Action
The Stentor companies believe that their vision of an information highway
presents Canada with a major opportunity to meet some of our more pressing
national challenges
together; to make our unique information and cultural products more
readily available to each other and to the world; to strengthen the
economy and create rewarding and fulfilling jobs; to use our scarce
resources more efficiently and effectively; to strengthen young people's
faith in their future; and to compete successfully in the international
marketplace.
Through innovative programs such as CANARIE, the government has shown
leadership in investing in advanced networking applications. Many other
initiatives at the provincial and local levels and within industry,
including the Stentor companies, are also under way.
But opportunities don't last forever and we must act now and we must act
together if we wish to reap the rewards before other bigger and better
organized nations occupy the field. For this we need a co-
ordinated, national program of action that includes clear roles and
responsibilities for government and industry.
In the spirit of contributing to public discussion and encouraging the
early adoption of a national program, the Stentor companies recommend the
following practical agenda for action:
1. Industry Action
a) Continue to Invest in the Information Infrastructure
At present, the Stentor companies invest approximately $4 billion a year
in upgrading their networks and in related research and development. With
greater regulatory freedom and a more open and competitive market to
provide better assurances of a fair return, these investments would be
increased significantly.
b) Explore Co-operative Interconnection Agreements
No one company or network by itself can build a true national information
infrastructure, but Stentor is prepared to lead the way to a national
information highway by opening the dialogue with all industry players.
Since the benefits can best be realized by working together, Stentor will
actively explore interconnection agreements, partnerships and other
innovative forms of co-operation with any and all participants who support
an open-architecture, competitive environment.
c) Develop Innovative Applications
Stentor will work closely with users, regulators and other members of the
information technology industry to develop innovative applications that
are flexibly priced to allow users of all types to explore the benefits of
the information highway.
d) Promote the Benefits of the Information Highway
Stentor will work with consumer groups and business associations to
identify their needs and to help develop a consensus on ways of ensuring
universal access to advanced services.
e) Participate in Information Highway Initiatives
The Stentor companies are actively involved in several federal and
provincial information highway initiatives, such as CANARIE, and will
continue to participate in others identified by governments. Stentor will
also reach out to other companies and industries likely to benefit from
these projects and encourage them to participate in the effort to achieve
a national information highway.
2. Government Action
a) Develop a Coherent Policy Environment
Following the recent cable and the upcoming telecom structural hearings of
the CRTC, a comprehensive interdepartmental review of all policies related
to the building of a national information highway should be undertaken.
This review should include such areas as telecom pricing, convergence,
electronic authorization, intellectual property, privacy and security,
working from home and access to government information. It should be
undertaken without delay, and recommendations should be issued within 12
months.
b) Reform and Streamline Regulation
As the catalyst for stimulating the development of the information
highway, the government must play a leadership role by establishing a fair
and open regulatory environment that will encourage private sector
investment and implementation. Notwithstanding the substantive issues
under consideration in the 1993 regulatory framework hearing, government
through its regulatory authority should:
* lead a rapid transition to a truly competitive
telecommunication market where prices are determined by market forces;
* open the local service market so that all service providers,
including cable television operators, wireless providers, interexchange
carriers and telephone companies, are allowed to interconnect, compete and
carry anything for any customer anywhere;
* encourage interconnection of all systems and ensure that
standards for interconnectivity and interoperability are adopted where
future modifications or enhancements to networks will form part of the
information highway; and * remove incentives to the deployment of
proprietary or closed
systems which prevent competitive access to the consumer.
c) Make Government Information Electronically Accessible
The Department of Government Services should assess all federal
information collection and dissemination policies and practices to
eliminate impediments to electronic access. It should develop a plan for
implementation in the next fiscal year, to ensure that public information
is accessible using information highway services on an open and
competitive basis, subject to appropriate privacy safeguards.
d) Develop an Agenda for Information Highway Research
The federal government, in consultation with industry, users and other
governments, should define the priorities for research and establish a
comprehensive, co-ordinated program consistent with those priorities.
Focusing its support on areas where the broadest possible societal
benefits will be achieved, the government should implement a program that
supports:
* research into applications and services in educational and
health care communities as well as in industries critical to Canada's
competitiveness in the global marketplace; * the development of
technologies, applications and other
mechanisms to promote the widespread use of the information highway by all
members of society;
* research and educational communities in using operational
and test networks to ensure Canadian leadership in the future; and
* funding for demonstration projects.
e) Develop a Public Education Program
The government, in consultation with industry and other governments,
should develop a public awareness program to help educate the public about
the benefits of the information highway and the impact it will have on
their lives.
3. Joint Government-Industry Action
a) Issue the Challenge and Set a Clear Goal
The Prime Minister should make the building of the information highway a
national priority and articulate a clear and simple goal
services reach the broadest possible user group in the shortest possible
time. Industry should actively and openly support the Prime Minister's
statement.
b) Establish a Process to Implement the Vision
A high-level intergovernmental and interdepartmental task force working
under the aegis of Industry and Science Canada should be formed to
formulate government's role in the development of the infrastructure: the
task force would establish consensus, set objectives and milestones,
finalize a set of guiding principles such as those outlined in this
document and oversee the development of coherent policies.
A panel of private sector individuals and citizens should be appointed by
the Prime Minister to advise the task force on such issues as the impact
of regulations, security and privacy. The panel should also advise on the
definition of public and private sector roles.
The Information Age is upon us. Policies to guide the country through
these times, the infrastructure and the contribution it makes to the
Canadian standard of living are all issues that demand immediate and
thoughtful attention.
Stentor welcomes the challenge of being a full participant in building
Canada's information highway, the backbone of this Information Age.
Stentor stands ready to support Canadians' demand for unfettered access to
information of all types, for freedom of choice, for open competition and
for control of their own destiny. The full-service telephone companies in
Canada are prepared to invest heavily in an information highway, and they
call on others for a similar commitment:
* From government, to build consensus on a vision of the
information highway that can be embraced by all Canadians and to establish
focused and coherent policies that promote competition and open access;
* From industry, to overcome territorial and proprietorial
hurdles so that Canadians, regardless of their location or status, have
full, fair and economical access to all elements of the information
highway; and
* From Canadians, to embrace the vision of an information
highway which will help instill hope, generate jobs, restore economic
growth and prosperity, and capture the core values of the Canadian mosaic.
In building the information highway, the links needed to ensure Canada's
prosperity can be strengthened. A combination of talent, imagination and
commitment has served Canada well throughout its history. These traits
must be harnessed again.
Canadians have one of the finest health care systems in the world.
However, soaring costs are triggering concern about whether we can afford
to maintain such high standards of health care in this country. It has
been estimated that using the information highway for health care
applications could eventually reduce costs by some $6 billion while
substantially increasing the quality of care available to all Canadians,
no matter where they live. The Stentor companies are already demonstrating
several advanced communications applications that will help protect those
standards while reducing costs of health care.
* In Manitoba, Manitoba Telephone System and its partners are
developing a broadband system which will link all 74 of the province's
hospitals, enabling the rapid exchange of radiological imaging and other
diagnostic data, thereby improving the overall cost-effectiveness of that
province's health care delivery system.
* In British Columbia, hospitals are engaged in two-way
advanced communications applications using a new high-speed
telecommunications service linking Victoria, Vancouver, Kamloops, Kelowna
and Prince George. The service includes such applications as
high-resolution video conferencing for training seminars, and video
imaging and transmission of microscopic tissue slides for simultaneous
observation and discussion. In shared departments such as radiology and
pathology, medical staff no longer have to waste travel time between
hospitals. Instead, they are using interactive voice, video and data
combinations to bring people and information together.
* In Alberta, a Remote Consultative Network is being used on a
trial basis to provide consultation services between rural health care
providers and specialists at the University of Calgary. The network
enables physicians, technicians, nurses and residents to use audio, video,
imaging and data transmission services to respond to queries.
* In New Brunswick, a patient care network links eight
hospitals around the province with a centralized data base of patient
records, financial information, lab schedules and results, admissions and
discharge records and material management records. In addition, a health
care distance education program is using advanced communications
applications to train ambulance drivers and other health care
professionals.
* In Ontario, a patient health care information network is
being developed so that physicians and hospitals can use advanced
multimedia technology to provide rapid access to diagnostic imaging,
laboratory results and patient data.
* Also in Ontario, Stentor and its partners are implementing
Mentor, an interactive multimedia application for medical students at the
University of Toronto. Users can choose from 250 modules representing
patient care scenarios from emergency surgery to childbirth. The
interactive nature of the application allows choices to be made on
diagnostics and procedures, and allows for more cost-efficient medical
decisions.
* Medical practitioners across the country are joining forces
with government and health care agencies to implement electronic claims
processing systems for physicians, dentists and pharmacies.
These are some of the early experiments using information highway-type
services to improve health care delivery. With a more supportive policy
environment and greater co-operation among service providers, even greater
benefits could be realized.
* The information highway will give professionals full access
to a range of health care applications, including instantaneous imaging,
data bases of patient histories, pharmaceutical data and coast-to-coast
diagnostics.
* Canadians will be able to dial up medical voice/video
information lines at any time of the day to get the most up-to-date
assistance. Such applications will allow people to carry out the first
level of medical care at home and help determine the necessity of a trip
to a medical facility.
* Health care providers, from orthopedic surgeons to
physiotherapists, will have access to all ADT (Admission, Discharge and
Transfer) information which will allow them to schedule admission time,
surgical space, after-care procedures and related logistics for their
patients. Such practices will go a long way to improving efficiencies in
admissions processing.
* The information highway will enable health care consumers to
get immediate access to lab and test results, drug interactions and other
diagnostic procedures, at work or in their homes, and to follow up with
specialists on further care if required.
* As the Canadian population ages and people live longer,
health care needs for seniors will increase. Medical applications of the
information highway, from video information on drug side effects to
large-print screen formats detailing nutritional information, will enable
seniors to live more independent lives in their own homes for longer
periods of time.
* Bedside terminals in health care facilities will provide
interactive linkages for patients and medical professionals, providing
medical staff with immediate access to patient histories, consumers with
access to video servers for information on surgical procedures, and
instant contact with patient support networks. For example, a parent in
hospital could play video games with a child at home.
* Health professionals will have access to the latest medical
and pharmaceutical research at the touch of a button, a major step in
keeping the Canadian health community on the leading edge of providing
superior care.
The potential value of the information highway to medical services in
Canada is enormous: it will improve the quality of care and at the same
time it will drive down costs. All Canadians will benefit.
In the high-salaried, high-skilled, information-based economy of the
future, Canadians must develop new and better ways to tap into information
and intellectual resources from all parts of the country and indeed the
world. To succeed in the work force of the future
to help adapt to the rapidly changing job environment. They will need
instant access to information
era
Educators are just beginning to appreciate the potential of computers,
learning resource software, multimedia and electronic communications.
Various applications are burgeoning across the country.
* Video conferencing has been in use in Saskatchewan's
Eston-Elrose School Division since 1991, enabling teachers to conduct a
single class for students in two separate communities.
* Educational institutions and researchers are linked with
their counterparts across Canada and abroad through CA*net, a national
electronic mail and data communications network. The recently announced
SchoolNet initiative, funded in part by Stentor, will extend this
networking capability to more than 400 secondary schools this year and
eventually to more than 16,000 schools in Canada.
* The Justice Institute of British Columbia and the Greater
Victoria Hospital Society are using BC TEL's Ubiquity Premium Video
Conferencing service to deliver training on an interactive basis to
multiple locations throughout British Columbia.
* BC TEL's Ubiquity service also includes a distance learning
application, with interactive video capability, extending from the heart
of the B.C. interior to Vancouver Island, enabling teleconferencing,
remote access to seminars and lectures, and professional consultation
among educators across a range of curricula.
* Interactive television is being used in Manitoba's Evergreen
School Division to deliver courses to rural schools. Previously, students
had to travel at least an hour to larger urban schools to take these
courses.
* Newfoundland Telephone, partnering with Memorial University,
has primed the implementation of a highly sophisticated distance education
network, operating within over 200 sites, including schools, hospitals and
government offices, linking 120 remote communities throughout Newfoundland
and Labrador. High-resolution, compressed video, audio and graphics
support the interactive exchange of educational materials ranging from art
to drama to software development.
These are the pioneers of a new way to educate. The information highway
will stimulate the development of an enormous range of education, training
and lifelong learning applications that will give everyone access to
courses, libraries, museums, specialized data bases and other people,
regardless of location.
* Interactive, multimedia, digital libraries will be available
on job sites to provide workers with information on how to improve work
performance, upgrade skills and find new employment opportunities.
* Students will have access to "virtual" libraries, in school
and at home, that will find and integrate all information on a given
subject, and which will provide interactive media to guide them on
projects, such as the research of artistic techniques of a certain period,
the re-enactments of historical events, or the modeling of chemical
reactions.
* Through "virtual" laboratories, students will be able to
perform science experiments using equipment located in other parts of the
country. Also, they will be able to take field trips to museums,
observatories, science exhibits and research centres without ever leaving
the classroom.
* Educators will be able to link up instantly with colleagues
in government, social services and private industry, no matter how remote,
to keep in the forefront of educational innovation.
* Home terminals linked to the information highway will make
lifelong learning easy, opening up the education system not just to
students, but to entire families, through interactive applications in a
range of media.
* Students on co-op work terms or in apprenticeships will be
able to combine study with on-the-job experience through work site
applications, courseware and interactive learning instruments. Through the
information highway, employers and educators will be able to offer
significant benefits to the Canadian economy through stronger
co-ordination of learning and work processes.
* For all Canadians, the information highway will be an
affordable and efficient route to skill improvement and renewal. People of
all ages will be able to study for a law degree at home, become a
veterinary assistant using "virtual" surgical applications, learn to run a
business and then run it using the very same technologies that enabled
them to learn how.
Economic and social renewal will to a large extent depend on the
redefinition of our education system, its mission and related strategies.
To achieve such a goal we must unleash our collective imagination and be
willing as a society to leap forward, using a fully linked, fully
accessible electronic system as a springboard into the future where
lifelong learning is the norm.
The information highway will revolutionize the way in which government
serves Canadians. From information about intellectual property and
taxation to the democratic electoral process itself, the Canadian public
can anticipate easy access to services offered by all levels of
government. This access will be from the home, from the workplace, from
the remotest corner of Canada, or even from the other side of the world.
* Reference Canada, a centralized information point for the
federal government and all the provinces, fields toll-free calls from all
over Canada. The public can obtain information on programs and services or
have their requests referred to the appropriate authority in government.
* In Qu
shopping for information on provincial and federal services. It processes
approximately 1,230,000 transactions per year.
* The federal government is also actively embracing Electronic
Data Interchange (EDI) to lower cost and shorten cycle time of accounts
payable and receivable.
* In Ontario, citizens can renew their motor vehicle licences
at electronic kiosks throughout the province, a process that saves time
for applicants, establishes a data base of registrants and significantly
reduces the need for clerical processing.
* British Columbia has established electronic information
storage and retrieval services to reduce or eliminate various
time-intensive processes. Information banks include data on provincial
transportation projects, policy documents and other information resources.
* In Nova Scotia and British Columbia, MT&T and BC TEL have
successfully completed several Tele-Vote trials in provincial party
leadership elections, saving these provinces thousands of dollars in
leadership convention expenses.
* A family in British Columbia will be able to plan a vacation
to Prince Edward Island by dialing up all relevant tourism information
from its destination, complete with consumer-controlled audio-visual tours
of provincial landmarks and interactive applications tailoring vacations
precisely to the family's needs.
These are just a few examples of government services which will be
available through the information highway. As governments reorganize and
redefine their missions, the information highway will be an invaluable
asset to serve the public more effectively and at less cost to taxpayers.
* Canadians will be able to complete and file tax returns and
obtain forms and all other necessary taxation documents electronically
from their homes or businesses.
* Canadians will be able to browse electronically through such
federal institutions as the Library of Parliament and other government
resources, to gather information ranging from Statistics Canada data to
sophisticated weather graphics. Regulatory information, patents,
trademarks, copyrights and even pending government bills will be at our
fingertips.
* All Canadians will benefit from more direct access to the
political process through the information highway. For example, they will
be able to appear at public hearings or Royal Commissions from remote
locations, file electronic interventions and receive more rapid replies;
Canadians throughout the country will truly be able to take part in the
parliamentary process.
Canadians everywhere will have access to interactive consultation with
government officials and political representatives. Governments will be
able to streamline services into voice, video and data options for the
public, eliminating the layers of bureaucracy which blanket many
government services today.
The information highway will support and facilitate fundamental
restructuring and rethinking of what government is all about. The
interactive capacity of voice, video and data options will enable more
efficient inter- and intra-government operations. Businesses will be able
to get the latest GST information instantly from a work terminal; students
will have government documents and statistics at a keystroke; new
Canadians will have enormous resources on hand to guide them in adjusting
to their new home.
The information highway will change the way Canadians shop, bank and
communicate with each other. They will be able to take advantage of
expanded business services; they will be able to develop personalized
electronic portfolios; they will be able to do their banking; and they
will be able to go shopping, all from their own homes.
The information highway will enable Canadian businesses, large and small,
to redesign their daily operations, redefine their customer base and
expand to new markets, while bringing a new level of cost efficiency to
their endeavours.
* Consumers will have a wide variety of commercial services at
their fingertips: for example, interactive video home shopping will allow
selection, price negotiation, styling and transaction processing at the
touch of a button.
* Electronic residential and commercial real estate listings,
mortgage data bases, even global markets, will be accessible in homes and
workplaces, as will all related financial services, forms and
consultations.
* Thousands of businesses and their customers, from The
Toronto Star to Toys 'R Us, are benefiting from 1-800 access and
computer-driven voice response systems to handle enquiries and capture
important market information at the same time.
* Banking, insurance and other financial services are moving
to paperless electronic formats to serve their customers better by
increasing speed and accuracy of transactions. Many banks have recognized
the need for easy-to-use services of various formats for the growing
number of elderly or disabled clients.
* Large retailers such as Sears, Levi-Strauss and also the
federal government, are implementing Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to
establish efficient linkages with suppliers, electronically communicating
with purchase orders (some 21 million per year in North America for
Sears), shipping notices, invoices, messaging and other operations. The
outcome? Reduction of clerical errors, faster filling of orders and
improved document processing, resulting in greater productivity and
profitability.
The information highway will bring the future to Canadians' doorsteps: it
will expand electronic commerce to give Canadian consumers a far greater
degree of control over time and finances as they take advantage of the
broad array of product and service applications. Businesses from global
enterprises to "Mom and Pop" stores will benefit from precise market
identification, greater speed and accuracy in transactions and significant
opportunities to improve both productivity and revenues.
* Electronic applications will keep businesses abreast of
product and service development, will bring in-house education and
training to employees, will provide interactive video demonstrations of
new products, and enable businesses to take part in advanced video
conferencing.
* As private enterprise assumes greater responsibility for
services once housed in the public sector, the information highway will
prove invaluable for storing and accessing libraries of information.
Texts, musical recordings, stock market trends, transportation schedules
and countless other data bases can be maintained easily, cheaply and
accessibly. The result will be greater savings for government and
taxpayers, and an expansion of commercial opportunities for Canadian
business.
* The potential of the information highway will include
numerous business opportunities for the compiling of product information,
commercial transportation, news media and other services: for example,
that family from British Columbia heading to P.E.I. can not only book
accommodations and car rentals from home, it can use automobile terminals
to determine routes and rest stops while listening to the latest classical
or dramatic literary recording. And the kids can play the latest
interactive audio-visual games from coast to coast.
The possibilities for electronic commerce represented by a fully
accessible information highway demonstrate an endless array of
partnerships involving consumers, private industry, government and all our
social systems as we strive toward the economic and social renewal of
Canada.
(The Canadian Network for the Advancement of Research, Industry and
Education)
One of the most exciting developments toward bringing the information
highway into being is the Canadian Network for the Advancement of
Research, Industry and Education (CANARIE). Developed out of partnership
among the research, business and government communities, it will provide
high-speed communications for a range of R&D and educational users across
the public and private sectors.
A national non-profit initiative, CANARIE hopes to stimulate the creation,
by the year 2000, of an electronic communications infrastructure for all
Canadians that is second to none in the world. It will facilitate the
exchange of ideas, ease the development of new products and services, and
ensure that Canada remains at the forefront of international developments
in telecommunications.
Canada needs a national R&D and educational communications capability
comparable to or better than that of our major competitors. Our vast
geography increases the urgency; it also enhances the benefits.
For four years, more than 200 people from 56 organizations representing
Canada's research, business and government communities have developed the
concept and business plan for CANARIE. Total commitments to the initiative
during Phase 1 amount to $100 million. Commitments during phases 2 and 3
are provisionally estimated at $390 million and $400 million,
respectively. Costs are to be shared by the federal government, the
Canadian business community and users in the public and private sectors.
It is estimated that CANARIE will stimulate over $400 million in sales in
the Canadian economy from the purchase of goods and services over the next
10 years. In addition, the R&D assistance it provides will facilitate the
development and introduction of high-speed networking technologies,
products, applications, software and services that could generate over $9
billion in revenue for Canadian industry during the same time. The net
value of the socio-economic benefits from implementing the CANARIE
business plan is projected to exceed $675 million. CANARIE purchases will
create approximately 1,800 person-years of employment over the next 10
years. The CANARIE investment in high-speed networking technologies,
products, applications, software and services, and the resulting sales,
could generate approximately 22,000 person-years of additional employment
during the same period.
Spurred by CANARIE, several other similar high-speed, broad-band
initiatives are now being undertaken at the regional and local levels. One
of these is the OCRInet project which, by early 1994, will make available
an all-fibre, ATM-based network for industry, university and government
R&D centres in the National Capital Region. Phase I of OCRInet will
connect 12 sites and cost upwards of $4 million. Funding will be shared
equally by the federal and provincial governments and industry.
As a founding member, Stentor is committed to the successful
implementation of CANARIE. Stentor is equally committed to the ongoing
development of other initiatives like OCRInet and also to the policy
reforms outlined in this paper that will be necessary to integrate those
initiatives into Canada's information highway.
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