Network Economy

ICT Employment Opportunities (Stage3)

Despite a strong decrease of 21.5% in 2002, followed by a small increase of 0.3% in 2003, the ICT sector remains the largest private sector R&D performer in Canada with total expenditures of $5.2 billion. When it is compare the Growth in ICT Sector Intramural R&D Expenditures between 1997 and 2003; Total ICT Manufacturing increased 30.7% while Total ICT Services increased 101.1%.  Computer Systems Design and Related Services increased by 112.6% which indicates that the demand for highly skilled ICT workforce is increased with a much higher rate. This situation shows that the demand for technical capabilities is shifting from hardware design and manufacturing engineers to computer system design and related services. ICT jobs tend to be concentrated around major cities. Firms in Ontario accounted for more than half of operating revenues (52.3%) in 2002, but this share has slipped for the second year in a row. It was 55.9% in 2000. In fact, Ontario and New Brunswick were the only provinces where operating revenues declined in both 2001 and 2002. In contrast, Quebec posted the largest revenue share increase, reaching 23.1% in 2002, up from 20.6% in 2001.

  Technical skills in the community are becoming a source of competitive advantage and are beginning to attract investment and employment opportunities by companies from outside the community. Overall, Canada is at Stage3.

B2C Electronic Commerce (Stage 3)

 E-commerce posted a big gain in 2003 for the fourth year in a row, but online sales still accounted for less than 1% of total operating revenues for private businesses. Combined private and public sector online sales in Canada soared almost 40% to $19.1 billion, following a 27% jump in 2002. The gains were driven by an increase in domestic sales of over $5.7 billion. The dollar value of business-to-consumer sales rose 51% to $5.5 billion in 2003.

 Such features include interactivity, a secure portal for collecting information and digital products and services that can make a website much more functional. Both costs and specific knowledge are involved in setting up and maintaining a site with these capabilities. Like consumers elsewhere, Canadians are often reluctant to purchase online because of privacy and security fears. But there are other important deterrents. Canadians wishing to purchase from domestic online retailers have relatively few options, particularly in product categories that are already well established in the United States. Of the purchases Canadian consumers do make online, almost half are from sites in the U.S. and elsewhere. Value of Canadian e-commerce sales, in by 2003 Business-to-Consumer was $5.5 billion CDN of Total Sales $18.6 billion CDN. Overall, Canada is at Stage 3 and will move to Stage 4 when more consumers have adapted to online trade.

 B2B Electronic Commerce (Stage 3/Stage4)

While the proportion of firms selling online remains relatively low, the proportion of firms making purchases online continued to grow rapidly. About 37% of firms made purchases online in 2003, up from 32% last year and more than double the proportion that did so in 2000. Companies with e-commerce capabilities drive the demand for products and services supplied by e-businesses at all stages of the Internet value chain, from hardware and network services to Web design, systems integration and interactive advertising. If companies are slow to adopt the Internet, the myriad of product and service sub-sectors that supply to them will also face slow growth prospects. Value of Canadian e-commerce sales in 2003 by Business-to-Business was $13.1 billion CDN of Total Sales $18.6 billion CDN. Overall, Canadian e-commerce is growing rapidly. Canada’s B2B e-commerce practices are high level at Stage 3 and moving to Stage 4.

The following chart shows the increase rate of Internet-Based E-Commerce in Canada. It is possible to say that the adoption rate of B2B E-Commerce especially after 2002 is much higher than the B2C E-Commerce adoption rate. 

E-Government (Stage 3/Stage 4)

Canada has some substantial advantages over other countries in developing e-government services. Internet penetration is high, with more than 63 per cent of the population using the web regularly. The government has also sought to push access levels higher by connecting all the country's schools to the internet, even in remote regions, and wiring many libraries and community centers. The Government On-Line initiative aims to have all the most commonly used government services online by 2005. Currently about 130 of the most commonly used services, roughly split between providing information and conducting transactions, are available online. Services offered through the government portal that have proved popular with users include filing tax returns online, accessing information on job opportunities, incorporating a business, recording a change of address, and communicating with MPs. Canada was also early out of the blocks with the launch of a wireless e-government portal, allowing users to access information through mobile internet-enabled devices. Canada is at high end of Stage 3 and almost stage 4 in E-Government.