The infraNET Project, University of Waterloo and Communitech

present ...

A Smart Community Seminar

Electronic Commerce -

Connecting Canadians to the Digital Economy

Richard Simpson

Director General, Electronic Commerce
Industry Canada

Wednesday, April 19, 2000
11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m. - Luncheon and Networking
12:45 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. - Presentation
Ballroom, Waterloo Inn, 475 King St. N., Waterloo

About the Presentation

Beginning in 1993, the federal government launched its Information Highway initiative, aimed at deploying information and communications technologies to build a knowledge-based economy in Canada. Ultimately, this initiative formed the basis for developing a national strategy for Connecting Canadians - a series of policy measures and programs designed to ensure Canadians could capture the economic, social and cultural benefits of the changes brought about by information networks and technologies. The need to foster the adoption and use of electronic commerce, which has emerged in the past two years as the economic engine of this transformation, has become a prominent element in this strategy, with the objective of making Canada a global centre of excellence in electronic commerce.

The presentation will establish the scope and growing importance of e-commerce within the Canadian economy, and will outline the efforts underway to help Canada become a world leader in the development and use of electronic commerce. It will discuss the role played by the federal government in creating a favourable environment for the conduct of e-commerce in the areas of privacy and consumer protection, security, and legal and fiscal stability. The central role of the private sector and the importance of rapid adoption and diffusion of e-commerce throughout all sectors of the Canadian economy will also be highlighted. In this context, it will report on the findings of the Canadian E-Business Opportunities Roundtable, and its plan of action for mobilizing Canada’s business and academic communities and for promoting the growth of the digital economy.

Richard Simpson

Richard Simpson is the Director General of Industry Canada's Task Force on Electronic Commerce, and is responsible for the development and implementation of the department's overall strategy for electronic commerce. In this capacity, he has played a central role in designing Canada's policies on electronic commerce at the domestic and international levels. He was formerly Executive Director of Canada's Information Highway Advisory Council. From 1992 to 1995, Mr. Simpson served as Assistant Vice-President for Telecommunications and Technology with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) in Vancouver, B.C., where he had overall responsibility for its communications technology programs in support of distance education. Prior to joining COL, Mr. Simpson was Director General, Telematics and New Media in the Canadian Department of Communications. Mr. Simpson has worked in the field of telecommunications policy and regulation since 1975, first as a provincial government official and later for the federal Department of Communications (DOC) in Ottawa. From 1987 to 1988, he played a central role in the formulation of a comprehensive national telecommunications policy for Canada. His academic career included graduate studies at the University of Windsor and at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario.

For more information

Please contact Communitech:
519-888-9944

Seminar Sponsorship

This seminar is sponsored by the infraNET Project, University of Waterloo and Communitech, CTT‘s Community Technology Association.

The infraNET Project, initiated by the University of Waterloo in 1996, is a partnership to advance Web and Internet technologies. Its founding partners are: LivePage, MKS, Open Text, RIM, Sybase (Waterloo) and Waterloo Maple.

We also gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the Institute for Computer Research, University of Waterloo.