The Information and Communications Technology Council, abbreviated as the ICTC, is a not-for-profit national centre of expertise for the Canadian digital economy.
ICTC Focus: To bring together Industry, Education, & Policy makers to advance the digital economy in Canada and our digital advantage in a global economy.
Mission: Foster globally competitive Canadian industries and a prosperous society empowered by innovative digital solutions.
They have published a series of research studies and forecasting reports that revolve around a multitude of emerging technologies. The following two are a sample from a larger selection:
- Appification & Canada’s Economy Value Chain– “The Appification of Everything”,
- Big Data & the Intelligence Economy – Canada’s Hyper Connected Landscape – “Big Data and the Intelligence Economy”.
Among the multitude of research studies, policy iterations, and forecasting reports, I found the following to be most relevant because of its predictions regarding the shifting labour landscape as a result of our rapidly advancing learning technologies.
Canada’s Growth Currency: Digital Talent Outlook 2023
You can find all of ICTC’s outlooks, trend reports, and forecasts here:
I feel ICTC is useful because:
- Credibility: ICTC is thoroughly evidence based and strives to incorporate forward-looking research.
- Predictive: It looks ahead roughly 3-4 years and makes an educated prognosis based on current data. Using this information, educators can tailor curricula to effectively prepare students for a future workforce with more accuracy.
- Recurrent:. Has a number of papers looking ahead and making predictions based on current data and trends.
- Open: Because it is a non-for-profit company, it does not hide behind subscription based, information-exchange, or pay-wall models.
Potential future pathways for economic growth in Canada was one of the reasons why I chose to pivot into digital technology; my educational background is where my experience intersects with the emerging. The ICTC’s focus on advancing Canada’s position in the global economy provides valuable insight into how the future of work could look with implications for the educational community.
Topics covered in ICTC’s Digital Talent Outlook 2023 are primarily economic, and include the changing nature of employment and drivers that will shape our digital economy, 6 key innovation areas, forecasting the demand for talent through 2023, 6 key innovation areas, and a pathway to fill the demand for digitally skilled talent.
Of interest are the emerging technologies and growth sectors such as Cleantech, Interactive Digital Media, Health and Biotech, and Agri-Foods and Food Tech. This report also identifies employment forecasts across these emerging markets as well as the top 15 occupations across Canada’s digital economy including key digital and business roles. Specific attention is given to how the skills gap will be filled – Women in Tech, Youth/New Grads, Immigrants, Indigenous Peoples, Persons with Disabilities, and Career Transitioners.
The value ICTC offers to educators in the public-school system – unless they are in a position to influence the direction of curriculum or course content – may simply be knowledge. I would, instead, recommend the ICTC to higher education and learning tech specialists creating digital training solutions within the emerging industries named above. For Venturers, this data is key and would be useful in identifying trends to create new digital – or tangible – products and test their viability. I would expect future versions of ICTC reports to be useful and recommended for those in higher education or tech specialists / venturers needing economic data and forecasts to identify opportunities in the Canadian context.
I find the ICTC’s report to be very valuable and poignant. Many Canadians are still oblivious or ignorant of the fact that our economy will undergo significant change (more so than anyone would reasonably expect) in the coming decades. Of course, ICTC’s report is more focused on the short-term, but it nevertheless points in what I think is the correct direction.
The 6 areas of innovation that the ICTC identified: Cleantech, Clean Resources, Advanced Manufacturing, Interative Digital Media, Health and Biotechnology, and Agri-foods and Food Tech will all play very important part in many decades to come. All of them, except perhaps interactive digital media, play key roles in a future that will no doubt be haunted by the effects of global climate change. The report shows data about ho
Like Alice mentioned above, the report also shows data about how the labour/education market will respond to these growing areas of need in the digital economy, which is valuable for both institutions and individuals alike when evaluating career prospects and education pathways. The report also identifies skills in high demand that would help institutions shape their programs to best prepare their students for the job market.
One critique I do have for ICTC’s report is the lack of focus on AI, though I understand this report is aimed at the short term (to 2023), but AI technology will surge rapidly in the next couple of decades and will be important, if not crucial, in all sectors of the digital economy. Though it is mentioned in a couple of places, the ICTC would do well to emphasize the future prospects of careers and talents in AI development.
I work with ICTC in my workplace as they provide funding support for technology focused student internships in Canada. I also know that they provide skills training for students but did not realize the extend of their reports until researching more today.
It was exciting to see that since this post in 2020 they have released a new report ‘Digital Talent Outlook for 2025’. I found this report to be super relevant to the huge shift we have seen during the pandemic. I believe that the general economic overview, in-demand occupation areas and innovation areas is very useful to educators, venturers and learning technologists in understanding the current landscape and factors that may impact the user/target market/student that they are designing learning technologies for and working with.
I also really like that this report is Canadian focused I think a lot of talent and technology reports tend to skew towards the United States in assessing general trends. While there are definitely similarities, I think this report is a great resource for understanding the landscape specifically in Canada. I will definitely continue to use this report in developing my understanding of the digital talent landscape in Canada.