A Blog of Her Own

Today we were treated to two presentations right after breakfast; Alain Casavant of Industry Canada and Dr. Thomas Keenan from the UofC. Here are my notes/musings. Again, coherence not guaranteed.

Alain Casavant (IC, Information Highway branch)

IC video shown had statistics stating (I think, it disappeared too quickly):

Income % with Internet access
<23,000 35%

70,000+ 90%

The indication is that there is an increasing digital divide, still. This is the reason why Industry Canada provides funding for community access (or at least has in the past). Now the thing that strikes me was the comment that access to computers and Internet (or lack of access) will drive future incomes-it’s the implied idea that not having access is the reason for the low income (or will be in the future). I’m not sure that this is the correct relationship. Lack of income translates to lack of technology (computer, Internet) in the home - but home isn’t the only place to get access. I guess that’s the point of community access programs.

I suppose I do buy the idea that in the future, income will be determined or affected by comfort with technology and access to information resources. We need skills and the theory is that we only really develop skills if we have easy access - access in the home is ‘best.’ There’s a tie in here to the thinking that computer gamers are more likely to become computer programmers. That theory states that the level of comfort with computers increases and, because of the ability to extend so many computer games, there’s an early introduction to programming (within the constraints of the game) increasing comfort levels with computer programming and computer science. The whole gaming thing is used to help explain why so few women are in the computer programming field, especially as game programmers (there are few games of interest to girls, so they don’t play, so they don’t develop comfort/programming skills, so they don’t become game programmers, so there aren’t any games written for girls, so there are few games of interest for girls…)

The theory with digital divide evolves along similar lines - you don’t have access to computer/Internet so you don’t learn to use them, you don’t develop computer skills so you can’t get jobs that require them (and there are more and more of these jobs in the knowledge economy), so you can’t increase your income so you can’t afford to have technology in your home so you can’t learn the skills (nor can your children), so…

Alain’s video actually went on to discuss a computer training program at Headingly Prison in Manitoba where inmates are being taught essential computer refurbishing skills and attaining A+ certification. This is an extremely good/interesting program and has spread to other locations now.

Dr. Thomas Keenan

Some truths about SuperNet

• It’s a tremendous resource
• Its uniqueness will be short-lived
• The pipe is just the enabler

It’s the imagination of what we do with it that really counts. This is the message I’ve been trying to convey for the last while-now that the network is built, we need to find something exciting to do with it.

Don’t be afraid to use your creativity when thinking about what to do now. Even wacky technology may appeal to some people.

http://Sciencechallenges.wonderville.ca

Live province-wide webcast to 196 schools

Like PGP, now the idea of “pretty good information” is becoming ubiquitous (if you have fast Internet) - ex Google Earth (amazing satellite photos, good enough for average consumer but military will still have better information). It’s the democratization of Information

The real power is in the combining of information sources. (This is the idea that Ray Patterson at UofA has about combing the web to piece together bits of personal information until a larger profile is created. A direction my final MBA paper could have taken - and maybe a future research topic)

The Internet is the “law of Unintended Consequences” writ large. (It can be used for good or evil) Even with good intentions (sharing information) can lead to unexpected consequences (when the city posts the tax assessments, entrepreneurs can search the database then target individuals to see if they want to appeal their taxes).

And, just because you can post something online doesn’t mean you should. For example, Texas state posting of last meal requests, posting photos and statistics of arrested individuals (not in Texas). Putting too much personal info up (names, photos of soccer team enabling stalking…) This leads to…

We should think before posting. Once it’s up, there’s no way to take it back. Things on the web can take on a life of their own. If not, there’s always the ‘wayback machine.’

Biometrics will raise the privacy war stakes. Oh, I don’t even want to go here. RFID in US passports, RFID in our clothing, photos and fingerprints to enter the US, even scanners on our computers. OK, I like my fingerprint scanner on my computer-it’s more convenient than remembering my password (when it works). Of course, this speaks to the fact that most people will give up privacy in exchange for things like convenience or coupons or airmiles or…

Location awareness - increasingly everything will know where we are. That’s the RFID thing and GPS enabled devices again

Opportunities abound - see teenhollywood.com (located anywhere; running a business building websites for hollywood stars from Calgary). MYK diagnostics building a business model to service pediatric radiology for everywhere between Calgary and Vancouver.

Predictions:

Smartest people are going to get the work

It won’t matter where you live

There will be huge competition (global)

We have to be fast! Advantage is temporary.

The time for action is here.

Julia asked if Dr. Keenan presented at Netspeed. If not, I think we should consider him for next year.