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Analysis: IT Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths and Competitive Advantage
- Highly intelligent work force
- Silicon Valley of Canada thriving - Kanata, Ontario
- Concentration of IT – University of West Ontario and University of
British Columbia at Vancouver
- Primarily English-speaking
- NAFTA – healthy relationship with US
- IT has positive social impact on Canadians
- Increase in use of Internet removing geographical boundaries
- Increased desire for information
- Government support of growth and testing, incentives
- Infusion of IT into classroom, home
- Sophisticated telecommunications infrastructure in place
- Companies focusing on connecting rural communities
- Deregulation in Telecom Industry
- Competitive environment for companies
- Entrance of small and mid-sized starter companies – healthy
environment for growth
- Many venture capital firms wanting to fund start-ups
- IT leader in developed countries
- Progressive Telecom Policy Environment
- Public and Private Sector Partnerships
- Aggressive push to help connect all Canadians to the latest voice,
Internet, and video
- Government realizes the importance of a truly connected society
- Goal of Government: to make Canada the most connected nation in the
world
- Initiatives of the Government: The Community Access Program
establishes Internet access sites in rural, remote and urban
communities across Canada.
- A cooperative initiative called SchoolNet brings the Internet into
all 16,500 schools, 3400 libraries and 450 First Nations schools in
Canada
- CANARIE (Canadian Network for the Advancement of Research, Industry
and Education) is working to improve the speed and quality of Canada’s
telecom infrastructure. Its latest project is CA*net 3, soon to be the
world’s first national optical research and development Internet.
- Canada enjoys a positive environment for wages, energy and real
estate. Canada offers high labor productivity and healthy labor
relations, and our business services infrastructure is exceptionally
efficient.
- Canada has the lowest labor costs of all G7 countries, the lowest
business construction costs, the lowest statutory benefit costs, and
the lowest employer-paid benefits. Moreover, for six consecutive
years, the UN Human Development Index has named Canada as possessing
the best quality of life in the world.
Weaknesses
- Canadians shop on US Internet Web-sites taking money from Canada's
economy
- Outsourcing in Canada because of favorable exchange rates; however, in
the long run, exchange rates will even out
- No interstate commerce law for telecommunications – several
provinces own the telephone company and the commission is gaining
control /power to deregulate except for local provinces
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