28 and 29 November 2011
Ottawa Convention Centre
Held at the new Ottawa Convention Centre on November 28 and 29, the 2011 IIC Canada conference - "Competition, Innovation and Applications: Towards a Digital Economy for Canada" – built on last year’s conference, and explored the key elements of national digital strategies in other countries to identify top priorities and themes that Canada can draw upon in shaping its digital future.
With 300 speakers and delegates from Canada, the United States, Australia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Europe the conference featured keynote addresses by the Honourable James Moore (Minister of Canadian Heritage), the Honourable Christian Paradis (Minister of Industry Canada), Caroline Thomson (Chief Operating Officer, BBC), Hubert T. Lacroix (President and CEO, CBC), Mark Scott (Managing Director, ABC), the Honorable Konrad von Finckenstein (Chair, CRTC), Bernard Lord (President and CEO, Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association), and John Roese (Senior Vice President and GM, Huawei United States).
Feedback on this year’s conference has been very strong, with 100% of delegates surveyed indicating that IIC Canada’s annual conference is an important networking and knowledge event, and 100% of delegates surveyed indicating their plans to attend next year’s conference, again to be held in Ottawa in Fall 2012. Senior elected officials, regulators, Chief Executives and other practitioners discussed and debated the future of public broadcasting, copyright, digital privacy, broadband billing practices, the impact of so-called “over-the-top” content distribution services, foreign ownership restrictions in Canada’s telecommunications sector, and the skill-set and mindset necessary to start and grow a successful media business in today’s environment.
The conference will shortly be televised nationally on the Cable Public Affairs Channel, and has already generated over 50 references in Canadian national media (print, online and broadcast).
Canada's Industry Minister Christian Paradis delivers a speech during IIC Conference in Ottawa November 29, 2011. (Reuters Pictures).