Anyone who visited the Canada Digital Compass site in the last few hours of the final showdown, witnessed a flurry of voting and commenting, which was a create end to the last six weeks of dialogue around Canada’s role in the digital economy.

If you visit the home page or the Final Showdown page, you’ll see that the community has selected the winners. One of the exciting things I’ll take away from the final showdown, is the breadth of the ideas submitted and how they each filter back to the measures of success – Economic Potential, Aligning with our Values and Fits our Capabilities.

The community’s clear choice, both in its original call and the Final Showdown was the submission from Brady Gilchrist, “World Leadership in Digital Health Care.” One of the great things about the digital revolution, is the idea that it is not just for us tech geeks out there, but can impact every citizen in a positive way. Brady’s submission was a great example of how Canada can take a leadership position globally by using digital to improve something by which each and every one of us can be affected.

The submission with the second highest number of votes, was submitted by PwC’s Russell Fordham. “Digital Literacy for All Canadians” represents a different way in which Canada can be a global leader. If we could achieve some level of digital literacy (however that may be defined) for all Canadians, that would undoubtedly position us globally as an innovator who embraces digital for the benefit of the entire country.

We made a decision early on, not only to allow, but to encourage PwC staff from participating in Canada’s Digital Compass with their own ideas and comments and many like Russell did. However, even though the community did cast its votes for Russell’s idea, and it will stand as one of the Top 3 Ideas, he will not be the recipient of the ticket to Canada 3.0 as we felt that was a bit unfair and not necessarily in the spirit of the community. After discussing potential alternatives, including having the panel select their own winner, we decided to award the pass to the event to the fourth place finisher (David Cooper – “Create a Government Department Responsible for Innovation and Entrepreneurship”, as selected by the community.

With 54 votes, our last finalist suggested an innovation of sorts in Canada’s tax credits to encourage the development of Canadian content portals. With 19 different comments on this submission, Alan Sawyer’s submission fuelled a great discussion about how to fuel media and content opportunities in Canada.

So what next? The simple answer is, we’re not sure. Whatever we do next, will be focused on our original mission when we launched this site, which was to continue the dialogue on digital in Canada and to help to move the discussion further.

As this phase of Canada’s Digital Compass comes to a close, a thank you to all those who what the guts to submit their own idea, to those who waded into the discussion with comments and everyone who thumbs or thumbs down, weighed in on the different ideas.

There were particular members of the community (you know who you are) who went the extra mile in getting the word about the site, drawing new perspectives to the discussion or took on the role of an “early adopter” in the initial days to kick things off. As a community site, none of this would have happened without you and while every one had their own unique role to play, it was inspiring to see such great engagement and insights from across the country.

During the initial calls during Canada’s Digital Compass, themes tended to emerge among the different submissions, but while the ideas during the Connectivity calls were varied, I kept thinking of whether infrastructure and industry standards can get over the hump of age old debate of the chicken or the egg.

If you build it, will they come?

While all of the different calls relate to one another, I wonder if implementing some of the ideas from the preceeding Media Production call or from the Connectivity call will depend on these ideas evolving in parallel.

A frequent contributor to the site, Mark Goldberg, (Disclaimer: PwC is a sponsor of the Canadian Telecomm Summit) produced a report on the state of broadband infrastructure in Canada that touches upon this interconnection – the importance of digital literacy to broadband infrastructure growth.

Or perhaps this is actually an opportunity and not a challenge. When I think of the smart grid I think of the large scale, macro solutions it brings to the energy space. But innovative start-ups are partnering with media companies to get broader adoption of the technology at the consumer level as well.

No doubt, early adopters play a role in whether or not a new technology or system gains traction and whether or not content or media gets buzz. As we get closer to the Final Showdown of Canada’s Digital Compass, concepts that have the potential to impact the majority of the nation, while positioning us as a world leader, the Connectivity call raised new questions about what success might look like.

The impact of digital on the media industry has been topsy-turvy at best as it has up ended business models, changing the industry irrevocably. Unlike some of the other areas that Canada’s Digital Compass explored, media is faced with turning a necessary evil into an opportunity.

But this isn’t news.

What was interesting is how many of the ideas submitted touched upon new business models that revolved around loosening control to successfully leverage the new digital reality. Could media reinvent itself using lessons learned from the technology industry, starting with Linux and the open source movement?

There were also some great solutions that were targeted at smaller, underserved markets. Can mass media survive and thrive by focusing on solutions for very specific demographics? The idea of mass customization has helped many consumer product companies grab back market share that they were losing to lower cost alternatives.

Some of the most innovative ideas and business models in the last few years have found success in the non-profit sector, like micropayments or leveraging the passions of so-called “amateurs” to more cost-effectively create a professional product or result (yes, this hints at crowdsourcing, but Canada’s Digital Compass is not designed to solicit inexpensive ideas for PwC to turn around and charge money for, it is really about creating a dialogue.)

Time will tell, whether the media industry will be able to turn digital into a great opportunity, as opposed to finding a solution that will save their business, but those brave enough to submit ideas to this crowdsourcing site have showed that recreating the wheel doesn’t need to mean starting from scratch, but can be about putting a new twist on a proven concept.

As I read through the various different submissions for our Education call, I’ve been thinking yet again about what success would look like for each of these different ideas. Or better yet, how would we even know that they’ve been successful approaches?

There are great submissions for the Education call, but how can each of them achieve an A+?

A few weeks back the Liberal party held a conference called Canada 150, all about directions for Canada leading up to our 150th Birthday in 2017. That Friday there was a panel discussion about Learning as a National Priority that set Twitter on fire. But now what?

Then on the following Monday, the Canada 3.0 conference announced a proclamation of sorts “to be able to do anything online by 2017“, also in reference to the 150th birthday. That will be easier to measure. Black and white.

For some of the “baby steps” in between, coming to a consensus on what success would mean could be more difficult, but of no less importance.

One of the themes that seems to be weaving itself into several submissions is the idea of encouraging and inspiring students. For years, there have been initiatives designed to get more girls studying science and engineering, so in the same vein, would have more students enrolled in particular programs be a good benchmark?

New types of curriculum or educational institutions are also some common submissions and there is some dialogue happening about what those success measures might be. Again, is it enrollment numbers? Graduates staying in Canada? Communities or new hubs building up around these institutions? Getting a job in the field you studied? Some of these issues aren’t new to digital, but if we could define how we would know that we’ve achieved the goal, digital could help solve them.

If we look to the future when some of these ideas are implemented, grading the submission on their merits will be based on how they’ve fulfilled the assignment – to position Canada as a leader in the digital economy. But even how we define success for that goal is still open to interpretation and hopefully something that continues to evolve during the coming calls.

In the final few days of the Technology call, the first of five for Canada’s Digital Compass, it struck me that one of the really interesting things about this site is that some of the kinds of ideas that you think will crop up might not and other totally unique ideas surface instead.

As I write this, there is one submission that touches on cloud computing and as I looked around the web, cloud computing seems to be on everyone’s list of “technologies to watch” and yet it isn’t the hottest topic on the site, in the sense that there are more ideas on wireless technologies, for example. When I checked out some of the usual suspects in the analyst world, cloud and computing and mobile (both computing and applications) are the overwhelming choices for technology trends in 2010.

But maybe that is one of the reasons more cloud submissions haven’t popped up on the site. If everyone is jumping on the cloud computing bandwagon, how does Canada differentiate itself and take a leadership position? The other big trend on everyone’s list is of course social and there’s no doubt that that is one of the hottest areas in the Canadian tech sector.

Another topic I thought we’d see discussion around would be mobile payments and RFID technologies. If the recession taught us one thing, it is that Canadian banks are more stable and better at managing risk than many of our international counterparts. So is there an opportunity to be digital innovators in mobile banking?

At the end of the day, whether it is ideas about cloud computing, wireless technologies or social, the submissions are showcasing the wisdom of the crowd. Which is the point of the site – capturing ideas and creating a discussion and debate from with a of diverse group of contributors.

It’s been a great first week of discussion on the Canada’s Digital Compass site and early next week the expert panel will name their top picks from the Technology call. People came, submitted ideas, voted and debated in greater numbers than we expected for the first week as word slowly got out about the site. Having said that, there’s still time to make a submission, vote on your favourite idea or wade into the discussion.

For each submission idea on the site, there’s an opportunity to vote thumbs up or thumbs down on whether you feel the idea has economic potential, fits our capabilities or reflects Canada’s values. One of the reasons we’ve included this on the site, is that while the ideas are the drivers of what could be, we felt there needed to be some sort of discussion on what the measures of success should be.

Canada’s economy has traditionally grown in clusters, clusters of industry that naturally evolve when a series of factors, including economic conditions, a skilled labour force and government programs come together along with a market opportunity. In the last couple of years, we’ve talked mostly about jobs lost, but looking forward, what will these new industry clusters be and where in the country will we find these jobs? Many traditional jobs lost will not be replaced, but new industries within the technology, communications and content industries are creating new job opportunities. So I wonder, where will be working in 2015?

Despite the recent sale of one of the last jewels in the Nortel crown, the legacy in its people, technology and innovation could spawn a second coming of the communications in the Ottawa region. One not built around a company such as Nortel, but from firms built around the talent and expertise it has fostered in the region. Momentum seems to be quietly building as outside investors look for opportunities to leverage what Nortel helped build, local organizations such as Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) fostering enterprenurship and from the grassroots growth of start-ups created by former Nortel employees.

On the other hand, the Cleantech industry has evolved from both the need for greener energy, but also by a desire for more economic efficient power and energy. With wind farms popping up across the country and solar power units become more popular, the Canadian public is slowly starting to adopt clean technologies. The intersection of energy and resource management and technological expertise in Canada is a real opportunity to lead and innovate in the field, but will we be more of a Cleantech consumer than innovator?

I’d be curious to hear what people think about economic potential, in the sense that these two examples explore two different ways of looking at it. Does an idea have more economic potential because it can create jobs to fit existing skills or is an idea more successful because it will create more efficient use of resources to create economic opportunities?

A while back, I was talking to Jacob Glick, one of our expert panelists, about this project and we touched on how other groups who are exploring similar approaches to defining a digital strategy.

Like Bell and Gray.

Great ideas have often been developed by more than one person or group in parallel, like Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray, the founding fathers of the telephone. Unlike the somewhat contentious dispute that revolves around the development of the phone, I thought it would be good food for thought to share some of the other papers and research we’re aware of and use it as a starting point for the discussion.

Starting off close to home, last fall, Nordicity, a consulting firm in Ottawa, Toronto and London, released a report entitled, Towards a National Digital Strategy, which “outlines the main issues affecting digital literacy and skills, cultural industries, and broadband infrastructure and technology”. Focusing on screen entertainment – film, television, interactive – Film Ontario has produced their own discussion paper, Driving a Digital Canada Strategy Through Content.

Around the world, other cities and countries have taken a similar approach to Film Ontario and evaluating how to leverage particular areas of the digital economy to position them for growth. A few years back, Denmark explored how digitization in the public sector could help build a better connection to its citizens. Singapore is looking to become a “media city” and developed a report and action plan to become a global digital media hub.

Among other similar initiatives, the process of creating a national broadband policy in the US, sparked Wired Magazine to the ideas and comments of their readers incorporated into Washington’s dialogue on the issue.

One of the most comprehensive reports that we’re aware of is last year’s Digital Britain report which outlined specific goals and actions to help the UK become a digital leader. Another national report was developed by New Zealand as well.

In addition to reports and discussion papers, there are discussions building up at conferences and trade shows across Canada as well, such as NextMedia and of course Canada 3.0 (Disclaimer: PwC has been a sponsor of both these events and Canada 3.0 was one of the catalysts for the idea of this community).

As the discussion gains momentum and we start to see more submissions in the Canada’s Digital Compass community, think about what resonates with you from these other approaches or what you think is missing and we could improve upon. While the Bell/Gray controversy may not have moved the development of communications forward, the great thing about digital is that the ability to share and collaborate can help make the discussion more fulsome.

…and curious about the Canada’s Digital Compass initiative, we thought we’d use this first blog post to delve a bit deeper into the who, what, where, when, why and how of this community.

The What
Canada’s Digital Compass is a crowdsourcing initiative to capture seed ideas (submissions) on how Canada can lead in the digital economy and to define how we would success would mean to the country. Crowdsourcing is taking an online community to the next level, where as a participant you can submit an idea, discuss and post comments and vote on what you think are the best submissions, all within a framework of success measures for Canada.

How it Works
Each week will have a theme which will address different elements of a digital economy and will have a vibrant discussion on submissions that explore these topics. Every participant will have the opportunity to vote on the submissions by three dimensions : Economic Potential, Fits Our Capabilities, Leverages Our Capabilities. At the end of each theme, our panel of industry specialists (will insert link to panelists) will weigh in and vote on some of the strongest ideas that the community has helped bubble to the top. At the end of April, the discussion and voting will culminate in a final showdown of previous winners to determine Canada’s Top 3 ideas.

How you (the who) can take part
Sign up, login and take part by voting on submitted ideas based on how you think they embody the three principles of economic impact, align with Canada’s values and fits with Canada’s capabilities. Or submit your own idea and spread the word to your own network (there are tools within the site to easily do so (e.g., LinkedIn, Facebook) or set up an RSS feed to get updates on what is being discussed on the site.

Where
For the most part, this initiative takes place online, but PwC is sponsoring a series of events across the country being hosted by the University of Waterloo-Stratford and the Canadian Digital Media Network to have similar offline discussions leading up to the Canada 3.0 conference in May. The first of the Canada 3.0 Interactions taking place this week in Toronto quickly filled up to capacity, but as we confirm dates across the country in March and April, we’ll share them on this site.

Why are we (PwC) doing this?
The new digital economy is transforming every aspect of business and lifestyle. We see how our clients are faced with developing new business models and different approaches to how they interact and collaborate with their customers and as a firm we see this for ourselves as well. Be it through client interactions or our the role we have in industry discussions, we see the digital transformation as a real opportunity for Canada, but one that needs to be acted upon. We’ve taken this approach for many reasons, including incorporating insights from those we wouldn’t otherwise be able to tap into, to help build an even greater understanding of industry issues and to leverage some of the real advantages of social media technologies to reach out to a national audience not only for an input, but also to create a venue to share and develop concepts for a strategy and define some measures for success.

We’re kicking off the initiative with the first showdown on Technology. So if you’re looking for a quick way to get involved, take a look at some of the existing submissions, vote on them, think about submitting your own idea and if the debate peaks your interest, wade in to the discussion.