2.2 Investment in Human Capital

Another societal dimension of a national digital strategy is the human resources implication for Canadian public and business organizations. Digital technologies are quite disruptive to many sectors, and in particular industries that are based on intellectual property (IP) like the cultural industries. New methods of production, outsourcing, marketing, and distribution are enabled by digital technologies. Jobs in the service as well as in the manufacturing industries will disappear or be transformed; new skills will be required. Changes in needs are occurring very rapidly so that it is difficult for educational institutions to keep up with new workplace demands.

To be competitive in a global economy, Canada needs a range of measures to develop the skills that are necessary for Canadians to succeed in a digital workplace. These measures incorporate workforce preparation through training and education – and point to the ways in which educational and training services can be improved. In addition to upgrading the skills of existing professionals, there are a range of other human capital development issues, such as matching jobs with needs, more effective recruitment processes, continuous learning within the digitally intensive organizations, and the mentoring and career guidance of the workforce.

In the cultural sector existing practitioners require the right mix of professional development activities and workplace opportunities to adapt continuously in a changing digital media environment. Even formal education in digital media may not necessarily be sufficient to break into new digital media related fields. Development of the digital economy may be moving too fast for a perfect alignment of education with workplace needs. Therefore, the challenge is to train new workforce entrants to thrive in work environments with evolving skills needs and become more entrepreneurial about their career development.

In the 2009 budget the federal government has dedicated up to $2 billion to repair, retrofit and expand facilities at post-secondary institutions.¹² The federal government also allocated almost $2 billion for training and human resources development in the same year. At issue, then, is how the digital impact on the education, training, and development of the human capital should be integrated into a national digital strategy. At the very least, addressing the human resources impact on cultural and communications sectors should be a fundamental part of the development of a national digital strategy.