We are currently witnessing a new era of global trade, industrialization, and socio-economic shifts that are profoundly shaping our world. The heightened urbanization of the world population and smart cities, changing environmental trends, increased demand for peer-to-peer consumerism, and the rise of intelligent and autonomous systems are but a few facets of our changing reality.
At the heart of this changing landscape are transformative technologies that are reshaping traditional markets and empowering a new era of global business enablement for industry and governments alike. It is estimated that by the year 2020 over 50 billion smart devices will be detecting, transmitting, and sharing intelligence on everything from consumer markets and financial services to health care. Turning this data and algorithms into monetary value is where much of the business thrust will reside in the next number of years.
Last year, Canada’s digital economy demonstrated robust growth despite looming interest rate hikes and changing global trade prospects. Canada’s digital economy contributed to 4.3% (totaled 74.7 billion) of GDP and employed over 1,450,300 professionals with an impressive job growth that outpacing every other sector of the Canadian economy by 6 to 1.