Industry Minister Tony Clement, "Data is Canada's new natural resource"

BY: 

Dave Forde
July 16, 2012

Recently Industry Minister Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board and Minister responsible for FedNor, issued a call-out to Winnipeg’s business and technology community to help turn vast stores of government data into valuable, user-friendly applications that will spur innovation, boost growth and improve the lives of everyday Canadians.

Canadian Governement Wants More Developers To Use Their Data

He was was in Winnipeg to raise awareness and engage entrepreneurs and innovators about the opportunities presented by the Government’s Open Data initiative. The move to release hundreds of thousands of data sets for the public to freely access is part of a growing global trend by governments around the world that is being heralded by many as the next technological revolution.

“Data is Canada’s new natural resource,” Minister Clement told a gathering at Winnipeg’s Red River College. “The sky is the limit in terms of what we can do with this raw material. The world is quickly moving in this direction and we want to make sure Canada is a leading participant in this game-changing movement.”

In March 2011, the Government launched its Open Data Portal, www.data.gc.ca, a one-stop shop for federal government data now contains more than 273,000 data sets from 21 agencies and departments. The data ranges from statistics on building permits and wait times for non-emergency surgeries by province to pollution emissions and border wait times.

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Dave Forde


Dave “The Connector” Forde has been involved in the marketing, public relations and technology industry across Canada for over 20 years in various sales and marketing roles, he launched The Connected One network of business sites which connects buyers to the right sellers. Profectio and PR In Canada covers news about the marketing and public relations industry each day helping professionals advance their career and businesses. He also serves as an advisor to a number of businesses across the country. Find Dave on LinkedIn and Twitter.


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