While the pandemic of the last year has laid bare the importance of our health system, it is not the only infrastructure that is vital. Crucial to the sustained maintenance of our modern lives and broader economy is the digital connectivity that has allowed a good bulk of our workforce to continue operating from home or at a distance.
While a digitally connected and integrated workforce was present before the outbreak of COVID-19, trends towards the further entrenchment of this reality moving forward were vastly accelerated over the course of the last year, and in many ways are likely to be permanent.
“It would be wrong to assume that our commercial and educational activities will revert back to pre-pandemic models. Indeed, 30 percent of businesses anticipate allowing at least 50 percent of their workforce to telework even after the pandemic. These behavioural changes are likely to be permanent and our policies related to digital connectivity infrastructure will need to adjust accordingly,” says a new Public Policy Forum report entitled Canada’s Digital Connectivity Infrastructure in the Age of COVID-19.
It outlines two separate yet interrelated priorities we must seriously consider in the wake of this:
- The need to expand access to digital connectivity infrastructure to currently underserved households and communities.
- The importance of cultivating the newest and most advanced digital connectivity infrastructure in order to support Canadian competitiveness now and in the future.
For instance, Rogers Communications reports a 50 percent spike in household internet usage during the pandemic.
And in terms of underserved populations? Nearly 99 percent of urban households have access to reliable and affordable internet, while only 46 percent of rural households do, and a mere 35 percent of First Nations reserves do so.
“What investment, policy, regulatory and other measures are needed to enhance the digital connectivity infrastructure necessary for an inclusive, competitive and digital post-pandemic economy?” the report asks.
