ITAC Study Noting Canada/US Spending Gap on IT Puzzles Observers

=Preliminary findings of a survey released by the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) show that Canadian companies are investing significantly less than US counterparts in information and communications technology (ICT). If these findings prove to be valid, they could be linked to the widening labour productivity gap between the two countries. Although the difference appears dramatic (with Canadian companies in 2003 investing only 42% of comparable US companies), at the same time it seems inconsistent with other direct indicators of comparative use of ICT. For example, the penetration rate for broadband Internet use in Canada is thought to be 50% greater than in the US. Other penetration rates, such as those relating to use of fixed line and cell phones, while not favouring Canada, are not strikingly different from those in the US. As noted by the President of ITAC, Bernard Curtis, this indicates that in terms of the services provided by the ICT sector, there is not an appreciable gap at all. It will be interesting to see if the final results of the ITAC survey are consistent with the provisional findings. For an article in The Globe and Mail, see: www.globetechnology.com and follow the links to the story. For the formal position of ITAC on the issue, see its web site: www.itac.ca Summary by: The Editor