Editorial - 28-10

Information and communications technologies (ICT) — writ large — remain the most potent tools in the arsenal of any country seeking to improve its global competitive standing. As platform technologies that cut across virtually every research discipline, the health of a nation's ICT both in terms of development and deployment, are essential and must be afforded priority status in any national or provincial S&T policy.

As articles in this issue demonstrate, green ICT and high performance computing (HPC) are currently the focus of rigorous strategizing as their respective communities work to convince policy makers and politicians how and why their fields of science really matter.

A new report from the Council of Canadian Academies views the diverse green ICT sector as a formidable tool for boosting social and economic benefits while curbing Canada's soaring rate of greenhouse gas emissions.

Compute Canada is seeking new funds to modernize our aging HPC infrastructure — an objective made more urgent by the aggressive investment strategies of many competing nations.

With the pending release of the refreshed federal S&T Strategy, we'll learn soon enough whether a more activist approach will replace the benign neglect so many aspects of Canadian ICT have suffered from in recent years.

Bottom line: Canada needs to invest appropriately in its knowledge infrastructure and the federal government must broaden its economic policy beyond the current focus on natural resources. The nation's future prosperity depends on it.