Joey de Villa of TUCOWS wants to start a discussion about Toronto’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) initiative, the aim of which is to move Toronto from the #3 spot in North America (behind Silicon Valley and New York, ahead of Boston) into #2. Joey feels that plans are currently being shaped primarily by large, slow-moving companies, most of whom only have branch offices in Toronto, rather than by more agile, home-grown outfits. If you agree—or if you don’t—your thoughts would be welcome.
My whole question about ICT is ‘Why?’. I get the feeling that this is yet another varient of Toronto’s inferiority complex. The Opera House I think we needed, but because the Hummingbird doesn’t really cut it for Opera, not because ‘It will make Toronto a World Class City’ as it was often pitched. Making us a World Class City is also responsible for the atrocities that are being grafted onto the AGO and ROM. ICT should focus on just improving tech in and about the city (ubiquitous wi-fi please) in general, not focusing on some target.