Our opportunity: Realizing Canada’s potential in the global digital economy
Canada’s digital readiness
Digital readiness measures the ability to capture the opportunities that digital capabilities and investments create in a country, province or territory, and is directly tied to other measures of performance, both social and economic.
The Cisco Canada Digital Readiness Index 2023 explores how ready each province or territory is in Canada to reap the benefits of future digitization.
By measuring the factors that contribute to digital readiness, we can understand how different provinces and territories are performing, and measure their progress towards creating a more prosperous and digitally inclusive society.
Our goal is to help industry leaders and those at the national, provincial and territorial level better understand the building blocks of digital readiness and explore opportunities to improve their relative performance.
Canada’s digital readiness score
Canada ranked 17th out of 146 countries on the 2021 global DRI, placing the country in the Amplify category – the highest stage of digital readiness, along with 22 other countries.
Digital readiness across Canada’s provinces and territories
The Cisco Canada DRI highlights areas of strength and opportunity for each province and territory, with a spotlight on programs and initiatives that reflect regional priorities, drive impact and contribute to Canada’s digital acceleration.
A holistic model for Canada
The Digital Readiness Index (DRI) measures digital readiness by examining seven components and 25 metrics which are aggregated to obtain an overall digital readiness score of a country.
This allows us to measure key factors that paint a complete picture of digital readiness and isolate those elements that impacted overall scores.
Basic needs
Basic human needs for a population to survive and thrive.
Business and government investment
Private and public investment in innovation and technology.
Ease of doing business
Basic infrastructure/policies needed to support business continuity.
Human capital
Skilled labor force to support digital innovation.
Start-up environment
Environment which fosters innovation within a community.
Technology adoption
Demand for digital products/services.
Technology infrastructure
Infrastructure available to enable digital activities and connected consumers.
Digital readiness ranking and score
View the Infographic to see DRI components and metric measurements for Canada's provinces and territories.
“Digital readiness is not static. Canada’s path to digitization will require ongoing investment and focus to ensure the benefits of digital readiness are felt equally by all, especially those in Indigenous, rural and remote communities. If we do not address our domestic gaps, regions in Canada that perform at the lowest levels of digital readiness will fall further behind, decreasing Canada’s digital leadership position.”
Shannon Leininger, President, Cisco Canada