Brazil-Canada 3.0 Conference to Address Brazil's Digital Economy and Enhance Digital Media Collaboration Between Canada and Brazil

WATERLOO REGION, ON, Dec. 3, 2012 /CNW/ - When the first Brazil-Canada 3.0 Conference opens today in the Brazilian northeastern city of João Pessoa, it will be the culmination of a dream shared by two world leaders from two continents. In August 2011, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, pledged their commitment to increased collaboration and enhanced business opportunities between their two countries. Now, inspired by the format of the CDMN Canada 3.0 digital media forum which Brazilian representatives attended last spring, Brazil-Canada 3.0 is under way today and tomorrow in João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil to move that commitment forward.

"Deepening our trade, investment and educational ties with Brazil is a key part of Canada's Economic Action Plan to create jobs, growth and prosperity in every region of our country," said Ed Fast, Canada's Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway. "That is why we are delighted to see that following the Brazilian delegation to the CDMN Canada 3.0 digital media forum in Stratford, Ontario last spring, Canadian thought leaders are now invited to participate in an equivalent forum in South America. We look forward to continuing to work with our Brazilian partners to build a mutually beneficial relationship that generates benefits for people in both countries."

The Brazil-Canada 3.0 Conference will bring together representatives of government, academia and the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector to discuss the challenges and opportunities for the digital economy in Brazil. Collaboration between the two countries was undertaken as part of joint initiatives under the bilateral Science, Technology and Innovation Agreement adopted in 2011.

"It is the ultimate compliment that the Brazil conference was inspired by the CDMN Canada 3.0 event to advance digital media in Brazil," said Kevin Tuer, Managing Director of the CDMN. "Going forward, we would like to explore how the Canada 3.0 conference model could be used in a similar fashion around the world to enhance the global digital media economy."

Numerous presenters from across Canada are included in the Brazil-Canada 3.0 program. Tom Jenkins, Chair of the CDMN Advisory Board, who played a vital role in launching the Canadian forum, will address cooperation between the two countries in digital media.

"This is a phenomenal opportunity for the leaders of government, the ICT industry, and representatives of culture and the arts in Brazil to consider opportunities for digital media expansion in Brazil, and for Canada and Brazil to further collaborate on joint initiatives," said Jenkins. "It is indeed exciting to see the forum take root in another part of the world, and we wish Brazil much success as a result of this conference."

The event includes conference streams on connectivity/internet governance; digital content; development of talent; and digital entrepreneurship. It also includes a startup company pitchoff competition, and the reward for the top startup will be a week of coaching at CDMN's headquarters location at The Communitech Hub in Waterloo Region.

"Events like these are of great importance, as they offer opportunities to address, in a bilateral fashion, the vision, fully endorsed by Brazil, that ICTs can be a powerful tool for development. Likewise, being held in the northeastern region of our vast country, it may help balance the country's digital inclusion scenery, traditionally more notable in the southeastern states," notes Franklin Silva Netto, General-Coordinator of the Conference.

Organizers of the Brazilian Conference (Federal Government, State Government, Academia, Private Sector) have identified gaps in Brazil's digital economy, with disparities in access to the Internet, with some areas of the country having higher access rates, and rural populations having less access to the Internet than urban dwellers. Canadians have addressed similar issues at previous Canada 3.0 forums and are striving - through the CDMN Canada 3.0 digital media conference -- to enable all Canadians to do anything on-line by the target timing of 2017, Canada's 150^th birthday. The 5th Canadian forum, slated for May 14 & 15, 2013 will be held for the first time in downtown Toronto.  Registration is now open and further details are available at: www.cdmn.ca/canada30.

About The Canadian Digital Media Network
The Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN) www.cdmn.ca is dedicated to establishing Canada as a world leader in digital media by enabling connections and collaboration of people across the country - entrepreneurs, companies, research institutes and government - and bringing more digital solutions to market. The CDMN comprises Canada's largest concentration of business-driven digital media research, technology development, and digital commercialization expertise; it connects digital media expertise and capability from coast-to-coast, creating a digital convergence corridor. Digital media covers a broad spectrum of technology and services, and includes any information created and shared virtually. Follow @CDMN on Twitter, join the Canadian Digital Media Network Group on LinkedIn and like the CanadianDigitalMediaNetwork Page on Facebook.

SOURCE: The Canadian Digital Media Network

Media Contact
Shelley Grandy, Sr. PR Advisor, CDMN, [email protected]