 |
Economic Strategy |
5.0 A strategy to achieve Ottawa's economic vision
It is the goal of the Economic Strategy to achieve improved liveability and prosperity for Ottawa through thoughtful economic growth. Prosperity is created when there are high quality jobs, increased social and financial equity, and increased investment in the foundations that support our economy: people, place and knowledge. Ottawa will use the tools of the new economy-innovation, collaboration and continuous learning-to achieve its vision.
This Strategy is a beginning, not an end. At the City level, the policies contained here will give rise to a series of tactical plans for implementation. These plans will rely on the support of all economic partners: the private sector, public institutions such as research centres, universities, colleges and hospitals, the voluntary sector and every level of government working together.
Consultations with business individuals and groups uncovered several clear themes related to Ottawa's strengths and challenges. These themes give rise to five strategic directions:
- Invest in people and place
- Share knowledge and ideas
- Link innovation to the marketplace
- Strengthen industry clusters and entrepreneurship
- Promote Ottawa to the world
These strategic directions give rise to 25 policies, whose intent is to increase the innovation and competitiveness of Ottawa's businesses, institutions and workforce; to attract and retain high-value jobs and companies; to reinforce quality of life and environment; and to ensure long-term prosperity. A preliminary list of priority actions arising from these policies follows.
Immediate Priority Actions
The Economic Strategy suggests that immediate priority be given to the following actions, which are integral to the success of our vision. They are listed in an order corresponding to the related strategic directions outlined in the following sections-not in order of priority.
Strategic Direction 1: Invest in people and place
- Increase two-way communication with business community to improve customer service and improve access for all businesses to assistance, information, technology and resources. [See policy 1.]
- Implement a targeted business visitation program to better understand issues and opportunities of local businesses. [See policy 1.]
- Implement the Talent Plan recommendations. [See policies 2, 3 and 7.]
Strategic Direction 2: Share knowledge and ideas
- Implement the Broadband Plan recommendations. [See policies 11, 12 and 13.]
Strategic Direction 3: Link innovation to the marketplace
- Develop a collaborative-based project between targeted clusters and research and academic institutions that will increase the commercialization of research and technology. [See policy 14.]
- Assess Ottawa's business incubation capacity and the potential to bring similar resources to other clusters and sectors in the economy. [See policy 15.]
- Assess business marketing capacity and identify ways to strengthen companies' ability to market their products and services internationally. [See policy 17.]
Strategic Direction 4: Strengthen industry clusters and entrepreneurship
- Establish strategic support capacity for industry clusters to ensure that collaborative activity is initiated, managed and is productive. [See policy 18.]
- Capture more revenue for the local economy by identifying potential supply-chain linkages between the industry clusters and local businesses, and between urban and rural businesses. [See policy 20.]
- Develop a program that will strengthen and support the economic vitality of Ottawa's main streets through promotion and business retention initiatives. [See policy 20.]
Strategic Direction 5: Promote Ottawa to the world
- Market and promote Ottawa domestically and internationally as an ideal location for people, companies, tourism and investment. [See policies 23 and 25.]
- Given its essential role in supporting conventions in the city, move forward the expansion of the Ottawa Congress Centre. [See policy 24.]