Project Highlights

Ground-breaking Work

SNG's pioneering work on the South Dundas Study was profiled in a number of publications, including Canada's pre-eminent national newspaper, the Globe and Mail (Business Section, October 9, 2003) where the work was described as "ground-breaking". The report links the establishment of a high-speed ICT network with job creation and economic growth for a small rural community if Southeastern Ontario.


The report demonstrates that the results of the $1.3 million investment led to:

  • over $25 million in GDP,
  • over 200 person years of employment
  • and approximately $8 million in government tax revenue.

Economic and Social Impacts of ICT

A 2004 study conducted by SNG and Phoenix Strategic Perspectives of projects funded by Canada's Federal Economic Initiative for Northern Ontario (FedNor) in and around Timmins, Ontario outlined a variety of social and economic impacts stemming from these investments.
Among these impacts were: an improvement in patient care at regional hospitals, an increase in educational opportunities in the region, and increased economic activity. The later may be expressed in terms of:

  • over $28 million in GDP,
  • over 900 person years of employment,
  • and over $8 million in government tax revenues.

The report also provided a series of recommendations designed to facilitate future impact measurement with the aim of supporting future strategic decision-making.

Economic Impact Analysis

SNG has the tools and proven methodologies to analyze the economic impacts of successfully introducing broadband in a region and to assess the community-level impacts of new jobs, improved access to services and social benefits.

Project Name

 Economic Analysis of the Impact of Golf in Canada

Client

 National Allied Golf Association, Canada.

Project

 Identified key economic indicators and measures the game of golf that are required for analysis of who benefits, and to what extent, from golf activities. Adapted SNG's Online Impact Tracking Tool to effectively and cost-efficiently collect the indicators and measures from individual stakeholders in the golf industry, such as golf facility operators, individual golfers, etc. and conducted data analysis from survey results for reporting and input to economic impact analysis. (August 2008 - February 2009)

Results

 Interpreted research results and project analysis into economic context at a National and Provincial level, as well as applied SNG's community and regional economic development modeling tools to demonstrate the role and importance of golf in regional economic development.
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Project Name

 Broadband Strategic Research and Impact Analysis – Program Evaluation Services for Rural Connections

Client

 Ministry of Consumer and Government Services, Government of Ontario, Canada

Project

 Development of a program evaluation framework, an impact tracking methodology and evaluation / support tools for the $10 million Rural Connections Program and living labs. (December 2007 – March 2009)

Results

 Engaged government officials, municipal project stakeholders, community partners and the academic community in the research and building of local capacity needed for 18 funded broadband projects to support and take ownership of an impact tracking process.
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Project Name

 Economic Impact Research for the Fibre to the Home (FTTH) Council

Client

 Fibre to the Home (FTTH) Council, United States

Project

 To support the decisions, effort, and investment in undertaking a FTTH initiative, SNG collaborated with MIT and Carnegie Mellon University to measure economic impacts from FTTH deployment. (January 2007 – July 2007)

Results

 Findings provided evidence-based support for investments in FTTH with businesses reporting total increases in sales of $3.4 million, total decreases in costs of $4.0 million and an average increase in employment of 11.9% because of FTTH (reported for previous 12 month period)
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Project Name

Industry Canada Broadband Economic Impact Study Final Report – Impacts of broadband in Churchill, Manitoba, and Parrsboro, Nova Scotia

Client

Industry Canada, Ottawa, Canada

Project

Conducted an economic impact assessment of broadband in the communities of Churchill, Manitoba and Parrsboro, Nova Scotia.

Results

The study team, made up of people from Brandon University, Dalhousie University and SNG Inc. notes that there is a ‘digital divide’ in Canada that separates businesses in rural and remote communities from being able to play on an even field with their competitors that have access to broadband. The critical impact that came through all of the research was that of job, company and community retention. Overall, the return on investment of broadband on Churchill and Parrsboro has been positive and respondents strongly support future investments in broadening access to ICT and broadband.

Report: Industry Canada Broadband Economic Impact Study Final Report
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Project Name

 Socio-Economic Impact Study of FedNor Broadband and ICT Investments in Timmins and Cochrane District, Ontario

Client

 Federal Economic Development Initiative for Northern Ontario (FedNor), Toronto, Canada.

Project

 Conducted economic impact study of FedNor broadband and ICT investments in Timmins, Ontario, from $2 million CDN in FedNor in project funding to tele-radiology, remote-learning and telephone switching system upgrade.

Results

Demonstrated a $28.64 million increase in GDP for Cochrane District (i.e. Timmins region) and $9.75 million increase for the Province of Ontario; 928 person years of employment for Cochrane District and 125.6 for the rest of Ontario; $3.21 million increase in provincial tax revenues and $5 million increase in federal tax revenues.

Report: Socio-Economic Impact Study of FedNor Broadband and ICT Investments in Timmins and Cochrane District

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Project Name

 Economic Impact Study of the Headwaters Smart Communities Project

Client

 Keewatin Career Development Corporation, northern Saskatchewan, Canada.

Project

 Conducted economic impact assessment of $5 million Headwaters Smart Communities Project.

Results

 Adapted SNG methodologies to remote region to assess economic and social impacts from IT. Qualified and demonstrated linkages between IT project activities and benefits (economic and social) experienced by businesses, education, community services and heritage in the community / region.
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Project Name

 South Dundas Economic Impact Study of Broadband

Client

 Department of Trade and Industry, London, United Kingdom.

Project

 Conducted economic impact case study of a broadband network in a community. Collected data and analyzed impacts in South Dundas Township (Ontario, Canada) to assess changes in jobs, GDP and the community's tax base.

Results

IIdentified a correlation between access to the Internet and new jobs – 50% of firms with broadband had new jobs, 27% of firms with dial-up had new jobs and 6% of firms with no Internet access had new jobs. Using Input-Output modeling, estimated a $16.42 million increase in direct expenditures to the Township based on new jobs and expansion of commercial and industrial facilities attributable to the fibre network.

Report: South Dundas Economic Impact Study

(link to UK Department of Trade and Industry website – study can be found at bottom of web page)
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Project Name

 Town of Tillsonburg Economic Impact Case Study

Client

 Industry Canada, Ottawa, Canada; Town of Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada.

Project

 Led project team to review the economic impacts from the adoption of the Town's Strategic Technology Plan in 1999 which involved convergence of operations with implementation of information technology systems and applications.

Results

Identified $1.3M in costs and $2.1M in benefits as of December 2002. Developed model for local governments to determine what kind of IT investments they should be making, what the value of those investments should be (based on population, number of municipal staff, etc.) and what kind of cost savings and return on investment they can expect from IT and broadband.

Report: Town of Tillsonburg Economic Impact Case Study
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