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CIRA's Public Mandate
CIRA is fulfilling its public mandate
If Canada’s economy historically was built on abundant natural resources, first in furs and fish and then in lumber and metals, our modern economy is built on resources that are perhaps less tangible but no less fundamental. These resources include a well-educated and highly-skilled workforce capable of the complex tasks a modern economy demands. They include advanced systems of governance, a reliable legal structure and sound financial institutions. They include a well-developed infrastructure of transportation and communications links. And, in this digital age, they most certainly include the Internet.
Unlike other economic building blocks, however, the Internet transcends mere accounting or GDP considerations to wield a pervasive influence in many other aspects of our lives. In this regard, it might be better compared to other public resources that deliver intangible but invaluable rewards, that contribute to our understanding of who we are, that enrich us not just financially but also socially and culturally, and that belong to no one and yet belong to all of us.
And beyond even that, the Internet is a force, a catalyst, an agent of social change. Every day, in ways that just a few years ago were unimaginable, it provides new opportunities for human beings to reach out to each other, to innovate and create, to connect and communicate, to work, study and play together or individually. And just around the corner are even greater possibilities.
So the Internet is more than just a resource; it has become the operating system for our lives.
In Canada, a very large part of that operating system relies on the dot-ca domain name registry. For this Canadian piece of the Internet, CIRA is the steward of that resource and the manager of the operating system.
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