The relationship between science, technology and society during the Covid-19 pandemic
The case of teleconferencing R&D in Canada
Student names (alphabetical order): Peter Delis, John Kokkinos, Andrew MacDiarmid, Dylan Oelmann, Mimi Ta
Supervisor: Gita Ghiasi
Course: ENGR-392-2202-EE
Abstract
The development of teleconferencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic has revolutionized the ways Canadians work, go to school, and partake in medicine. The purpose of this research is to establish the history of teleconferencing in Canada from 2013-2020 by performing analyses of related keywords, publications on a global and national scale in conjunction with the TEN framework, funding sponsors, patents, and socio-economic data. Relationships between these economic, societal, and household factors can then be established. This leads to a discussion of the place of teleconferencing technology in our society, being in fields such as academia, companies, and governments. In conclusion, it was found that the main actors in teleconferencing research and development were institutes residing primarily in East Asia, bringing up privacy concerns. While Canada ranked 6th overall, Concordia University was seen to place 7th worldwide. Furthermore, using the NAICS codes related to teleconferencing in association with the Statistics Canada database, the difference between the male and female employment rates are quite significant, while the delta between the average hourly wage rate was around 4$ per hour. Overall, the growth of teleconferencing due to the pandemic has accelerated the development of all its adjacent fields for the better.