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BC-Led 'Digital Technology Supercluster' Awarded Federal Funding to Transform Canada’s Fastest-Growing Tech Sector
Thursday, February 15, 2018Company Profile | Follow Company
Initiative estimated to create 50,000 jobs and inject $15 billion in GDP into BC's economy over 10 years
Vancouver, BC, February 15, 2018--(T-Net)--The British Columbia-led Digital Technology Supercluster announced today that it is one of the funding recipients for the Government of Canada's Innovation Supercluster Initiative.
The Government of Canada is investing up to $950 million under the overall Innovation Superclusters Initiative, but no details have been released yet on how much of this funding will apply specifically to the BC-led Digital Technology Supercluster.
The BC-born consortium has said that it anticipates investing more than $1.4 billion to fund over 100 projects involving with over 1,000 organizations across Canada.
"It is an exciting and historic time for innovation in Canada. The Digital Technology Supercluster is a generational opportunity - one that holds significant promise for companies in BC and across Canada," says Bill Tam, Co-Chair of Canada's Digital Technology Supercluster consortium. "Now the important work begins. As a collective, we'll apply data and use technology in new ways, such as mixed reality, which can digitally transform companies, solve industry problems and advance economic opportunities throughout BC, Canada and the world."
In May 2017, Minister Bains announced a nationwide initiative to create up to five superclusters that will supercharge Canada's regional innovation ecosystems and "build Canada as a global centre for innovation."
Superclusters are 'innovation hotbeds', designed to energize the economy and become engines of growth.
Canada's Digital Technology Supercluster was created as a collaborative effort of over 200 organisations, including some of Canada's biggest names in healthcare, telecommunications, natural resources, computing and transportation.
The following examples demonstrate how the Digital Technology Supercluster will contribute to advancements in precision health, natural resources and manufacturing:
These initiatives are among the estimated 100 projects that will be made possible by this infusion of federal funding.
Using data to drive sustainable long-term solutions across industries and sectors, the Digital Technology Supercluster will generate jobs, create new opportunities for Indigenous communities and support large-scale economic growth, according to the association. It will allow startups and small and medium-sized businesses the opportunity to shine globally, while expanding the productivity and competitiveness of Canada's larger international firms.
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Editor's Note: Here is a 12 page Executive Summary about the BC-led Digital Technoilogy Supercluster, and here is their website.
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"Leveraging the capability of Canada's world-leading broadband telecommunications networks, our BC-led Supercluster will use advanced data collection, analytics and visualization to produce innovations that have tremendous local and global impact, including enabling advanced healthcare treatments and cures via precision health analytics," says Josh Blair, Chief Corporate Officer, TELUS and Executive Vice President, TELUS Health. "As a founding member, TELUS looks forward to contributing to the breakthroughs our Supercluster will deliver for the benefit of Canadians from coast to coast to coast."
"The Canadian Digital Technology Supercluster is a powerful example of what we can achieve together as we build a globally-recognized technology hub along the Cascadia Innovation Corridor. The economic growth to be generated by the British Columbia-born consortium is a testament to how emerging technology will create new industries and jobs. Bravo to the Canadian Federal Government for making this bold investment in the future of Canada's fastest-growing tech sector," says Brad Smith, President, Microsoft.
"As a BC-born startup, we've experienced rapid growth through BC's tech ecosystem. We're proud to have been part of Canada's Digital Technology Consortium. It is a pivotal time for BC as we develop and implement a convergence of technologies in IOT, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Mixed Reality. This innovation will solve some of the biggest productivity challenges facing businesses today," says Ryan Peterson, CEO, Finger Food Studios.
"BC resource and technology companies are working together to use data and analytics to enhance environmental performance, productivity and safety. This funding will allow for further collaboration between the resource and tech sectors to unleash new innovation and address sustainability and productivity opportunities and challenges here in Canada and around the world," says Greg Brouwer, General Manager of Technology and Innovation at Teck.
The Government of Canada also announced today Canada's four other superclusters receiving funding the Government of Canada's Innovation Supercluster Initiative (in addition to the BC-Led Digital Technology Supercluster):
Media Inquiries:
For more information, please contact Kathleen Reid at kreid@switchboardpr.com or 604-724-1242.
About Canada's Digital Technology Supercluster Consortium:
Canada's Digital Technology Supercluster Consortium is a cross-industry inititiave dedicated to ensuring BC and Canada are leaders in the digital economy. It is proudly based out of British Columbia, with partners from (and benefits that will be felt across) the nation.
The consortium includes founding members AMPD, Augurex, Avcorp, Business Council of BC, BC Tech Association, Change Healthcare, D-Wave, Lifesciences BC, Microsoft, Providence Health Care (supported by St. Paul's Foundation), Premiers' Technology Council of BC, Research Universities' Council members (UBC, SFU, UVic, UNBC with Emily Carr and BCIT), Teck, Telus, Terramera, Timberwest, Urthecast and Wavefront. We also had new members join in late 2017 after we were shortlisted as one of nine applications in the running.
New members include: Shoppers Drug Mart, Canfor, GE Digital, Illumina, the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre at University Health Network (supported by the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation), SickKids, the Terry Fox Research Institute and more than 200 other organizations and post-secondary institutions collaborating to solve the biggest challenges facing the world today.
The Supercluster will advance projects guided by defined industry needs to advance solutions using virtual mixed/augmented reality, data analytics and quantum computing. To learn more, visit www.digitalsupercluster.ca.
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