research and innovation : Innovation + Job News

While on an official tour of government and institutional sites in South Africa recently, Ryerson president Sheldon Levy announced that the university would be launching a new business incubation program, offering a total of eight fellowships to students from four different South African universities. The fellowships will allow student entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop their ventures at one of Ryerson's several incubators, including the Digital Media Zone, Centre for Urban Energy, and the Fashion Zone.

“The future of the global economy is in the hands of our young people,” said Levy, while making the announcement at the University of Witwatersrand. “Ryerson is proud to partner with South African universities in promoting entrepreneurial innovation and great ideas.”

Meanwhile, Professor Adam Habib, Wits University Vice-Chancellor, emphasized that international partnerships like this are crucial for regional development. “Entrepreneurs play a pivotal role in the social and economic development of South Africa and Africa. It is imperative for higher education institutions to play their part in nurturing, training and developing future entrepreneurs."

Fellows will be selected in a two-stage process: first the originating universities will generate a short list of candidates, and then each Ryerson incubator's steering committee will make the final selection based on proposed business plans and video pitches. The fellows who make the cut will have travel and accommodation costs covered, and will each receive a three or four month placement at the most suitable incubator for their needs.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Ryerson University
Photo: Wits University

Every city and region has its challenges and often the best authorities—both on the nature of the problems and the value of potential solutions—lies within the local community, the residents who encounter these issues first-hand. That's the principle underlying communityBUILD, an ongoing collaboration between VentureLAB, a York Region innovation accelerator; York University; and United Way York Region. It is "is a partnership from three very different organizations," says VentureLAB project lead Heather Crosbie, "and the partnership itself breeds quite a unique approach to what we're tying to do, which is tackle York Region social issues through the lens of social entrepreneurship."

That ongoing project has an upcoming major event: communityBUILD Mash-UP, a two day intensive workshop to help better understand some specific challenges within York Region, and to spur local social entrepreneurs to develop innovative approaches to tackling those issues. By the end of the Mash-Up, some participants will be selected for a prize pack that includes mentoring, office space, and other in-kind support.

With the help of the United Way, two specific social problems were identified: food insecurity and youth unemployment. The goal of the Mash-Up is to spend "two intense days to work on solutions to two of these 'grand challenges,'" explains Crosbie. 

One of the features that makes this event unique, she says, is "you can apply to be a collaborator, to join an existing team, as well as pitch as a team or an existing early-stage project." Applications for partipating in either capacity are being accepted online until March 8. A panel of local experts will winnow down the list of applicants; those selected will participate in the two-day workshop, which runs March 27-28.

After that, says Crosbie, there are "three hurdles to get over" before the winners are selected: whether the proposal is relevant to one of the "grand challenges"; whether the team proposing an initiative "has experience in either living the reality or working on the problem"; and whether everyone else participating in the Mash-Up sees merit in the proposal.

The workshop will begin with everyone pitching their ideas and it'll be up to the Mash-Up participants to select which of those ideas seem most promising. Those will be the ones that teams will work on over the course of the two days—developing business plans, rollout schedules, and the like. A panel of four or five entrepreneurs will determine the "viability, scalability, and sustainability" of the fleshed-out proposals, and select the ultimate winner.

It's one of many new initiatives the organizing partners hope to develop over time. "The long-term objective," says Crosbie, "is to build out an ecosystem of social entrepreneurs tackling social issues in York Region specifically."

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Heather Crosbie, VentureLAB project lead

A new study examining the state of foreign investment in the Toronto region—Roadmap to Revizalization—includes some important calls to action for spurring local economic development. The Greater Toronto Marketing Alliance (GTMA), a public-private partnership, released the study last  month. Among its members: all the municipalities and regions that make up the GTA, along with private and public sector partners. 

"Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is accelerating as a key driver of economic growth," reports the Roadmap. "Over the period 1990 to 2011, FDI globally grew 75 per cent faster than Gross Domestic Product (GDP). When foreign firms open up shop here they create jobs and capital investment, and generate tax revenue that feeds back into the Canadian economy."

There are also knock-on effects: an influx of talented workers, and a more dynamic, innovative economic environment in general. And crucially, these benefits spill across municipal borders: it's not a question of pitting one city in the region against another in an attempt to attract a new office HQ, for instance, but understanding that as soon as one foreign investor sets up here, the benefits will be distributed, which is why the report's key conclusion is so crucial.

"The GTA currently lacks effective regional coordination," writes the Roadmap, in attracting FDI. Multiple organizations and levels of government all try and tackle this issue, but they are not working in concert, and in some cases find themselves at odds. If the Toronto region is to strengthen its capacity to attract foreign investment, in short, we need to start pulling together in a coordinated and organized way.

"The Toronto region is the primary engine for FDI attraction in Ontario and in Canada, representing 52 per cent and 24 per cent respectively of all FDI activity," the Roadmap explains. We perform relatively well compared to other North American regions, but globally we are ranked 18th of 27 cities. And this, says the report, has a lot to do with how we pitch ourselves.

It isn't that the Toronto region lacks the relevant, appealing qualities foreign investors look for: "This performance is at odds with the Toronto region’s relative attractiveness as a destination for foreign direct investment. For example, on a global basis the Toronto region ranks high in terms of key FDI drivers such as size, location, demographics, economic growth, skilled labour, infrastructure, ease of doing business and the provincial and federal fiscal policy environment."

So how do we improve? Among the recommendations: 

• Increased resources in attracting FDI. (The study found that Toronto spends considerably less, per capita, on attracting foreign investment than many other comparable cities.)
   
• Coordinated, clearly planned out strategies which give all stakeholders defined roles in attracting FDI. This should include agreement on strategically selected "target sectors and markets"—ideally about 9 or 10 of them.

• More extensive private sector involvement, which is lower here compared to many other regions.

"The Toronto region is significantly underperforming relative to its potential," the report concludes. "The opportunity is significant, and the ROI is clear. But money alone will not be enough to fix the current situation. Significantly improved collaboration and coordination of efforts across a broad range of organizations is needed."

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source:Roadmap to Revitalization (report)

Major news out of Cisco today: Toronto is one of the four cities internationally that has been selected to host a new Internet of Everything Innovation Centre. (The other cities on the list: Rio de Janeiro; Songdo, South Korea; and a yet-to-be-named city in Germany.)

The 15,000 square foot facility will be part of Cisco's new headquarters, slated to open as part of RBC WaterPark Place in 2015. The $100 million investment in the innovation centre will be spent over 10 years, encompassing design and infrastructure, start-up costs, and ongoing staff and operations.

What, you may be wondering, is the "Internet of Everything"? It's basically just Cisco's term for the growing integration of new systems and aspects of daily life into the internet—the next iteration of the internet's penetration into our lives, and the next layer of connectivity that will generate.

"Today less than one per cent of the things that could be connected, are connected on the internet," explained Cisco Canada president Nitin Kawale when announcing the investment Wednesday morning. "Imagine what's possible if the remaining 99 per cent of things were connected."

The innovation centre will be devoted to exploring some of that potential new connectivity, "a place for our partners, customers, established companies, and start-ups from across North America to work together," Kawale said. "Toronto is a world-class community of creativity and talent. This facility will be a global hub of innovation for the Internet of Everything technologies. It puts Toronto and Cisco on the world stage."

Back in December Cisco also announced that it would be creating "up to 1,700 high tech jobs" in Toronto, with a total employee base of up to 5,000 in the region.

Toronto's Deputy Mayor, Norm Kelly, was on hand for the announcement. "When I look around this room to see the sampling of the technology that you're working with today and what it might be like tomorrow—it's mind-boggling. It really is."

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Cisco Canada

When Kathleen Wynne's government unveiled its first budget last year, one focus was on youth jobs initiatives: it included $295 million over two years to boost youth employment, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Among the projects in that youth job strategy: a Youth Investment Accelerator Fund, which would give up to $250,000 each to tech-based companies whose founders are less than 30 years old.

This month, the Youth IAF announced the first four recipients of funding through the program—all of which are based in Toronto. Those recipients:

• PUSH, which is working on wearable devices that help athletes train more effectively by providing real-time feedback about their performance. PUSH is an alumni of MaRS.
• Rubikloud, a B2B tool which uses e-commerce data to yield insights into purchasing patterns, sales conversions, traffic changes, and more. Rubikloud also came up through MaRS.
• SoapBox, an employee engagement tool that was developed with the support of Ryerson's Digital Media Zone and whose clients now include RBC and and Indigo.
• Greengage, which comes out of Rotman's Creative Destruction Lab. Greengage focuses on helping organizations meet their sustainability goals by giving employees the tools to do things like monitor and reduce the environmental impact of their behaviours.

The Youth IAF's main goal is to accelerate commercialization of young tech-based companies, and in particular those "that have graduated from recognized accelerator programs within the province and Ontario Universities and colleges, or are enrolled with a Regional Innovation Centre under the ONE program."

Applications are available online and accepted on a rolling basis.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Ministry of Research and Innovation

Trying to improve gender diversity in organizations started out as a question of equity and justice—it was just the right thing to do. But there's been a growing body of anecdotal evidence that it actually may lead to not just different but better decsion-making. A Ryerson professor, along with some colleagues at Rice University in Houston, decided to research that issue more formally. They've just issued  the results of a study they conducted looking at the impact of gender diversity in the conduct of science, specifically.

The upshot: "Here we present the first empirical evidence," the authors write, "to support the hypothesis that a gender-heterogeneous problem-solving team generally produced journal articles perceived to be higher quality by peers than a team comprised of highly-performing individuals of the same gender."

In short: scientific investigations conducted by gender-diverse teams tend to produce work that is independently assessed to be better than work produced by teams that aren't diverse.

Lesley Campbell is a professor in Ryerson's department of chemistry and biology. "Gender diversity, at a minimum, improves the likelihood that you are going to be doing effective science," she said in a statement explaining her work. "Gender diverse groups and groups that are diverse in a variety of ways might actually be more effective ways to do team science and team work.  We now have scientific evidence to back that suggestion up."

Her study analyzed work produced by 157 research groups from a California-based ecological institution, spanning 1997-2006. Work produced by gender-diverse teams were cited 34 per cent more than homogenous teams; that work was also deemed to be better quality during the peer assessment process.

"We all come to the table with different ways of problem solving," Campbell says. "It’s not just about the facts that we know but the way that we do things really does differ between men and women…There are very different ways that groups with gender diversity complete things."

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Gender-Heterogeneous Working Groups Produce Higher Quality Science (Study)

Many Canadian entrepreneurs, both anecdotally and in industry surveys, lament the lack of funding for early-stage ventures that's available here, relative to what they can find south of the border. 

One new development that may at least begin to help with those concerns: late last month Premier Kathleen Wynne announced that the province, in conjunction with the federal government and several private sector partners, has launched a new venture capital fund. The Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund had a total of $217 million in commitments at its first closing, and is aiming to hit $300 million in short order.

In order to raise the starting pool of money the provincial and federal governments are matching private investor contributions (one dollar for every two the private sector invests), up to a total of $50 million each. The fund takes its name from Northleaf Capital Partners, the Toronto-based firm that is managing it. It is a "fund of funds"—a fund that invests in other funds—and is in addition to (not a replacement for) the existing Ontario Venture Capital Fund. The latter launched in 2008 and has, according the provincial government, "attracted $872 million in private sector capital while creating and retaining 1,500 jobs in the province."

The Northleaf Catalyst Fund is the first provincial fund launched under the federal governments Venture Capital Action Plan, which was announced a year ago, and which will distribute $400 million over the next 7-10 years.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Office of the Premier

"Toronto Public Library provides free and equitable access to services which meet the changing needs of Torontonians. The Library preserves and promotes universal access to a broad range of human knowledge, experience, information and ideas in a welcoming and supportive environment."

That's the mission statement for Toronto's library system, and they want you to take the "changing" part of it seriously.

Though many of us think primarily of books—the old-fashioned paper-and-ink variety—when it comes to the library, TPL has been exploring digital technology for some time, and ramping up those digital forays in recent years. They've already got robust e-book and digital magazine programs, and are exploring a Netflix-like video streaming service as well. For years, and especially for Torontonians who can't afford computers or internet connections, they've provided online access. Their latest venture: two digital innovation hubs—one at the Toronto Reference Library, and one at the soon-to-be-open Fort York branch.

Among the tools available there, and creating a lot of excitement: 3D printers.

The two hubs are a combination of maker space and digital media labs; also available will be HD cameras and green screens, computers with video editing and design software, and classes on subjects like Photoshop and web design.

As with those traditional print books, the goal is to make learning accessible to all Torontonians. "These are critical literacy skills that people are going to need to move forward," says Paul Trumphour, access and information manager for the Reference Library.

By offering these new technologies, and helping people understand how to use them, the library is supporting another kind of literacy—and one that is becoming increasingly vital to employment and creative enterprises. He cites, for instance, how many more men than women still enrol in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs, saying that "one of the ways to encourage young women to do this is to provide opportunities outside of the curricular experience… we think that's a role the library can play and should play."

About those 3D printers: staff will be on hand to help, and the library will be running workshops in how to design 3D objects. There are two at the Reference Library: one will be first come first served, and the other you can book in advance for a block of up to two hours. As for how they'll manage the inevitable waiting list, Trumphour chuckles, "we'll have to figure that out as we go."

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Paul Trumphour, Access and Information Manager, Toronto Reference Library

Back in 2010 the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and MaRS Innovation came together to form a new cancer-focused accelerator. Called Triphase, in October, 2012 that accelerator quietly closed a collaboration deal with major biotech company Celgene—a deal that has just been publicly announced.

Triphase focuses on developing oncology therapies, taking them through the early phases of that process, including initial funding, industry advice, and clinical proof-of-concept work. Their goal is to help new therapies complete this process in under three years. Products that make it through the accelerator will then be sold or licensed, on their way to full commercialization. Some key terms of the deal—including the amount Celgene paid upfront to gain access to Triphase's products—haven't been disclosed, but we do know that Celgene has acquired the right of first refusal on Triphase's first three products, plus negotiation rights on three more cancer therapies.

"For the last year or so, we've basically been accumulating assets [i.e. potential new therapies], and running drug development processes around those products," explains Triphase CEO Frank Stonebanks, about the 15-month gap between when the deal with Celgene was signed and when it was announced.

Triphase has now acquired one product in particular that they are excited about, and has been working on trials, cleaning up the data from the company that originally developed the therapy, and generally doing some groundwork. Now that the Celgene deal has been announced, Triphase is focusing on expansion, including potentially expanding beyond oncology entirely.

With facilities in both Toronto and San Diego, and experience working on both sides of the border, Stonebanks has developed an appreciation for the differences between the two business cultures. A Canadian, he originally left here in 1995 "for basically all of the [usual] reasons: I could not find the intellectual, economic challenges that I wanted… Then the OICR recruited me and I came back in 2010. That's a good sign, the tide is starting to turn."

Now back in the States, Stonebanks says that we do "a great job on early science and technology, but translating that into actionable value—that's where Canada has frankly fallen short over the years." That may be something to work with rather than worry about, however: "I think we need to be a little honest with ourselves with what we don't do well… We live in a global economy, don't have to have all manufacturing here, all aspects of development here. It's not a flag-waving exercise; you need to do what's right for your business."

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Frank Stonebanks, Founder and CEO, Triphase Accelerator Corporation

It's one of those ideas that seems entirely obvious in retrospect: provide a forum for medical professionals to share clinical images, so they can have a large pool of resources to draw on when seeking to learn more about certain conditions, and a large pool of expertise to draw on for insight into particular cases.

Three Torontonians came up with just such a forum—a mobile app called Figure 1, the product of a startup of the same name. Figure 1 recently announced that it has raised $2 million in seed funding, to support its next stage of growth.

Figure 1 was started about a year ago by a practising physician, a senior developer, and a Ryerson communications professor. They launched at Ryerson's DMZ—"Ryerson's just really great with innovation and entrepreneurship and flexibility," says co-founder Gregory Levey (he's the communications prof)—and currently have nine full time staff. With the help of the seed funding they hope to double in size within the year.

The new financing will allow Figure 1 to grow in a variety of ways. Their first goal is to expand onto different platforms: they're planning to launch on Android within four or six weeks, and will then move onto a desktop version of Figure 1. They're also looking to expand into other countries; the app is available in Canada, the U.S., Ireland, and the UK at the moment, and Australia and New Zealand are next. (Because the app is for licensed professionals, there are costs involved when they expand to each new country as they need to accommodate a new set of medical regulations.)

Levey's quick to admit they don't have a business model quite yet—Figure 1's focus right now is on building the service and user base. This isn't, right now, worrying anyone: their investors are on board with that strategy. Many of those investors are based in America, though there are some Canadians in the mix as well, and that's reflected in the approach a bit: "I do think there's something of a difference," Levey says of the investment culture in the two countries. "The American ones, especially on the west coast, are really swinging for the fences. The Canadian ones are a little more cautious, a little more risk averse—but that's changing."

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Gregory Levey, co-founder, Figure 1

For the third year, technology publication Techvibes is giving out awards to acknowledge the country's top new ventures and enterprises. The finalists for the 2013 Canadian Startup Awards were recently announced, and now it's up to you: the winners will be selected by the public, via an online vote. You can cast your ballot until midnight on January 19; the winners will be announced on January 20.

As usual, Toronto is well-represented among the finalists. Among the local ventures vying for awards are:

• InteraXon: a technology company that creates products based on tools that read a person's brainwaves.
• Music-messaging platform Rithm
• Business-to-business marketing company Influitive, which closed a major round of funding this time last year

All of those were nominated for the most prominent award: overall startup of the year. Toronto's well-represented in other categories. Two local startups are also nominated for accelerator graduate of the year. Bionym, which came through Creative Destruction Lab and The Next 36, provides unique user identification tools based on a person's signature heartbeat. And ShopLocket, which graduated from Extreme Startups, provides easy-to-use tools to help retailers set up online stores.

Techvibes received over 2,500 nominations; editors whittled down to the list of finalists with public input as well. Launched in conjunction with KPMG, the Canadian Startup Awards are given out in six categories. Last year nearly 18,000 votes were cast. Wattpad won for best overall startup in 2011, and Indochino in 2012.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan

In the waning days of 2013, when most of us were distracted by holiday shopping and trips back home, some promising information was released about a new set of economic programs for southern Ontario. The Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) announced details of the Southern Ontario Prosperity Initiatives (SOPIs), which collectively will provide $530 million in the region.

There are four separate initiatives that have been launched:

• Business Innovation, for young ventures. This program targets new enterprises, providing them with business support to help increase their odds of success in the marketplace. Funding in this stream is available for non-profits that offer support to new businesses, early stage businesses that have less than 50 employees, and angel investor networks.

• Business Growth and Productivity, for established businesses. This stream of funding aims to help companies that are already developed expand further and create new jobs. Small- and medium-sized enterprises with at least 15 employees, and non-profits that provide productivity support services to those enterprises, are eligible.

• Commercialization Partnerships Initiative, which targets collaborative projects between businesses and researchers. This program aims to help major institutions work closely with business partners to help translate research innovations into market success. Among those eligible: post-secondary institutions and industry associations.

• Regional Diversification Initiative, which targets underdeveloped sectors of the regional economy. This stream of funding is open to non-profits with an economic development focus, and that have private sector or community partnerships that work on capacity-building initiatives.

For more information, visit FedDev Ontario.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: FedDev

Like many municipalities, ones in Ontario are starting to play a larger role in energy production and distribution. One local company, PowerStream, is owned by three such municipalities together: Barrie, Markham, and Vaughan. And like many of these smaller companies, the focus is increasingly on using smart grid technology and renewable energy sources to lower the environmental burdens of providing power. A few weeks ago, PowerStream unveiled a new micro grid demonstration project in an attempt to further explore those possibilities.

Smart grid technology is essentially a way of fine-tuning the collection and distribution of power across a network, by working with real-time, fine-grained information about energy demands, sending power to where it is most needed and in some cases bringing power sources on- and off-line dynamically, to meet changing demands. PowerStream's micro grid works in the same way, but on a much smaller scale than the provincial power system—it's scaled to meet local needs, ideally with local, renewable power sources. It also latches into the provincial grid, drawing power from it when needed, and sending power to the grid if it's producing more than it requires.

PowerStream's micro grid demonstration project is installed at its head office in Vaughan. John Mulrooney, director of smart grid technologies for PowerStream, explains the project in a video guide as: "a two-phase initiative that will evaluate the micro grid's effectiveness as an alternative energy supplier for PowerStream's head office. It will test the ability to utilize different power sources and storage while delivering safe, reliable service."

In the first phase, power—coming from solar panels, wind turbines, and natural gas generator, and stored in three different types of batteries—will be used to provide electricity for the building's  lighting, a/c system, and refrigeration, plus charging stations for their electric vehicles. The goal in this first phase is to test how well the system operates when it's disconnected from the provincial grid. The second phase will see new sources of power generation added into the mix; the goal at that point will be to test the grid's ability to feed power into the provincial network.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: PowerStream

This summer, MaRS Discovery District announced a new program: an accelerator for socially-oriented businesses, called Impact 8. It's a bootcamp of sorts: eight participants were chosen for an eight-week crash course in everything from marketing to investor relations. That first cohort, chosen from more than 150 applicants, recently completed the program.

They celebrated in style, opening the TSX on December 5, and spending the day explaining their enterprises and pitching venture capitalists.

"One of the biggest roadblocks to getting my venture off the ground," says Gavin Armstrong, president of The Lucky Iron Fish Project, "was trying to really narrow down the business plan—hone in on the value proposition, who your customers are, and how you're going to deliver." As an Impact 8 participant, Armstrong got one-on-one time with experts who were able to walk him through the practical elements of pulling his project together more adeptly.

"The most critical thing is mentorship," Armstrong says about why he wanted to join Impact 8. He'd been working on Lucky Iron Fish on his own for a year prior to participating, but as a newbie entrepreneur the program "helped lay some of the first-time learning tools: financial fitness, marketing communications, intellectual property, trademarking…"

The Lucky Iron Fish, if you're wondering, is actually an iron fish—one that people can toss into a pot of whatever they are cooking, which will then absorb some of the iron, and help alleviate anemia. Armstrong is right now focused on Cambodia, a nation with significant rates of iron deficiency.

The entrepreneurs who joined Impact 8 all knew going in that they wanted to make a difference through their work—their projects must have social or environmental benefits in order to be eligible. It's the business side of thing that wasn't always as clear. "I didn't know how to make a sustainable business plan," Armstrong says frankly. "I was hemorrhaging money."

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Gavin Armstrong, CEO of The Lucky Iron Fish Project and Impact 8 participant

Ontario is a growing force in medical technology research, and now the provincial government wants to bolster the sector further. Last month Queen's Park launched the new Ontario Health Innovation Council to help support the commercialization of medical innovations and new technologies. The council's task: identify growth opportunities and strategies for market-oriented development.

The council is specifically focused on small- and medium-sized businesses, and has a mandate to create the conditions for job growth in this sector.

The provincial government estimates that Ontario's health technology sector generates $9.1 billion a year. In job terms, the medical devices sector employs more than 17,000—49 per cent of the total nationwide.

The 15 council members represent academic institutions, hospitals, private companies, and non-profits. (Toronto-based members include the heads of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, MaRS Innovation, UofT's Institute for Health Policy, and the University Health Network.)

Deb Matthews, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, said via a written statement that, "Ontario’s capacity to provide the best care and get value for our precious health dollars depends on harnessing our strengths in health research and innovation. The Ontario Health Innovation Council will help us improve the quality of care while creating valuable new jobs."

Catherine Zahn, president of CAMH, echoed those sentiments in her own comments, writing that "OHIC is an opportunity to ‘think big’ and broadly about health innovation in Ontario and make it real for patients, people and communities.”

The council's members will be looking at a range of issues beyond commercialization, too. They'll be examining ways to lower health care costs in the province, and try to focus on new ways to improve patient care.

Writer: Hamutal Dotan
Source: Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
Photo: Courtesy of the University Health Network.