Research and Innovation : In The News

Toronto is the 16th most economically powerful city in the world according to a new report released by The Atlantic magazine. The report—which ranks 25 cities worldwide—assesses cities based on their economic, financial and innovative power.

"Cities and their surrounding metro regions are the real economic engines of our time. Bringing together talented, ambitious people and the assets they need to succeed, cities propel the innovation and enterprise that spur long-term prosperity. Economists increasingly argue that clustering, concentration and density stand alongside land, labour and capital as key features that shape economic growth."

"American cities account for nearly 90 percent of total U.S. economic output, and 85 percent of U.S. jobs. As Harvard's Michael Porter recently told the Clinton Global Initiative: 'There is no one U.S. economy but a collection of local economies.' Across the globe, metros with populations over one million account for more than half of the world's economic output and nine of every ten innovations, while housing roughly one out of every five people."

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original source The Atlantic

Variety.com writes on Toronto's growth into an international hub of "stereoscopic 3D activity and expertise." Through a combination of tax incentives, government grants and local entrepreneurial spirit, Toronto's 3D industry has exploded in the past five years.

"From filmmaking to cutting-edge research, Ontario is emerging as an international hub of stereoscopic 3D activity and expertise, with Toronto its focal point."

"'The advantage of being based here is we have equipment houses, studios, trained crews and a range of post labs with 3D expertise,' says S3D producer-director James Stewart of Toronto's Geneva Film Co., which has produced and directed dozens of commercials, concert pics, docs and remastered Cave of Forgotten Dreams."

"Ontario tax incentives, expanded a couple of years ago, are a critical factor for biz flow, especially now that voters in British Columbia have chosen to phase out one of the tax breaks offered to foreign producers."

"'We now provide greater support through post, visual effects and for 3D,' says Ontario Media Development Corp. manager of film Donna Zuchlinski."

"From S3D-specialized companies such as Bill White's equipment-developing 3D Camera Co., production shingle Stereo3D Unlimited, which includes co-founder Tim Dashwood's R&D sister division, and Diane Woods' boutique shop 3reedom Digital to Dennis Berardi's booming visual effects company Mr. X (The Three Musketeers 3D) to progressive post houses like Deluxe and Creative Post, Ontario players are increasingly in international demand."

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original source Variety.com

The Next 36"--a competition that challenged four person teams of Canadian university students to create a new mobile app--culminated last week in a pitch session by the top nine competitors to wealthy Toronto investors. BlogTO writes on the pitch session (called "Venture Day") and what Toronto's most promising up-and-coming app entrepreneurs have to offer.

"Last Monday nine Toronto start-ups gathered on the lower level of MaRS to persuade wealthy investors to fork over some money - lots of it."

"As I stood at the back of the packed room listening to pitch after pitch I couldn't help but admire these guys. Almost all of the start-ups were pre-revenue (and in many cases still pre-launch with zero users/customers) yet valuations were being floated in the million dollar range. Some had already raised money. Others had plugged-in advisors ranging from the Managing Director of Facebook Canada to the founder of ATI Technologies. Some will succeed but many will likely fail."

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original source BlogTO

Toronto-based app developer Polar Mobile has signed on to build over 300 apps for Nokia Corp's newest smartphone. The deal is the largest in Polar Mobile Group's history, and will give the successful startup its greatest opportunity so far to expand into global markets.

"For Polar, the deal is a means to expand globally. Although Nokia's share of the North American smart phone market is relatively tiny, the company is still the world's largest producer of handsets, and maintains a significant presence in regions such as Asia and the Middle East, where Polar has been trying to gain a foothold."

"For Nokia, Polar's one-size-fits-all approach to app-building, which results in an extremely quick turnaround for the development of mobile software, helps the phone maker quickly build a library of apps for its various operating systems. Most importantly, Polar's existing base of Windows Phone apps is a boon to Nokia, which will soon stake its future on Microsoft's mobile operating system."

"We need to increase [the size of] our app store with quality apps," said Richard White, general manager of Nokia's Canadian operations. "This is obviously a great way to go about doing that."

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original source Globe & Mail

Toronto scientists are behind a groundbreaking discovery that links a defective gene in humans to autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, and lupus. The research, led by Mount Sinai's Dr. Katherine Siminovitch, is an important first step in finding new treatments for a number of often debilitating diseases.

"For a period of five years, the researchers have tried to figure out as to how the mutant gene PTPN22 increases the risk for rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, lupus, Graves disease and other autoimmune disorders."

"Dr. Katherine Siminovitch, a Senior Investigator at the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute at Mount Sinai Hospital and a University of Toronto Professor said, "Our findings are particularly exciting because the study sets a new precedent for studying arthritis and other autoimmune disorders".

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original source Top News USA

Scientific American Worldview--a magazine devoted to the future of biotechnology--has released its third annual survey of the world's countries "with the best overall capabilities to generate innovation in the biotechnology industry". Canada ranked 4th among 48 countries, receiving high scores across all  five categories�IP (intellectual property) protection, Enterprise Support, Intensity, Education/Workforce and Foundations.

check out the full score card here
original source Scientific American Worldview

A Globe & Mail slideshow features Toronto's "hottest young entrepreneurs". All under 30, the 15 featured entrepreneurs--from computer program designers to jewelry manufacturers--form the core of Toronto's young small business community.

"Young, talented and brimming with entrepreneurial zeal: The Report on Small Business presents some of the most exciting, fresh-faced business owners in the T-Dot. "

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original source Globe & Mail

Toronto scientists working with the University Health Network are the first in the world to isolate the stem cell for human blood. According to HealthZone.ca, the discovery will allow researchers to study blood cells far more closely, marking a huge breakthrough in the fight to treat blood-related diseases.

"Blood stem cells have been utilized more successfully than any other variety in the treatment of diseases."

"Donated stem cells from matched donors are most often used to replenish the blood-producing bone marrow that is destroyed by chemotherapy in the treatment of leukemia patients."

"But those patients, who have their own defective stem cells destroyed to stop their runaway blood production, are currently being transfused with many other marrow elements in addition to the life-saving stem cells, Dick says."

"We're transplanting a whole (mishmash) of cells and relying on the rare stem cells (in the mix) to actually do the job," Dick says.

"These non-stem cell components, he says, increase the risk of a rejection condition known as graft-versus-host disease, where immune cells lingering in the donated marrow begins to attack the recipient."

"By now going in and fishing out stem cells, we'll be able to transplant pure populations of cells for transplantation," Dick says."

"Even after all these years of study, we don't know what makes a stem cell tick . . . because we never had one in our hands," he says. "Now we have almost pure stem cells in a test tube, we can begin to look at their molecular workings."

"The problem with stem cells in therapeutic use is that there are so few of them and those that are there cannot be made to multiply readily in laboratories."

"By having actual specimens to study, Dick says, research can now focus on creating a recipe of growth factors and other bio-chemicals that will coax the cells to multiply, greatly expanding the supply for patients who need transplants."

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original source Health Zone

Toronto is the 12th most innovative city in the world (and the most innovative city in Canada), according to a list compiled by Melbourne-based city-ranking agency, 2thinknow. Over 1,540 cities were analyzed and compared based on factors of health, wealth, population, and geography.

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original source Innovative Cities

Waterfront Toronto has announced plans to install an "ultra-broadband" network in Toronto's east waterfront neighbourhood. The network, which will serve the under-construction residences and commercial properties of East Bayfront and West Donlands, will be 500 times faster than a typical North American household link.

"One of Toronto's newest neighborhoods will start life with some of the fastest Internet connections in the world as developers tempt bandwidth-hungry residents and business into the one-time industrial wasteland."

"Modeled on similar undertakings in Seoul, Tokyo, Stockholm, London and Paris, the new area on the shores of Lake Ontario will offer Internet connections that are 500 times faster than a typical North American household link, meaning it will take seconds to download or edit a movie."

"If we want to remain a leading global city, investments ... in ultra-broadband are required as part of the city's infrastructure foundation just like other central infrastructure such as electricity and water," said Evan Kelly, a partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers."

"Developers say the new Internet connections will offer speeds of up to 10 gigabits a second for businesses or 100 megabits for residential use, a crucial draw for the residential and commercial space planned for the mostly disused industrial land to the east of downtown Toronto."

"Having this sort of capacity available to residents will allow for a whole new world of applications we haven't even conceived of yet," said Dan Armstrong, chief executive of Beanfield Metroconnect, the telecommunications company that won the Internet tender."

"The revitalization of the Toronto waterfront is expected to cost C$35 billion ($36 billion) in mostly private funds over 25 years."

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original source Reuters

As reported by the CBC, Toronto's York University has placed second in the international University Rover Challenge. The Challenge, held annually by the International Mars Society, asks participants to build the best robotic rover for a Mars-like landscape. This is the second year in a row that York has placed in the top three in the prestigious competition.

"The University Rover Challenge, put on annually by the international Mars Society, was won by the Bialystok University of Technology in Poland, who beat out seven other teams from Canada and the United States."

"York University repeated a second-place showing from last year. Team members said in an email to CBC on Sunday that they were happy with their rover, called EVE, and its performance in the rugged sandstone desert near Hanksville, Utah."

"Although we were well prepared before the competition, the desert environment and harsh operating conditions required many last-minute repairs and alterations," the message said. "This is true for all the teams, but as always our success came from our ability to fix the rover in situ and get back to the task, while other teams were left stranded."

"York's rover cost about $13,000 to build, slightly below the $15,000 maximum allowed. The cost was sponsored by York University, Ontario Centres of Excellence and MDA, a B.C.-based defence contractor."

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original story CBC News

A new survey conducted for the BBC by GlobeScan and the University of Maryland suggests that Canada is one of the top three places in the world to start a business. As reported by the Globe and Mail, Canada earned the its place in the top three (just behind Indonesia and the United States) due to its reputation as a country that admires entrepreneurs and risk-takers.

"More than 24,000 survey participants were asked a series of questions about their perceptions of how hard it was to start a business and the way innovation was valued in their country."

"The BBC survey said that Canadians generally took a favourable view of entrepreneurs, with 74 per cent of survey participants saying they believed people who started their own businesses were highly valued individuals.Similarly, 72 per cent of those surveyed said they believed innovation and creativity were also highly valued in Canada."

"With the high marks afforded to both Canada and the United States, the BBC noted in its survey summary that "North America has among the most entrepreneur-friendly culture of any region."

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original source Globe & Mail

As reported by the Times of India, Toronto will soon welcome five Indian Cabinet members for a two-day business and networking conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. The Indian delegation will arrive in Toronto June 9th to attend the city's mini Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD), a multi-sector networking event that fosters cooperation between India and Canada.

"Canadian Governor General David Johnston will join Vayalar Ravi, oversees Indian affairs minister, and his four cabinet colleagues in welcoming the Indian diaspora to the mini Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) here next week."

"Preneet Kaur, minister of state for external affairs, Ashwani Kumar, minister of state for planning and science and technology, Sachin Pilot, minister of state for communications, Jitin Prasada, minister of state for road transport, Sam Pitroda, adviser to the prime minister, and Arun Maira, member of the Planning Commission, are other top Indian dignitaries attending the two-day gathering at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre here from June 9."

"The Pravasi Bharatiya Divas "offers unparalleled opportunities for networking, advancing linkages across multiple sectors - business, innovation, healthcare and culture; fostering partnerships in the small and medium-sized business sectors, providing ideas for cultural, generational and gender connections and nurturing the rapidly growing relationship between Canada and India,'' says the Indian high commission."

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original source Times of India

A recent research study by Pixel to Product attempts to quantify Canada's burgeoning digital media economy. As reported by the National Post, the survey, which polled more than 200 Canadian companies and 1,050 individuals, found that Canada's tech industry consists mainly of small, relatively new businesses, with under 50 employees.

"The face of Silicon Valley North is a 28-year-old male graduate of a Canadian university, who makes between $40,000 and $80,000 per year and has been employed by a digital, advertising or marketing agency for between one and three years."

"Canada's digital industries are mainly small businesses, most of which are less than eight years old, have eschewed government financing and expect revenue to increase in the next year, according to the Pixel to Product research study, a new survey that attempts to paint an accurate portrait of Canada's digital media industry."

"Fuelled by the growth of the mobile application, digital marketing and social media industries, Canada has quickly evolved into a hotbed of technology innovation, and the report represents the most complete snapshot to date of the country's emerging digital economy."

"We learned that the Canadian digital media economy is strong," Justin Kozuch, lead researcher on the study, said in an interview."

"A lot of companies are looking to hire over the next year and there's a growing confidence in digital media. People are spending a lot more money in digital media and that kind of growth is very reassuring. Digital media is a much more stable industry than it was 10 years ago when it bombed out."

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original source National Post