Author: Mark Henderson

U of T’s Creative Destruction Lab to be replicated in NYC

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Univ of Toronto’s Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) concept has found its way to New York City as the university’s Rotman School of Management collaborates with the New York Univ‘s Stern School of Business. Stern associate professor Deepak Hegde says the business school had been searching for an approach to integrate AI, life science and fintech…

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Immigration: A Canadian imperative in a knowledge economy

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Varying opinions abound regarding the immigration policy of Canada – both in favor and against. However, if as a country we want to build a knowledge economy, immigration is a critical piece of the puzzle.  Even before the argument is laid out, let’s understand what a knowledge economy is in its simplest form.

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ITU accepts ISARA proposal to develop standard in quantum-safe certification

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The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) recently accepted the proposal of cybersecurity firm ISARA to support multiple public-key algorithm certificates. The department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) helped make this acceptance possible when it sponsored ISARA’s proposal to the ITU. The certification is a new feature in the next version of X.509 global standard,…

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Dr Marc Fortin

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Dr Marc Fortin has been appointed VP research partnerships at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), replacing Dr Bettina Hamelin who left the position in June to become president and CEO of Ontario Genomics. Fortin comes to NSERC from the Department of National Defence, where he held the dual roles of ADM S&T…

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Competition heats up for $950 million in superclusters as government selects nine to submit full proposals

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And then there were nine. The federal government has shortlisted nine proposals under its $950-million Innovation Superclusters Initiative (ISI) from more than 50 letters of intent with up to five expected to be awarded funding by the end of FY17-18. The proposals invited to submit full applications span the nation and represent some of Canada’s most advanced tech-based sectors including ocean science, advanced manufacturing, artificial intelligence and digital technologies.

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New bioeconomy framework outlines measures to enhance and expand Canadian expertise, competitiveness

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Canada’s forest ministers have produced A Forest Bioeconomy Framework for Canada to leverage the country’s vast biomass reserves and extend their production and deployment far beyond current usage. The report was released in September and unanimously endorsed by the Canadian Council of Forest Ministers (CCFM), which co-authored the document along with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).

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Waterloo tests AI for use in financial sector

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The Univ of Waterloo has developed software with AI algorithms that can help financial institutions justify the decisions they make as they comply with regulations.  Waterloo’s deep-learning algorithms are able to process and analyze rich data, and detect patterns that even users can’t tell how the analyses were made, researchers say. To test the algorithms,…

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Kinova steps up to ‘Factory 4.0’ with $25M investment

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Quebec’s Kinova, a robotics designer and manufacturer, has raised $25 million in new investments to expand its R&D, sales and marketing, and manufacturing operations. The funds were pooled from four major investors led by Fonds Manufacturier Québecois S.E.C. II. The co-investors include KTB Network Co of South Korea, Foxconn of Taiwan, and BDC Capital. The new…

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CSA appointment lauded but debate swirls over scope and breadth of advisory role

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Dr Mona Nemer’s appointment as federal chief science advisor (CSA) is receiving rave reviews in science and policy circles. But it has also reignited the debate over whether the new position will represent a significant improvement over past efforts to advise government on important scientific issues, and how this advice will feed into decision making.

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