One of the sessions hosted at the Tech Leadership Conference yesterday was called “Winning Real Opportunities: The U.S. Stimulus Anti-Hype”.  I had the honour of chairing this session.  Judy Bradt of Summit Insight brought a lot of energy to the room.  However, there weren’t many people in the room to absorb that energy.

This caused me to ponder (it’s always dangerous for an engineer to ponder).   Given that the U.S. Government is one of the largest customers in the world for many products, why is it we had so few in the room to partake of Judy’s wisdom?  One could argue that it is far too onerous to work with the U.S. Government.  Perhaps, timing isn’t right.  Perhaps we just don’t understand the process.

If it’s the latter, the good news is, we can fix it.  Judy had agreed to come back to the Region and take those interested parties through the process.  She has even agreed to meet one on one to discuss specific cases.  Any interest?  If so, email me at kevin@communitech.ca.

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A representative from the Canadian High Commission in the UK will be in Toronto on May 15 and has expressed an interest in meeting with companies that have an interest in expanding their initiatives to the UK (see below). 

If you are interested, let me know and I will connect you (kevin@communitech.ca). 

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I’m contacting you in my role as the Technology Development Officer at the Canadian High Commission in London where I work alongside Caroline Martin in the Science and Technology team, with a specific responsibility for helping form partnerships between Canadian and British technology-based SMEs, particularly (but not exclusively) in the energy, environmental technologies and enabling industries sectors.

I’m travelling to Toronto for the w/c 11th May in order to attend the Ontario Centres of Excellence Discovery 09 event and two DFAIT training courses. On the Friday, 15th May I intend to make myself available for meetings in Toronto with technology-orientated SMEs who have an active interest in expanding their activities into the UK. I would be interested to hear from such companies regarding their plans and would like to offer my assistance to them where possible. This could include help in setting the science and technology scene in the UK, finding potential UK partners, placing them in contact with relevant organisations (companies, trade bodies, Government) and answering general queries. If you deal with any companies that may be interested in such an offer then please feel free to forward this email and my contact details.

Kind regards,

Lee Thornton DPhil
Technology Development Officer / Agent de developpement de la technologie
Canadian High Commission / Haut-commissariat du Canada au Royaume-Uni
Macdonald House
1 Grosvenor Square
London W1K 4AB
Tel: +44 (0)20 7258 6619
Mob: +44 (0)77 9500 5498
Fax: +44 (0)20 7258 6384
www.london.gc.ca <http://www.london.gc.ca/>
lee.thornton@international.gc.ca 

Posted in Communitech Events, Funding, Government Relations, Startups, Waterloo Region Tech, Workforce Development | No Comments »

The Canada 3.0 conference is being held in Stratford on June 8-9 (http://cli.gs/M8qR51).  It’s all about shaping Canada’s digital future and determining Canada’s place in the global digital economy. What does that mean?  It means we all have a voice in shaping our digital media future.  Digital media is at the heart of the knowledge based economy.  It will play a prominent role in both the future economy and the way we live our lives.  Why not have a say? Register now.

Posted in Communitech Events, Startups, Waterloo Region Tech, Workforce Development | No Comments »

Thanks to Brad Ball of Loyalty Match for bringing this to my attention.

The Canadian Trade Commissioner service along with Canadian IT cluster organizations is holding a Canadian Regional Boot Camp for technology start-ups featuring Silicon Valley experts and investors at a number of locations across Canada including here at the Accelerator Centre on March 20, 2009. 

The boot camp is intended for those start-ups who are looking to the Silicon Valley and US venture capital, angel networks and Fortune 500 companies to grow their business.  The one day boot camp will include funding pitch preparation, a 10 minute pitching session to a review board comprised of local and US VC investors and a networking event. The review board will subsequently identify the start-ups that have the best chance of success for further meetings in California in May 2009.   More information regarding this event can be found at http://www.tradecommissioner.gc.ca/eng/document.jsp?did=88783.

For those companies who are interested in participating, please email Tim Ellis, Director of Client Relations at the Accelerator Centre.

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It appears that not everyone is thrilled with the fact that we are creating a commercialization capability through the Corridor for Advancing Canadian Digital Media which was awarded $10.7 million from the Federal Government on January 22nd.  Case and point.  A resident of Stratford wrote a letter to the editor of the local newspaper evangelizing the evils of commercialization.  An excerpt from the letter is as follows:

 ”The disappointment, however, runs deeper. These funds, along with those from the province and from the city, are in support of something called “commercialization,” best understood as the rich and the fatuous taking one more dip into the public trough; this time draping it with an aura of respectability by trading on the University of Waterloo’s well earned, if former, reputation. This continuing degradation of learning and education by reducing it to an adjunct to the very corporate interests that have led us into the global messes we face today is both frustrating and frightening. Einstein once said that “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” There is no new thinking here, only the same worrisome problems. ” The full letter can be found at http://www.stratfordbeaconherald.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1406659.

I was initially more surprised than angered that any individual could have such a negative view of commercialization.  I can only hope that this individual represents the exception to the rule as opposed to the rule itself. Regardless, this letter has made me realize that not only do we in the Waterloo Region have an opportunity to export commercialization expertise, we also have the duty to reach out to the public at large and provide them with a more positive view of commercialization. 

Posted in Funding, Government Relations, Lifestyle, Startups, Uncategorized, Waterloo Region Tech | 1 Comment »