Already well-known as Canada’s fastest-growing tech cluster, Waterloo Region is developing critical mass as a digital media cluster as well.

Worldwide, the digital media sector is one of the fastest-growing segments of the knowledge economy. PWC estimates the global market will reach US $2.2 trillion within the next five years.

Waterloo Region is taking advantage of this global opportunity at a regional, provincial, and national level. Part of the strategy has been to build a Digital Media and Mobile Accelerator in the heart of the Region – The Communitech Hub – a 30,000 square foot facility to facilitate collaboration on digital media tools and applications. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Government Relations, The HUB, Waterloo Region Tech | No Comments »

Members of the Waterloo Region business community gathered for a sold-out Gala celebration of the Waterloo Region Entrepreneur Hall of Fame last night. Five Waterloo Region entrepreneurs were inducted into the Hall of Fame, representing the tech, manufacturing, construction, and environmental engineering industries.

I love the Hall of Fame celebration. It’s a night when all parts of the community come together to celebrate one of the most important and unique parts of our history — that when times are tough, people around here look at their options, and overwhelmingly decide to start something out of nothing.

It was a treat to have so many of the inductees join the celebration in person last night: Harold Seegmiller, Frank Rovers, Ian McPhee, and Tom Jenkins were all in attendance. Paul Kuntz accepted on behalf of his father Oscar Kuntz.

And Intrepid Award winner John Baker was on hand with members of his team from Desire2Learn — crediting the 173 of them as a big part of his company’s success to date.

During his acceptance speech, Tom Jenkins of Open Text called on every member of the gathering to recognize that ”what we have here is unique across this country,” urging us to become ambassadors for entrepreneurship throughout Canada. 

The Waterloo Region Entrepreneur Hall of Fame isn’t just about the hottest tech sector in Canada. It’ s not just about Waterloo Region’s longstanding family businesses. It’s about celebrating a culture of innovation in a community that thinks risk-taking is OK. Another great part of Entrepreneur Week.

Posted in Communitech Events, Entrepreneur Week, Waterloo Region Tech | No Comments »

Entrepreneur Week in Waterloo Region, the largest such event in North America, kicks off Monday with a keynote speech by Chris Hughes, co-founder of Facebook and continues throughout the week with events for audiences ranging from students to CEOs. The week, which corresponds to the timing of Global Entrepreneur Week, celebrates the contribution of innovators to the economy and recognizes their achievements.

“Innovation is the life-blood of our economy and it’s good to take time out to appreciate the value of entrepreneurism” said Iain Klugman, president and CEO of Communitech, the innovation hub in Waterloo Region. “It’s often the innovators and start-ups that introduce leading-edge ideas and we need to do all we can to help them be successful at every stage of their progression.”

Entrepreneur Week sprang from recognizing the need to ‘fill the funnel’ of high-tech innovators by engaging at early stages with schools and universities and cultivating a community of interest for high-tech, Klugman explained. For the fourth consecutive year, high school students had the opportunity to be involved through the Leading Edge Youth Entrepreneurship Conference held Nov. 11 in conjunction with Entrepreneur Week.

Waterloo Region has become known as the best place to start a business in Canada and is home to 200 startups and more than 550 high-tech companies with revenues of $15 billion annually.

Engineered by Communitech, Waterloo Region’s Entrepreneur Week has a strong lineup of events including:

Monday, Nov. 16:

- Chris Hughes keynote speech and speaker Razor Suleman, founder of I Love Rewards, at the “It Came from the Dorms” session at the University of Waterloo.

Tuesday, Nov. 17:

- Big Picture Day featuring Tim Bray, co-founder of Open Text Corporation and “The Father of Internet Search and XML”; Ali Asaria, founder of Well.ca; and Andy Macaulay, president and CEO of ZiG, at Waterloo’s Accelerator Centre.

- The Waterloo Region Entrepreneur Hall of Fame Gala at Bingeman’s Conference Centre where the following Waterloo Region contributors will be inducted into the Hall of Fame:

Tom Jenkins, Open Text Corporation;

Oscar Kuntz, Kuntz Electroplating;

Ian McPhee, WATCOM;

Frank Rovers, Conestoga-Rovers & Associates;

Harold Seegmiller, Seegmiller E & E Ltd.

and John Baker, founder and CEO of Desire2Learn will be recognized with the Intrepid Award.

Wednesday, Nov. 18:

- At a day dedicated to entrepreneurship and start-ups, Jim Estill formerly of SYNNEX Canada, will describe his entrepreneurial experiences and the ‘un-conference’ will be staged where attendees can learn and share start-up issues in a collaborative setting.

Thursday, Nov. 19:

- Ideation Day: Dedicated to the process of innovation, three industry leaders will take attendees through what it takes to bring innovations to market. Presenters include: Mate Prgin, Avvasi; David Caputo, Sandvine; and David Kruis, Metranome; with MC Brandon Nussey, Communitech Executive-in-Residence.

- Founders and Funders Dinner where invited attendees include start-up founders and more than 30 leading Venture Capital firms from across North America for great connections.

Friday, Nov. 20:

- Ten of the biggest names in tech in the Waterloo Region will participate in Strategic Partnering Day including RIM, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Celestica, Open Text, Sybase, Agfa HealthCare, Rogers and On Semiconductor.

For more information on Entrepreneur Week go to:

www.entrepreneurweek.ca

About Communitech

Communitech www.communitech.ca is the regional hub for the commercialization of innovation in Waterloo Region, creating economic prosperity by removing barriers to the creation and growth of tech companies.

Posted in Communitech Events, Entrepreneur Week, Startups | No Comments »

“The Communitech Hub: Digital Media & Mobile Accelerator” to Drive New Enterprises and Jobs in Waterloo Region

Ontario’s Minister of Research and Innovation John Milloy, MPP for Kitchener-Centre, today announced that the province is providing $26 million to Communitech to create Ontario’s hub for digital media tools, technology and applications. The Communitech Hub: Digital Media & Mobile Accelerator will serve as a ‘club-house’ of innovation for digital media companies and entrepreneurs and drive creation of new companies and jobs in Waterloo Region and throughout Ontario.

“Ontario is already recognized as a global leader in the digital media sector and today we are sending a clear signal to digital entrepreneurs everywhere – Ontario means business. The Hub will strengthen our ability to support innovators right here in Waterloo Region and across the province, as they work to turn new ideas into new jobs and globally-competitive businesses,” said Minister Milloy.

The Hub will also have R&D and capital support from established companies in the Waterloo region including RIM, Open Text Corporation, Christie Digital Systems, Agfa HealthCare, and Dalsa as well as the City of Kitchener.

“Waterloo Region is a perfect fit for The Hub. We are home to globally-recognized research and industry leaders, a highly-skilled workforce, and now – the business development and commercialization muscle that we need to help build Ontario’s digital economy,” said Leeanna Pendergast, MPP for Kitchener-Conestoga.

Communitech, the region’s organization dedicated to commercialization of innovation, has championed The Hub project to support businesses at all stages of their growth and enhance the tech sector overall. It is also the host organization of the new Canadian Digital Media Network – a federal centre of excellence designed to interconnect Canada’s clusters of digital media expertise.

“Our focus is business-driven commercialization of high-tech innovations, and we believe the Province has invested in The Hub because Communitech has a track record of success in supporting companies at all stages in their evolution from start-up to multi-national success story. Canada needs even more tech success stories and we’re here to help create those,” said Iain Klugman, president and CEO of Communitech.

Some features of The Hub will include:

·          30,000 square foot open innovation hub ‘club house’ bringing together knowledge, activities, tools and expertise;

·          2,000 square feet dedicated to enabling entrepreneurs to ‘incubate’ ideas in close proximity to tools and services they need to succeed;

·          8,000 square feet allocated to partner lab space with platforms and tools provided by established partner companies including RIM, Open Text, Agfa HealthCare, and Christie Digital Systems;

·          A versatile immersive environment with reconfigurable projection and display systems;

·          Full audio-visual production studios including advanced equipment such as scalable sensors, cameras and media capture equipment;

·          Medical imaging software platforms for development purposes;

·          A suite of expert resources including entrepreneurs in residence, project manager support, marketing and branding expertise.

“Speaking on behalf of all the partner companies involved in this venture, we’re delighted at the level of commitment provided by the Province which demonstrates strong support for the high-tech community and digital media in particular. This is a strategic investment in Ontario’s future,” said Tom Jenkins, Executive Chairman & Chief Strategy Officer of Open Text and Chair of the Canadian Digital Media Network Advisory Board.

Posted in Communitech Events, Digital media, Funding, Government Relations, Startups, Talent, Waterloo Region Tech, Workforce Development | 2 Comments »

A big Communitech congratulations to the five Waterloo Region tech companies that made Deloitte’s 2009 Canadian Technology Fast 50 ranking. Fully ten percent of this year’s elite list is headquartered in Waterloo Region, including ARISE Technologies, Sandvine, Research In Motion, Navtech, and Desire2Learn.

The Fast 50 is Deloitte’s ranking of the country’s fastest-growing technology companies based on percentage revenue growth over five years. It’s been running for more than a decade.

In addition to making this year’s Fast 50 list, RIM received a Technology Fast 50 leadership award in the telecom category. And two Waterloo Region start-ups were also honoured this year: Aeryon Labs and Bayalink Solutions Corp. have been named to the list of 10 Companies-to-Watch. Aeryon and Bayalink are both clients of the Waterloo Region Venture Services Team, taking advantage of the business coaching expertise and services of Communitech and the Accelerator Centre.

For the full list of this year’s TechFast50 winners, visit the Deloitte site.

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