Innovation Centers
Theme: Digital Infrastructure
Idea Status: –2 | Total Votes: 24 | Comments: 4
Build "startup labs" in major centers with a mandate to bring in new startups for a one year period with free rent, free internet, free business management support and free marketing support (incubator staff positions). Allow space for ten companies every year and then help those start–ups transition into nearby office space so you build a "technology hub" into the city. Do not focus on research and patents, focus instead on marketable concepts. Entry into the program could be done through yearly competition.
Comments
dsanden — 2010–05–11 14:44:29 EDT wrote
Agreed: business incubators have a role, as do publicly accessible labs and R&D (i.e.NRC) in spawning economic clusters in tech and digital economy.
prefontaine — 2010–06–13 08:05:25 EDT wrote
Before funding new centres would be important to see if such a service could be integrated into existing co–working and social innovation spaces. Examples in Montreal include Station C and Notman house. In Toronto there is The Centre for Social Innovation. It is more sustainable to build on existing efforts.
dsampson — 2010–06–21 09:24:34 EDT wrote
good concept. I will put my vote in.
However some things to consider. In many of the urban centres you can now find groups like the code factory that focus on the start up in the early stages. This addresses concerns facing star ups like locking into leases. It also spurs innovation.
The free internet idea?…. why not find more creative ways like buying bandwidth in bulk or owning last mile fibre and increase the number of occupants to drive down the cost.
Technology hubs (like Kanata in Ottawa) grow fine in good times but could bust (as we did). More sustainable models might help to propogate technology.
Technology could be anywhere and spreading technologies will spread ideas. Think of how concepts spread when we wer an agrarian culture. Farms spread out instead of being a hub and idea generation was more rich. Tech hubs become entrenched castles.
Karlh64 — 2010–07–13 11:59:18 EDT wrote
I think the Colleges and Universities could play a real good role here. Many successful startups have occurred with friends in college coming up with an idea and then launching companies to captilize on their ideas. I wonder how many more we could get if schools are encouraged (and funded) to look for opportunities with their students to fund and launch a small start up company with a good student idea.
