Building the Digital Economy Through Innovation

Summary

The University of Toronto has been a major source of the ideas and talent that have built Canada's digital economy. The University is eager to continue to play its catalytic role as the Canadian digital industry enters its maturity. This includes deepening our linkages with the private sector, expanding the opportunities we give our students so that they are job ready for the digital economy, and commercializing our research successes.

The University of Toronto believes the government could best support the growth of a robust digital economy by enhancing programs and policies that encourage university–industry research partnerships, sustaining Canada's competitiveness in high performance computing and high speed broadband, expanding support for graduate and undergraduate students to gain relevant work experience during the course of their studies, and facilitating the difficult passage from lab to market by continuing to support research commercialization to grow the Canadian digital industry.

Submission

Introduction

The University of Toronto has been a major source of the ideas and talent that have built Canada's digital economy. Our researchers and students have a strong record of partnering with the private sector to find solutions that are of both scientific and commercial interest. The University is prepared to play a catalytic role as Canada's digital economy enters its maturity, and is therefore pleased to contribute to this consultation process.

The University of Toronto and ICT — What We Are Doing

• There are over 470 faculty members at U of T working in information and communications technologies (ICT), 33 of them Canada Research Chairs. Their appointments range over 17 faculties, schools and partnered hospitals.
• In 2008–09, these researchers received $70M in external research funding.
• 29 different graduate programs include degrees in information and communications technologies; in the last 5 years, our ICT faculty have supervised the completion of over 1500 advanced degrees (Master's or Doctoral).
• In the 2009 Times Higher Education–QS World University Rankings, U of T ranked 8^th in the world for Engineering and Information Technology (and 5^th in North America).
• U of T is home to SciNet, the fastest and most powerful supercomputer in Canada, and a full partner in the Compute Canada initiative.
• Commercialization activity in information and communications technologies via the University of Toronto's Innovations & Partnerships Office in the last 5 years:
  • 31 commercialization projects initiated
  • 16 licensing and supporting agreements negotiated and executed
  • 30 patent applications filed
  • 84 invention disclosures received
  • In addition, U of T researchers have been awarded 215 commercialization grants in the last 5 years, valued at over $24M.
• Our ICT investigators are researching a wide spectrum of high–impact applications, from software programs for increased internet security, to quantum computers that can provide us with faster and more powerful computing power, to robots with decision–making capabilities. Other investigators are focused on how ICT solutions can be harnessed in other fields, such as manufacturing and health care. This includes assistive technologies for those with physical or mental disabilities, the use of high performance computing to analyze massive data sets used by genomics and climate researchers, and improving the signals of our wireless communications systems.
• U of T Computer Scientist, Karan Singh and members of his Dynamic Graphics Lab were major contributors to the production of the film Ryan, which won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.
• In 2008, Computer Science Professor Ryan Lilien was awarded a prestigious Grand Challenges Exploration Grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Lilien will use the funding to further his work on computer modelling of drug–resistance in disease causing pathogens.
• U of T has active industry collaborations with companies that include: Advanced Microdevices Inc., Altera Corp., ARISE Technologies Corp., Elekta Instrument, General Electric Medical Systems, Google, H2Green Energy Corp., Honeywell, IBM Canada, Intel Corp., LG Electronics, Microsoft, Pratt & Whitney, Semiconductor Research Corp., Sony, Toshiba, and Xerox.
• U of T researchers are also working closely with their colleagues across the country to tackle issues relevant to Canadians, including collaborations with: McGill University, Queen's University, Ryerson University, University of British Columbia, University of Waterloo, University of Western Ontario and York University.
• U of T researchers are collaborating with their colleagues at top universities around the world, including: Carnegie Mellon University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, University of Cambridge, University of Tokyo and Yale University.

Capacity to Innovate Using Digital Technologies

A recent report by the Economist Intelligence Unit shows that our country is losing ground in the international digital economy rankings. This trend must be reversed for the country to improve its lagging productivity and long–term prosperity. The University of Toronto is eager to expand its engagement with the private sector towards this end. This includes building on our relationships with industry, expanding the internship and other work placement opportunities we give our students so that they are job ready for the digital economy, and commercializing our research successes.

The University of Toronto believes the government could best support the growth of a robust digital economy by:

• Enhancing programs and policies that encourage university–industry research partnerships to enhance Canada's capacity to innovate using digital technologies
• Sustaining Canada's competitiveness in high performance computing and high speed broadband
• Expanding support for student work placements in companies to build their digital business skills
• Facilitating the difficult passage from lab to market by supporting commercialization to grow the Canadian digital industry

University–industry partnerships have been facilitated by direct funding and tax incentives that encourage the private sector to seek out the deep expertise found in our universities to pursue critical R&D. The University of Toronto has robust relationships in place, but sustained and enhanced government support can facilitate and broaden these partnerships and bring more value to them to build our country's capacity to innovate in ICT.

Building a World–Class Digital Infrastructure

High–performance computing is transforming research in Canadian universities and industry by enabling researchers to consider problems that were previously computationally intractable. Past investment has led to Canadian leadership in this highly competitive area. The U of T–based SciNet system, Canada's most powerful supercomputer and one of the top 30 worldwide, and the other high–performance computing resources available through the other Compute Canada installations have become invaluable tools for researchers both at the University of Toronto and across the country. Investigators are using this system for diverse applications, such as: designing new types of low–drag aircraft that could one day bring massive fuel economies to air travel; modeling the interactions of proteins with potentially revolutionary consequences for drug design; and predicting how global climate change will affect regions such as the Great Lakes watershed.

Canada needs to continue building on this base to maximize the benefits of previous investments by governments, institutions and private sector partners. A complementary focus on sustaining high speed data transmission is also critical to facilitate national collaboration, to ensure the benefits of high–performance computing extend beyond the local region where these systems are physically located.

Building Digital Skills for Tomorrow

Undergraduate education in information and communications technologies is offered at all three campuses of the University of Toronto. While the focus of activity takes place in Computer Science, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering and Information Studies, ICT remains an important aspect of undergraduate education across many other fields, from Biochemistry to Statistics. At the graduate level, our students are a critical component of all ICT research and innovation at the University. Graduate students working in this area are enrolled in 29 different graduate programs. In addition to traditional ICT disciplines, students pursue advanced degrees in multidisciplinary programs such as the Genome Biology and Bioinformatics Collaborative Program in which students mesh sophisticated computational analysis and biological research methods, and the Knowledge Media Design Collaborative Program which focuses on the intersection of technology, design and the social and human sciences. In the last five years, our ICT faculty have supervised the completion of over 600 Doctoral and 930 Master's degrees.

Our focus is on the theoretical and technical skills which our students need to excel in their chosen fields. However, we also strongly encourage our students to gain relevant work and business experience while still pursuing their studies through placements and business training. For instance, the Professional Experience Year (PEY) program, the largest paid internship program for undergraduates in Canada, is a major draw for students in Engineering and Computer Science programs. PEY students collectively earn in excess of $25 million per year, a large proportion graduate with job offers in hand, and as a group they provide a considerable return on investment for their employers. The MITACS Accelerate program places graduate students and post–doctoral fellows as interns at partner companies, ICT firms figuring heavily among them, to gain a deeper understanding of commercially–relevant research problems.

Such placements add immeasurable value to these students' education by putting the skills and know–how they are learning into a real–world context. Currently, the resources to support these programs are limited. The University of Toronto believes the government could have a tremendous impact on the job–ready skills for our students by expanding funding for work experience programs, thereby ensuring the skills they are learning align with the digital economy's future needs.

Growing the Information and Communications Technology Industry

The University of Toronto is active in helping its investigators transfer their discoveries to market. Over the past five years, the University has initiated 31 ICT commercialization projects, and negotiated and executed 16 licensing and supporting agreements.

Our students often drive the creation of these new ventures. Master's student Nilesh Bansel recently established the company Sysomos, which is redefining social media analytics with a powerful product suite that provides customers with the tools to measure, monitor, understand and engage with the social media landscape. The company, which currently operates with 25 employees, received venture capital funding in 2007, and quickly built an impressive client list, including global companies such as Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Coca–Cola, Disney and Shell. Sysomos was acquired by Marketwire in 2010. Another student, Anand Agarawala, grew the company BumpTop out of work in his Master's thesis. A YouTube video demonstrating BumpTop's core technology, a 3D computer desktop environment which offers users a more intuitive feel and new organizational metaphors such as piling documents, has drawn over 3.4 million views. Mr. Agarawala was named one of the Top Young Entrepreneurs of 2009 by Business Week magazine, and the company was acquired by Google in early 2010.

Spin–out companies like Sysomos and BumpTop will benefit enormously from MaRS Innovation, a joint commercialization partnership of 16 Toronto–based research institutions located at MaRS. MaRS Innovation, a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR), is a commercialization hub. It coordinates its work with MaRS, which provides a wide range of business services, including incubator space, access to market intelligence and assistance in finding investors, in order to rapidly grow technology–intensive companies.

Unfortunately, the translation of intellectual property into products with real market potential is a challenge, and many of our good ideas are slow to grow into successful applications. Given the high risks faced by new high tech enterprises and a generally underdeveloped venture capital environment in Canada, sustained policy and program support is required to build a critical cluster in key Canadian digital sectors. From medical imaging technologies to diagnostic labson– a–chip, to environmental sensing and monitoring, to mixed media cultural applications, the next generation of Canadian industry will grow through focused and sustained support for innovation through R&D and the commercialization of new discoveries.

Conclusion

The University of Toronto is optimistic about the future of Canada's digital economy. The country's universities are bursting with innovative ideas and talent. We see the core challenge facing Canada's digital economy to be fundamentally one of knowledge translation; that is, moving productivity and technical expertise and insight from the lab and classroom to Canadian business. High–performance computing is essential infrastructure in this regard, as a platform that gives our scholars, students and digital partners a distinct international advantage.

The government can play a central role in lowering some of the barriers between the academic and private sectors by creating more incentives for cross–sectoral cooperation, sustaining critical high–performance computing capacity in universities, supporting students as the primary vehicle for the transfer of knowledge and skills through placements in digital R&D and business settings, and by easing the difficult path of our entrepreneurs through new commercialization initiatives to give them a fair chance of getting their ideas to market.