Ideas, innovation, and investment were the major themes of OCE Discovery 2013 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre this week, where 2,500 entrepreneurs, researchers, and innovation-boosters gathered to share their insights into how innovation happens in Ontario.
Minister of Research and Innovation, the Hon. Reza Moridi (C) with Iain Klugman (R) and Dr. Robert Zee (L) (Communitech Photo: Sharilyn Allen).
Considered the event of the year for the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs, OCE Discovery provides an opportunity to highlight what's happening in Ontario's innovation ecosystem. Waterloo Region fielded a significant presence, including exhibits by the Accelerator Centre and Communitech, which jointly deliver business acceleration services for this part of the Province.
Minister of Research and Innovation, the Hon. Reza Moridi, highlighted Waterloo Region-based Desire2Learn in his lunchtime keynote address, calling it a great example of entrepreneurial success for Ontario. He also referenced his recent presentation of the Digital Media Company of the Year Award to the learning solutions leader during CDMN Canada 3.0.
Following his address, the Minister toured the innovation showcase floor, stopping to chat with Communitech CEO Iain Klugman and Dr. Robert Zee of the University of Toronto's Space Flight Laboratory about Communitech's latest R&D collaboration: DATA.BASE. Supported in part by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, the data services consortium brings together academic and industry partners to explore application development based on the data gathered from low-earth orbit satellites.
