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| Larry MacDougal, Business Edge |
| Grant McGibney, left, director of wireless research at TRLabs in Calgary, explains some of the company's technology to Federal Industry Minister Allan Rock and Victor Doerksen, provincial minister of Innovation and Science. |
Federal, provincial officials tour Calgary facility Government officials toured parts of the Alastair Ross Technology Centre in Calgary last week to announce $17.5 million in joint federal-provincial funding for Edmonton-based TRLabs, Canada’s largest not-for-profit ICT research consortium.
“This hotbed of new ideas has really been a generator of growth,” Rock said, noting the Canadian ICT sector accounts for more than 45 per cent of all industrial R&D spending in Canada and leads to products that account for $39 billion of exports annually.
Also last week, Rock announced a new ‘Innovation Strategy’ for Canada, a plan to address the skills and innovation challenges for the next decade. The strategy paper will lead to consultation with the provinces, business and labour, resulting in a national summit this fall where specific policies are expected to be outlined.
“That strategy is very much reflected in the work that’s being done here,” Rock said last Thursday.
