A Niagara College-supported project bid will receive a portion of $950M in government funding, through approved Supercluster bids that see industry, colleges and other partners work together on innovative projects.
The government challenged Canadian businesses of all sizes to collaborate with other innovation actors, including post-secondary and research institutions, such as Niagara College’s Research & Innovation division, to propose bold and ambitious strategies that would transform regional innovation ecosystems and develop job-creating superclusters of innovation.
After an extremely competitive selection process, five superclusters were chosen and announced earlier this month. Niagara College is a partner and supporter in one of these. Those five were chosen from a group of nine finalists – three of which were supported by the college – that ultimately came from a pool of 50 initial submissions from across the country.
NC supported an Ontario-based bid to drive collaboration between the tech and manufacturing sectors – using technologies like Big Data, intelligent machines and the “internet of things” – to scale-up production and improve efficiency. This capitalizes on the expertise and experience NC has built up in the advanced manufacturing space, as well as utilizing the unique facilities and industry resources available at NC’s Walker Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre.
Participation in this supercluster will give Niagara College access to new industry partnerships, and enable its Research and Innovation division to engage in innovative, large-scale research projects.
This supercluster project illustrates the enormous, and often untapped, economic potential of Canada’s industries, colleges and other partners,” said Marc Nantel, NC’s Associate Vice President of Research & Innovation. “We’re thrilled the government is supporting these groups to come together solve Canada’s biggest economic challenges and opportunities. It’s an approach that is at the heart of the college’s Research and Innovation division, and one that is sure to produce extraordinary accomplishments.”
The government’s investment of up to $950 million, which will be matched dollar for dollar by the private sector, is expected to create more than 50,000 jobs over ten years and grow Canada’s GDP.
To learn more about Canada’s Innovation Superclusters initiative, visit www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/093.nsf/eng/00008.html
