Promotes Canadian talent and innovation to international companies
LAS VEGAS, NV, Jan. 6, 2017 /CNW/ - Canada is a leading innovation nation that embraces innovative people, technologies and companies, and it offers a welcoming investment environment.
The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, was at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this week to deliver this message to global companies, celebrate Canadian companies leading the way in next-generation technologies and showcase Canadian talent on the world stage.
Minister Bains took part in an announcement with Canada's Felix & Paul Studios. The Montréal-based technology company announced a new creative and technical partnership with Samsung and showcased its new virtual reality content featuring "O" by Cirque du Soleil.
The Minister also participated in a panel discussion titled "Cities of the Future," during which he highlighted Canada's experiences with and progress toward adopting smart city technologies. Smart cities are urban areas that use information and communications technologies to manage their infrastructure and improve residents' lives.
Minister Bains met with a number of Canadians attending CES, including:
- John Chen, Chief Executive Officer of Waterloo, Ontario's BlackBerry Ltd. Minister Bains heard about the early research results from BlackBerry's QNX Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Centre and discussed Canadian innovation, technology development, talent attraction and access to global markets.
- Representatives from Montréal based start-up Mighty Cast, winner of the 2016 CES Innovation Award for the Nex band, a wristband designed to control a variety of electronic applications. Minister Bains learned about the award-winning product and highlighted the Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions' (CED) support of the Nex band. CED is providing $200,000 to Mighty Cast to help it implement the Nex band's marketing strategy for commercialization and export.
- Representatives from Mississauga, Ontario's Paradigm Electronics Inc., a company that specializes in professional grade, high-quality audio and home theatre loudspeaker systems. They discussed the company's recently released flagship Prestige series and Persona series.
- Larry Goren, Chief Executive Officer of Winnipeg, Manitoba's Komodo Technologies. Mr. Goren presented the company's compression sleeves that allow for activity tracking and heart monitoring.
- Representatives from Ottawa's You.i TV, a company that develops software for cross-platform content creators. You.i TV is a past recipient of government funding through the National Research Council of Canada's Industrial Research Assistance Program.
- Representatives from Toronto's Interaxon, the creator of Muse, a brain-sensing headband that takes the guesswork out of meditation with real-time feedback.
Minister Bains met with Prince Constantijn of the Netherlands, who is the special envoy for StartupDelta2020, his country's initiative to promote start-up companies.
The Minister also met with Brian Chong, Wistron's Chief of New Technology Development, to discuss Canadian innovation and investment in Canada's technology sector. Wistron supplies information and communication technology products and services to leading companies worldwide.
Finally, the Minister met with executives from the National Basketball Association (NBA) and watched a demonstration of its virtual reality technology, which is being used during professional basketball games to bring home viewers closer to the action. The NBA is working with three Canadian companies—You.i TV, Evertz and BroadbandTV—to improve content delivery and make content more accessible to a new generation of fans.
Throughout his meetings, Minister Bains promoted Canada's Global Skills Strategy, which will make it easier for Canadian companies to recruit highly qualified people with in-demand skills and international experience.
The Government of Canada is encouraging global companies to invest in Canada. These investments will drive innovation, create more jobs, and lead to greater prosperity for the middle class and those working hard to join it.
Quote
"My visit to CES made it clear to me that Canada, with less than half a percent of the world's population, is achieving great things in information and communications technologies. I am proud of the industry-leading technologies our Canadian firms demonstrated to the world. I want innovation to be part of our Canadian identity and Canada to be known around the world as an innovative, competitive global leader."
– The Honourable Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development
Quick facts
- The Government of Canada is investing $218 million over the next five years to increase global investment.
- Canada's Global Skills Strategy will make it easier and faster to bring people with in-demand talent and international experience to Canada.
- CES is the world's largest consumer technology tradeshow. In 2016, representatives from 158 countries travelled to CES.
- Canada ranked third overall in the number of attendees from non-U.S. markets at CES 2016 with 3,705 attendees.
- Close to 80 Canadian firms took part in CES this year.
Associated links
Follow Minister Bains on social media.
Twitter: @MinisterISED
SOURCE Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Philip Proulx, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, 343-291-2500; Media Relations, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, 343-291-1777, [email protected]
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