CANARIE funding for advanced network upgrades, software tools and product testbed supports digital leaders across the province
[Ottawa, Ontario March 22, 2012] CANARIE, Canada’s Advanced Research and Innovation Network, AND ACORN-NS, the Atlantic Canada Organization of Research Networks – Nova Scotia, today join digital leaders across Nova Scotia to discuss how to best leverage its digital advantage to drive economic and social benefits for the citizens of Nova Scotia.
“We are happy to participate in Digital Nova Scotia’s Digital Leaders Summit II and Annual Dinner. CANARIE’s funding in support of the provincial research and education network, advanced research software platforms, and a testbed for digital entrepreneurs strengthens opportunities for Nova Scotians to thrive in the digital economy,” says Jim Roche, President and CEO of CANARIE.
The Digital Leaders Summit II will enable participants to provide direct input into Nova Scotia’s Digital Sector policy formulation process, and to take action to build a global brand for Nova Scotia as a global “Intelligent Community.”
“Digital Nova Scotia’s drive to lead Nova Scotia provincial branding as a global “Intelligent Community” is a recognition of activities that will propel us forward, towards digital economic growth for Nova Scotia,” says Terry Dalton, Chair of ACORN-NS. “Our strong partnership with CANARIE has contributed greatly to our efforts.”
CANARIE has provided $2M in funding to ACORN-NS to expand the provincial advanced research and innovation network. Through these provincial funding programs, CANARIE ensures national digital equity across the country and removes geographic barriers to innovation and research that may otherwise constrain discovery.
Further, CANARIE supports Nova Scotia’s digital entrepreneurs through its Digital Accelerator for Innovation and Research (DAIR) Program, a cloud-based testbed that allows entrepreneurs to test, validate and demonstrate new products and services. DAIR leverages the high-speed CANARIE network and adds compute and storage resources to allow entrepreneurs to get their digital products to market quicker and more cheaply than if they had to build the test infrastructure themselves.
Stephen Wilsack, president of Innovative Systems of New Minas, NS, is an enthusiastic user of the DAIR Program. “We’ve been able to test and validate our product, a private broadcast/multimedia platform and social media system for the education and non-profit sector, on DAIR,” says Stephen. “It has accelerated our product development timeline and definitely saved us money.”
CANARIE also funded researchers at Dalhousie University to develop a sophisticated web portal that makes available vast amounts of data from sensors located in, above, and below the surface of the ocean. The Platform for Ocean Knowledge Management allows researchers to access, explore and share these data, realizing a range of ecological, educational and economic benefits. This web portal is one of twenty Network-Enabled Platforms projects funded by CANARIE. These projects, spanning research in areas from high-energy physics to transportation management to music education, greatly increase researchers’ access to massive data sets and the tools required to manipulate and mine these data.
The Annual Dinner following the Summit will feature comments from Premier Darrel Dexter, who will speak on the importance of the digital technologies industry to Nova Scotia. The keynote speaker at the dinner is by Bill Hutchison, Chair of the i-Canada Alliance. The i-Canada Alliance is an organization devoted to the development of a nation branded as the go-to nation for innovation, one that is recognized as a top-ranking Intelligent (i) Nation, i-Canada. Jim Roche, CANARIE’s President and CEO, is on the Board of Governors of the i-Canada Alliance.
About CANARIE:
CANARIE Inc. is Canada’s Advanced Research and Innovation Network. Established in 1993, CANARIE manages an ultra high-speed network that supports leading-edge research and big science across Canada and around the world. One million researchers, scientists and students at over 1,100 Canadian institutions, including universities, colleges, research institutes, hospitals, and government laboratories have access to the CANARIE Network. Together with 12 provincial and territorial advanced network partners, CANARIE enables researchers to share and analyze massive amounts of data, like climate models, satellite images, and DNA sequences that can lead to groundbreaking scientific discoveries. CANARIE is a non-profit corporation supported by membership fees, with the major investment in its programs and activities provided by the Government of Canada.
CANARIE keeps Canada at the forefront of digital research and innovation, fundamental to a vibrant digital economy. For additional information, please visit: http://www.canarie.ca.
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About ACORN-NS:
ACORN-NS, Atlantic Canada Organization of Research Networks in Nova Scotia, is Nova Scotia’s Advanced Research and Innovation Network. Established in 1993, a member organization of university, college, health, government, and industry organizations throughout Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada, ACORN-NS creates a community of like minded organizations and individuals that lead and promote the development and operation of advanced research and innovation networks and services to accelerate research, education, health and industry collaboration, learning, discovery and innovation for the growth of a knowledge-based digital economy and society in Nova Scotia. ACORN-NS is one of 12 national regional advanced networks providing access to the CANARIE Network.
ACORN-NS provides critical advanced digital infrastructure and services that connect Nova Scotians to global research, discovery and innovation communities. For additional information on ACORN-NS, please visit http://www.acorn-ns.ca.
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