eMPOWR says $550-$600M in federal funds needed to combat ICT skills shortage

At a meeting last week, major telecommunications players from industry, government and academia put the finishing touches on a new organization that would manage $550-$600 million in new federal funding over five years for information and communications technologies (ICT) studies at Canadian universities and colleges. The group’s stakeholders joined forces to create eMPOWR Canada, which is lobbying aggressively to have the new money earmarked in the next federal budget.The eMPOWR TeamDouglas Barber, Co-chairPeter Nicholson, Co-chairJocelyn Ghent-Mallett, Campaign LeaderAndrew Molozzi, Campaign Program ManagerJeffrey Crelinsten, Campaign CoordinatorThe Power Elite Involved in eMPOWRIndustry PartnersNortel Networks CorpMitelTundra SemiconductorJDS UniphaseGennum CorpPMC-Sierra Institutional PartnersMicronetStrategic Microelectronics ConsortiumCanadian Microelectronics CorpCanadian Institute for Telecommunications Research Supporting UniversitiesUniversity of British ColumbiaSimon Fraser UniversityUniversity of AlbertaUniversity of CalgaryUniversity of WindsorMcMaster UniversityUniversity of TorontoCarleton UniversityMcGill UniversityUniversité de MontréalEcole Polytechnique Supporting OrganizationsCanadian Photonics ConsortiumOttawa Photonics ClusterNational Capital Institute for TechnologyPhotonics Research OntarioTRLabsiCOREInformation Technology Association of Canada EMPOWR Canada will be a not-for-profit national organization charged with administering and issuing funding to Canadian engineering programs. The organization represents stakeholders from the microelectronics, photonics, optoelectronics, wireless and related embedded software industries. It will have two functions at the outset: to help universities and colleges secure more funding for critical engineering programs and to hire more professors, whether Canadian or foreign, for ICT research positions at Canada’s post secondary schools. Without more professors to train more students, the current skills shortage of ICT workers will worsen. "The eMPOWR group will level the playing field so that Canadian universities can compete with foreign institutions for these high demand professors," eMPOWR project leader Jocelyn Ghent-Mallett told Report on Wireless. "We can sweeten the pot of a provincial salary program or the Canadian research chair program." The organization also isn’t limited to funding an increase in the number of professors. As a Canada Foundation for Innovation grant may provide money for facilities and equipment costs, eMPOWR is prepared to fund some operating costs. "(The organization) wants to remain flexible so that it’s able to find where the gaps are and that will make things happen," says Ghent-Mallett. Under the proposal, eMPOWR Canada would not replace existing funding coming from either the Chairs of Research Excellence Program or from granting agencies such as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). The new organization would work along side other agencies to provide complementary money to help universities increase the number of ICT professors and graduate students. The need for highly qualified personnel was identified as the single most important factor for the continued health and competitiveness of Canada’s communications industries. Industry leaders have been telling government that funding basic research in tele-communications-related disciplines isn’t enough and that more is needed to expand the output capacity of Canadian colleges and universities.

eMPOWR says $550-$600M in federal funds needed to combat ICT skills shortage

News | October 2, 2000

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