Ontario invests $3.5 million in digital media & wireless research

With the traditional manufacturing sector facing tough times, the Ontario government is laying the groundwork to become a bigger player in the $1-trillion global digital media market by boosting financial support for university research. The federal government, meanwhile, is cutting the single largest research fund dedicated to digital media.Announced September 30, the Ontario government is investing $3.5 million in digital media and related information and communications technologies (ICT) projects. The funding is part of $37 million worth of investments the provincial government is making this fall through the Ontario Research Fund, which is targeting three academic research sectors: creative industries and digital media; clean technologies and products; and health and bioscience."People in the ICT sector have told us that the 21st Century challenge is not software but the question of content. We want to add value to these tools. We see digital media as an opportunity and Ontario has a particular advantage," John Wilkinson, Ontario's Minister of Research and Innovation told Canadian New Media. "A good example of that is Ontario's strength as a diverse community of many cultures and languages. We still need ICT breakthroughs but we understand it's also the creative arts that must be merged in with these tools."The University of Toronto and University of Waterloo were the big winners this week, garnering $1,093,707 and $955,046 respectively for seven research projects each. In all, the government funded 26 projects at eight Ontario universities in areas such as creative content creation, new communications technologies (e.g. wireless), interactive service delivery models as well as underlying information and communications technologies.The new projects include development of next-generation search and content delivery technologies for the Internet (U of T), integration of advanced digital audio production into interactive performance and web-based media (University of Guelph), developing next-generation converters to translate between the digital and analog worlds, and developing computer games to teach history (Brock University). See university breakdown below.Asked whether future Ontario Research Fund competitions will target digital media, Wilkinson says such criteria is based on scientific advice, rather than political influence."The ORF advisory board sets the criteria for each competition when the program issues calls for proposals. I don't get involved in that. The board is very clear about areas of focus and continuing our global excellence in ICT and global opportunities in digital media in an environment where knowledge is available 24/7."In its March budget, Ontario also set aside $19 million for digital media, including the creation of a campus of the University of Waterloo in Stratford focused on mobile, wireless, sound, video, gaming, web design and animation. The Stratford campus received $10 million while another $9 million went to the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto. Ontario is home to some 400 interactive digital media companies which employ 5400 people and produce over $1 billion in revenues annually.Feds cut research funding for digital mediaMeanwhile, the federal government's recent announcements that it will not be renewing the New Media Research and Development Initiative, that ended in March 2008, and the New Media Research Networks Fund (NMRNF), which sunsets in March 2009, seem to ignore a recent recommendation by its own science advisory council that new media, animation and games be tagged as priority research areas for Canada.The Canadian Heritage-managed NMFNF is the single largest research fund dedicated to digital media, having awarded more than $17.5 million to primarily academic-based projects over the past five years. If the federal government does decide to act on the advisory board's recommendation to strengthen digital media research, it may choose to use more established delivery mechanisms, such as the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.University Breakdown Grant Amount # of projectsUniversity of Toronto $1,093,707 7University of Waterloo $955,046 7University of Guelph $549,129 4Queen’s University $497,773 2University of Ottawa $207,263 3Univ of Western Ontario $173,446 1University of Windsor $50,000 1Brock University $46,646 1

Ontario invests $3.5 million in digital media & wireless research

News | 10/02/2008 8:07 pm EDT

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