Canada’s opportunity in the digital economy lies in exercising our strengths across the full digital media continuum: strong technology and tools, rich content, and a satisfying user experience. The Canadian Digital Media Network is Canada’s largest concentration of business-driven digital media research, technology development, and digital commercialization expertise. We use digital media tools, technology and applications to advance multiple industries – entertainment, health care, education, financial services, and advanced manufacturing.

 

The Canadian Digital Media Network is anchored at the outset by two complementary open concept hubs — the tool makers in Waterloo Region, and the tool users in Stratford, Ontario.

The Network features open concept hubs in downtown Kitchener and Stratford
• The Waterloo Region hub is a ‘club house’ where established companies, entrepreneurs, and researchers converge to share knowledge, activities, tools and expertise based on the model of Communitech – Waterloo Region’s innovation hub http://www.communitech.ca
• The Stratford hub is a prestigious Canadian institute that challenges students, researchers, practitioners and policy makers to envision and create the future of digital media. http://stratfordinstitute.uwaterloo.ca

Network features

Physical Space
• Open concept hubs in downtown Kitchener and Stratford
• A ‘club house’ where established companies, entrepreneurs, and researchers converge to share knowledge, activities, tools and expertise
• Strategic partner labs, tools, applications and infrastructure
• Subsidized leasable office space for start-ups and entrepreneurs in close proximity to the tools and services they need
• Collaboration space for meetings, conferences, public forums

Programs
• Commercialization acceleration services based on the Communitech model, including entrepreneurs-in-residence, business coaching, business plan evaluation, connections to sources of capital and strategic partner programs
• Outreach events to engage the broader community
• Access to financing
• Project management and IP strategy support

Tools, Technology and Applications
• Labs with partner tools & development platforms available for start-up access
• Versatile 2D and 3D immersive environment – a re-configurable projection and display environment that can serve companies from a number of different industry verticals.
• Full Audio-Visual production studios
• Complete array of scalable sensors, cameras, and media capture equipment
• Virtual Hospital Environment
• Access to supercomputing facilities through the University of Waterloo

Connectivity
• Connectivity with other digital media hubs – regional, provincial, national and global – to build network breadth and depth
• Virtual space expands connectivity via a corporate social networking infrastructure connecting all hubs.