New partnership between ENCQOR 5G and Mitacs to drive Canada 5G technology innovation

Montréal, QC, April 27, 2020 — ENCQOR 5G and Mitacs are pleased to announce a partnership that will support the development of a competitive 5G innovation ecosystem in Canada. Thanks to this agreement, Mitacs will help students and their academic supervisors to fill 400 internships available with Quebec small- and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and with industry in developing multiple projects under the ENCQOR 5G network.

The ENCQOR 5G program — a public-private partnership between the Governments of Canada, Quebec, and Ontario, and industry leaders Ciena, Ericsson, Thales, IBM Canada, and CGI Inc.— is working to support pre-commercial 5G innovation initiatives in areas such as ICT, smart cities, e-health, e-education, connected and autonomous vehicles, entertainment and media, and the digital transformation in manufacturing.

The partnership enables 5G skills development and knowledge advancement by connecting industry partners with research talent, universities, and Mitacs’s innovation network, which includes SMEs and large enterprises across Canada, to develop collaborations through the network. Partner businesses and organizations can benefit from having access to the 5G testbed in order to advance their research and innovation agendas.

Interns from many academic institutions across Quebec have already begun working on 5G projects within the ENCQOR program.

The agreement pairs businesses with master’s and PhD interns, as well as postdoctoral fellows, to participate in research and innovation initiatives related to 5G technology and its usage with projects that participate in the ENCQOR 5G program. Interns use their knowledge and will gain more by participating with industry in projects that are related to 5G. The partnership offers specific funding mechanisms and harmonizes processes to support industrial partners participating in the ENCQOR 5G program, while tapping into post-secondary research expertise to help build our knowledge on 5G and its applications.

Quotes:

Pierre Boucher, Director General, Innovation, ENCQOR

“Canada’s way forward for 5G will require two crucial ingredients — talent and partnerships within the innovation ecosystem. Our new collaboration with Mitacs will help in developing the skills and research talent necessary to drive the use of 5G technology more effectively for the benefit of all. The research network across Canada that Mitacs connects will be a big help in procuring the talent which Canada’s industry needs for the development of new 5G technology, applications and solutions.”

John Hepburn, CEO and Scientific Director, Mitacs

“Canada’s competitiveness and ability to innovate depends upon having the most advanced 5G technology infrastructure. Mitacs is pleased to partner with ENCQOR 5G to drive the necessary technology forward by recruiting and preparing the research talent for industry experience.”

Quick facts about ENCQOR:

  • ENCQOR 5G (Evolution of Networked Services through a Corridor in Quebec and Ontario for Research and Innovation) is a transformational Canada-Quebec-Ontario partnership focused on innovation in the field of 5G technologies.
  • The project brings together industry, SMEs, the public sector, centres for innovation, and academia. It aims to unlock the technological promise of 5G in the short term and stimulate economic growth in the long term.
  • ENCQOR 5G has five centres for innovation located in Ontario and Quebec that offer a 5G test platform where SMEs can develop and test new solutions for free.

 

Quick facts about Mitacs:

  • Mitacs is a not-for-profit organization that fosters growth and innovation in Canada by solving business challenges with research solutions from academic institutions.
  • Working with over 100 post-secondary institutions, 6,000 companies, and both federal and provincial governments, it builds partnerships that support industrial and social innovation in Canada.
  • Mitacs is funded by the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta, the Government of British Columbia, Research Manitoba, the Government of New Brunswick, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, the Government of Nova Scotia, the Government of Ontario, Innovation PEI, the Government of Quebec, and the Government of Saskatchewan.

 

About ENCQOR 5G

The ENCQOR 5G initiative is funded by the governments of Canada, Quebec and Ontario as well as leading industry players Ericsson, Ciena, Thales, CGI, and IBM. ENCQOR 5G is coordinated by Innovation ENCQOR, and delivered in Ontario by OCE and in Quebec by Innovation ENCQOR, Prompt, and ADRIQ. The program has a mandate to bring together SMEs and academia to contribute to the advancement of research, innovation and demonstration of applications through a pre-commercial 5G testbed.

 

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For information: ENCQOR 5G

                         Frédéric Tremblay

                         Ryan Affaires publiques

                         Tel.: (514) 874-1909

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