khris
Senior Member
iPod, iPhone and soon iYonge St.
Louise Brown
Education Reporter
In a bid to build a Canadian "Silicon Valley" of digital brainpower that can reboot the economy, three Ontario universities are planning a joint graduate program in downtown Toronto to tackle the challenges posed by new media and keep techno-talent in this country.
In the vision shared by Ryerson University, the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo, the strip of Yonge St. from Gould St. to Gerrard St. would become a "digital destination" in a few short years.
It will be a corridor of i-research and "high-end digital stores all in one cluster that hums with activity," said Ryerson president Sheldon Levy in a speech yesterday to the Empire Club.
"This thing that young people use so much – the iPhone, the iPod technology – is what we're all going to use in future for banking, news, everything, but there are huge problems in making this change, from privacy issues to bandwidth," Levy told the sold-out lunch crowd at the Royal York Hotel.
"Whoever can figure this out will be the leaders in the new economy. Our goal is to devise made-in-Toronto solutions for i-banking, i-business, i-news, i-industry, i-medicine and i-everything," said Levy.
Copies of his address were provided on a digital memory stick, as well as on paper. He said Ryerson will become more digital-savvy this fall by making academic records available to students on their smart phones.
The University of Waterloo is excited about helping build a joint think tank of techno-whizzes who can help business adapt to new technology, said arts dean Ken Coates.
"We know Ontario has done well creating the tools of technology – look at RIM (BlackBerry designer Research In Motion) and Open Text (Waterloo-based software producer) – but the future lies in designing ways to use these tools, and this is a sweet spot for Ontario," Coates said.
"The new economy will be driven more by the use of technology than the making of technology," he said, citing companies that are working to adapt the social network technology of Facebook and YouTube to the way they deal with staff and even clients.
"This is the fastest-growing sector the world has ever seen, and we want to bring together people from engineering, the humanities, performing arts and a range of disciplines to work together to solve real-world problems," Coates said.
A University of Toronto spokesperson confirmed the university is also part of the joint talks about a digital-focused graduate program.
In his address on "Building Universities and Cities for the Digital Age," Levy also noted Ryerson is in talks with the City of Toronto to "reinvent Gould St. by turning it into a pedestrian plaza with cafes and green spaces," which would be part of the future digital hub.
"How much of Gould St. is closed, and what hours trucks will be allowed to make deliveries is all under discussion," said Levy, "and I can promise that trucks and cars will be inconvenienced.
"But we are talking with the city about when this will move forward, not if. Everyone supports the idea."
Source
Louise Brown
Education Reporter
In a bid to build a Canadian "Silicon Valley" of digital brainpower that can reboot the economy, three Ontario universities are planning a joint graduate program in downtown Toronto to tackle the challenges posed by new media and keep techno-talent in this country.
In the vision shared by Ryerson University, the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo, the strip of Yonge St. from Gould St. to Gerrard St. would become a "digital destination" in a few short years.
It will be a corridor of i-research and "high-end digital stores all in one cluster that hums with activity," said Ryerson president Sheldon Levy in a speech yesterday to the Empire Club.
"This thing that young people use so much – the iPhone, the iPod technology – is what we're all going to use in future for banking, news, everything, but there are huge problems in making this change, from privacy issues to bandwidth," Levy told the sold-out lunch crowd at the Royal York Hotel.
"Whoever can figure this out will be the leaders in the new economy. Our goal is to devise made-in-Toronto solutions for i-banking, i-business, i-news, i-industry, i-medicine and i-everything," said Levy.
Copies of his address were provided on a digital memory stick, as well as on paper. He said Ryerson will become more digital-savvy this fall by making academic records available to students on their smart phones.
The University of Waterloo is excited about helping build a joint think tank of techno-whizzes who can help business adapt to new technology, said arts dean Ken Coates.
"We know Ontario has done well creating the tools of technology – look at RIM (BlackBerry designer Research In Motion) and Open Text (Waterloo-based software producer) – but the future lies in designing ways to use these tools, and this is a sweet spot for Ontario," Coates said.
"The new economy will be driven more by the use of technology than the making of technology," he said, citing companies that are working to adapt the social network technology of Facebook and YouTube to the way they deal with staff and even clients.
"This is the fastest-growing sector the world has ever seen, and we want to bring together people from engineering, the humanities, performing arts and a range of disciplines to work together to solve real-world problems," Coates said.
A University of Toronto spokesperson confirmed the university is also part of the joint talks about a digital-focused graduate program.
In his address on "Building Universities and Cities for the Digital Age," Levy also noted Ryerson is in talks with the City of Toronto to "reinvent Gould St. by turning it into a pedestrian plaza with cafes and green spaces," which would be part of the future digital hub.
"How much of Gould St. is closed, and what hours trucks will be allowed to make deliveries is all under discussion," said Levy, "and I can promise that trucks and cars will be inconvenienced.
"But we are talking with the city about when this will move forward, not if. Everyone supports the idea."
Source
