IBM Canada Ltd.

IBM Canada has taken a leadership role in the Southern Ontario Smart Computing Innovation Platform, which supports collaborations between academic researchers and small and medium-sized companies using advanced computing and big data analytics.

IBM Canada Ltd., a subsidiary of IBM Corporation, was established in 1917 and is now one of Canada’s leading private research and development (R&D) investors. The company also contributes generously to the country’s many communities, donating millions of dollars to charitable organizations each year. Its contributions include technology tools, corporate and employee donations and volunteer hours of service.

Since its launch in 2012, the Southern Ontario Smart Computing Innovation Platform (SOSCIP) consortium has benefited immensely from its partnership with IBM Canada and  the related investments in agile, advanced computing infrastructure and big data analytics, as well as the company’s contributions of research, IT and business expertise.

In 2015, IBM Canada dramatically expanded its involvement in the consortium with the announcement of a landmark investment of $65 million. This has enabled SOSCIP to add new areas of focus—mining, advanced manufacturing, cyber-security and digital media—to its collaborative R&D mandate and to double the number of participating academic institutions. In addition, SOSCIP can now extend its strategic support for commercialization and its partnerships with medium-sized companies by helping them adopt advanced computing and big data analytics technologies.

For U of T and the 15 other academic institutions that are partners in the consortium, IBM’s investment will also create more opportunities for students and post-doctoral fellows to gain skills and experience in high-tech settings.

With solid support from IBM Canada, SOSCIP is helping drive Canadian competitiveness and growth by pairing global industry expertise with academic institutions, providing access to technology tools that would otherwise be out of reach, and fuelling made-in-Canada innovation.