Ryerson University's Digital Media Zone commends Toronto on being named Canada’s high-tech hub

Ryerson University's Digital Media Zone (DMZ), a vibrant and collaborative space set atop Yonge-Dundas Square where students, alumni, and other growing companies can turn their innovations into market-ready products. At the same time it provides a place where industry can turn for digital solutions to real-world, real-time problems.

Ryerson University’s Digital Media Zone (DMZ) salutes the City of Toronto as the recently confirmed high-tech capital of Canada. In a press release and special report issued yesterday, the City announced that the GTA remains the nation's centre for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) research and development. The DMZ is also pleased to be recognized as a leader in this sector’s growth, both locally and nationally.

Canada's High Tech Hub: Toronto cites digital media as the transformative agent behind creative communication and interaction and credits the DMZ as helping to drive the digital media wave in Toronto. It also names DMZ companies SoapBox (an online platform for community-based change) andTeamSave (a group buying site) as two of Toronto’s emerging companies to watch.

“We are excited for the City of Toronto and the momentum being built in the areas of ICT and digital media,” said Valerie Fox, Director of Ryerson’s Digital Media Zone. “At the DMZ we are proud to have contributed so significantly to this movement in this our first year of operations. As we evolve and grow, we hope to increase our contribution through collaboration and partnerships with industry and government, in addition to the incubation and acceleration we currently offer our innovators. The DMZ is Ryerson’s investment in the Canadian digital economy, and as this report illustrates, that starts right here in Toronto.”

Valerie will showcase the DMZ alongside other prominent representatives of Toronto ICT and Interactive Digital Media (IDM) related businesses, institutions and programs at a meeting of Toronto's Economic Development Committee today following the presentation of this new report.

The report notes that of Toronto’s 11,522 ICT companies, 97.7 per cent have fewer than 100 employees, speaking to the importance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), such as those found in the DMZ. In order to accelerate growth and raise the Toronto’s international profile, the City finds that it needs to encourage and support public, private and academic collaboration, particularly in the areas of Research and Innovation; Talent; and Investment.

Opened in April 2010, Ryerson University’s Digital Media Zone (DMZ) is a multidisciplinary workspace for young entrepreneurs infused with the energy and resources of downtown Toronto. Set atop Yonge-Dundas Square, this hub of digital media innovation, collaboration and commercialization is home to both entrepreneurial startups and industry solution-providers. With access to overhead and business services, students and alumni can fast-track their product launches, stimulating Canada’s emerging digital economy through spending and job creation. In its first year of operations, the DMZ helped more than 110 innovators to incubate and accelerate 24 startups and to launch 49 projects. For more information on the DMZ, visit www.ryerson.ca/dmz.

Ryerson University is Canada's leader in innovative, career-oriented education and a university clearly on the move. With a mission to serve societal need, and a long-standing commitment to engaging its community, Ryerson offers close to 100 undergraduate and graduate programs. Distinctly urban, culturally diverse and inclusive, the university is home to 28,000 students, including 2,000 master's and PhD students, nearly 2,700 tenured and tenure-track faculty and staff, and more than 130,000 alumni worldwide. Research at Ryerson is on a trajectory of success and growth: externally funded research has doubled in the past four years. The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education is Canada's leading provider of university-based adult education. For more information, visit www.ryerson.ca.