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Putting Toronto on the Technology Map

Posted by Sameer / July 23, 2007

Putting Toronto on the Technology Map
Designer, blogger, journalist, information architect? Whatever you call yourself, if you consider yourself as part of the greater Toronto technology community, TorCamp needs your help. And you might even score a free 30GB iPod for your time.

The TorCamp community is partnering with the Toronto Board of Trade on getting the word out to the thousands of small and micro-businesses about their ICT survey. This new survey will allow Torontonians in the information and communications technology community put themselves on the map for policy-makers who are looking for new ways of supporting that community's development in the global race for technology leadership.

There's more information over on Mark Kuznicki's blog post on the subject, but for those of you looking to directly fill out the survey (and qualify to win the 30GB iPod), the instructions are after the jump.

Here are the instructions to participate, as outlined by the Toronto Board of Trade:

Simply visit http://www.whatsyouropinion.ca, enter "TORCAMP" in the field marked Survey Code and follow the easy steps through a short questionnaire which should help us identify issues and opportunities within Toronto's growing ICT community.

For providing us your feedback, we'll send you the aggregate results and analysis, but you'll also be eligible to win a video iPod or tickets to upcoming Technology Innovators Breakfasts at the Toronto Board of Trade.

Thank you in advance for participating in this survey and helping to champion a competitive and vibrant ICT community in Toronto.

For those of you in the ICT community here in the city, what do you think that the Board of Trade and municipal government should be doing to help foster the growth of the industry and make Toronto a leader in technology and innovation around the world?

(Photo: Glass Mountains Redux by blogTO Flickr pooler Amy Allcock.)

Discussion

6 Comments

Adam / July 23, 2007 at 11:23 am
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<p>One thing they should do is encourage tech companies and development labs to begin establishing themselves in the downtown core, rather than in the suburbs/outskirts of the city.</p><p>I work for IBM, and while we have a beautiful software lab out here in Markham, it would sure be nice to be downtown, and have a bit more of a presence there.</p><p>It&#39;s just a matter of real estate being outrageously high for businesses looking to open up shop in the downtown core. Ontario Power Generation had to pack up and move their HQ from University &amp; College out to Brock Road in Pickering just because of this, in fact. </p>
Sameer Vasta / July 23, 2007 at 11:42 am
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You&#39;re right Adam.&nbsp; I know ATI (and Lucent, Avaya, and other companies) has a huge facility in Markham as well, and while all my friends that work for ATI complain that they have to travel all the way up to Markham every day, it just makes no sense for companies of that size to be in downtown Toronto because of the exorbitant costs involved.
Glen Stone / July 24, 2007 at 09:14 am
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<p>Unfortunately, Toronto&#39;s business property taxes are up to 40% higher than those in the surrounding GTA communities.&nbsp; It&#39;s a major reason that our city has lost 100,000 jobs since 1989, while the 905-area has gained nearly 800,000. &nbsp;That&#39;s something we&#39;ve been fighting for years, on behalf of the ICT community and all business in Toronto. </p><p>Anyway, thanks for the plug of our ICT survey.&nbsp; The more info we can gather about the needs of the sector, the better we can help represent those needs to government and other parts of the business community.&nbsp; ICT is already a major force in our economy and promises to be one of the keys to our future prosperity.</p><p>So, please spread the word about this survey!&nbsp; Thanks</p><p><em>Glen Stone - Toronto Board of Trade </em></p>
Sameer Vasta / July 24, 2007 at 09:34 am
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No need to thank me Glen, it&#39;s my pleasure.&nbsp; I hope you get a good response.&nbsp; When are you planning on releasing the results of the survey to the ICT community in Toronto?
Glen Stone / July 30, 2007 at 04:27 pm
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Don&#39;t have a firm date for you yet, Sameer.&nbsp; I&#39;ll keep you posted, though.&nbsp; We&#39;re hoping the results will give us and our ICT Advisory Committee some powerful ammo to lobby governments, educate investors, inform the public, etc.&nbsp; The more we know, the more we can do to help the ICT sector reach its full potential ...
Sameer Vasta / July 30, 2007 at 06:39 pm
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Looking forward to it Glen.&nbsp; Thanks!

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