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CANADIAN INDUSTRY ONLINE - DECEMBER 2011
MINI S TRY OF RE S EARCH AND INNOVAT ION
“
On a provincial level, the Ontario Ministry of Research and
Innovation (MRI), launched in 2005, is making innovation a
driving force of Ontario’s economy and showcasing Ontario,
nationally and internationally.
MRI is helping to transition Ontario into an idea- and innovation-
based economy to create and grow new industries, new jobs and
prosperous communities. In addition to our funding programs,
we administer the Ontario Network of Excellence, which works
directly with entrepreneurs, academia and businesses to build
globally focused, investor- ready companies. We suppor t
researchers, entrepreneurs, businesses: innovators in all stages
of the pipeline to help bring unique products and services to
market.
From research hospitals to universities, entrepreneurs to venture
capitalists, businesses to government agencies, we’re suppor ting
the best ideas in Ontario and building relationships between all
the par ticipants in Ontario’s innovation ecosystem. These
relationships will allow us to leverage Ontario’s greatest
resources: its people, and their ideas.”
GOOGLE TALKS ABOUT ITS CANADIAN PRESENCE
IM spoke with Steve Woods, Engineering
Director for Google Canada. Woods has been
with Google since 2008, but has long been a
pioneer in technology. In fact, he has been
the driving force behind dozens of
technology start-ups in Canada, and in
Silicon Valley since the ‘90s. Woods was
notably awarded the J.W. Graham Medal for
Computing and Innovation by the University
of Waterloo in 2010, and is originally from
Saskatchewan.
IM: After such a long history of innovat-
ing in Silicon Valley, how did you end up
here, at Google in Canada’s tech hub?
Steve Woods: In 2008, I was recruited to
Google to help expand our presence in
certain geographical areas. We want to do
something strategic and long-term in
Canada, which was good because I’m very
fond of this area [Kitchener-Waterloo], it’s
very entrepreneurial.
When I asked the question what needed to
be done here in Canada, and specifically in
this region, the answer was typical Google:
‘we’re not really sure, but we think there’s
something great going on here.’ So I looked
at where people who are successful at Google
come from and an enormous amount of
people have come from this region.
IM: So what was the goal?
SW: My task was to come to try and build
entrepreneurial teams who were curious and
innovative and the help mentor those groups
to be champions of innovation across Google,
and see their ideas developed. When I started
to meet these people I thought ‘these are
exactly the right type of people for Google.’
The people I found were very smart, involved
in lots of start-ups, and wanted to do great
things. When we first developed here, we
acquired a small mobile company in 2005-
2006 and that was the starting point.
IM: Was this part of a larger strategy for
Google?
SW: It was around this time that Google
was looking to develop in strategic locations
like Zurich and New York. Communitech
will tell you the number of start-ups within
50 miles of this area is second only to Silicon
Valley. This is remarkable, especially given
the lack of funding available for start-ups.
Image provided by Google
GOOGLE - CANADA’S INNOVATION FUTURE
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