Article: https://news.communitech.ca/news/tech-north-panel-highlights-potential-of-toronto-waterloo-region-corridor/
This article called Tech North Panel Highlights Potential of Toronto-Waterloo Region Corridor and is written by Anthony Reinhart. Reinhart covers various topics surrounding the potential enhancement of Waterloo as a major tech hub through the incorporation of Toronto's investment and human capital. It correlates well with the themes from week 5.
In light of this
weeks presentations (week 5), the themes revolved around the ability to enhance
creative markets in areas to increase prosperity in terms of volume of people,
fields of work, social diversification and economically. Specifically, we
focused on Waterloo continually developing as Canada’s tech hub known as
“Silicon Valley North”. This development of Silicon Valley North has created
interest in Toronto’s financial power to increase investment into the billion-dollar
tech industry. According to one of four Tech North (English tech company) founders,
Daniel Debow, Waterloo’s key necessity is a multi-billion dollar corporation
that can attract people to the area in search of tech-based work (Reinhart,
2017). Debow stated, “We need to have multibillion-dollar companies with
thousands of jobs, and founders who make a lot of money and go off and start
other companies, people don’t move here [Waterloo] because there aren’t enough
big companies.” (Reinhart, 2017) These necessitated billion-dollar corporations
can be made possible through financial investments from Toronto, which would
allow for development of infrastructure, funding for start-ups and entice
entrepreneurs to relocate to Waterloo. A key facet to the development of
Waterloo as an international tech hub is the ability to create efficient
transportation to and from Toronto, seeing as Toronto is a key investor and
provider of human capital as well. Waterloo has definitely established itself
as a major technological region in North America, however, with additional
networking, investment and human traffic, Waterloo can become a global entity
in the tech industry.
It's an interesting thought...can't grow and until we get a few major anchor tech companies. I think that is one scenario, and we have attracted a major Google campus. However, the concept of a tech cluster I think can work without the major anchors potentially. They are talking about creating this effect by stretching Toronto along to Waterloo Region and they speak of transportation. This is paramount i my mind...it takes 4+ hours to get downtown Toronto and back; unacceptable for doing business. Perhaps a tech company can figure out a way, perhaps working with the government, to get high-speed travel moving at an affordable cost. Hey..in fact they already are! - http://www.570news.com/2017/02/01/university-waterloos-high-speed-travel-waterloop-prototype-moves-spacex-finals/
ReplyDeleteI agree! I think that improving transportation between the two hubs is crucial... I hope that this plan succeeds as I think it has great potential to bring these hubs "closer" together which can lead to collaboration as well as attract tech workers to this area specifically.
DeleteThis was my point in my last post- Waterloo may not grow as fast if more companies dont come. As Alyssa said, there might not be any need for big companies per say, because truthfully, if there are, their presence may hinder the growth of smaller companies or startups just like Silicon Valley. Just more presence in tech companies will be great.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of making a seamless movement from Toronto to Waterloo, but I do not think it is as essential. As long as transportation is possible without flying and in less than 5 hours, it is okay.
Waterloo is a growing hub and I believe that it will grow, companies just need a little push to move here
I agree that it may not be necessary for a major tech company to anchor the growth of the Waterloo region as a tech hub, however, if there was the presence of a major tech hub it is likely that this would entice more individuals to want to become involved in the area. The interesting thing here is whether Waterloo would be better off as a major tech hub through its renowned start-ups, or with the berth of a major tech corporation attracting the brilliant minds of many techies on a national and (hopefully one day) global scale.
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ReplyDeleteIt all comes down to brand imaging at the end of the day. For example, many universities tend to be ranked for their prestigious programs, and it is common for individuals to travel far distances to receive the best education, in order to ensure a bright future (job career). This is easily relatable to the ways in which regions are known for entrepreneurship, tech start-ups, and potential business growth. Therefore, many employees will tend to gravitate towards cities that are already well-established, such as California, New York or Toronto because they provide the strongest, and safest environment to launch their careers in the business field. Despite Waterloo not having any major tech companies in the area, they are managing to attract multi-billionaire dollar companies such as Google. In addition, the implementation of the LRT station planning is already under way, which will link transportation between Kitchener, Cambridge, and Waterloo. Therefore, it is evident that urbanization and technological development is still making its way into the Waterloo region, and it may be a little too early to be thinking about transportation connections between Waterloo and Toronto when it is evident that efficient connections do not currently exist between cities within the region (besides GRT transportation). However, Waterloo has an extremely bright future, as it is important to note that cities are not built over night. I see tremendous business and urban growth, as well as employee attraction to Waterloo in the near yet distant future.
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