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Charting the
Digital Infosphere
Nova Scotia’s Information and Communications
Technology Sector, Present and Future
Charting the
Digital Infosphere
Nova Scotia’s Information and Communications
Technology Sector, Present and Future
©Crown Copyright, Province of Nova Scotia, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-55457-538-1
Contents
Introduction 1
A Snapshot of Nova Scotia’s Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) Sector 3
Strengths and Opportunity 8
ICT Sub-sectors 11
Support for ICT Growth 19
Conclusion 24
Introduction
In a 2010 article, The Daily Beast noted that not even Bob Dylan could have predicted
the digital revolution of the past decade. In that time, Google searches went from 100
million to 2 billion per day, daily emails from 12 to 247 billion emails daily, and video
game revenue increased from $7.98 to $19.66 billion. Times are changing, indeed.
This explosion in the digital universe extends far beyond American media trends.
Gartner Consulting, a global leader in IT industry analysis, forecasts worldwide
information and communications technology (ICT) spending will reach $3.7 trillion
(US) in 2013 and grow at an average annual rate of four per cent until at least 2016.
Here in Nova Scotia, the ICT sector plays a vital role in our economy. It employs
some 19,000 people across 600 companies and has a total impact worth $2.5 billion,
including spinoffs. It has broad impact, touching virtually every industry in the province:
defence, security and aerospace, financial services, life sciences and healthcare, oceans
technology, clean technology, education, and others. Nova Scotia is home to many
successful ICT start-ups, and several multinational firms have located here.
The worldwide demand for ICT services shows no signs of slowing down, and as
technology continues to advance at breakneck speed, so do the opportunities that
come with it.
IBM’s expansion to Nova Scotia is a game changer. The company located its first and only
Canadian-based IBM Services Centre in Nova Scotia. The centre is part of IBM’s global
network of delivery centres, providing application development and support services
to governments, businesses, and universities. IBM is also working in collaboration with
Nova Scotia’s universities and college to build expertise in analytics.
The following is not the complete collection of Nova Scotia’s ICT players and assets,
but an illustrative “map” to provide a glimpse into the vast potential for growth and
benefits the sector holds in this province and beyond.
Note
Charting the Digital Infosphere
The potential is tremendous, and it is now easier and faster than ever to set up
software and IT professional services companies. By switching to cloud-based models,
these companies no longer need to invest in costly IT infrastructure to deliver services.
With the explosive growth in data worldwide, the analytics market is growing quickly,
as is the gaming and digital media industry. These are areas of provincial strength.
“Back Story: How the Digital Revolution Changed Our World,” 20 July 2010, The Daily Beast. Retrieved 25 April
2013 from www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/features/2010/by-the-numbers-how-the-digital-revolutionchanged-our-world.html
1
A Snapshot of Nova Scotia’s
Information and Communications
Technology Sector
Digital communication affects almost every aspect of our lives. From the photos you
upload to Facebook, to the signals sent by your cell phone, to sensors used to gather
climate information, massive amounts of data are constantly being created. An IBM
study found that as much information is now created every two days as was created
from the dawn of civilization to 2003.
ICT means a wide range of technologies that let users create, manipulate, store, access,
and communicate information.
Nova Scotia’s ICT sector includes software publishers, data processing and
hosting services, video game designers, computer equipment manufacturers,
telecommunications carriers, and more. Most ICT businesses in the province are
small-to-medium sized enterprises providing software and computer services, with
a small number focused on computer equipment manufacturing, broadcasting, and
telecommunications. As ICT touches virtually every other industry in the province,
advancement in Nova Scotia’s ICT sector will have strong and lasting spin-off benefits
across the province’s economy.
ICT jobs are high paying. In 2012, average weekly salaries for software and computer
services jobs were 50 per cent higher than the average salary in Nova Scotia.
Blackberry alone, including its Blackberry 10 Centre of Excellence, will provide about
400 of these high-paying ICT jobs annually in the province.
Support to make Nova Scotia a strong competitor in the global IT world market also
comes from companies like CGI, Canada’s largest independent information technology
services firm. Through its Halifax delivery centre, CGI delivers IT services to leading
insurance and global financial services firms.
The province’s partnership with
Blackberry helps to foster innovation
and support competitiveness on a global
scale. Andrew MacLeod, Managing
Director of Canada Sales, Marketing
Operations for Blackberry showcases
one of the company’s many products.
Nova Scotia’s ICT industry association, Digital Nova Scotia, supports the ongoing
growth and development of the sector.
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A Broad Reach
As stated above, the information and communications technology field touches
virtually every industry in Nova Scotia. Nearly half of the ICT jobs in the province come
from positions in “vertical” markets. Below are examples of goods or services that fall
into these markets.
Defence, Security, and Aerospace
Nova Scotia is home to a large portion of the Canadian military and is uniquely
positioned as a hub for aerospace and defence-related activities. Companies like
Lockheed Martin, CAE, Ultra Electronics, General Dynamics, and MDA Information
Systems chose to locate operations in Nova Scotia because of the proximity to the
Canadian military, specifically the Royal Canadian Navy. These companies offer ICT
application and develop products and services for the defence, security, and
aerospace market.
IT systems are a vital component of modern ships. The $25 billion contract awarded
to Halifax’s Irving Shipyard to build the Navy’s new combat ships will provide growing
opportunities for related ICT companies. The contract spans 30 years and is expected to
generate $661 million in GDP per year and about 11,500 jobs at the peak of the contract.
4
An example of one of these companies is Bluedrop Performance Learning Inc.
This company delivers innovative and effective results that are changing the way
companies and governments look at training. From low-cost, state of the art computer
simulators at the Bluedrop Training and Simulation Centre in Halifax, to delivering
external training and certification for Fortune 1000 clients, using CoursePark.com, the
company’s cloud-based training management system covers it all.
Bluedrop of Halifax is
an innovator in effective
workplace learning for
individuals, corporations,
the military, and the public
sector. Backed by the province
through the Nova Scotia Jobs
Fund, the company is building
a state of the art virtual
training facility in Halifax.
An exciting partnership between international aerospace company Boeing and
Dalhousie University has also been established to work on a project in advanced
materials, mobile graphics, and visual and text analytics.
Financial Services
The financial services industry in Nova Scotia employs more than 18,000 people and
includes sales personnel and those who work in corporate finance and IT, and in
administrative and support services. Approximately 1,000 people are employed in
application development, systems integration, and other IT support roles in this sector.
Citco, a world leading hedge fund administrator, has chosen to locate its technology
development centre in Halifax. The strategic partnerships developed with the
province’s academia, industry, and government play a key role in the company’s longterm growth plans. Companies like NTT Data Canada, Inc., CGI, and T4G Ltd. are also
part of Nova Scotia’s financial services global value chain.
Life Sciences and Healthcare
From biology to zoology, life sciences are a broad grouping of disciplines with farreaching economic impacts. They all rely on innovations from the ICT sector to
collect and analyze data. In fact, hospitals use these technologies to run their day-today operations. Local companies are also developing software, systems, and other
technologies in the field of health informatics.
DGI Clinical, STI Technologies, Medusa Medical, and Health Outcomes Worldwide are
among Nova Scotia’s innovative ICT-related healthcare and life sciences companies.
Healthcare is one of the fastest growing markets for ICT. In particular, analytics (the
process of understanding complex data to support business decisions) is used for
everything from getting medications to patients sooner, to developing the next
generation of health care treatments.
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Oceans Technology
Nova Scotia is defined by the sea, and our dynamic marine technology sector is well
established and growing. We are home to over 200 oceans technology companies,
including 60 innovators of new, high-tech products and services. These companies sell
to a broader oceans industry sector.
Marine ICT is an important sub-sector. Local companies like CarteNav are developing
innovative technologies to analyze geographic information to map the ocean floor.
Other companies like Joubeh Technologies are using information and communications
systems to support military operations. Some companies are still using radio and
satellite to provide vessel tracking, emergency aid, and onboard Internet access.
Clean Technology
The ICT sector has a powerful role to play in tackling climate change by helping other
sectors (like the transportation and power industries) to become more efficient.
There are opportunities to be exploited by companies like Green Power Labs and
CarbonCure Technologies that supply solutions to reduce environmental impact and
use natural resources responsibly.
Education
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Educational institutions rely on ICT to attract new students and manage their systems.
ICT companies are helping schools shift from classroom-centered approaches to
a more virtual learning environment. In Nova Scotia, the largest source of revenue
among interactive media companies comes from educational, training, and
simulation products.
Companies like Velsoft, Dadavan, Equals6, Atlantis Systems Eduplus, Media Spark,
and Znanja Inc. make significant contributions to the province’s ICT sector. Znanja
Inc. contributes to Nova Scotia’s new learning environment by allowing non-technical
users to convert existing content like traditional “course material” or corporate policy
manuals into eLearning tools in only seconds. Part of Znanja’s magic is its cloud-based
solution, which offers efficiencies and cost savings to its global customers.
Znanja of New Glasgow is one of many
Nova Scotia businesses that has partnered
with our universities and college to develop,
design, and test their innovative products
with support from the province’s Productivity
and Innovation Voucher Program. (L to R
Daniel Enman and Jimmy Mabey)
Resource Sectors
ICT has the potential to benefit almost every aspect of a business in virtually every
industry. It is a powerful enabler of economic growth. Investment in ICT has been
found to have an impact on productivity three to five times greater than an equal
investment in other types of capital equipment. This may explain why ICT is a growing
component of investment in all industries, including traditional resource industries.
Nova Scotia has an active geomatics industry that serves resource-based sectors
including fishing, forestry, agriculture, and mining. For instance, Nortek Resource
Solutions provides complete Geographic Information System consulting services and
custom applications to serve the forestry industry.
Annual investment in ICT equipment grew by double digits in Canadian resource
industries between 2000 and 2008. In 2011, for the first time, the ICT component of
Nova Scotia’s overall investment in machinery and equipment surpassed the
non-ICT component.
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Strengths and Opportunity
With nearly $3.7 trillion in worldwide ICT spending up for grabs this year, how well is
Nova Scotia positioned to capture its share of the market? The province has unique
strengths that indicate promising potential for growth.
Recent research by Gartner Consulting, KPMG, and others shows that:
• A key advantage is our people: Nova Scotia has the highest level of graduates with
ICT degrees per capita in Canada. Our 10 universities and 13 college campuses offer
specialty degrees and programs in video game development, mobile computing,
informatics, and many other ICT areas.
• Nova Scotia has an educated and loyal labour pool made up of highly skilled ICT
workers with top-notch talent.
• Nova Scotia has highly reliable technical infrastructure. Its urban and rural
broadband networks are world class, providing a stable and secure base for the
ICT industry. The Broadband for Rural Nova Scotia project represents significant
provincial investment in this area.
• Other advantages include competitive operating costs, financial incentives, and
proximity to the US and Europe. According to a recent KPMG report, Halifax ranks
number one among all North American and European cities for cost competitiveness
in video game production and software development.
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• Between 2007 and 2011, Nova Scotia has had one of the highest ICT growth rates in
Canada, and ICT is growing faster than many other industries in the province.
• Nova Scotia is home to a number of digital media companies and has one of
Canada’s most generous digital media tax credit programs.
• Some Nova Scotian–grown start-ups have been tremendously successful: Sheepdog
was the first Google Apps developer in Canada to receive Google Certification.
GoInstant was sold to Salesforce.com for $70 million. The company has plans to
double the size of its Halifax office.
Alongside social media giants
like Facebook and Groupon,
the province through
Innovacorp, helped establish
GoInstant of Halifax. (L to R
Dave Kim, Gavin Uhma,
Jevon MacDonald, and
Kirk MacPhee)
• Nova Scotia has attracted some of the top video game studios in the industry
including Longtail Studios, Silverback Productions Inc., and Frontier Developments Ltd.
• Major players in the ICT sector have a significant presence in Nova Scotia, including
BlackBerry, IBM, CGI, Salesforce.com, and NTT Data Canada, Inc. NTT DATA is a
leading global IT services provider employing 60,000 people in more than 36
countries. With offices throughout Canada and major operations in both Toronto
and Halifax, the company employs more than 600 people in Nova Scotia where it has
been located for 15 years.
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Canada’s University Capital
A particular strength for Nova Scotia is its wealth of educational institutions. The small
province is home to 10 universities and 13 community college campuses, producing
an educated workforce, as well as expertise and innovation.
These universities and colleges have developed specialty programs in ICT and have
research and development capabilities in this area.
Examples include:
Dalhousie University’s Faculty of Computer Science is the largest Computer Science
department in Atlantic Canada, with strong undergraduate and graduate programs.
The faculty works collaboratively with industry and has recognized strengths in data
analytics, networking, security, and human-computer interaction.
Saint Mary’s University’s “data cave” is a virtual reality environment that allows
researchers to explore data in 3D. Saint Mary’s has significant expertise in data security
and privacy, security and infrastructure for cloud networks, data mining and business
intelligence, business use of social technologies, and human-computer interaction.
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Acadia University is developing a certificate program in data analytics that takes
advantage of the institution’s expertise in database management, data warehousing,
machine learning, data mining, statistics, and mathematical modeling. Acadia has
several leading researchers who specialize in database autonomics, machine learning,
and data mining, including image and video mining. Acadia’s Jodrey School of
Computer Science has had a BCS with Specialization in Game Development since
2010, and its media centre supports research on the interactions between people and
communities with information and communication technologies.
The Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) offers ICT programs in applied arts
(digital animation, graphic design, interactive and motion graphics), geomatics,
and computing/IT with a focus on networking and programming. NSCC’s applied
research focuses on applied geomatics. Research is also being conducted on business
intelligence, cloud computing, information management, and 3D printing.
St. Francis Xavier University (St. FX) researchers, along with colleagues at Dalhousie
University, helped the Nova Scotia College of Pharmacists develop SafetyNET-Rx,
a quality improvement program to help address and prevent medication errors in
community pharmacies. In 2012, SafetyNET-Rx was rolled out in North American
markets and across 16 other nations. Other innovations include a recent prototype
developed by St. FX students to help health districts manage hospital lab operations.
ICT Sub-sectors
Nova Scotia’s ICT sector comprises information and communications equipment
manufacturing, telecommunications, digital media and gaming, and software and IT
professional services.
ICT Manufacturing
Manufacturing makes up one of the small sub-sectors of Nova Scotia’s ICT sector.
Of the ICT manufacturers in Nova Scotia, most are easily recognizable and fall in key
vertical markets like defence, security, and aerospace, or oceans technology, where
Nova Scotia has unique advantages.
Unique Solutions of Dartmouth is a leader in
the fashion and apparel world for its threedimensional body scanners, custom fit, body
measurements, and data. Nova Scotia Business
Inc. helped this dynamic company attract capital
and expand internationally. (L to R Employees
Isabel Tees and Elizabeth Hughes-Keddy)
Telecommunications
The telecommunications industry in Nova Scotia is responsible for a large portion of
the ICT sector’s revenues. These revenues are associated with telecommunications
infrastructure and services and are mainly the result of the activity of a few major
players – Bell Aliant, Eastlink, Rogers, and Telus.
Nova Scotia is home to Nautel, a leading manufacturer of radio broadcast transmitters
and navigational radio beacons. Other examples of innovative manufacturers in the
province include Unique Solutions and Techlink Entertainment.
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Bell Aliant is one of North America’s largest regional communications providers and
was recognized as the best in North America for innovation and leadership in fibreto-the-home (FTTH) through its deployment of FibreOP Internet services in Atlantic
Canada. With support from the provincial government, local companies Eastlink and
Seaside Communications have helped to make Nova Scotia one of the most connected
provinces in Canada by expanding wireless high-speed Internet service to rural areas
previously served only by dial-up.
As a great example of using innovative technology to stay competitive, Eastlink
released a video innovation, powered by Cisco Videoscape that provides access to
TV content on computers, tablets, and smartphones. Another local company,
Internetworking Atlantic, offers direct fiber-optic telecommunications, IT, and data
centre service in Halifax. The company manages the Valley Community Fibre Network,
a high-capacity fibre-optic backbone network that connects the Annapolis Valley
with Halifax.
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Internetworking Atlantic Inc. of
Halifax is a leading provider of
fibre optic telecommunications
solutions, providing
telecommunications, IT, and
data centre services to many
large Maritime clients.
Jake Mahoney is featured
in the photo.
Digital Media and Gaming
Digital media and gaming is one of the fastest growing sectors in Nova Scotia for a
reason. The sector boasts a multi-talented workforce using cutting-edge technology
in an industry recognized worldwide for its creativity. The province has an opportunity
to take advantage of the $65 billion in annual revenues earned globally from the
gaming industry.
Nova Scotia represents one of the first and fastest-growing digital gaming clusters in
Canada and boasts one of the most highly skilled talent pools, with dozens of firms,
most locally owned.
Digital media can mean text, graphics, audio, and video that can be transmitted over
the Internet or computer networks. Interactive media companies are those that create
digital content and environments that provide users with a rich interactive experience,
either with content itself or with other users for the purposes of entertainment,
information, or education.
Nova Scotian companies are involved in the following types of media:
• Lifestyle and entertainment
• Sports and news
• Education, training, and simulation
• Health and fitness (includes medical)
• Social and communication
• Interactive media services
The gaming industry can be further broken into four areas:
• Console games
• Online or social games
• Mobile games
The digital media and gaming cluster in Nova Scotia has experienced considerable
growth over the last five years. Canada is currently the world’s leading location for
foreign investment in this industry and attracted almost a quarter of all the jobs created
worldwide by foreign investment in video games between 2003 and 2011. Foreign
investment improves the province’s competitive position, provides access to and
technology transfer from other jurisdictions, and also stimulates economic activity.
Nova Scotia-based DHX Media Ltd. showcases the province’s digital media expertise
through its many popular children’s programs like Animal Mechanicals, Bo on the
Go, and Doozers, a joint venture with the Jim Henson company that is currently in
production in the company’s Halifax animation studio. DHX Media is a leading global
independent producer, distributor, and licensor of children’s entertainment with
offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Los Angeles, London, and across Europe.
• Games for professional use
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According to KPMG’s 2012 Competitive Alternatives Study, Halifax is the lowest-cost
location for video game production in North America and Europe.
Nova Scotia boasts many success stories within this sub-sector through companies like
HB Studios in Lunenburg, Xona Games in Yarmouth, Pixelyard Productions in Bedford,
as well as Longtail Studios and Frontier Developments, both in Halifax.
• HB Studios specializes in creating console, handheld, as well as PC and iOS video
games, and is a major third-party game developer for Electronic Arts. Employing 80,
the company has been ranked by Develop, a leading digital media publication, on
its list of the top 100 most successful video game studios in the world. HB Studios
has also produced over 40 acclaimed titles for the PlayStation, Xbox, and Wii, such as
Cricket and FIFA.
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Employees like Peter Garcin,
Executive Producer for HB Studios
of Lunenburg, are famous for
creating a number of dynamic
video games. The company has
benefited from the province’s
Productivity Investment and
Student Employment Programs
that create opportunities for
talented, young Nova Scotians,
while encouraging investment in
employee skill development.
• A lifelong passion for twin brothers of Yarmouth, Xona Games is at the forefront of
North America’s independent computer gaming scene developing video games
for Xbox 360, PC, and android devices. Some of Xona’s games are number one best
sellers in multiple countries and have dominated Japan with each release, ranking
number one in user ratings. The company has also attracted opportunities to create
launch titles for various gaming platforms, including Microsoft’s.
• Pixelyard Productions builds innovative hands-on training applications that employ
high-fidelity 3D models and simulations to create virtual tools and equipment for
trades and technical training programs.
• Longtail Studios, an award-winning videogame developer in Halifax, was started by
Gérard Guillemot, one of the co-founders of Ubisoft Entertainment. The company
creates games suitable for all audiences using several different platforms, including
Xbox 360 Kinect, Playstation 3 Move, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and iOS.
• Frontier Developments is a world-leading independent development studio with
offices in Cambridge, UK, and Halifax that create proprietary cross-platform game
development technology for consoles, smartphones, tablets, and PCs. The company
uses this technology to make a wide variety of games that enjoy critical and
commercial success.
Brothers Matthew and Jason
Doucette (L to R) are the
owners of the impressive indie
game studio, Xona Games
of Yarmouth. Xona has won
several prestigious awards
including Innovacorp’s biyearly I-3 Technology Start-up
Competition.
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Software and IT Professional Services
The need for IT professional services, such as analytics, is growing, and Nova Scotia is
an ideal place for these businesses to set up shop. Software publishers in Nova Scotia
have seen an annual growth rate of 15 per cent, which is larger than any other industry
in the ICT sector.
Software development and IT professional services reach almost every other sector
in the economy, from financial services to resource-based industries. Companies
like IBM, Salesforce.com, and Dell Quest Software have chosen to locate here, while
homegrown companies like 2nd Act Innovations, TitanFile, and GoInstant have all
thrived in the Nova Scotia ICT ecosystem.
2nd Act Innovations is a sales-focused technology company recognizing and exploiting
a market gap in the field of content management by focusing on the findability of
corporate data regardless of how or where it is stored and what it was named.
TitanFile provides an enterprise solution for secure sharing of documents. GoInstant,
acquired by Salesforce.com in 2012, was already turning heads in 2011 when it secured
$1.7 million in financing from top-tier investors who back social media giants such as
Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. The company offers shared web-browsing solutions to
allow customers, business partners, and colleagues to meet via online sessions, browse
the web, and interact in real time.
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AG Research, Barrington Consulting Group, Clarke IT Solutions, Concertia Technologies,
Garvin-Allen Solutions, GoalLine, Sierra Systems Group, Nicom, and Teamspace are
among other success stories for Nova Scotia’s ICT sector. Master Merchant Systems,
a global retail solutions company headquartered in Nova Scotia, has become
one of the premier retail management system/point of sale providers for the
telecommunications industry.
Senior consultants at Nicom of Halifax work to
provide clients with first-rate IT guidance and
solutions. The company specializes in Microsoft
technologies and has benefited from participating
in programs available to exporters through Nova
Scotia Business Inc., as well as from support through
the province’s Capital Investment Incentive Program.
(L to R Genevieve Kelly, Steve Foley, and Ryan Grant)
Nova Scotia is also the home base for a growing number of companies offering
Software as a Service (SaaS) and developing mobile apps such as NewPace
technologies, Headspace, Media Badger, SimplyCast, TitanFile, Colibri Software,
and Sheepdog.
SimplyCast of Dartmouth is known worldwide for
providing businesses with email marketing tools to
help them effectively communicate with customers,
enhance brand awareness, and increase revenue.
The company’s growing workforce includes talented
local graduates as it participates in the province’s
Cooperative Graduate Placement Program that
encourages former students to remain in Nova Scotia
by helping them secure good jobs. (L to R, Sarah
Morash and Saeed El-Darahali)
A large portion of Nova Scotia’s ICT sector is focused on providing services for the
local market, but there are also a number of home-grown exporters and several
multinational firms located here. Companies such as NTT Data Canada, Inc. and Oracle
are taking advantage of Atlantic Canada’s low operating costs and quality labour force
to provide services to global clients.
International companies like IBM and CGI have also recognized the value of
locating their operations in Nova Scotia. They provide higher-end services such as
application and infrastructure support, application development, quality assurance
testing, cloud services, deep domain expertise, and infrastructure management to
companies around the world. They deliver these technical services to other sectors
including financial services, health and life sciences, the public sector, utilities, and
telecommunications.
Headquartered in Halifax, Sheepdog is Canada’s longest serving Google Premier
Enterprise Partner, delivering cloud solutions across hundreds of organizations, large
and small. In 2012, Sheepdog was named Progress Magazine ‘s fastest growing Atlantic
Canadian company in the under $25 million revenue category.
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Big Data Analytics
Along with cloud computing, mobile devices, and social media, “big data” analytics will
shape information technology over the next decade.
What is meant by “big data”? It is information that can come from everywhere: posts to
social media sites, digital pictures and videos, cell phone and GPS signals, texts, blog
posts, or sensors that gather climate information – it’s big. Every day, so much data is
created that 90 per cent of all the information in the world today has been created in
the last two years.
People are constantly bombarded with information. Analytics makes sense out of it all,
and in doing so, makes money for businesses. Companies that are adept at collecting
and analyzing information to make business decisions are companies that thrive.
According to an MIT report, businesses that apply analytics to data for competitive
advantage are 2.2 times more likely to substantially outperform their industry peers.
It’s not surprising that the business analytics market is skyrocketing. The International
Data Corporation predicts that the market for big data technology and services will
reach $16.9 billion by 2015, up from $3.2 billion in 2010. That’s a growth rate of
40 per cent a year.
Nova Scotia is a great place for analytics to take off. The IBM Services Centre in Nova
Scotia will connect provincial businesses with the opportunity to access this market. The
province’s established academic centres, a steady, growing service sector, and links to
niche sectors like defence, security, and aerospace, manufacturing, and life and ocean
sciences, are all assets that offer exciting potential for expansion and partnerships.
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Examples where analytics have been used include real-time decision support for
defence, improving information in hospitals, supporting portfolio management for
financial services, and simulating oceanic data to support instrument and ship design.
A memorandum of understanding between IBM, Acadia University, Cape Breton
University, Dalhousie University, Saint Mary’s University, and the NSCC will help promote
research and development in the field and skills development in the sub-sectors.
IBM Canada Limited, the Nova Scotia
Community College, and five universities are
joining forces to position the province as a center
of excellence in skills and research in the areas
of analytics and optimization. (L to R Nathan
MacDougall, Lynn Clark, and Calvin Gosse)
Support for ICT Growth
Nova Scotia offers a range of programs and services to help support and grow the ICT
sector (and others).
Here is a snapshot of those programs:
Small Business and Regional Development
http://novascotia.ca/econ/sbrp/
Small businesses may apply for loans up to $500,000 at credit unions across Nova
Scotia through the Credit Union Small Business Loan Guarantee Program.
http://novascotia.ca/econ/sbrp/credit-union.asp
Those who have immigrated to Nova Scotia within the last five years may be eligible
to borrow up to $500,000 to start or grow a business through the Credit Union
Immigrant Small Business Loan Financing Program.
http://novascotia.ca/econ/sbrp/credit-union.asp
Local entrepreneurs or community groups can explore the potential to raise
investment capital through Community Economic Development Investment
Funds.
The Nova Scotia Business Development Program encourages business start-ups
and provides help through qualified consultants for business operators to review
and assess their practices and develop new approaches to ensure success.
http://novascotia.ca/econ/nsbdp/
Through support from the Nova Scotia Business
Development Program, Techlink Entertainment
of Sydney engaged a consultant to assist with
the implementation of recommendations
from a LEAN assessment. This helped to ensure
the company’s manufacturing strategy and
processes are as efficient as possible, while
increasing productivity, avoiding waste, and
improving overall manufacturing operations.
http://novascotia.ca/econ/cedif/
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Innovation and Learning
http://novascotia.ca/econ/ial/
Innovacorp supports early stage Nova Scotia knowledge-based companies
through investment, incubation, and expert advice.
http://www.innovacorp.ca
The Productivity Investment Program – Workplace Innovation and Productivity
Skills Incentive (WIPSI) provides funding to businesses to encourage investment
in employee skill development to improve productivity and enhance global
competitiveness.
http://novascotia.ca/econ/pip/wipsi/
Ad-Dispatch, a North American leader in augmented reality, used WIPSI funding to
increase the knowledge base of its development team. Dedication to training and
learning help to ensure the company maintains its position as a leader in the everchanging augmented reality and computer vision industry.
The Productivity Investment Program – Capital Investment Incentive (CII)
encourages businesses to invest in technologically advanced equipment, software,
and hardware, to improve productivity.
http://novascotia.ca/econ/pip/cii/
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Sheepdog used Capital Investment Incentive funding to develop custom
Learning Management System software that helped improve administration,
documentation, tracking, reporting and delivery of programs. This software proved
to be a valuable competitive advantage over other Google Apps Partners and Cloud
Services Brokers.
The Student Employment Programs, including the Strategic Co-operative
Education Incentive, the Student Career Skills Development Program, and the
Cooperative Graduate Placement Program help organizations to hire students.
http://novascotia.ca/econ/sep/
Small and medium-sized businesses can use the Productivity and Innovation
Voucher Program to acquire assistance from Nova Scotia universities and colleges
to help make their businesses more innovative and productive.
http://novascotia.ca/econ/pnivouchers/
TitanFile, a Dartmouth-based company provides end-to-end secure document
transfer and reporting for business. Through the Productivity and Innovation
Voucher Program, TitanFile worked with Dalhousie University to strengthen its
intellectual property by improving security algorithm and infrastructure design.
NSBI’s Venture Capital Program partners with entrepreneurs and investors to help
companies across the province grow and expand into new markets.
http://www.novascotiabusiness.com/en/home/venturecapital/
The Nova Scotia Community Access Program (C@P) networks promote
innovation and productivity in rural Nova Scotia by providing access to leadingedge technology and user how-to support. While all sites offer technology and
high-speed broadband connectivity, some sites offer extended services such as
space, local trainers, and technology mentors to create awareness and increase use
of digital technology.
http://novascotia.ca/econ/cap/
21
Trade and International Competitiveness
http://novascotia.ca/econ/tic/
The ExportAbility Program gives companies an opportunity to increase their
knowledge of international trade through professional development.
http://novascotia.ca/econ/trade/ExportAbility/
The Go Ahead Program, administered by Nova Scotia Business Inc. (NSBI), will
cover up to 50 per cent of the cost for follow-up market visits for companies who
have taken part in provincial government or export agency trade initiatives.
http://novascotia.ca/econ/trade/GoAhead/
The Service Export Program can provide travel funding for Nova Scotia companies
attending client meetings.
http://novascotia.ca/econ/trade/SEP/
The Export Prospector Program and Trade Show Assistance, also administered
by NSBI, offers an opportunity to participate in trade missions.
http://www.novascotiabusiness.com/en/home/exportandtrade/
exportprospectorprogram/
22
After attending an NSBI trade mission to
the Game Developers Conference in San
Francisco in 2011, Fourth Monkey Media
of Lunenburg signed a deal with the Walt
Disney Co. to help develop an interactive
attraction at Tokyo Disneyland. When
a Barbados cell phone bill is issued,
it is processed by Dartmouth-based
Master Merchant Systems’ V-Docs. The
company’s success in Barbados was the
result of two deals that came from a NSBI
Caribbean trade mission.
The Global Business Accelerator Program provides financial assistance to Nova
Scotia companies that want to work with a business accelerator to help them
compete and grow in the global marketplace.
This program connects companies to business experts with the skills, experience,
knowledge and connections to support a company’s expansion into new markets.
http://novascotia.ca/econ/gbap/
Nova Scotia Jobs Fund
The Nova Scotia Jobs Fund invests in opportunities that assist communities in
transition, supports industry sectors, offers regional support, helps businesses, and
invests in infrastructure.
http://novascotia.ca/econ/jobsfund/
Payroll Rebates
The Nova Scotia Business Inc. Payroll Rebates provide an incentive to companies
locating or expanding in the province.
Payroll Rebate incentives are helping to attract large ICT companies like IBM,
Blackberry, and CGI to the province. NTT Data Canada, Inc., earned a payroll rebate
with NSBI to grow its Canadian operations by over 250 full-time positions in Halifax.
Beyond Trust Security, a global leader in security software, also earned a payroll
rebate with NSBI to establish and grow its research and development practice for its
software products.
For more information about these programs, please visit
www.business.novascotia.ca or call 1-855-324-4668
http://www.novascotiabusiness.com/en/home/businessfinancing/payrollrebate
23
Conclusion
A skilled and loyal workforce, low operating costs, world-class infrastructure, access
to top academic institutions, and proximity to US and European markets—Nova
Scotia is a great place to do business. The ICT sector in the province is growing, and its
successes prove Nova Scotia has the talent and the expertise to compete globally.
Nova Scotia is poised to take advantage of tremendous opportunities. In order to grab
a larger share of the global ICT market, Nova Scotia needs to build innovative solutions
to achieve its fullest potential.
Working together, industry, universities, the NSCC, and other partners can position
Nova Scotia as an exciting place to incubate and support ICT companies—because it is.
24

IAI Featured in ICT Profile - Internetworking Atlantic Inc.

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