Article

The CFI partners with eCampusOntario to support connections between researchers and businesses

Collaboration will leverage platforms to streamline R&D support to business

OTTAWA, ONT. — The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is partnering with eCampusOntario to provide Ontario businesses with greater opportunities to connect with research and development (R&D) support available in universities and colleges across the province.

The partnership leverages the information on the CFI’s Research Facilities Navigator, Canada’s most comprehensive resource for businesses in all sectors looking for research expertise, services and state-of-the-art facilities, to support the Ontario Collaborative Innovation Platform (OCIP), eCampusOntario’s business and researcher matchmaking program.

“Our new collaboration with eCampusOntario will help foster a more robust innovation ecosystem in Ontario,” says Roseann O’Reilly Runte, President and CEO of the CFI. “Providing easy access to R&D expertise and cutting-edge research infrastructure will allow Canadian businesses and innovators to succeed locally in a globally competitive marketplace.”

“This collaboration is our answer to a call-to-action by Innovation leaders,” says Robert Luke, CEO of eCampusOntario. “By combining the CFI’s leadership with the Navigator and OCIP’s capability to match businesses with research experts, we’re creating ‘no wrong door’ to the innovation ecosystem. Together we are helping businesses to more easily find solutions to their innovation challenges.”

The CFI and eCampusOntario share a common objective of bridging the gap between business challenges and research solutions. Working together, the two organizations will help match the research needs of Ontario businesses with the expertise of researchers and their students at postsecondary institutions.

About the CFI’s Research Facilities Navigator

The CFI launched the Research Facilities Navigator in 2013. Since then, it has grown to include more than 840 publicly funded labs with research services, expertise and equipment organized by 28 industry sectors.

About eCampusOntario and OCIP

eCampusOntario is a not-for-profit organization that accelerates the digital transformation of postsecondary education in Ontario. The organization leads a consortium of the province’s publicly assisted colleges, universities and Indigenous institutes to advance innovation, collaboration and digital by design education.

Through its Ontario Collaborative Innovation Platform (OCIP), eCampusOntario helps companies connect to member institutions to propel innovations.