By John Quinn, Corporate Communications, Xerox Canada
Over the past eighteen months, the Xerox Research Centre of Canada (XRCC) has played a major role in supporting an initiative aimed at bringing businesses, academic institutions and non-profit organizations together to propel Canada’s manufacturing expertise into the future.
Part of the Government of Canada’s $950-million (CDN) Innovation Supercluster initiative, the Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster promises to position the country as a leader in the development and application of leading tools and technologies for the field. Coordinated by Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen), an industry-led, not-for-profit organization that serves as a bridge between businesses, researchers and investors, the Supercluster will help companies of all sizes – from start-ups to multi-national corporations like Xerox – pursue global excellence as the industry shifts towards this new phase of manufacturing.
Xerox’s Patricia Hawkins joins Canadian Minister, the Honourable Navdeep Bains, and other Canadian innovators at the announcement of the $230 million investment in the Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster.
A supporter of the initiative since its inception in 2017, XRCC was invited to work alongside other industry representatives in helping to draft portions of the formal application for the Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster, one of only nine supercluster hopefuls vying for consideration.
This past November, Canada’s Minister for Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED), the Honourable Navdeep Bains, announced the signing of an agreement between ISED and NGen to invest up to $230 million in the Supercluster to enable transformative technology development and adoption through strategic collaborations among different members of Canada’s innovation ecosystem. The initiative will provide new opportunities to apply game-changing technologies to today’s manufacturing environment, scale-up technologies with high potential for success and create a network of support and services to accelerate technology adoption for further innovation.
As an active member of Canada’s innovation community and with representation on the NGen Board of Directors, XRCC is proud of the progress this initiative has achieved. We look forward to the opportunities this opens up for us as well as other innovators across the country.
