Released on November 10, 2016
The Government of Saskatchewan and ISM Canada today announced the launch of a new Centre of Excellence at Innovation Place at the University of Regina campus.
The Ministry of Central Services will be the biggest customer for the facility, which will allow government and ISM’s other partners to better analyze large amounts of information, leading to programs and services that are more responsive to the needs of citizens and clients.
“The more data and knowledge we have access to, the more we can help people improve their lives by designing programs that work for them,” Central Services Minister Christine Tell said. “It will help drive research and development in the province, increase innovation and potentially lead to the creation of new marketable products.”
The ISM Centre of Excellence will have three major functions:
- Social Innovation Hub – Facilitates data analysis that will help analyze key considerations like social trends, demographics and citizen needs when making program decisions.
- Analytics Ecosystem – Provides a wholistic approach to customer partnerships by offering access to research partnerships, expert networks, industry partnerships, data, security and the Centre of Excellence, in order to drive business outcomes.
- Telepresence Facility – Interactive video conferencing technology that allows the Centre to bring in speakers and experts from around the world without the expense of travel.
“We will be undertaking truly ground-breaking work at the Centre that has never been done before in Canada,” ISM President and CEO Mark MacLeod said. “ISM Canada is proud to bring our experience in secure ‘big data’ management to foster innovation for Saskatchewan and Canada. We believe the Centre will benefit not only governments and taxpayers but also businesses and researchers.”
Governments around the world are using big data analytics to improve programs for citizens and solve problems, such as the American Centres for Disease Control’s efforts to identify and classify unknown pathogens and bacterium in order to help it detect outbreaks of disease more quickly.
Eight new jobs have been created directly at the Centre and potentially more will be created in the future as ISM’s analytics business grows and more clients take advantage of the technology.
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For more information, contact:
Art Newton
Central Services
Regina
Phone: 306-787-2215
Email: art.newton@gov.sk.ca