Advocacy
Sometimes, one voice just isn’t enough
As a Communitech member, your voice is added to those of hundreds of others we represent. Together, we address the issues that affect you and our entire technology industry, influencing governments on pressing issues as one voice.
We also work with other organizations across Canada to make sure our agenda and our community is top of mind.
We’re not an official lobby group, but we have, and continue to accomplish a great deal by addressing and promoting the issues you tell us are important. Issues that affect your business, like taxation, investment, talent and immigration, research and development, economic development, trade, and education.
Digital Media Convergence Centre
Digital media is a broad field that includes work in image capture and display, the compression and interpretation of data, and content management. Digital media technologies power advances in everything from medicine to the environment, from manufacturing to aeronautics, and from animation to education. Advances in digital media enable advances in a multitude of other fields.
Communitech, Waterloo Regionīs foremost technology organization, is leading a team of partners comprised of global digital media companies, premier education institutions, and innovation and funding organizations to capitalize on Waterloo Region’s inherent strength in digital media through the founding of the Digital Media Convergence Centre (DMCC) in Waterloo Region. The physical facility will occupy 29,000 square feet of space in the heart of downtown Kitchener, and will be outfitted with the latest in digital media technologies for entrepreneurs and researchers to take advantage of, including a 3 dimensional immersive environment CAVE, motion capture equipment and software, cutting-edge industrial and cinematography cameras, and many other more specialized technologies.
As part of this effort, Communitech has applied for support under the federal Centres of Excellence in Commercialization and Research program. The application for support is available for download here.
The Digital Media Convergence Centre will bring together world-class researchers from the private, public, and academic sectors to work with funders, entrepreneurs, and large corporations to move digital media technologies forward - and to capture the economic benefits for Canada.
For more information on the DMCC, please contact Avvey Peters, Exec. Director, Communications & Government Relations at avvey@communitech.ca or at 519-888-9944 ext. 28
Working our connections
We work our strong government connections and make sure we’re front-and-centre in Ottawa and Toronto. Right now, we’re actively influencing potential changes to:
- SR and ED tax credits and Tech Partnerships Canada
- municipal tax classification that would impact software developers in our region
- a federal government procurement policy review to ensure that small tech companies have an opportunity to sell to the government
- foreign-trained certification standards
We’re also tracking key government-related issues such as the Rae Commission on post-secondary education and a commercialization initiative launched by the federal government.
In the past few years, we’ve joined forces with other tech associations on an ICT Industry Taskforce to advocate with the province and drive community-based innovation. We’ve also encouraged the government to strike the right balance on new privacy legislation and we’ve played a major role in championing changes made to the Employment Standards Act.
Bringing government to you
When we’re not going to governments, we bring them to you, including heavy-weight speakers like Premier McGuinty and Minister of Finance, Greg Sorbara. We also bring in experts to give the inside scoop on government developments. Successful government relations seminars and monthly government relations practitioners meetings are also part of our work.
If there’s an issue that affects our community, we’re on it. Stay informed of our activities by signing up for e-notices.