Information & Communications Technologies (ICT), Industry Sector Summaries, Manitoba Competitiveness, Training and Trade

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Information & Communications Technologies (ICT)

Sector Structure

Size: The ICT sector employs over 15,000 Manitobans and generates revenues of over $600 million. Manitoba's ICT sector exports more than $227 million worth of goods throughout the world.

Dominant Activities: The ICT sector includes firms that produce goods and services that use electricity to store, process and transmit data.

Goods producing firms include those that produce electronic components, telecommunications equipment, computer equipment, instrumentation, packaged software, wire and cable, etc.
Service firms provide services related to telecommunications, ICT wholesaling, software development and consulting, broadband data transmission, Internet service provision, cable television, office equipment rentals, services to the customer contact industry, etc.

Structure & Concentration

Manitoba has over 1,500 companies operating in the ICT sector, with approximately 80% of these firms located in Winnipeg. While there are large multinational ICT companies based in Manitoba, the majority of Manitoba ICT firms are small or medium sized. The industry is supported by an extensive network of research and development organizations and industry associations.

Highlights

Winnipeg’s Protegra Technology Group, with 2004 revenue growth of 658%, was listed for the second consecutive year in PROFIT magazine’s Top 100 ranking of Canadian companies.
Winnipeg’s Emerging Information Systems Inc. (EISI) made the rankings of the 2004 Deloitte Canadian Technology Fast 50 – a listing of the 50 fastest growing technology companies in Canada.
EISI has also been listed twice on the annual Branham 300 list of top Canadian information technology companies (2005 and 2004). The Branham 300 is considered one of the most comprehensive sources on tracking the health of the Canadian Information Technology industry.

Sector Capabilities

Manitoba’s ICT industry encompasses a wide variety of activities, a brief sampling of which include:

Broadband Internet and Wireless Technologies
Electronics and Microelectronics
Geographic Information Systems (Geomatics)
Health Informatics
New Media
Software Products and Services

Competitive Strengths

Research & development infrastructure – Manitoba’s ICT industry is supported by an extensive network of R&D facilities providing ICT innovation and technology diffusion, including the following:

TRLabs – conducts R&D in information and communications applications, Internet protocol (IP) technologies, IP network performance, content aware networks, Internet and multimedia applications, prototyping of new IP devices, distributed caching and image processing.
University of Manitoba – regularly undertakes research collaborations with industry, government and other academic institutions. The U of M is at the forefront of R&D in a number of ICT areas.
U of M Internet Innovation Centre -- is a focus for the array of interdisciplinary Internet-related research projects at the University of Manitoba.
Scanning Probe Microscopy and Nanofabrication Laboratory -- is a leading facility in Canada with R&D capacity in probe microscopy, micromachining and nanofabrication, semiconductor manufacturing, and high frequency microelectronics and microwave circuit testing.
Canadian Advanced Networks for the Advancement of Research in Industry and Education (CANARIE) – through its Manitoba affiliate MRNet, offers members access to a Canada-wide high-speed optical network delivering unrivaled network capability for broadband research.
NRC Institute for Biodiognostics' Biomedical Informatics Group – is focused on the development of state-of-the-art methods for managing complex biomedical data.
Virtual Reality Research and Innovation Centre – offers Manitoba companies the ability to design, simulate and test new products or processes in an interactive 3-D environment.

Education & Training -- Manitoba has a number of educational institutions that provide programs supporting the ICT sector, including: the University of Manitoba, the University of Winnipeg, Brandon University, Red River College, Assiniboine College, South Winnipeg Technical Centre, and numerous private vocational facilities.

Industry Associations – Manitoba’s ICT industry associations include:

Factor Strengths

In addition to the knowledge-base being developed at the institutions listed above, the Manitoba industry benefits from a number of advantages, including: a productive and well-educated workforce available at competitive salary costs, a generous R&D tax credit program, low occupancy costs, the lowest electricity costs in North America, unimpeded access to North American markets, and an advanced telecommunications infrastructure, with high-speed broadband access the norm throughout the province.

Trends

Recent research investment initiatives within the Manitoba ICT industry include:

A $52 million state-of-the-art engineering and information technology complex is under construction at the University of Manitoba, with completion slated for 2005.
Red River College opened a new campus in downtown Winnipeg that will focus on information technology, business and media programming.

Key Players

Contact

Ms. Cindy Hodges
Manitoba Science, Technology, Energy and Mines
Tel: (204) 945-6657
Fax: (204) 945-3977
chodges@gov.mb.ca
www.gov.mb.ca/est

C.T.T. Links:

S.T.E.M. Branches: