John Manley takes another role

The Honourable John Manley - a member of the MaRS Board of Directors and chair of MaRS’ inaugural fundraising cabinet - is set to take on his next role in a career of distinguished public service.

As of October 2009, Mr. Manley will succeed Thomas D’Aquino as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Council of Chief Executives. The policies the council influences have an impact on all who work in Canadian business.

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The verdict is in: Brains are hotter than ever. You could say the whole field of neuroscience is on fire. Daily we are bombarded with news highlighting our expanding understanding of cognition, neurogenesis and neuroplasticity.

Canada strongly holds its own in the world of neurotechnology. Canada’s neuroscience research is world-class, ranking fifth in the world in the number of neuroscience citations. For details check out MaRS’ latest industry briefing, “Neurotechnology: Focus on Aging“.

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Making digerati out of changemakers

When new methods of communicating, organizing and mobilizing are brought to bear on chronic social issues, amazing change can happen. Between June 8-12, 2009, MaRS held our first ever Net Change, a week dedicated to exploring this intersection between social technology and social change.

What are the implications of new media, technology and strategies to social causes? Fourteen different Net Change events, including an art show, experimented with ways of creating and sharing information and knowledge on this question.

Bridging the “digital divide” between web professionals and people creating social change, participants were from all different sectors and leadership levels. They picked up not only critical skills and tactics in new disciplines, but also an understanding of how to apply them to their organizational strategy. Want to cross the divide too?

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Are we locking down on innovation?

The situations in which Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt and senior staff at eHealth Ontario have found themselves in recent weeks have provided the fodder for numerous public accountability headlines. Much has been said about the extent to which a politician must take responsibility for the actions of the civil servants within their portfolios. Absent from this discussion is the inevitable risk that accompanies the triumvirate of change, technology and innovation that is at the centre of these cases.

The danger is that the calls for public accountability encourage risk-aversion and conservative policies. Continuing further down this road would be most unfortunate for Canada.

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Green and the city: Sheraton's Waterfall Garden in Toronto

Save money; increase productivity. Tell me more!

Seventeen years ago, Indian researcher Kamal Meattle (see his “TED in 3 Minutes” talk here) became allergic to New Delhi’s air when pollution had reduced his lung capacity by 70% and made him very sick. His subsequent research efforts led him to discover that there are three basic green plants to put in specific spots indoors in order to grow all the fresh air we need to stay healthy:

• the Areca Palm (converts CO2 into oxygen)
• the Mother-in-Law’s Tongue (converts CO2 into oxygen at night) and
• the Money Plant (removes formaldehydes and other volatile chemicals from the air).

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Mobile apps do good

Last night’s Mobile Monday at MaRS (affectionately known as #MoMoTo) featured two mobile applications of interest to not-for-profit organizations:  Calliflower (presented by Alec Saunders) and XMGive, from the group that brought you Admeris (presented by Simon Law).

This special event was held in conjunction with Net Change Week and we thank Jim Brown and the organizers for working with us on this great event.

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Dr. Lorelei and Dr. Rosalind Silverman, Photo by Ashlea Wessel

This morning, I attended an extended citizenship ceremony at MaRS and watched 60 new Canadians swear their oath, while renewing my own oath as a citizen of Canada. It was an emotional ceremony, one that made me feel lucky to have lived here all my life; lucky to be witnessing this group’s first proud moments as citizens.

Wondering why MaRS would be involved in this? I did too. Until, earlier this week, I received an email from Rosalind Silverman-Gavrila and it all became clear. She’s a member of the MaRS community — AND one of this year’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrants. For good reason. She’s an active volunteer as well as acell biologist with a start-up venture.

Intrigued, I interviewed her. This is her story - and the story of why we should all be so welcoming of diversity in our community.

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Image courtesy Ben Rahn/A-Frame Inc.

In his blog post for Xconomy today, Tim Rowe holds up MaRS as an example of what a city can do if they’re ambitious and just decide to make something very big happen. Like when Toronto decided that it wanted to gain ground in the science knowledge economy.

Nevermind that MaRS is again misrepresented as just a biotech incubator or place for research — I suppose there are worse things to be called. But still part of an ambitious, big-thinking plan to improve the science, tech and social outcomes of the economy. Amen.

Read “The Long Game” by Tim Rowe in Xconomy.

Ron Close, MaRS EIR

In the May 27th FP Executive Podcast, MaRS Entrepreneur-in-Residence Ron Close (also an Executive Entrepreneur-in-Residence at The Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario) talks about his entrepreneurial journey and his work at MaRS helping entrepreneurs build their businesses.

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Join us for Doors Open this weekend!

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Doors Open Toronto and the 175th anniversary of Toronto, this year’s event features 175 venues and the MaRS Centre is happy to open its doors once again.

Want to know more about MaRS? Here’s your chance to get a free tour!

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