Investment in Canada’s digital research infrastructure positions Canadians for leadership in world-class, data-intensive research and innovation
“Canada produces some of the world’s best science and research”
[Ottawa, ON]
CANARIE, a vital component of Canada’s digital research infrastructure (DRI) ecosystem supporting research, education and innovation, today announced a Government of Canada investment of $137M to support its activities from 2020 – 2024. Announced in the penultimate year of CANARIE’s current mandate (2015-2020), this funding commitment enables the organization to seamlessly transition services and activities into its next mandate and ensures that CANARIE can continue to deliver strategic investments in infrastructure and services for Canada’s research and innovation communities. In addition to this investment, the Government of Canada provided an additional $8M to CANARIE to advance northern connectivity and cybersecurity initiatives in the last year of its current mandate.
CANARIE’s activities in its next mandate will focus on network evolution and initiatives that ensure Canada’s researchers and entrepreneurs realize the benefits of cloud technology, big data, and global research collaborations. The Government of Canada will continue to entrust CANARIE with providing security tools and developing the capacity of skilled teams to strengthen cybersecurity in Canada’s research and education community.
Additionally, the investment enables CANARIE to evolve its private sector innovation activities through its DAIR Cloud program and partnership with CENGN – Canada’s Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks. CANARIE will collaborate with its partners in the DRI ecosystem to support the development and evolution of advanced research software and research data management tools.
The renewal of CANARIE’s mandate is a key part of the Government of Canada’s Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) Strategy, and is the result of a community effort to highlight the need for continued investment in Canada’s essential digital research infrastructure – high-speed networks, advanced research computing, software tools, and research data management – that enable Canada to lead in a wide range of scientific domains.
“Canada produces some of the world’s best science and research. This investment in CANARIE, along with their enhanced mandate for cybersecurity, is just one of the many ways our government is working hard to return science and research to their rightful place. We are providing researchers with the digital tools and security they need to conduct the world-leading research that helps all Canadians,” says the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport.
“We thank the Government of Canada for its continued confidence and investment in CANARIE, and thank our stakeholder community for its work in highlighting the critical role of digital research infrastructure in driving Canadian innovation,” says Chris Lumb, Chair of the Board of CANARIE.
“This is an exciting new chapter for CANARIE,” says Jim Ghadbane, President and CEO of CANARIE. “Over the course of our 26 year history we have evolved to meet the changing needs of Canadians, and we look forward to the next stage of our evolution. Going forward, we will continue to learn from and build on the successful collaborations of our current mandate to deliver world-class infrastructure and services to the Canadians that are pushing the boundaries of discovery and innovation.”
For more information, please contact:
Kathryn Anthonisen
Vice President, External Relations
CANARIE
[email protected]
613-943-5374
About CANARIE
CANARIE strengthens Canadian leadership in science and technology by delivering digital infrastructure that supports world-class research and innovation.
CANARIE and its twelve provincial and territorial partners form Canada’s National Research and Education Network. This ultra-high-speed network connects Canada’s researchers, educators and innovators to each other and to global data, technology, and colleagues.
Beyond the network, CANARIE funds and promotes reusable research software tools and national research data management initiatives to accelerate discovery, provides identity management services to the academic community, and offers advanced networking and cloud resources to boost commercialization in Canada’s technology sector.
Established in 1993, CANARIE is a non-profit corporation, with the majority of its funding provided by the Government of Canada.