How can social innovators adopt strategic tech?
When it comes to social and mobile technology, the question is no longer whether or not we should be using it, but rather, how can we adopt it in a strategic way? And how can social innovators use it to create greater impact?
Net Change 2010, powered by MaRS, is week-long series of events launching June 7th. It will explore the intersection between technology and social change. And the opportunities this intersection presents.
News flash: It's time for a change
One of the most interesting developments in the Canadian media market we’ve seen in a while has just launched. Toronto-based OpenFile announced they’re now open for business.
With many newspapers and news stations struggling for relevancy in this always-on world, the news industry has been the fodder of many articles, discussions and rants over the past 18 months. Not surprisingly, traditional media outlets will have lots to say about these kinds of developments. One reporter’s reaction to OpenFile ran in the Globe and Mail over the weekend.
The giant colon: Raising awareness on a complex problem
In 1995, Barry Stein was handed a death sentence. Diagnosed with colorectal cancer that had spread to his liver and lungs, he was not expected to survive the decade. However, after nine surgeries and intensive rounds of drug treatment, for the last seven years, Stein has been given a clean bill of health.
As president of the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada (CCAC), Stein has turned his brush with death into a force for education, traveling the country spreading the message that colorectal cancer is “the only cancer that’s preventable.”
The hook Stein uses, however, is entirely unique: a 40-foot, inflatable colon that visitors walk through to get a sense for colorectal diseases. “The intention is to demystify the disease,” he says, “so we do it in a way that appeals to everybody.”
MaRS client wins award
The Intertraffic Innovation Awards are the traffic industry’s most important prizes—at the 20th annual Intertraffic Amsterdam conference on March 22-24, 2010, judges awarded the top prize to Skymeter Corp., a Canadian company, MaRS incubator tenant and client of MaRS advisory services. Skymeter received the ITS/Traffic Management Award and was recognized as the competition’s Overall Winner.
MaRS client, Kalgene, sees some cash
Kalgene Diagnostics (a division of Kalgene Pharmaceuticals – a MaRS client company and incubator tenant) has just raised $500,ooo from the PARTEQ Venture Fund to develop novel diagnostic tests for cancer. PARTEQ Venture Fund is a provincially sponsored investment fund set up by PARTEQ Innovations. See the news release, “Four Kingston startup companies receive $1.6 million vote of confidence”.
