MaRS recognized as a Laureate by Computerworld Honours Program

Global information technology awards foundation pays tribute to individuals and organizations that use technology to benefit society

Toronto, May 7, 2007 – MaRS has been recognized as a Laureate by the Computerworld Honors Program. This year’s Honorees will be commemorated during the 19th Annual Laureates Medal Ceremony & Gala Awards Evening on June 4, 2007 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, D.C. For almost two decades, Computerworld Honors has acknowledged those individuals and organizations that have used information technology to benefit society.

“MaRS is transforming innovation by weaving world class collaboration and communications technology into the fabric of scientific discovery,” said Robert Smith, MaRS Chief Technology Consultant regarding their converged broadband network capabilities. “Supporting the MaRS vision required a fresh approach to designing a standards-based technology platform. It had to facilitate natural collaborations regardless of physical location, device or network protocols. Creating a collaborative culture requires integrating familiar new tools with existing ones.”

The MaRS Centre represents an evolution of convergence and is the first building of its kind to leverage emerging Internet Protocol (IP) based technologies to create a fully connected virtual community for tenants located in the building and a broader stakeholder community connected via broadband networks. The ability to deliver a full suite of network accessible multimedia collaboration applications and communication services will accelerate the pace of innovation. This multimedia infrastructure aligns the mission of MaRS to connect the communities of science, business and capital to create a more efficient marketplace for commercialization. The technology benefits society by assisting researchers and scientists to achieve breakthrough innovations that will fuel economic growth and change the lives of those who benefit from these remarkable achievements.

Nortel nominated MaRS for the Laureate Award. “Keeping Canada at the foreground of new technology innovation is the focus of Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District, which houses Canadian scientific, business and capital communities,” says John Roese, Nortel’s Chief Technology Officer. “An advanced converged multimedia network was deployed at MaRS to handle the anticipated explosion of data, voice and video traffic resulting from researchers collaborating using a myriad of devices. Handling this type of hyperconnectivity is our mission and specialty at Nortel and we are proud to be supporting the success of MaRS.”

Each year, members of the Computerworld Honors Program Chairmen’s Committee, a group of 100 Chairman/CEOs of global technology, nominates individuals and organizations around the world whose visionary applications of information technology promotes positive social and economic progress. Independent of the Laureate recognition, the Computerworld Honors Program also annually presents its Leadership Awards, each designed to honor the extraordinary achievements of selected individuals whose positive contributions to the IT revolution have left an indelible mark on the world.

“Each Laureate selected for this honor understands the importance of using one’s resources and technical prowess to benefit one’s fellow man,” said Bob Carrigan, Chairman of the Computerworld Honors Program Chairmen’s Committee and President, IDG Communications.

About Computerworld

Founded by International Data Group (IDG) in 1988, the Computerworld Honors Program is governed by the not-for-profit Computerworld Information Technology Awards Foundation. In its 19th year, Computerworld Honors is the longest running global program to honor individuals and organizations that use information technology to benefit society.

Additional information about the program and a Global Archive of past laureate case studies and oral histories can be found at the Computerworld Honors website: www.cwhonors.org.

About MaRS
MaRS Discovery District (www.marsdd.com) is a large scale, mission driven innovation centre located in Toronto and networked across Ontario, focused on building Canada’s next generation of technology companies. MaRS works closely with entrepreneurs to grow and scale their ventures into global market leaders in life sciences and health care, information, communications and digital media technologies, cleantech, advanced materials and engineering, as well as innovative social purpose business.
For more information, contact:
Linda Quattrin
Director Communications
MaRS Discovery District
416.673.8104
lquattrin@marsdd.com

Rob Smith
Chief Technology Consultant
MaRS Discovery District
416.673.8118
rsmith@marsdd.com