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Martin has transformed the Rotman School from a mediocre Canadian business school to a world-class institution. It’s one of the few business schools around with an innovative curriculum built around the fundamentals of design thinking. Martin believes designers approaches to thinking and problem-solving can and should be applied to all components of business (He calls it integrative thinking and business design.) Most of our own processes here at the Business Innovation Factory are firmly rooted in design thinking principles.

Martin also managed to lure Richard Florida to Toronto in 2007 to direct the Rotman School's new $120-million Martin Prosperity Institute. Spinning off from much of Florida's research, the institute's goal is to build a leading think-tank on the role of sub-national factors – location, place and city-regions – in global economic prosperity. By taking an integrated view of prosperity, the institute will look beyond economic measures to include the importance of quality of place and the development of people’s creative potential. I'm looking forward to ongoing conversations with our new friends at the Rotman school. I suspect there might even be a collaboration or two about to happen as well. Bottom line: if you want to learn about innovation, Toronto is the place to be.

The conference, featuring international speakers such as Richard Lloyd of Vanderbilt University, will investigate cultural mapping from a number of unique perspectives and disciplines, and will support the interaction of policy-makers, academics and new researchers. Richard is author of "Neo-Bohemia: Art and Commerce in the Postindustrial City". Other Speakers include British-based cultural policy expert Colin Mercer. The conference is an extension of the Placing Creativity partnership which investigates the interconnection between 'Place' and 'Creativity' through a number of different lenses.

wo other Ts - talent as Romer’s work points out and tolerance - or openness to new people and new ideas.

Florida promote a drawback on new capital investments in such traditional creative staples as ballet, opera, symphony and museums. Although these are necessary public entertainment options to maintain, studies show the majority of university students and young to middle-aged professionals who make up the bulk of the emerging creative class, in fact, prefer more accessible venues.

Florida is not saying the city should fund the construction of all these venues, but should support them with entrepreneurial assistance, specified tax-cuts and governmenttools to ease operation, like streamlining the bureaucracy behind applying for liquor licences and permits for musical events and public attractions.

The MaRS centre, located at College St. and University Ave. in downtown Toronto, is a fantastic first step in better integrating the city’s creative talents in the technology and science fields. But more buildings and communities like this need to be developed to take advantage of all of Toronto’s creative economic potential.