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For Dr. John Evans, growing a strong biotechnology industry is much the same: cities must provide a nurturing environment where science and business can thrive together.

That's why Evans, former president of the University of Toronto and current chairman of Torstar Corp., is spearheading the $345-million Medical and Related Science initiative, or MaRS--a petri dish of sorts for commercializing science research. "A lot of intellectual property is being commercialized outside Canada," says Evans. "I think we've been slow in realizing just how important technology developments are to the economic future of the country. MaRS is an attempt to give this a kick into a higher gear." The centrepiece of the MaRS plan, which will officially launch May 12, is a 1.3-million-square-foot, five-building complex in downtown Toronto that will provide office and lab space for small and medium-size companies and incubators, including the not-for-profit Toronto Biotechnology Commercialization Centre. While Evans is reluctant to limit its scope, MaRS will generally focus on health-related technologies, from new drugs and genetic treatments to medical devices and imaging software. Branded a "convergence centre," it will also house a careful mix of support services: intellectual property lawyers, accountants, marketing experts, government funding organizations and venture capital financiers. Plus, start-ups will have access to all the latest equipment on site. For instance, MaRS is in talks with MDS Sciex to supply mass spectrometers, used in proteomics research.

But MaRS will be more than just a New Economy real estate development. Evans's intention is to funnel tenants' rent money into services--such as entrepreneurship seminars and angel-matching programs--that MaRS will offer to the broader biotech community. That's why MaRS's location is key: the centre will be built in the heart of what Toronto has dubbed the "Discovery District," a two-square-kilometre chunk of the downtown core, encompassing U of T and four major hospitals. From there, MaRS hopes to act as a network hub across Ontario, with links to research-intensive universities. "None of them," says Evans, "have the critical mass to put it all together on their own."

In November, Skymeter moved into the incubator at the MaRS Centre, where marketing expert Peter Evans has become their mentor and godfather. "Being surrounded by other entrepreneurs is inspiring and enlightening," Hassan says. "MaRS is an amazing place, with excellent speakers and events that are open to the public."

The father of Skymeter Corp. – which developed a BlackBerry-sized device that uses GPS signals; placed in vehicles, it meters the use of roads, parking and pay-as-you-drive insurance

Skymeter's black box will be attached to the windshield of cars so the box has a clear view of the sky. (Grush has figured out how to cope with tall buildings blocking signals.) The box contains a GPS receiver, some memory, a processor and a telecommunications chip. The satellite beams down to the earth, the GPS receiver computes where it is and uploads its history to a data centre to generate the bill. The vehicle measures its own use; the bill is itemized like a cellphone bill. If you prepay, the bill can be calculated on board.

Netchange Week taking place at the innovation hub of Toronto – the MaRS Discovery District.

Net Change is Canada’s first week long, city wide event designed to dissolve the divide between digital professionals and social change-makers. With a full five day schedule of sessions helping learn more about leveraging technology to aid awareness of their causes and as a catalyst for social change.

ssues faced by the charity we noticed they shared similar problems that many for-profits and small businesses faced. They had limited marketing resources, need to reach out the people that need their services and increase awareness of the good work they were doing.

MaRS Innovation appoints president and CEO

A research commercialization leader from Israel, Dr. Raphael Hofstein, has been named president and CEO of the new MaRS Innovation initiative.

MI was created as a single, market-facing commercialization storefront for Toronto's university and health research institutions. Located in the MaRS Discovery District complex, with business development and administrative support from MaRS, MI will advance commercialization through industry partnerships, licensing and company creation. MaRS Innovation (MI) was founded in 2008 with $14.95 million in funding from the Government of Canada's Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) Programme, matched by $10 million from the research partners. The MI partnership includes U of T, the 10 partner hospitals and health research institutes affiliated with the university, Ryerson University, the Ontario College of Art & Design, BioDisocovery Toronto, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and MaRS. Hofstein joins MaRS Innovation from his previous position as president and CEO of Hadasit Ltd., the technology transfer company of the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem.

Charles Plant of MaRS Discovery District, the innovation hub in Toronto. Charles communicates a rather negative view of venture capital, but it has the merit of presenting some of the important things to consider before seeking VC money.

I especially like the call to focus on customers first. This is not always possible, but designing for a defined market certainly is, and anyone involved with tech commercialization will tell you it’s often the exception rather than the rule.