New York, NY, June 9, 2014 - The Greater Toronto Area is celebrating a big broadband sized-win in New York. On Friday, Toronto was picked as ‘Intelligent Community of the Year’ and Sheridan played a key role in the award.
The competition is conducted by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), a New York-based think-tank. It encourages cities around the world to build a broadband economy that benefits communities. Earlier this spring, ICF officials visited several sites around the city, including Sheridan’s Screen Industries Research and Training (SIRT) Centre based at Pinewood Toronto Studios. When they stopped at SIRT, they were impressed with what they saw.
“Sheridan's SIRT Centre demonstrated the power of broadband and collaboration, and how it drives forward applied research among a group of companies,” said ICF co-founder Lou Zacharilla. “The snapshot visit to SIRT was used to demonstrate an approach to innovation and industry leveraging which was consistent throughout the city at the spots that I was shown. SIRT certainly played a role in the announcement of Toronto's selection as Intelligent Community of the Year.”
During the April visit, Ralph Benmergui, Sheridan’s Executive Advisor to the President and John Helliker, Sheridan’s Director of Strategic Partnerships and SIRT both explained how SIRT adds to Sheridan’s creative brand and Toronto’s knowledge economy by engaging public and private industry in innovative digital media research and training. Both Benmergui and Helliker represented Sheridan during last week’s announcement as part of the official Toronto delegation.
"Sheridan is thrilled to congratulate the City of Toronto as being the Intelligent Community of the Year,” said Dr. Jeff Zabudsky, Sheridan’s President and CEO. “We’re proud to have supported Toronto's bid by showcasing how Sheridan’s SIRT Centre is building a competitive advantage for the region as a public/private collaboration. We celebrate this achievement with the rest of the city, and look forward to further supporting Toronto’s vital film, gaming and television industries through exploring new innovation strategies meant to further enhance our thriving creative digital community."
Toronto's successful bid efforts were spearheaded by Waterfront Toronto and its Intelligent Community initiatives, which leverage broadband technology to create economic opportunity and increase the city's competitiveness with major urban centres around the world for investment, jobs and talent.
