The Looming IT Labour Shortage: Strategies for the Future Employers will face an alarming skills and labour shortage in Canada's IT sector over the next five years, according to a recent study by the Information and Communications Technology Council in partnership with the Information Technology Association of Canada. Join us at the Ontario Investment and Trade Centre on Monday June 27, 2011 at 8 a.m. for a one-hour seminar in which Interactive Ontario President Ian Kelso and immigration lawyers Stephen Green and Evan Green will review the study's findings and discuss strategies to address the looming labour shortage, with particular focus on the various immigration and foreign worker programs in Canada that are available. More info.

Ontario Universities to Adopt e-learning Learning about Socrates through Facebook forums and chatting with a professor through Skype is the reality for students as e-learning claims a more dominant role in higher education.

Ontario is the latest jurisdiction to jump in with plans to launch the province's first fully online university, and that has educators urging students to weigh their options carefully before deciding to turn their computer into a classroom.

"Most people, if given the choice, would still prefer a traditional university," said Glen Jones, an expert in higher education policy at the Ontario Institute for Education Studies in Toronto.

Distance from a school, the necessity of a full-time job and family obligations might make going to university impossible, Jones said, and for these reasons, getting a degree online might be an attractive alternative. But there are also drawbacks.

ONeLearning Launches eLearning Industry Snapshot 2010 Study Interactive Ontario ran an online survey to collect information on the issues and challenges facing businesses in Ontario's eLearning and cultural industry.

The research project has been done to examine eLearning in relation to cultural industries. From books to games, television to music, we are exploring the eLearning sector and providing new opportunities for cultural businesses. We are highlighting fresh case studies and models for collaboration between Ontario's cultural sectors and eLearning producers.

Digital Extremes Gets $2.5 Million Grant From Ontario Government To Help Fund Move By: Kyle Orland, Gamasutra

London, Ontario-based Digital Extremes, known for their development of the Unreal titles, has received CDN$2.5 million from the provincial government to help fund an intra-city move to a larger space.

The relocation to a new 33,000 sq. ft. space in City Plaza will help the company add another 30 employees to a current slate of 150, according to an IFP report on the grant's announcement.

In 2008, Digital Extremes and Silicon Knights shared a CDN$1 million grant from the Ontario Media Development Corporation to create prototypes for new games.

Ontario has long been friendly to the game industry, increasing the tax breaks it offers developers in 2006 and again in 2009, as well as offering training programs focused on the industry.

Stella & Sam Rainy Days and Rainbows Release The second app in the Stella and Sam series is now available at the App Store! Just in time for Spring. Join Stella and Sam as they head out on a rainy day.

To see more of the Stella & Sam Rainy Days and Rainbows App or for more details on the series, please click here.

Untold Entertainment Creates Game for Corus Entertainment's Treehouse Mouse Control gives the early preschool player the opportunity to develop computer mouse skills. Familiarity and capability with the mouse are taken for granted by so many preschool games. It first dawned on Ryan Creighton that young children had trouble piloting the two-button brick when he taught computer classes to kindergarten students. While computer mice have become sleeker and more ergonomically friendly, they're still very much tailored to fit big hands.

The game introduces a series of progressively challenging mouse skills for kids as it escalates:

• Skill #1: Move the mouse to guide the cursor to a hotspot

•  Skill #2: Avoid certain areas of the screen

• Skill #3: Guide the cursor to connect with a moving hotspot

•  Skill #4: Click the mouse button to activate a hotspot

Ontario Digital Media Innovation Creates 16,000 Jobs McGuinty Government Helps Industry Business Double. Ontario is fast becoming a major player in the interactive gaming world with incentives for companies to create their products in the province.

Premier Dalton McGuinty visited Ascension CrossMedia http://www.ascensioncrossmedia.com/  today to highlight the growth of the province's digital media industry. Ascension CrossMedia is involved in a new form of gaming called "connected transmedia". That means a player can play one game on their TV, console and mobile devices.

In 2010, Ontario supported 341 digital media projects, leading to over $175 million in production and development activity. The province is competing for the interactive gaming market by:

• Creating tax credits such as Ontario's Interactive Digital Media Tax Credit http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/en/credit/oidmtc/.

• Supporting the Interactive Digital Media Fund.

•  Reducing small business income taxes by 18 per cent.

Canada Media Fund announces preliminary program budget and performance envelopes for 2011-2012, and the creation of a new Convergent Stream Digit The Canada Media Fund (CMF) announced today that its preliminary program budget for the upcoming year (excluding the $100M program funding allocation that was proposed in the federal budget) will amount to $271M. The funding allocated to each of the CMF's programs is outlined on the CMF's web site at: http://bit.ly/gr7ok7

All programs without exception received a preliminary funding allocation based on approximately 73% of the expected total program budget for the year ($271M/$371M). The CMF also announced that it will issue broadcaster agreements tomorrow which will outline the performance envelopes allocated to broadcasters for the upcoming year. In order to enable broadcasters to ask any questions they may have pertaining to their envelope allocations, the envelope allocations will be posted on the CMF's web site by April 15, 2011.

Kidobi Lands Popular Children's Series Toronto, CANADA - April 01, 2011 - Kidobi announced today the addition of popular children's series to its growing library of videos for preschool-aged children, which are part of new distribution partnerships with top children's content producers, including Organa LLC and CCI Entertainment.  
 
These additional programs and series offer a greater variety for our young viewers and that brings us one step closer to our ultimate goal, which is to provide videos that entertain young minds while showing them their imagination and potential is limitless, said Eric Sorenson, Director of Research & Content, Kidobi.

Canada Media Fund Welcomes the Announcement of the Government of Canada's Commitment to Support it on an Ongoing Basis The Canada Media Fund (CMF) thanks the Government of Canada and particularly the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages, the Honourable James Moore, for announcing in the Budget that the CMF will receive funding support on an ongoing basis starting April 1, 2011.
 
"This is a very significant commitment," declared Louis Roquet, Chair of the CMF's Board of Directors, "one that will enable the CMF to truly play its part in Canada's Digital Economy Strategy by providing ongoing funding support for the creation and promotion of content for all Canadians on the platforms of their choice".

Endloop Systems Inc. Releases Chicken Balls Endloop's Chicken Balls HD game has been ranked the #1 game in Canada at the App store. The game promises ADDICTIVE physics puzzle gameplay with 50 levels of Chicken Balls craziness and with more coming soon for free. The game also includes an innovative mix of 'slingshot' physics destruction with pachinko/breakout style gameplay.

Opportunity to Meet with French Digital Media Companies on March 30th after iLunch The French Trade Commission in Canada is organising a Trade mission for a delegation of 12 French companies specialised in digital and interactive Medias.

The French delegation is coming to Canada with an objective of presenting its expertise and know-how and to develop partnerships in the fields of digital and interactive medias services with a focus on digital content, animation, imaging, serious gaming as well as e-learning.
 
This visit provides a business opportunity to local Canadian firms interested in meeting the French companies individually to discuss all collaboration possibilities. The meetings are scheduled to take place in Montreal on the 28th and 29th of March and in Toronto on the 30th and the 31st of March.

Meet with the French Delegation after iLunch 9.05 on March 30!
If you would like to meet with the French Delegation on March 30th after IO's ilunch at 2pm, please notify Julien Grisoni at +1 416 977 1257 ext 221 or julien.grisoni@ubifrance.fr

OMDC Tax Credits Are Going Green. Get Ready to Get Online by April 1, 2011 In keeping with the Government's Open for Business Strategy of delivering streamlined, accessible and responsive service through environmentally friendly processes, OMDC is pleased to announce that as of April 1, 2011 OMDC's Online Application Portal will serve as the single point of entry for application to all OMDC tax credit programs.  

OMDC's Online Application Portal (OAP) was introduced in February 2010 on a phased-in basis for tax credit applications. The online usage rate for tax credit applications has hit 75% in the last few months of 2010.

Traditional paper applications are more time consuming to process and don't allow for ease of two way communication. OMDC has a practice of continuous improvement to ensure that we explore and implement every avenue to expedite and streamline business processes. Online applications are the next logical step. They will avoid unnecessary delays and additional administrative work. The communication aspect of the OAP means that the applicant always has the ability to log in and see the status of their application and see any questions that are outstanding. Starting April 1, 2011, the paperless online process will not accept applications until they have all the necessary documentation.

IO's Trade Mission to Brazil As part of its mandate to better serve the needs of producers of interactive content in Ontario, Interactive Ontario is conducting a trade mission to Brazil to the RioContentMarket  from March 15 to 19, 2011.

The  RioContentMarket is an international forum and market place where multi-platform content will be given prime visibility. Approximately 1000 national  and international decision makers are expected to attend and discuss the creation and distribution of digital media and multi-platform
content.  

The Interactive Ontario mission will foster meetings, networking and relationship building opportunities for interactive digital media content companies. IO staff will be on site to facilitate these opportunities.

Made possible with the support of the Ontario Media Development Corporation

Interactive Digital Media Industry in Niagara to Benefit from Brock University's $220,000 Award Interactive digital media  industry in Niagara to benefit from Brock's $220,000 award Brock University recently received a $220,000  grant from the Ontario Media Development Corporation to pursue a project that  will provide a significant boost to the interactive digital media industry in  Niagara. This funding will be used to create the Ontario Augmented Reality Network (OARN), a project with a total budget of $360,000 that will have its headquarters based out of nGen's facility in downtown St. Catharines.

Augmented reality is the integration of digital information with live video or the user's environment in real time. Examples of augmented reality include the "first down line" projected onto the field in football games or, closer to home, a location based application for the iPhone that was created  through collaboration between Brock University and nGen. The Augmented Reality project will increase exposure of Niagara's cluster in interactive digital media.

 

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