Q&A with Dave Jaworsky, Mayor, City of Waterloo WATCH How do the University of Waterloo and the David Johnston Research + Technology Park play a pivotal role in Waterloo’s strategic vision? DJ The City of Waterloo’s strategic vision is built around three pillars: discovery, entrepreneurship and diversity, and the University of Waterloo and the R+T Park play critical roles in enabling all three, making both entities a key part of the vision. The University of Waterloo with its world-leading reputation for research sits at the heart of discovery. It is the place where game-changing ideas are innovated, tested and proven. The R+T Park is home to many of the city’s technology firms and the Accelerator Centre, an awardwinning incubator where entrepreneurs take discoveries and bring them to life as new businesses. And both University of Waterloo and the Accelerator Centre are rich with diversity across the entire spectrum from gender, to culture, to ethnicity and beyond. Even the R+T Park itself is on the leading edge of innovation. We are soon to break ground on evolv1, a new premiere office space within the park, destined to be one of the most energy efficient buildings in Canada. The project, a collaboration between the Cora Group, Sustainable Waterloo Region, the R+T Park, with funding from the City of Waterloo, will be so green it will actually produce its own energy. Our funding will be on the social side, and provide crucial sustainable best practices support for tenants and their employees working in building.
“We can use technology to our advantage in building the city’s reputation here in Canada and around the world.”
Dave Jaworsky
WATCH You have a technology background yourself. How does that experience help you in your role as Mayor of Waterloo? DJ My deep connection to the technology community gives me a really strong advantage in my role. I was a University of Waterloo co-op student. I worked at Blackberry, and was a Board Member of Communitech. My involvement with Communitech, with the R+T Park and with the Accelerator Centre continues to provide me with a great exposure to our tech community, and is constantly showcasing ways we can use technology to our advantage in building the city’s reputation here in Canada and around the world.
VISIT: www.uwaterloo.ca/research-technology-park/WATCH for the full version of this article WATCH | DAVE JAWORSKY | APRIL 2017 | rtpark.uwaterloo.ca |
WATCH You are an active voice in the GoNorthCanada campaign to attract US-based technology companies and talent to the region. When you are talking to folks in Silicon Valley, what benefits of Waterloo Region do you highlight?
as many people coming from the GTA to work in Waterloo each day as we have people going the other way. So two-way GO Access is key.
WATCH We’re nearing the end of the LRT project, next up two-way all-day GO? What obstacles do we still need to overcome and how will this linkage (when it happens) change and enhance our community?
performance computing, cyber security and smart cities technology. Every day this community is making strides and quietly creating success stories - some of which people never hear about.
WATCH You talk about how prosperity is often silently invested back into our community. How does DJ We know that global technology countries Waterloo manage to retain its unique humble gravitate to talent. As Canada’s education city, we persona? graduate 10,000 or more PhDs, masters students DJ Our 200 years of Mennonite heritage continues and undergrads annually. For a city of just 130,000 to serve us well. In the words of our Governor people that is punching way above our weight. For General David Johnston, we are a community of businesses in search of high calibre talent, locating barn raisers, with a strong spirit of volunteerism, here is like locating next to a goldmine. The and with that, come rewards. We see it in the GoNorthCampaign is focused on giving global mentorship at the Accelerator Centre, in the way companies encouragement and incentive to companies in our technology community - from establish a foothold in this Region, and on the large to startup - help each other and celebrate each repatriation of Canadian talent back to the area. other’s successes. There is a strong sense of pride There are dozens of compelling reasons for them to in what we have been able to accomplish together. come. First, we offer a nice, safe, welcoming This is why the City of Waterloo made a four year community. Second, we have that ready-made investment in the Accelerator Centre. We want to supply of talent. Third, there is a distinct financial help the young companies that come through that advantage to locating in Canada. Finally our cost of program grow and succeed, because they will living and quality of life is exceptional. There is become employers and part of our regional growth research that shows the take home salary here in success story. That is why we have also invested in Waterloo Region is roughly the same as in Silicon Communitech’s Data Hub, which is located in Valley when you factor in the comparative cost of Uptown Waterloo, to support data-intensive living. companies working in the fields of open data, high-
DJ There is now massive emphasis on transportation in Waterloo Region and in Ontario. All levels of government are in accord on this. The grand plan is to provide high speed rail access, which will connect downtown Toronto, to Pearson Airport, through to Waterloo Region. But before that, we’ll be working on improving two-way GO Train access along the GTAWaterloo Region corridor. This is not your typical commuter access scenario. Our local economy has