LONDON, ON - Led by Mayor Matt Brown, a team of City leaders including Councillor Jesse Helmer, Councillor Jared Zaifman, City Manager Art Zuidema, President & CEO London Economic Development Corporation (LEDC) Kapil Lakhotia, and City Corporate Investment and Partnership Specialist Cathy Dziedzic will visit a leading tech hub tomorrow, Communitech in Waterloo Region. The purpose of Friday’s visit is to explore opportunities and best practices to help support new and growing tech companies in London.
“This is an opportunity for us to observe and learn best practices from a successful tech incubator. Through the years, several Communitech clients have had great results in the market. Right now we are exploring how similar services can be provided in London,” said Mayor Matt Brown.
With 8,000 employees and more than 300 companies, London’s Digital Creative sector has been identified for significant growth. Building the right infrastructure, talent ecosystem, and resources is a priority of the City of London. The City, LEDC and Downtown London recently launched the Fibre Optic Connection Grant Program, a two-year pilot which will provide financial assistance to eligible companies to help pay for fibre optic connections to help grow creative enterprises in the downtown core.
Supporting a diverse and resilient economy was identified in the recently approved Strategic Plan, while The London Plan – draft official plan identifies the goal of adding infrastructure for a ‘smart city’. In addition, the City recently launched the Community Economic Road Map which is engaging Londoners to create a broad set of objectives and specific actions to guide the community in its pursuit of economic success.
Communitech is a world leading collaboration and research centre housed in the Waterloo tech community. It fosters collaboration under one roof bringing together key players from start-ups to global brands, as well as government agencies, academic institutions and incubators.
Media Contact:
Shobhita Sharma
Office of the Mayor
City of London
519-661-2500 ext. 4850
