ITV study finds critcal mass of companies in Canada have related technologies

Canada could be well-placed to take a share of the 2008 Beijing Olympics broadcasting technology dollars in the aftermath of a study that shows a critical mass of interactive-television-related companies already doing business here. A survey conducted by Vancouver consulting shop At Large Media and the National Research Council (NRC) shows 103 different firms engaged in at least one of five different technology activities related to ITV. The study, Interactive Digital Delivery Marketplace: An overview of Canada’s multimedia broadcasting capabilities, is still under tight wraps, but initial results obtained by Canadian NEW MEDIA show a thriving sector in this country. That’s good news for the NRC, which commissioned the report, as it works to convince the Chinese to look to Canada for innovative broadcasting technology through technology transfers, trade missions, and other awareness-building efforts (CNM, June 9/04). The survey, which has resulted in a "map" of the sector still guarded by the NRC, will be used as a calling card for companies seeking contracts from Chinese science and technology authorities charged with finding innovative ways to broadcast the next games. It’s the first time, says At Large consultant Catherine Warren, that any country has undertaken such an effort related to the interactive digital delivery of broadcast content. She views the study as a competitive tool tying many companies that may not think of themselves as broadcasting related to the ITV sector. She describes the potential benefits for the companies that responded to the survey as including new potential for partnerships, and a general awareness around ITV as a promising sector unto itself. The survey found that Canada is home to at least 103 companies engaged with such technologies as content tools, software, hardware, transmission and display. The gamut of companies runs from such well-known giants as Research In Motion Ltd., to smaller companies doing innovative work such as Immersion Studios. Of the companies listed in the new map, most are engaged in work with either content tools or software, at 76 companies each. These activities include work such as content management, multimedia and production tools, as well as companies that do collaboration and transaction software, monitoring tools and compression applications. The study found 39 companies engaged in hardware work, which Warren describes as "black box" hardware such as embedded modules, PC boards and chips and devices that enable interactive digital delivery. The At Large study found 51 companies working in the sphere of wireless communications, and 51 firms engaged with transmission technologies, both satellite and terrestrial. "That would include things like plain old telephones, but also location-aware devices, messaging, broadband and multimedia. And, when you look at massive events like the Olympics, I think those, those devices are going to be critical in so many areas like security, communicating with the athletes, traffic information for people trying to get up the highway between Vancouver and Whistler. There are all kinds of interesting ways that wireless is going to play a role," Warren says. Finally, the digital map found 28 companies working with display technology, which relate to interactive exhibitry. Warren cites companies such as Xenophile Media, Immersion and Shane Lunney Productions as fitting into this category. Among other findings revealed so far are that the majority of companies, 53%, have between 10 to 50 employees, 75% are privately-held, and 61% have seen their profits increase in the past three years. Most of the survey respondents, who were asked to self-identify which categories they belonged to, are involved with more than one sector. Those involved with two numbered 27%, 26% were involved with three, 24% were involved with four, and 13% were involved with five. "What I think is exciting about this is that for the first time we really have a handle on companies that may identify as being in other sectors, but really are part of this bubble called interactive digital delivery. There’s critical mass and power in this that I think will have a lot of applications for large events like the Olympics."

ITV study finds critcal mass of companies in Canada have related technologies

Broadcast | October 6, 2004

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