• The Government of Alberta invests in research and development on a per capita basis at the highest level in North America
  
• Alberta has the highest percentage of residents connected to the Internet in Canada
  
• Alberta is home to industry leaders in the ICT sector
• The United Nations rated Canada as the best country in the world to live.
• Within Canada, Alberta is a strong unique province with arguably the most attractive combination of natural splendor, thriving economy, low taxes, safe cities, advanced infrastructure and intellectual stimulation.
  

High levels of funding support for ICT research

Alberta has the highest per capita spending rates on research and development in North America. It has research facilities and programs to support researchers located at universities, and developers who work in industry.

The Alberta Ingenuity is a new $500 million dollar endowment to attract and fund science and engineering researchers in Alberta.


Strong research universities and industry connections

Our three major universities, the University of Alberta, University of Calgary and University of Lethbridge have excellent programs in computer science, electrical and computer engineering, geomatics, mathematics, and physics. The University of Alberta, located in the capital city of Edmonton, supports university researchers who are developing technology through its Industry Liaison Office and its Research Transition Facility. At the University of Calgary, researchers are supported by Universities Technologies International.


Supportive research organizations

The Alberta Research Council (ARC) has been conducting applied research in the province for over 75 years. From early work in oil sands extraction, to current work in biotechnology, health informatics, and intelligent systems, ARC has been a fundamental contributor to Alberta's economy.

TRLabs is a research consortium that performs world-leading pure and applied research in networks, photonics, and wireless technologies.

Calgary Technologies Inc. has the largest and most successful high-tech incubation program in Canada.

Micralyne performs research in micromachining and microfluidics.

World-class research infrastructure

Alberta researchers work in a province that supports one of the most advanced research infrastructures in Canada and perhaps globally.

The Alberta Research Grid begins with NeteraNet, a high-capacity research and education network with a Gigabit Ethernet backbone connecting the universities. This also connects Alberta researchers to CA*net 3, Canada's very progressive national advanced network, which in turn is connected to Internet2 and a global system of high-speed research networks.

To the high-speed network are connected resources that all Alberta researchers may use, acquired through the MACI (Multimedia Advanced Computational Infrastructure) project and WestGrid.

Alberta's infrastructure beyond the universities connects colleges, research organizations and hospital authorities, creating health and education technology test beds. These are supported by a government that also recently committed $192 million to the deployment of a high-speed network that reaches 95 percent of the province's population, including rural areas.

International business sector

Alberta has the highest number of corporate head offices in Canada after Ontario. It is the energy capital of Canada, with over 2,200 (87%) of Canadian energy companies head-quartered in the province. It is also becoming a major centre of information and communications business.

Nortel's world-wide headquarters for wireless research and development and manufacturing are located in Calgary, employing over 2750 people.

Other significant wireless companies include Wi-Lan and Cell-loc.

High-speed business telecommunications are supported in Alberta by MetroNet, recently integrated with AT&T; Canada, Telus, and Shaw Communications.

Other examples of major information technology companies located in Alberta are: FutureLink, the leader in applications service providers, Smart Technologies, electronic whiteboards and "roomware," ADC.com, a leader in customer care systems, Celcorp, an e-business solutions company, and the software company Intuit.

Major energy-related software and services companies include: Merak, QCData, Hyprotech, and Applied Terravision.

This list represents just a few initiatives - there are over 1500 information technology companies in the province. The Alberta Economic Development TechFiles describe many more companies active in Alberta.