Prince Edward Island Premier Pat Binns and Shawn Murphy, Member of Parliament for Hillsborough, on behalf of the Honourable Robert Thibault, Minister of State for the Atlantic Canada Opportunities, and the Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Solicitor General of Canada, officially announced today that construction of the Atlantic Technology Centre (ATC) is to begin later this spring in downtown Charlottetown.
The 126,000 square-foot, four-storey complex will be constructed on the eastern corner of University Avenue and Fitzroy Street. It will provide the Island's emerging IT industry with state-of-the-art office space, an IT Education and Training Academy, a business incubator, specialized research labs, multimedia theatres, digital audio and video editing facilities, smart boardrooms, a café and exhibition areas.
The ATC will provide Prince Edward Island's IT community with leading edge infrastructure designed to help attract new investment to the province, provide local IT companies with increased access to export markets and generate attractive employment opportunities for Islanders working in the knowledge economy. The new centre will also stimulate new partnerships between Island IT companies, local post-secondary training institutions and national and international IT firms seeking a competitive business environment to locate innovative applied research and development projects.
"The Atlantic Technology Centre will be the most advanced facility of it's type east of Montreal," said Prince Edward Island Premier Pat Binns. "This is more than an investment in a building, it is an investment in an industry - one that we believe has real potential to thrive in the province and provide new opportunities for Islanders and Island-based businesses."
"The Atlantic Technology Centre will provide Prince Edward Island with a substantial opportunity to stimulate long-term growth in the expanding Information Technology and Communications Technology sectors," said Minister MacAulay. "It has been designed to strengthen the province's ability to develop and attract IT and knowledge-based businesses. And this, in turn, will create jobs and expand export trade receipts in the coming years."
"This new facility will provide an environment where education and training will take place in close proximity to a cluster of vibrant IT companies," stated Minister Thibault. "It will be an outstanding location for innovative, knowledge-based companies to prosper, and for students to acquire technological and entrepreneurial skills in a dynamic business setting."
The ATC is designed to attract new and existing IT companies working in the early stages of the innovation cycle, including: applied research, new product and solutions development, testing and pre-commercialization. Companies within the ATC will focus primarily upon activities that support four key business segments: content and development tools for interactive digital media and e-learning; Internet and e-business network applications; IT solutions and applications in support of the expanding bio-resources sector; and new products and solutions designed for e-government service delivery. When fully completed, it is expected to accommodate up to 500 IT employees.
Planning for the Atlantic Technology Centre began in 1998. It is a collaborative venture involving industry, academia, and government. The new facility will be owned and managed by ATC Inc., an arms-length corporation with a board of directors comprised of key stakeholders. Late summer 2002 has been set as the completion date for the project.
The total cost of the design, construction, equipment and management of the ATC will be $20.4 million. The Province of PEI will provide a contribution of $3 million and the remaining funds will be in the form of a loan to the Centre from the Province. A further $3.2 million will be contributed through the Canada/Prince Edward Island Regional Economic Development Agreement (REDA). This is a 60/40 cost-shared agreement between ACOA and the Province of PEI. Another $1 million has been committed through the Canada/PEI Labour Market Development Agreement, a co-managed agreement between Human Resources Development Canada and the provincial department of Development and Technology.
The announcement of this new facility provides an exciting and timely introduction to Canada's IT Week which runs May 4-13. IT Week will celebrate achievements in information and communications technology, and highlight the importance of developing the critical skills Canadians need to succeed in the knowledge-based economy.