Carleton partners with Kanata North Business Association while expanding footprint at high-tech hub

Carleton has signed on as a Founding Academic Partner and Shared Anchor in Hub350

Carleton University is boosting its innovation outreach as a founding academic partner in Hub350, a new state-of-the-art global technology centre in Canada’s largest tech park opening this summer.

Run by the Kanata North Business Association (KNBA), Hub350 will provide a gateway to more than 540 Canadian and international high-tech businesses.

“Carleton’s partnership with KNBA will allow us to expand the impact of our research and education partnerships,” says Dana Brown, dean of the Sprott School of Business.

Hub350 will bring together academic, industry, and finance partners to promote growth on a global scale. Carleton, along with their academic co-anchors, will help bridge the gap between industry and talent, helping to fuel the tech park with the talent it needs to grow. Hub350 will help foster new relationships for research and collaboration with Kanata North companies and other post-secondary institutions.

“We are pleased to welcome Carleton University to the academic pillar at Hub350,” says Julia Frame, director of partnerships at KNBA. “Carleton’s leadership as a shared anchor will provide new avenues for collaboration and innovation to attract students and new grads to live, work, play and learn in Canada’s largest technology park.”

This fall, Carleton will open a purpose-built innovation space at Hub350 designed by linebox studio, a brand-new ecosystem where industry, finance and academic partners will collaborate and connect with resources.

Construction on the 2,000-square-foot Carleton space will include collaboration areas, meeting rooms, a café and garden terrace where faculty, staff and students can connect with companies on site. The centre’s neighbours are anchor tenants KNBA and L-Spark software accelerator.

The centre will provide professional development executive education programs, including the new Intellectual Property Certificate, to bolster the management and leadership skills of tech employees. These custom and open enrolment programs, developed in partnership with industry, will help develop future innovation and business leaders and address longstanding talent acquisition, talent management and succession planning challenges facing the region.

Carleton has a long relationship with the Kanata North business community. Researchers from Carleton’s Faculty of Engineering and Design, for example, have been involved in more than 45 research projects with Kanata North-based companies over the last decade.

Kanata North companies have provided 565 work terms for 350 Carleton students since the summer of 2019, including placements with Ericsson, Nokia, Solace, Blackberry, Canopy Growth, Ciena, Cisco Systems, Flex, Konsgberg Geospatial, Mitel, Pleora Technologies, the Portia Learning Centre, Wind River and You.i TV.

About KNBA

The Kanata North Business Association (KNBA) is committed to representing and advocating for the best interests of the over 540 member businesses located in Canada’s Largest Technology Park. As a critical engine behind Ottawa’s economic development and a globally recognized technology and innovation hub, the Kanata North Tech Park is home to a robust and vibrant tech ecosystem. The KNBA fosters success for its member companies by having a strong voice at all levels of government and supports an integrated multi-partner promotions strategy to build awareness about Kanata North as a centre for innovation and a destination for businesses that supports growth, collaboration and talent for member businesses. For more information, visit www.kanatanorthba.com.