Preliminary Keynote for NSF Workshop, March 16th, 2011
Background
Funding in Canada
Tri-council + Arts Council
The NCE program: How does it work?
The “five pillars” of NCE evaluation:
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Research
HQP
Networking & partnerships
Knowledge & Technology - Exchange & Exploitation
Management of the Network
GRAND
Graphisme, animation et nouveaux médias
Graphics, Animation and New Media
*really “Games, Animation, and New Media”
( but jeux doesn’t start with “g”!)
Funding of $4.65M per year for five years was
announced on December 1, 2009
GRAND began operations on January 1, 2010
Innovation + Social Impact
 We combine high-level understanding of enabling
technologies
 With research on creation, design, and usability of
multimedia experiences
 Arts, humanities, science, technology, and design
are all needed for significant, adoptable innovation
 Digital media is much more than entertainment
 New policies are needed to engage and protect
citizens and businesses in all sectors - health,
education, law, environment, and government
It Isn’t Just Technology
 We don’t want to build “the best systems that no one
wants to use,” we want to build systems that meet
society’s needs
 “All technology, all the time” isn’t the answer
 Telidon was Canadian technology that failed not
because of technology problems
 … it failed because of social, legal, economic, and
cultural/artistic problems
SSHRC + NSERC
 GRAND researchers include experts in media
studies, content producers, HCI specialists,
computer scientists, engineers, animators, game
designers, and experts in new media business
and policy
 Directors for SS/H and STEM research
disciplines and for Art/Design Practice
 Media convergence is rapidly accelerating and
affecting all aspects of life
 This requires deep understanding of social,
experiential, and design contexts and
constraints
Governance Structure
Participants
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86
100+
23
40+
7+/-
network investigators
collaborating researchers
postdocs and students
universities
industry, government, and NGO partners
staff
Agile Matrix Organization
 Structured to provide powerful,
multidisciplinary collaboration
 Networking is “built in” to the structure to
encourage our
researchers
graduate students, and
partners and other receptor groups
to work together from the outset
5x30x50 Project Matrix
 5 themes provide critical focus
 30+ projects cross themes for synergy
 50+ network investigators add diversity
 40+ collaborating domain experts
 Themes provide top-down vision
 Projects provide bottom-up innovation
How do we manage this?
 Network investigators are the key building block
 Projects are fluid collaborations
 Project champions represent partners in the receptor
community
 Collaborating researchers are identified for specific
expertise
 Funding is allocated to network investigators based
on their contributions and partnerships
Accountability
• Annual progress reports
from NIs, projects, &
themes
• Project champions
• External reviewers
• Bi-annual external project
reviews
• Quarterly “new
opportunities” for projects
• Annual International
Scientific Advisory
Committee full review
• Annual report to NCE
Program by Board
Special Internal Projects
 Two special projects focus inward & keep
us on our toes:
MEOW Media Enabled Organizational
Workflow
NAVEL Network Assessment and Validation
for Effective Leadership
HQP Training
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Over 150 students including:
12 postdocs
55 PhD, 75 master’s,
10 undergrad interns
5 research technicians
• Multidisciplinary mix
• Graduate Student Advisory Committee
Opportunities
 MITACS ACCELERATE internships
 Workshops and Design Keystones
 Access to 18 CFI-funded labs
 Exchange visits
 Collaboration across institutions
 GRAND Challenge Competition
Networking & Partnerships
Accelerating the exploitation of new knowledge and
technology, GRAND will encourage, enable and
support the rapid exchange of ideas between
academic researchers and receptor communities.
Networking and Partnerships are the tools for this rapid
exchange. They account for 20% of the NCE criteria
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R&D Linkage with Network Partners
 9 federal/provincial agencies
 2 specialize in commercialization
 22 private sector partners performing R&D in Canada
 15 Canadian
 7 multinational
 Companies in relevant receptor sectors
 Games
 Design, simulation, visualization
 Simulation for training
 Wireless services
 Filmmaking and postproduction
 Interactive digital media
 Computer platforms for digital media and innovative display
environments
Public Sector Network Partners
R&D Links with Federal and Provincial Agencies:
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BC Hydro Power Smart
Canadian Film Centre
Communications Research Centre (Industry Canada)
Defence Research Development Canada
National Film Board
Ontario Privacy Commissioner
Science World
Innovation, Commercialization, Exploitation Partners:
 BC Innovation Council
 Canadian Digital Media Network (Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and
Research)
Private Sector Network Partners
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Autodesk
Bardel Entertainment
BioWare
CAE
CM Labs Vortex
Coole Immersive
Deluxe Postproduction
Electronic Arts
Gsmprjct
Immersion
Intel
Metranome
Pixar
 Precision Conference Solutions
 Ramius
 RapidMind (now Intel Waterloo)
 Rogers
 SAP
 Saskatchewan in motion
 Science World
 Side Effects Software
 Toronto Rehabilitation Institute
 Vancouver ACM SIGGRAPH
Academic N&P: the “easy” part
The structure:
GRAND’s 32+ projects: multi-researcher, multi-university
External Project Champions in each project
GRAND’s Network Investigators: multiple projects each
How do we know when we are “winning”?
Better topics.
Shared perspectives.
Co-authored work and papers.
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Receptor N&P: the “hard” part
Lightly built into the GRAND structure
except for Project Champions
Occurs project-by-project and GRAND-wide.
GRAND Peaks
How do we know we are winning?
Partners voting with their feet.
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Knowledge & Technology Exchange & Exploitation
Typically every project has a Champion:
- network partner company, or
- representative of a user sector
Dissemination of results:
• through peer-reviewed public-domain literature
• through exhibitions and performances
• Workshops, AGM, Keystones
IP Policies of individual universities are respected.
Main Impact is Knowledge Exchange
Partner companies that are broadly interested in
GRAND topics, with potential interest in several
projects
Companies and User Groups involved with a team
of researchers
Estimate and “capture” their support
- financial contributions to the research
- in-kind services and experts’ time
Events to Accelerate KE
 ACM SIGGRAPH chapters
 Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto and more as part of
monthly local chapter meetings
 AGM collocated with:
 2010 AI/GI/CRV conference (Ottawa)
 2011 ACM CHI conference (Vancouver)
 Keystone Series
 involve partners, art and design practitioners, and
business to get cross-disciplinary, fast-track outcomes
 First four Keystones will focus on: Design, Simulation,
Play and Mobility.
Our challenges
• What is research?
• Discovery - Creation - Practice
• Multidisciplinary research requires collaboration
• Each discipline has its own customs, canon,
standards, and language
• It takes effort to appreciate each other’s
strengths
• Enforced structure vs. organic structure
• What is excellent - and who determines this?
Thank-you!
For more information:
http://www.grand-nce.ca/