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Sudbury, Ontario, Canada (February 16, 2016) – The Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation (CEMI), in partnership with SNOLAB, is pleased to announce the launch of a global Request for Proposal (RFP) for business start-ups interested in utilizing the Mining Observatory Data Control Centre (MODCC) to incubate their data analytics business.
The MODCC is a 4-year $2,425,000 project, resulting from a partnership between CEMI, SNOLAB, the Canada Mining Innovation Council (CMIC) and the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC). A step-change economic development and investment attraction for Northern Ontario, the MODCC was created to address the mineral and related research and development industry’s data access and integration needs, by creating an incubation space for startups and growing small companies to develop data analytics knowhow and services for the exploration and mining industries.
For Damien Duff, CEMI Vice President – Geoscience and Geotechnical R&D, “MODCC represents an opportunity for scientists and engineers that simply have an idea or for small growing companies already in the data analytics space to nurture their ideas by receiving generous support at essentially no cost. It also clearly positions Northern Ontario as a potential future hub for this kind of 21st century high value activity.”
Business start-ups and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) are invited to submit an application in order to locate their business at MODCC for an initial two-year incubation period. Applicants are expected to meet certain criteria to have their proposals accepted, including the creation of at least one new job to be located at MODCC and to focus on creating new data management/analytics capability for the mining/exploration industries, which will be made available as a product or service.
In turn, the MODCC offers access to and support for Information Technology (IT) hardware and database interconnectivity for data management; the necessary IT infrastructure upgrades to support required services; office as well as meeting/conferencing space and related equipment, supplies, overflow working space to support and host additional personnel— software developers, customers and researchers— as well as car parking. Commercialization advice will also be provided through CEMI’s IPO (Innovation and Prosperity) office.
“SNOLAB looks forward to welcoming new projects and groups to the MODCC and supporting the next generation of bright ideas in the mining-related data analytics sphere,” said Nigel Smith, Director, SNOLAB. “In collaboration with CEMI, and as a major contributor to the knowledge and innovation sector within Sudbury, we hope to support these new concepts through to fruition for the mining community.”
Request for Proposal applicants are able to access application forms online atwww.cemi.ca and are encouraged to read through the corresponding guidelines and FAQ (also available online) in order to ensure they follow and meet application criteria.
The submission deadline for all applicants is March 31, 2016 at 5PM EST.
About CEMI:
The Centre for Excellence in Mining Innovation is a national not-for-profit organization that directs and coordinates step-change innovation in the areas of exploration, deep mining, integrated mine engineering, underground mine construction and environment and sustainability for the metal mining industry. CEMI engages in cross-sector collaboration with Canadian and global mining companies, universities & colleges, governments and innovative SMEs within the service and supply sector. With a seasoned team of program directors, CEMI identifies, assesses and manages industry-focused applied research and business-led programs such as the Ultra-Deep Mining Network (UDMN) and the Innovation & Prosperity Office (IPO).www.cemi.ca
