Digital Research is important to every Ontarian

At Compute Ontario, we’re committed to enabling a healthy, sustainable Digital Research Infrastructure (DRI) — a thriving ecosystem of computing power, software, data storage and management, expert people, and services to power machine learning, AI and other advanced research computing tools. In 2023-2024 alone, over 7,000 Ontario-based researchers (almost 5,000 of whom were trainees) made use of Ontario’s DRI systems to improve the health and prosperity of Ontarians through pandemic modelling, drug discovery and design, development of next-generation materials and advanced manufacturing. Ontario’s publicly funded DRI ecosystem provides these critical resources to researchers at approximately 20% of what it would cost to obtain them from commercial sources.

DRI-enabled research improves the health and quality of life of Ontarians. Recently, for example, DRI-based research has:

  • Improved patient care and reduced health-care costs by developing a process to perform thousands of diagnostic tests in a single hour from a drop of blood

  • Created new methods  for treating cancer by transforming drug delivery and screening

  • Improved safety by modelling crash and impact scenarios that reduce injuries

  • Ensured the health and safety of Ontario’s food supply

  • Boosted high-tech industry and commercialization 

  • Informed the Ontario Science Advisory Table regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, better preparing Canada for future pandemics 

  • Enabled the development of an anti-cancer vaccine program for earlier detection of cancer, ultimately reducing cost and improving patient outcome

  • Produced innovative materials that can reduce weight and improve fuel efficiency in automobiles and aircraft, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions 

Ontario’s publicly funded DRI-ecosystem also generates significant economic impacts by supporting the creation of high-tech businesses, product development and innovation, and new industry-academic collaborations. Together, these lead to the creation of new jobs, an influx of talent and additional investment into the province, economic growth and industry success. In the past 5 years in Ontario, shared DRI has led to:

  • an estimated 300 new high-tech companies in Ontario 

  • 386 patents in sectors such as drug discovery, advanced materials and manufacturing, transportation, building and city design, and climate change. 

  • 800+ Academic-Industry collaborations