A college network that facilitates collaboration and the development of niche expertise among its members will become part of the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) program effective April 1st. The Colleges Ontario Network for Industry Innovation (CONII) will be integrated within OCE's programs and services, boosting the college offerings OCE will be able to offer and giving CONII's 24 member colleges input into future program development and strategy.

The merger has been under discussion since last fall and was unanimously approved by CONII board members in January, with continuing financial support from the Ministry of Economic Development and Innovation (MEDI).

"This is an amazing development. It shows that colleges are perceived as a key part of the innovation system. It will help us develop closer linkages and better coordination," says Vanessa Williamson, CONII's program manager and now OCE's director of college programs and academic relations. "It also demonstrates that the OCE is a leader in innovation and helping businesses."

Founded in 2007, with $3.5 million from MEDI predecessor, th Minister of Research and Innovation, CONII links colleges along the Ottawa-Windsor corridor. It was refunded in 2009 with $10.2 million over three years, allowing CONII to link up all 24 colleges in the province and establish industry liaison offices at each one. That funding didn't start to flow until late 2010 and is now set to expire March 31/13, making it an opportune time to complete the merger.

"We're trying to help the province's colleges to become more integrated into the technology transfer programs we have with our universities and try to do a better job meeting the needs of colleges and industry clients in the programs we offer," says Dr Tom Corr, OCE's president and CEO. "It will give colleges a voice when we're developing our programs and make this as seamless as possible. When we sat down with (CONII board chair) Don Patterson and the provinces, we found that there were no cons and lots of pros (to the merger)."

Since its 2009 funding agreement with MRI, CONII has received an average of about $3 million annually. The amount has dropped to about $2.2 million but Williamson says CONII can now be more effective in assisting colleges to tap into other funding sources.

"CONNI had some additional funding through NRC/DTAPP (the Industrial Research Assistance Program's Digital Technology Adoption Pilot Program) but individual colleges also got funding from IRAP, NSERC (Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council) and Fed Dev (Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario)," she says.

"We will continue to help with this funding and also develop a more diversified funding stream."

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