Quebec boosts funding to PROMPT, commits $900M to digital economy strategy

The Quebec government has increased funding to the province's key organization for fostering R&D in information and communications technology (ICT) with additional support from the province's Action Plan on Climate Change (APCC). The budget of PROMPT (Partnerships for Research in Microelectronics, Photonics and Telecommunications) has been boosted 40% to $8.63 million over three years, an increase of $2.5 million.

The APCC — which generates money via a surtax on gasoline — accounts for $2 million of the increase, and increases PROMPT's project funding by 44%, according to the Ministry of Economic Development, Innovation and Export Trade (MEDIE). The bulk of PROMPT's budget ($6.6 million) comes from the Quebec Research and Innovation Strategy through MEDIE.

"We're very pleased. This is a much higher level of funding and a recognition of the value of our partnership model," says PROMPT president and CEO Dr Charles Despins. "Our mandate remains the same, but a critical mass of projects has evolved to include more green ICT. It's an unexploited opportunity for industry. It could amount to $800 billion by 2020 in energy savings but the key is (putting a) price on carbon.

PROMPT's mandate is to facilitate the creation of new alliances and improve the R&D capabilities of provincial businesses, increase public investment in ICT research and help to train highly qualified personnel.

maintain 3:1 leverage factor

Despins expects that PROMPT's 3:1 leverage factor during its first eight years will be maintained over the next three years, despite the lingering impact of the economic downturn on small companies' ability to contribute to project costs.

"We're a small operation so government support is like seed funding to get other funding. In our first eight years, the province of Quebec provided $14 million and we created projects valued at $42 million."

The refunding of PROMPT closely follows the government's announcement in its Spring Budget to spend $900 million over 10 years to provide universal broadband as part of a provincial digital economy strategy. The details of that spending are not yet finalized, but complementarity of objectives suggests that interaction with PROMPT will occur.

"It is clear that agencies and partners such as PROMPT will be called on to feed the debate and help define guidelines for such a strategy," says Geneviève Tanguay, MEDIE's assistant DM for research, innovation, science and society. "Any government action is subject to certain rules to be observed in connection with sustainable development."

Projects funded through PROMPT and the digital economy strategy must ensure that research projects identify potential greenhouse gas emissions, quantify actual reductions at the conclusion of the project, are used by companies to improve their environmental footprint and improve environment databases for product evaluation.

"We'll work with government to align our activities. It requires a holistic approach to regional economic development," says Despins. "ICT accounts for 5% of provincial GDP."

digital economy strategy

The province new digital economy strategy will allocate funds to upgrading existing infrastructure with investments in fibre optics, detection equipment, network connectors and telecom infrastructure. Existing assets include:

* Réseau intégré de télécommunication multimédia, an integrated telecommunications multimedia network which offers a data transmission service for the health networks, government departments and other public bodies;

* the Réseau d'informations scientifiques du Québec (scientific information network of Québec) for universities and CEGEPs;

* school buildings, municipal buildings, public libraries, hospitals and research centres; and,

* other public transmission networks.

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