Ministers Watson and Milloy Award Coral CEA's Carbone & Bailetti $9.3 M Grant
October 2, 2009 (Ottawa, Ontario) —Today, Peter Carbone, Chair of the Board of Coral CEA, confirmed that the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation will invest up to $9.3 million over five years to accelerate the implementation of Coral CEA’s unique commercialization model.
Coral CEA – a not-for-profit company created by five founding members (Carleton University, Eclipse Foundation, Information Technology Association of Canada, IBM, and Nortel) – is building a business ecosystem designed to assist companies of all sizes with the commercialization of what is considered to be the next generation of information and communications technology: communications-enabled applications (CEA).
“Companies today compete on the effectiveness of their business processes,” said Carbone. “Embedding advanced telecommunications capabilities into these business processes – which is the essence of what communications-enabled applications are all about – can significantly improve productivity.”
Communications-enabled applications have been out of the reach of many companies because of the cost and expertise required to develop and commercialize them. Coral CEA overcomes that barrier by providing a “sandbox” of world-class technology assets that members can use to ‘mash-up’ with end-user or enterprise applications, creating substantial new value for a wide range of sectors, including health, finance and education.
"Coral CEA represents a new approach to doing business in Canada," said Carbone. "This is the best and most effective approach to do business in today's global economy."
In addition to providing “out-of-the-box” proven technology assets, Coral CEA’s commercialization model involves qualifying and developing emerging businesses; providing member companies with commercialization support; and bringing customers and investors together to fill gaps in the commercialization process.
Since Coral CEA’s launch in May, a large number of new companies have benefitted from the ecosystem-based, knowledge program and member investment. The next stage of development, that of leveraging the sandbox, will further accelerate their growth and competitiveness.
“Communications-enabled applications represent a significant opportunity for Canada,” said Tony Bailetti – Executive Director of Coral CEA . “Support from Ontario will allow us to significantly expand our impact in this area and will significantly de- risk the possibility of having another region of the world seize this opportunity from us. Small and medium businesses with the talent and a good plan now can get the support they need to transition from start-up to profitable company.”
“The unique ecosystem model being implemented by Coral CEA makes it easier for large companies like IBM to discover and partner with innovative companies that can provide new and complementary capabilities to our solutions”, said Rob White, Vice President, Mergers & Acquisitions. “The rapid innovation and diversity of its member companies will be a competitive asset.”
Companies of all sizes can leverage Coral CEA from anywhere in the world. Emerging companies can benefit from access to the sandbox technology and unique business development programs; large companies get access to high-quality innovative companies that can complement their offers; any company may offer products or services to members, building relationships for future business; and some companies will join to shape services that they wish to consume to enhance their own businesses. Coral CEA is currently building the ecosystem and engaging with potential strategic members to further develop vertical markets for CEAs, extend the technology base of building blocks, and bring forward challenges for ecosystem members to address.
For more information, visit www.coralcea.ca.
Coral CEA is a not-for-profit company that is building a business ecosystem designed to assist companies of all sizes with the commercialization of what is considered to be the next generation of information and communications technology: communications-enabled applications (CEA). These applications marry the network capabilities and intelligence found in today’s networks with the rich world of IT applications to create entirely new user experiences. The company implements the keystone of a business ecosystem, which provides; ‘out-of the box’ technology, enhanced partnering processes and brokers deal flow to the advantage of its members. The Coral CEA ecosystem is anchored around a non-profit organization with five founding members, (IBM, Nortel, Carleton University, Eclipse Foundation and The Information Technology Association of Canada).
For media inquiries, contact:
Peter Carbone
Peter@coralcea.ca
Tony Bailetti
Bailetti@sce.carleton.ca