Notables - December 05, 2018

By Craig Bamford

Munk School and Mowat Centre publish report

on social innovation

Welcome to Notables for December 5th, 2018!

First this week: social innovation.

With the announcement of the massive new funding for social innovation by the Federal Government, a variety of social innovation-focused organizations, especially those focused on social entrepreneurship and social policy, are looking to demonstrate that they've had a positive impact on the social fabric of their communities, countries and planet. Demonstrating and evaluating social impact can be difficult, however; metrics, data, information and methods are often lacking. People just aren't sure what works.

The University of Toronto's Munk School, along with the Mowat Centre, is taking steps to examine and resolve that issue. Their new report, "Evidence that Works: Building the Canadian evidence infrastructure for social policy", breaks down the situation. It notes that metrics and methods often do exist: whether in academic literature, universities, government databases, or other places.  In several sectors, particularly in government, health care, certain philanthropic spaces, evidence is also being generated by research partnerships and initiatives; but much of this evidence is sitting unused instead of inspiring and guiding positive change.

The report points to foreign successes, like the American "policy labs", and makes a variety of suggestions. One is to "build a knowledge clearinghouse". The Mowat centre points to its own "What Works Centres", and suggests broader application and centralization of the concept. It also calls for more funding for technical support for research and development, so that they "unlock data" for sharing and create good, high-quality evidence. The report also says that evidence-based programs and policy should be part of a "continual cycle" of learning and refining; and that they should be people-centered, breaking down vertical policy silos and building credibility and trust.

Sidwalk Toronto unveils plan for Toronto's

Quayside neighbourhood

Second this week: Quayside Unveiled!

Over the past months, speculation has swirled around Sidewalk Toronto's Quayside. The collaborative project between Alphabet's Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto, aimed at transforming a reviving Toronto neighbourhood into a model for the "City of the Future".  There's been both hype and controversy - over who controls the neighbourhood's character, about who gets to live there, and who manages its data - but the mystery has still lurked underneath it all.

On December 9th, Sidewalk Toronto will be unveiling itself to the public; and, already, we have an infographic that discusses what to expect. A series of images show how the area is expected to grow and evolve; the creation of a variety of bridges to service light rail, bicycles and pedestrians crossing the Parliament slip, building up Silo Park, buildings with courtyards, a floating walkway and bridge to Promontory Park, pedestrian walkways north of Queen's Quay, "animated" ground floor spaces, and a variety of midrise-to-highrise wood frame buildings.

Some of the notable aspects will be familiar to urban advocates: a focus on pedestrians and cyclists, a mix of market-rate and affordable housing, and commercial and "flexible" ground floor spaces. Others are a bit more ambitious: a focus on clean energy sources like photovoltaic solar power and sewer heat recovery, automated building energy management, building an entire district with Mass timber, and a "transit-first" layout. But what is striking about the design is things like the "last mile delivery", where freight and waste collection are handled by robots underground, streets are designed without curbs and built around automated vehicles to "increase public realm in off-peak hours", and can change lights to accommodate people with accessibility needs.

A lot still needs to be learned about the project; so all eyes will be on Sidewalk Toronto next Sunday for the full reveal.

Communitech welcomes new startups and scaleups

Finally this week: Communitech.

Communitech has announced the new startups moving into the Communitech Hub for both the Fierce Founders Accelerator and the Edge Accelerator. The Fierce Founder Accelerator is aimed at organizations with at least one female founder that are ramping up from having a Minimum Viable Product (or MVP) to a scaleable business, while the Edge Accelerator is intended for companies with products on the market that are making between 1k and 5k monthly and are looking to grow their sales process and team.

Fierce Founder startups include "Skritswap", which uses AI tech to remove jargon and make texts easier to read; Fable, which employs people with disabilities to test websites and applications; and Summati, which monitors, analyzes and predicts customer experiences to keep retention high - among others. Edge startups include CubeONE, which provides automated testing of polymers; Marlena Books, which creates books that are readable and usable by readers with Alzheimer's and dementia; and FoalPoint, which helps horse breeders care for their horses using "innovative breeding management software and technology".

Both programs are six months long, and involve a mix of workspace access, mentorship, and potential access to additional accelerator and incubator steps.

Notables is a weekly collection of interesting science, technology, investment and innovation reports, press releases and other news bytes from around the web. Notables are curated and written by Craig Bamford.

Have a report or press release you want to share? Let us know!

The views and opinions expressed in this piece are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of RE$EARCH MONEY.