Media Release

---

For immediate release
January 19, 2006

Banff Centre to explore opportunities for research co-operation and development with Hong Kong Cyberport

Hong Kong. The Banff Centre has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Hong Kong Cyberport that is expected to set the stage for long-term collaboration. The MOU will create a framework to explore opportunities in the areas of research and development, scientific and professional exchange, education and training, and in fostering technology and business partnerships among small to medium sized enterprises (SME’s) operating in the digital media sector in Alberta and across the Pacific.

The MOU was signed by Mary Hofstetter, president and CEO of The Banff Centre, Nicholas Yang, CEO of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, and witnessed by Victor Doerksen, minister of Alberta Innovation and Science, during his mission to Asia.

The Banff Centre is a globally respected arts, cultural, and education institution, based in Banff, Alberta. The Centre’s Banff New Media Institute provides research opportunities, summits, research prototype labs, professional development, co-productions, academic exchanges, and business incubation in new media. Cyberport, Hong Kong’s IT flagship, is a US $2 billion (HK $15.8 billion) landmark project with a key focus on promoting and building Hong Kong as a leading digital entertainment hub in Asia. To foster an innovative culture in the community and promote technological entrepreneurship, Cyberport established the Cyberport IncuTrain Centre (November 2005), aiming at incubating Hong Kong companies in digital entertainment and digital media industries.

“We are honoured to partner with Cyberport and Alberta Innovation and Science to foster innovation in digital media,” says Hofstetter. “This agreement recognizes the Centre’s unique ability to harness the creative energy of technology, business, and the arts; and will provide Albertans with an opportunity to network on national and international levels.”

“The signing ceremony today marked the beginning of a closer collaboration between the two centres.  By engaging in technology exchange with the renowned Banff Centre, Cyberport IncuTrain Centre can further realize its aim to meet the local industries’ needs. Through the exchange programs, we can achieve fruitful results for both parties,” said Nicholas Yang, CEO of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited. “The MOU will further enhance Hong Kong’s digital entertainment development and Hong Kong’s competitiveness in the global digital entertainment industry,” added Yang.

As part of the MOU, a formal framework will be developed that will offer Alberta and Asia companies an opportunity to participate in a business exchange residency. These residencies will provide companies with access to networking and mentoring, skills enhancement seminars, professional development training, access to prototyping, testing, and product co-development services.

“The Government of Alberta recognizes the importance of combining the strengths of Alberta’s Banff Centre with Hong Kong’s Cyberport to achieve excellence in the digital entertainment sector,” said Doerksen. “This industry partnership will open a new door to global business opportunities.” 

Alberta Innovation and Science facilitates collaboration between industry, learning institutions, and government to support breakthrough innovation and international cooperation. Since 2000, the Alberta government has been actively promoting Alberta-based science, research, and technology opportunities in Asia. The Banff Centre is an important part of Alberta’s innovation system and a contributor to the development of Alberta’s Digital Media industry.

A delegation from Cyberport will visit Alberta in February to experience first hand the programs offered through The Banff Centre and to finalize details for specific partnership projects and deliverables to be supported under the MOU.

About Alberta Innovation and Science (http://www.innovation.gov.ab.ca)

A department in the Government of Alberta, Alberta Innovation and Science consolidates government research, science and technology activities, working closely with industry, research organizations, and other levels of government to develop a unified focus to research in energy, information, and communications technology, and the life sciences including agriculture, bioproducts, forestry, health and nutrition, platform technologies, sustainable resource management, and water research.

The department is committed to building a critical mass of research excellence to create an environment that attracts skilled people and investment to the province, and provides the foundation for business growth, job creation, a sustainable economy, and a better quality of life for Albertans.

In addition to building research capacity, and attracting and retaining top researchers and other highly qualified people, the department supports initiatives focused on technology commercialization. These initiatives focus on connecting entrepreneurs to business mentors and investment capital, to help them develop ideas and research into viable products.

These research and development investments build on Alberta’s strengths and help the province to develop a more competitive, knowledge-driven economy.

About the Banff Centre (http://www.banffcentre.ca)

Creation. Innovation. Transformation. The Banff Centre is a catalyst for creativity and a globally respected post-secondary educational institution and conference facility.

Banff Centre alumni create, produce, and perform works of art all over the world; lead our institutions, organizations, and businesses; and play significant roles in our cultural, social, intellectual, and economic well-being, and in the preservation of our environment.

For almost 75 years, the Centre has developed potential and transformed careers. Our multi-disciplinary programs enable emerging and established individuals in the arts, sciences, business, and the environment to create and showcase new work, to push boundaries, to interact and share knowledge, and to develop new ideas and solutions for the present and the future.

About Hong Kong Cyberport (http://www.cyberport.hk)

Hong Kong's IT Flagship is a US $2 billion (HK$15.8 billion) landmark project managed by Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited and wholly owned by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The project is being developed on a 24-hectare site at Telegraph Bay in the southern district of Hong Kong Island. It comprises four office buildings, a five-star hotel, a retail entertainment complex, and a deluxe residential development, aiming at creating an interactive environment that will be home to a strategic cluster of about 100 IT companies and 10,000 IT professionals.

Cyberport won the internationally acclaimed Intelligent Building of the Year Award 2004 in New York City on June 11, 2004, which is given to commercial buildings that have used broadband and information systems technology to add demonstrable value in the form of advanced services and merits to its tenants.

Opened in November 2005, the Cyberport IncuTrain Centre (http://incutrain.cyberport.hk) is funded by the Innovation and Technology Commission of the Government of the HKSAR and managed by Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited. The Centre aims at incubating Hong Kong companies in the digital entertainment and digital media industries, with initial focus on digital game and film animation. With a total area of 24,000 sq. ft., the centre is expected to support up to 45 incubatees over a three year period.

Media enquiries may be directed to:

Jill Sawyer, Media and Communications Officer, The Banff Centre,
Tel: 1.403.762.6475, jill_sawyer@banffcentre.ca

Ms Angela Kung, Assistant Manager (Marketing), Hong Kong Cyberport Management Co. Ltd.,
Tel : +852.3166.3819, angelakung@cyberport.hk