S.99-20
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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Office of the Registrar
MEMORANDUM
To: ?
Senate
From: ?
Alison Watt, Director, Secretariat Services
Subject
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Presentation about TIME Centre
Date:
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11 February, 1999
Attached is a brief concerning the Technology, Innovation Management and
Entrepreneurship (TIME) Centre proposed for Harbour Centre. Dr. Gagan
and Mr. Mike Volker, (University-Industry Liaison Office), and Deans
Marteniuk and Waterhouse will make a presentation to the March meeting
of Senate.
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Attachment
Simon Fraser University
TIME Centre ?
(Technology, Innovation, Management and Entrepreneurship)
Executive Summary - Background
The TIME Centre - to be located at the Harbour Centre Campus - is an SFU initiative to support
the success of technology enterprises in B.C. and the development of this growing sector of the
provincial economy.
Simon Fraser University at Harbour Centre, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, has been
an important addition to SFU's mix of research, teaching and service activities. The existing
Harbour Centre Campus has been fully occupied for some time and cannot accommodate any
new initiatives. The 1998 -2001 three year academic plan for Harbour Centre concluded that
Harbour Centre - by mission, focus and location - is vested with the rare ability to bring together
business, technology, research and culture and that this strength should form the basis for future
development.
In the spring of 1998 the University became aware that the seventh floor of the Spencer Building
at the Harbour Centre Campus was coming available for lease. This coincided with discussions
about the potential for a special SFU initiative in the high technology sector. The Vice President,
Academic established an ad hoc committee of Professors Jim Cavers (Engineering Science),
Daniel Shapiro (Business Administration) and Brian Lewis (Communication) to prepare a
proposal for a high technology initiative to be located on the seventh floor. Their report,
The
Innovation Initiative: Support for BC'S Technology Sector at the Harbour Centre Campus,
was
received in August 1998 and was consistent with the academic plans of Applied Science and
Business Administration. After consultation with the deans and vice presidents the proposal was
taken to SCAP in September 1998 for review and comment. Subsequently, a committee
consisting of Michael Volker (University-Industry Liaison), Joanne Curry (TeleLearning) and Mark
Selman (Continuing Studies) was charged by the Vice President, Academic to develop a
business plan in consultation with the deans of Business Administration and Applied Science, the
executive director of Harbour Centre and other interested parties. This led to the TIME Centre
concept.
The TIME Centre proposes a co-ordinated vision for SFU's involvement in the high technology
sector through bringing together various University and external groups to generate a level of
unparalleled synergy and energy relating to the new knowledge-based economy. TIME is the
integration of Technology, Innovation, Management, and entrepreneurship (and enterprise).
This presentation includes an executive summary and highlights of a more detailed business plan
which has been formulated over the past several months. The goal is to be operational by
September, 1999.
The Board of Governors of the University officially approved the lease and endorsed the TIME
proposal at its January 28, 1999 meeting.
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TIME Centre Executive Summary
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99-01-28
Simon Fraser University
TIME Centre: Executive Summary
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(Technology, Innovation, Management and Entrepreneurship)
Mission and Goals
The TIME Centre at SFU's Harbour Centre Campus is a collaborative initiative involving SFU and
many of BC's leading technology businesses.
The Centre's mission is to support research,
teaching, and innovation in technology and management by creating long-term partnerships
between SFU and technology based businesses.
TIME's goals are to:
• advance the University's research capability and enhance its teaching capacity;
• provide timely education and professional development in information technology;
• support BC'S technology sector by providing and developing managerial expertise; and,
• act as a gateway to SFU programs and activities and catalyze collaborative R&D projects
with technology organizations and to incubate new ventures.
SFU Benefits
Creation of the high profile TIME Centre would benefit SFU in a number of ways.
• The BC technology sector and SFU are a community of common interest. The TIME Centre
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will advance the University's reputation in this key sector by addressing the critical needs of
technology enterprises. TIME demonstrates SFU's commitment and responsiveness to the
BC public and private sectors.
• TIME will provide opportunities to enhance SFU's research capabilities by bringing
researchers in contact with industry and government issues and creating long-term research
partnerships.
• Through its partnership with industry and government, TIME will provide the ability to identify
opportunities for new undergraduate, graduate, post-baccalaureate, and continuing education
courses and programs, and expand SFU's teaching capacity and the diversity of its student
population.
• TIME will generate revenue for SFU well in excess of the incremental costs associated with
the TIME Centre.
Industry Needs
The growth of technology firms is limited by the availability of human talent in both technical and
management disciplines. The need for educational support for new employees and the ongoing
development of current employees has never been greater. For example, International Data Corp
estimates that Canadian corporate education expenditures will grow from $623m 1998 to $1.1bn
in 2002. The needs to be addressed by TIME are as follows.
• To sustain successful technology enterprises, technology and management talents are
critically needed. Recent technology graduates are in enormous demand especially if they
have a complementary understanding of management.
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• Many new employees come from areas that are related, but not identical, to the one in which
a company is active. They need to fill these gaps in their backgrounds and refresh their
knowledge with new concepts and new techniques.
Business advice and managerial research is needed by technology companies to successfully
operate, sustain and grow their companies. Long-term success of businesses involved with
information technology is determined to a large extent by innovation and management of change.
To meet this need, TIME plans:
To be the primary vehicle through which SFU directly supports BC'S technology sector.
TIME will
work in partnership with industry, business and government to provide the education and
research needed to keep knowledge workers current, to manage innovation and change, and to
foster entrepreneurship in a competitive and rapidly changing environment.
To apply scientific and managerial research to support BC industry.
TIME is
the
centre that will
work with business to conduct research and solve technological problems. As well, through
consultation and dialogue among members of TIME, research will be focused in areas related to
technological innovation and the management of technology.
TIME's Activities
TIME will contribute to the growth of a competitive technology sector in BC by providing
educational support, thematically linked research and the development of internet-based courses
and forums. For example, TIME will be a gateway to:
• undergraduate and graduate programs such as the Business Administration's proposed
Management of Technology MBA degree - and components of some existing synergistic
programs;
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• diploma programs in specific management or technological areas; examples could include
the existing Management Skills in Advanced Technology program and the new Object
Oriented Technology Programming course;
• degree conversion/upgrade programs, combinations of existing and customized senior level
courses to equip talented degree-holders from various fields for participation in the
technology sector;
• traditional short courses on technical topics, project management, human resources, etc.,
offered at TIME or at the place of work;
• an "Innovation Roundtable", i.e. a forum for senior industry executives, government
representatives and academics to meet on strategic issues;
• specific research groups (or individuals from such groups) for example: Centre for Policy
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Research on Science & Technology, the EXCITE Lab, and the TeleLearning NCE;
• an incubator consisting of ready-made offices and shared services will allow new companies,
joint-ventures, or special projects to be housed on a low risk basis;
• a business centre which will provide industry people with facilities and services to use on a
casual drop-in basis to encourage visits to TIME by the private sector; and,
• a technology transfer office which will be staffed with business professionals who are both
familiar with the needs of industry and the research capabilities and resources of the
University in order to facilitate technology transfer and contract research initiatives.
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Facilities
TIME will be physically located on the seventh floor of SFU's very successful downtown Harbour
Centre Campus. TIME's approximately 24,000 square feet will house offices for a number of
SFU's teaching and research groups which are key to fulfilling TIME's mission. The facility
includes a policy room, teaching facilities, research labs, seminar, meeting, and break-out rooms,
an incubation office area for new ventures or projects, and a business centre. The business
centre will provide workstations and informal meeting areas for use by visitors. It will offer
communications, mail, copying, and other business services. State of the art internet services and
equipment will be employed throughout.
SFU Participants
The anchor participants in TIME will be the Faculty of Business and the Faculty of Applied
Sciences (Information Technology Education Centre) each occupying one-third of the space. The
remaining area will comprise synergistic groups such as:
TeleLearning Network of Centres of Excellence
EXCITE Lab
Innovation Incubator and Business Centre and University-Industry Liaison Office
Centre for Policy Research on Science and Technology (CPROST)
Centre of Experimental and Computational Mathematics (CECM)
TIME will bring together in one place activities which are representative of the depth and diversity
of SFU's expertise in technology and in management. Continuing Studies will play a key role in
providing infrastructure support for innovative instructional opportunities.
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TIME's Clients
TIME's clients will be private and public companies and organizations in the technology industry.
TIME will serve not only larger, established companies and government departments, but will pay
special attention to Small and Medium sized Enterprises and newly created start-ups. TIME will
provide recurrent education for a diverse range of students interested in technology applications
and management at many different levels.
Timing and Management
TIME will be operational by September 1999. TIME will be managed by an internal management
board and by an external industry advisory board. The management board will initially consist of
the Dean of Applied Science, the Dean of Business, and the Director of University-Industry
Liaison and will report to the Vice-President, Academic. Space allocations and facility
management will be the responsibility of the Executive Director of Harbour Center. TIME's
external Advisory Board will give industry input, vision, and track the progress of TIME. It may be
appropriate to consider the appointment of an executive director to manage programs and liaise
with SFU groups to facilitate partnerships.
Financial Considerations
The TIME facility will add approx. $500,000 to SFU's annual space costs (based on $12 per
square foot lease rate plus operating costs). An additional $1 million in leasehold improvements is
required. The leasehold improvement cost will be factored into the lease rate and be reduced by
corporate contributions or "naming" opportunities for benefactors. (e.g. the Canadian Airlines
Business Centre or the T-D Bank Incubation Centre).
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The FAS and the FBA will each commit to cover one-third of the total costs of the TIME facility.
The remaining one-third will be covered by the Vice President, Academic while other revenues
ramp up. For example, the Innovation Incubator and Business Centre will contribute as these are
fee-based services provided by TIME. Participants like the Excite Lab have already demonstrated
their ability to generate external funding.
The activities made possible by the new TIME facilities will generate additional revenue for SFU
in the form of corporate sponsorships, course fees and overhead on sponsored research. It is
expected that the revenue increases to SFU will offset the increased operating expenses.
Financial Risk to SFU
The total annual funding that will not be covered by FAS and FBA will be committed by the Vice
President, Academic. In the worst case scenario, if the funding opportunities referred to above do
not materialize, the space occupied by TIME can be reallocated to the Harbour Centre pool to
generate rental revenues. The FAS and FBA programs alone could use the additional space and
adequately cover the increased lease costs.
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The TIME Centre:
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"Mana
g in g
innovation and technolo gy
throu g
h education and entrepreneurship"
Harbour
Centre
Campus
Centre
R&D
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for
(eq. CECM)
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Dialogue
Tech ?
Incub or
Excite ?
TIME
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F.A.S.
Lab ?
CENTRE
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Programs
BA
Tele-
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F.B.A.
Learning
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Programs
NCE
Cont.
Education
.
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