When considering international business opportunities, investors often overlook our neighbors to the North. However, the economic development spurred by Canadian companies is quite significant.
Vince Finn, trade commissioner of Life Sciences & Health IT at the Consulate General of Canada, estimates that bilateral trade between Canada and the U.S. nets more than $24 billion annually and contributes to 300,000 jobs in Pennsylvania.
In November, at the fifth annual eHealth Innovation Summit at the
University City Science Center, eleven emerging Canadian healthcare IT companies demonstrated their technologies. These startups are part of a "market immersion" program launched by the Science Center and the Canadian Consulate General; it has been dubbed the Canadian Technology Accelerator at the Science Center (CTA for Health IT).
The CTA for Health IT offers a communal co-working space at the Science Center’s
Port Business Incubator, as well as access to programming, resources and support from the local network. Participating startups aim to build their relationships with hospitals, insurers, clinics and physicians in the city.
The program launched in May 2013. The second group of startups took up residency at the Science Center in September 2013. Companies from both classes presented at the summit: Infonaut offers real-time clinical information about hospital infection prevention and control; Pulseinfo Frame offers database-driven informatics for disease management and clinical workflow improvement; Sensory Tech develops telemedicine solutions for in-home hospice care services; and HandyMetrics Corporation commercializes hand hygiene methods.
Some of the participating demonstrators, including Memotext and Pulseinfo Frame, have plans to stay in Philadelphia after the immersion program is complete.
Writer: Nicole Woods
Source: Jeanne Mell, University City Science Center