Harper Government Kick-Starts Entrepreneurial and Innovative Montreal-Based Business

Government of Canada/Public Works — February 4, 2013

MONTRÉAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Feb. 4, 2013) - The Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Industry, on behalf of the Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women, is pleased to announce the awarding of a $546,936 contract to 3DSemantix under the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program (CICP).

"Our Government's top priority is the economy and we understand that helping our businesses expand and succeed directly benefits our workers and our families by creating jobs and prosperity," said Minister Ambrose. "We are proud to encourage Canada's entrepreneurial spirit by kick-starting Canadian businesses to get their innovative products and services from the lab to the marketplace."

"Innovation is the engine of economic growth. Innovation increases productivity, raises our standard of living and is the best way for Canada to be competitive globally," said Minister Paradis. "Our Government has a plan to promote local innovation and to reinforce our regions' tremendous entrepreneurial spirit."

3DSemantix's innovation, 3DPartFinder™, is a search engine for three-dimensional models that allows the reuse of parts and their related information. The manufacturing of complex equipment such as automobiles, helicopters or combat ships requires thousands of component parts, a significant number of which could be existing parts held in inventory. Traditional inventory search engines rely on part numbers and descriptions, which makes searching for inventoried parts time-consuming and complex. As a result, organizations will usually re-manufacture them, which increases costs. 3DPartFinder™ is an advanced geometric shape search engine for three-dimensional objects that enables organizations to quickly and easily search for, locate and use the parts they have stored in inventory. By reducing duplication, 3DPartFinder™ is an efficient and effective tool for utilizing part inventories, therefore saving time and money in the manufacturing process.

"We are very happy that the Government of Canada recognizes the innovation introduced to the market by 3DSemantix. This program will help us kick-start our business with 3DPartFinder™ with the collaboration of a valued partner," said Alain Coulombe, Chief Executive Officer of 3DSemantix.

Launched in 2010, the CICP has already shown encouraging results, connecting Canadian companies with federal departments and agencies that have a need for innovative products and services. By selling to the federal government, businesses can demonstrate the value of their products and services, and potentially generate future sales to non-federal customers.

To build on the early success of this program, Economic Action Plan 2012 allocated an additional $95 million over three years, starting in 2013-14, and $40 million per year thereafter to make the CICP permanent. The program will include an added military procurement component.

For the complete list of the successful innovations, please refer to the backgrounder.

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Contact Information

Amber Irwin
Office of the Honourable Rona Ambrose
819-997-5421

Media Relations
Public Works and Government Services Canada
819-956-2315