Grant: College Special Initiatives

In 2015, with the support of NSERC, Canadas Technology Access Centres (TACs) established a formal, member-driven, national network the Réseau TACCAT Network, which was later re-branded as Tech-Access Canada | Tech-Accès Canada. Tech-Access Canada started as a two-year pilot project with a dedicated secretariat to leverage lessons learned by the TACs as a basis for supporting excellence in industry-focused applied research at Canadian colleges. *The Tech-Access Canada network is co-funded by the member TACs and NSERC. It is advantageous to promote a cohesive identity and brand for the TACs to foster greater external awareness of their collective ability to serve industry, while enhancing the individual capacities and specializations of TACs to deliver applied research and innovation services to firms.*As a permanent entity, Tech-Access Canada will continue to strengthen the brand for Technology Access Centres across Canada, and raise awareness of the innovative capabilities and capacities of the individual centres to external audiences. Developing standards of practice on which present and future TACs can usefully base their practice, will provide Canadian industry with access to high-quality services and experiences across the varying institutions and sectors served by the TACs.