Driving into York Region on Toronto's northern border, what first stands out to most people are the large houses and vast estates that Michael Braithwaite says leaves the impression that homelessness isn't an issue here. But it is - and Braithwaite says people in the sprawling region of nine municipalities are seeing the pressure points and trying to address them. "The region has a plan and they've got some good service providers like Blue Door and others in the community that are going to make it happen," said Braithwaite, the CEO of Blue Door shelters. "A lot has happened in the last 10 years, so I can't wait to see the next 10." Predicting the next decade is difficult, even more so in the next year or two given the impact of the pandemic on the country's economic and social services.

For many the acronym "AI" (Artificial Intelligence) brings immediate thoughts of Terminator or super robots taking over the world. However, as the 2018 Toronto Tech Summit – hosted at the MaRS Discovery District in Downtown Toronto – highlighted, the pursuit of AI integration threaded into "mundane" business operations such as customer service support, personnel assistants, human resources, and e-commerce activities is already having a huge impact and dramatically reshaping how these sectors engage with their customers. The Tech Summit brought together an audience of over 500 technology professionals and enthusiasts to explore the latest trends in artificial intelligence in a variety of industries including the future of autonomous vehicles. York Link was one of the lead sponsors at this year's summit. The team was out in full force answering questions from participants about the scale of York Region's technology ecosystem and about career opportunities that exist within many of its leading tech companies. Specifically, the highway 404 /407 business area has thousands of global tech firms and Canadian scale ups developing disruptive technologies in areas of autonomous vehicles, AI, IoT, business applications, mobile applications and cloud computing.

Creative Capital is IT World Canada's series that examines the impact digital transformation is having to change the face of communities across Canada. We're doing deep dives looking at the major tech hubs on the leading edge of the 21st-century knowledge economy. Our first five stories will focus on York Regions, exploring the densest ICT hub in Canada, its verticals, startups, and the factors contributing to its success. When the federal government unveils its short-list in contention for the $950 million it has earmarked for innovation superclusters later this year, don't be surprised if a consortium from York Region is on it. Up to five superclusters will share the funding based on the merits of their proposals, with Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (ISED) Minister Navdeep Bains saying the objective is to create Canada's own "Silicon Valley," and create good middle-class jobs.