Last September (2016) I interviewed the George Spezza, who is Head of Business Growth Services for the City of Toronto as part of our trips collecting data in North America and Europe for the project. He believes Canada needs to expand its ‘traditional’ business links with America to include Europe.

The city of Toronto is interested in worked with the city of London in the UK to build links as there are common interests and a trade delegation from London had been visiting that week, to see the MaRS Innovation District, and to make links. FCAD, Ryerson University’s Faculty of Communication and Design has a new partnership with London South Bank University’s School of Arts and The Creative Industries. The two universities are undertaking joint research into - for example - virtual reality and hyper-local news–gathering. Partnership working, and particularly trans-atlantic partnerships where there is a five hour time difference requires new kinds of communication techniques. We are finding this works when there is a common work culture. As we work through the data the specific elements of what that is should emerge.