Accelerating the advance and convergence of information technologies The Nortel Institute promotes, facilitates and conducts innovative, intensely collaborative research too long-range in scope for corporations or too large for even the best-equipped individual university research groups. The Institute is mandated both to pursue research that is long-term and exploratory, leading to advances and continued leadership in the future, as well as to engage in short-term development of technology to find specific solutions to problems faced by industry. Telecommunications research is increasingly cross-disciplinary, encompassing and transcending such fields as satellites, microwaves, computing, electronics, optics advanced materials, management and sociology. The Institute is positioning itself at the focal point for the fusion of advances in disciplines including physics, mathematics, chemistry, materials science, computer science, and electrical and computer engineering. Institute researchers collaborate with colleagues from across the University of Toronto, sister institutions in Canada and around the world, and researchers from industry, in particular from the founding industry partner, Nortel Networks. Researchers and scholars from the fields of management and languages are also contributing to the Institute’s studies of technology trends, policy, regulation and impact. At present, there are five principal research thrusts in highly competitive areas: Novel Network Architectures and Management; Novel Microwave Technologies; Advanced Wireless/Mobility; All-Optical Networks Emerging Technologies / Device Prototyping; and, Organic and Polymer Photonic Materials and Devices. The Nortel Institute’s research and development program is designed to respond to and work towards the resolution of specific challenges. Challenges The increasing global competition that has forced industry to retreat from long-term, exploratory research necessary to develop new technologies; The very high cost to a national economy that must "catch up" in technological development and the significant rewards to an economy that achieves leadership; The increasingly cross-disciplinary nature of advanced information technologies research; The vital necessity of attracting and retaining top researchers. Responses Create a mutually beneficial three-way partnership among academia, industry and government to establish the resources for both long-term exploratory research and shorter-term research in support of industry; Develop a comprehensive, focused research program, led by internationally recognized experts in their fields; Develop first-class research infrastructure, structured for maximum flexibility and efficiency, fostering creative collaborations and attracting top researchers. Objectives Accelerate the advance and convergence of information technologies through long-term exploratory research programs to gain and maintain technological competitive advantage; Support the growth of Canadian industry both at home and internationally through collaborative research and development projects; Contribute to future growth by providing the concepts and testing facilities for technological entrepreneurs to develop the new products and services arising from new technologies.