Cybera works to spur and support innovation as an economic driver to advance the well-being of all Albertans. Cybera collaborates with public and private partners to accelerate research and product development in priority areas such as health, energy, environment, and emerging technologies. Cybera operates CyberaNet, a high-speed, high-bandwidth advanced network in Alberta, and acts as the prime contractor for the management of WestGrid, a consortium that provides advanced computing resources in support of research across Canada.
Mission
- Cybera will facilitate access to services and support personnel to increase access to technology and expertise to enable Alberta researchers and businesses to solve problems, advance their research and development, and innovate in key priority areas such as health, life sciences, nanotechnology, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and energy.
- Cybera and will consult, manage, demonstrate, and pilot cyberinfrastructure-related technologies in collaboration with academic and industry partners.
Goals
- Further establish a world-leading research technical environment to support cutting-edge research activity and business innovation.
- Ensure the availability, capacity and sustainability of an integrated system of cyberinfrastructure resources, personnel and services.
- Enable the Alberta research community, in collaboration with the private sector, to optimize use of an integrated cyberinfrastructure system, and facilitate globally competitive research activities through specific pilot projects.
- Ensure continued leadership and ongoing development of cyberinfrastructure expertise at regional, national and international levels.
Transition from Netera Alliance
The Cybera organization was born out of the Cyberinfrastructure Task Force (CTF), which was a province-wide initiative in pursuit of a long-term, provincially coordinated cyberinfrastructure strategy. This task force included representation from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR), Alberta Ingenuity, the Informatics Circle of Research Excellence (iCORE), the Ministry of Advanced Education and Technology, WestGrid, Netera Alliance, the Universities of Alberta, Calgary and Lethbridge, and Athabasca University. The CTF was created in mid-2005 in response to concerns over the adequacy, future direction and sustainability of the province's CI. Through 2006, the task force developed a Whitepaper, a Strategic Plan, and a Governance and Operations Plan. In early 2007, the provincial government’s Ministry of Advanced Education and Technology contracted Netera Alliance to develop a Business Plan and fulfill the vision for implementing a cyberinfrastructure strategy in Alberta. Up to that point, Netera Alliance had a 12-year history in Alberta supporting the provincial research network, NeteraNet, and coordinating Alberta’s inter-institutional ICT research infrastructure. Working instep with Alberta’s four universities, the government, industry partners and other organizations in the province, Netera Alliance transitioned into Cybera Inc. to integrate and leverage past provincial ICT investments as well as acquire new resources through partnerships with public and private sector partners.