Ontario research, education and technology innovators converged at the MaRS Centre in Toronto recently, joining ORION and its partners at the annual ORION Summit.

The Summit featured a distinguished line-up of speakers and presenters, including Tom Jenkins, Executive Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer of Open Text Corporation, who kicked off the conference with a thought-provoking look at the future of digital media in Canada. Astronaut Dave Williams, "Canada's Rocket Man," closed the Summit.

The conference attracted some 200 research and education leaders over the two days, who met and networked with a unique mix of innovators in science, business and advanced education, as well as champions of new and interactive collaboration technologies.

ORION President and CEO Phil Baker, who recently announced his retirement, was presented with a Leadership award and a tribute and citation by Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, recognizing his contribution to advanced networking for research and education in Ontario.

Baker, the visionary pioneer who founded and established ORION as a world-leading research and education network, hands over the reins later this summer.

The award was presented by Maxim Jean-Louis, ORANO Board Chair and president and CEO of Contact North | Contact Nord, Former Board Chair Dr. Ross Paul and Anne Sado, Vice Chair and President of George Brown College. Former President of CANARIE, Andrew Bjerring also spoke. Other ORANO board directors also attended.

Baker credited the support of the ORANO staff and board for the success of ORION. He singled out the individuals and institutions in the research and education community who helped build and expand the network across Ontario and acknowledged the critical contribution of the Ontario Government and CANARIE for their ongoing support and investments in ORION.

The Summit was a success in large part because of the support of its partners and sponsors, including Host Partner MaRS; Platinum Sponsor CANARIE; Gold Sponsors Cisco Canada, Ciena, Compute/Calcul Canada and SHARCNET; Bronze Sponsors Colleges Ontario, Cogent Communications, Juniper Networks, Open Text, Telemerge; Champion Sponsor Bell; Summit Partner Ontario Centres of Excellence; Media Sponsor Backbone Magazine; and Regional Partners GTAnet, LARG*net, OttawaRAN and WEDnet.

For more about the Summit and presentations, visit www.orion.on.ca/summit2010.