ORION staff photo
Blog

The 12 days of stats

As we wrap up our 2017 year and reflect on reaching our 15th anniversary, we are proud of the many milestones we have achieved in our work of empowering Ontario’s innovation economy.

Inspired by the celebratory spirit of the holiday season, we’re borrowing from the tradition of the 12 Days of Christmas carol to share our top 12 statistics of 2017. These stats reflect our key activities and our impact in providing seamless digital infrastructure that is critical to supporting research, education and innovation activity in Ontario.

1

ORION is the one and only high-speed fibre optic network dedicated to supporting innovation in Ontario

2 million, 110

Number of Ontario researchers, educators & innovators we support, and number of ORION-connected institutions in education, health care, culture, research & computing

NeaRly 2 m stude Nts a Re ON the ORION N etw OR k— Rep Rese NtIN g O ve R 70% Of leaR NeR s ORION connects a growing number of Ontario’s education institutions to one another and to a global network, enabling collaborative learning.

6,000 km

Geographical range of our community network

ORION network map

$1.1 million

Value of investments we’ve made in our network infrastructure since 2016

221%

Increase in total bandwidth use since 2012

ORION traffic utilization up to 2016

67%

Growth in the number of our connected institutions since 2006

ORION connected institutions, 2006-2016

50,000

Virtual classrooms we can operate on our network at one time

Dr. Randy McIntosh, Baycrest237

Participants at our 2017 THINK conference on using digital infrastructure to drive our innovation economy

8

Ontario universities & colleges supported by our chief information security officer

$4.4 billion

Impact of ORION community members’ research on Ontario’s GDP

ORION's socio-economic impact on Ontario

142,000

Research-related jobs that depend on ORION

7

Ontario ministries whose mandates we support:

  • Advanced Education and Skills Development
  • Health and Long-Term Care
  • Economic Development and Growth
  • Education
  • Infrastructure
  • Research, Innovation and Science
  • Northern Development and Mines

“I want to thank ORION for 15 years of connecting people, ideas and data across Ontario. Research, education and innovation are crucial to our plan to build Ontario up for everyone, and ORION continues to play a leading role. By forging partnerships and connections across Ontario and around the world, ORION makes collaboration and innovation possible.” Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario

“For the past 15 years, ORION has been a trusted partner to Ontario’s researchers, educators and innovators — facilitating collaboration, supporting advanced computing and big data, and promoting science literacy and learning. They help to empower the scientific discoveries and disruptive new technologies that give our province a competitive advantage in today’s global economy.” Reza Moridi, Minister of Research, Innovation and Science

“ORION is uniquely positioned to empower innovation wherever innovators are found — from the major cities of Southern Ontario to the rural regions of the North. ORION helps facilitate the growth of a diverse, highly skilled workforce by allowing everyone to contribute their unique skills to our innovation-driven economy.” Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development and Growth

Deborah Matthews Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development “ORION is uniquely positioned to empower innovation wherever innovators are found — from the major cities of Southern Ontario to the rural regions of the North. ORION helps facilitate the growth of a diverse, highly skilled workforce by allowing everyone to contribute their unique skills to our innovation-driven economy.”