Centre for Digital Media (CDM) has been named the 2025 Technology Trailblazer Award recipient at the Magnet Awards for Pioneering Leadership in the Ecosystem (MAPLE). This national honour recognizes organizations advancing innovation, collaboration, and workforce development across Canada. The MAPLE Awards spotlight organizations shaping Canada’s future economy through bold experimentation, talent development, and cross-sector collaboration.
For CDM, the award underscores the strength of a collaborative model we have honed for 18 years, one where students, faculty, industry partners, and civic organizations work together to build digital products that support the future of work, learning, and technology. With over 350 applied projects delivered and more than $10 million in co-contributed economic value generated since CDM’s inception, this model has helped shape British Columbia’s digital product innovation ecosystem while remaining central to the Master of Digital Media program’s mission: preparing emerging talent to tackle real-world challenges with creativity, technical fluency, and leadership.
Our projects illustrate this impact in action. MDM students have worked with Metro Vancouver on an award-winning immersive educational VR experience that helps audiences understand regional sustainability systems; collaborated with the Justice Institute of British Columbia to develop a WebGL Emergency Operations Centre simulation that modernizes crisis training for public-safety professionals; and partnered with Samsung to prototype a new platform to enhance integration between their smart devices. Together, these collaborations prove how MDM students turn complex partner challenges into deployable digital products.
This recognition also signals CDM’s next chapter. As we expand applied research, strengthen industry and civic partnerships, and scale opportunities for students to lead in the digital economy, this award affirms our role as a national innovation engine and a top destination for digital product education and collaboration. It also reflects CDM’s continued work to build capacity for long-term applied research and innovation studios that bring academia, industry, and civic partners together.
This achievement wouldn’t have been possible without the tireless dedication from our faculty, staff, advisory committees, Board, and industry partners who support digital futures every day. We also recognize our students and alumni, whose creativity, leadership, and dedication continue to push boundaries and deliver impactful solutions for SMEs, multinationals, non-profits, and civic organizations across Canada and beyond.
Partner With CDM
CDM collaborates with organizations in technology, creative industries, and public service to design digital products that create measurable impact. Whether you’re exploring new product concepts or advancing digital transformation, CDM teams can help you prototype, test, and deliver solutions that move your work forward. Learn more.