The fifth edition of the International Invention Innovation Competition (iCAN 2020) will be held online because of the coronavirus emergency
Toronto International Society of Innovation & Advanced Skills (TISIAS) was established in 2013 to develop a global hub in Toronto, Canada to provide various services for inventors, innovators, students and researchers around the world. The organization is globally active in representing mainly the Canadian and American inventors as well as other international inventors at numerous invention exhibitions, competitions, and conferences held around the world as one of the national delegations officially recognized by the organizers and sponsors of such events.
As of May 2020, TISIAS accumulated up to 70-time participation record in 34 international events held in 24 different countries promoting a total of 210 projects dealing with invention, innovation, creativity, scientific research, new technology and intellectual property. TISIAS was recognized for its outstanding performance in promotion of innovation projects around the world and was approved as one of the core members of the International Federation of Inventors’ Associations (IFIA) and the World Invention Intellectual Property Associations (WIIPA).
TISIAS is also closely linked with its local partners namely the Innovation Initiative Co-operative Inc. “The Inventors Circle” and the Inventors College Organization in conjunction with the Accent on Skills to provide knowledge-based consulting, training and invention commercialization services for inventors. Furthermore, TISIAS maintains global collaboration with more than 30 national inventors associations, universities and scientific institutions across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas to strengthen its international affairs and overseas business opportunities.
International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada, iCAN
In 2016, TISIAS has rapidly grown its global power and business connections and was fully ready to take a step further to host a new international event in Canada. Thereafter, the brand-new event, “International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada, iCAN” was launched for the first time on August 27th, 2016 at North York Memorial Community Hall in Toronto, Canada.
Organized by Toronto International Society of Innovation & Advanced Skills (TISIAS), iCAN is the first international event ever held in Canada which was created for worldwide inventors as a place of global exchange and festivity for all participating inventors for their hard work and dedication towards creativity and innovation. The main purpose of the event is to arrange a special platform to emerge creativity of Canadian inventors with the rest of the world and to bring the international invention exhibition culture to life by providing a unique opportunity to inventors and students around the world to expand their global landscape of activities in Canada.
iCAN offers an all-around program featuring the exhibition of inventions, educational seminar and the award ceremony. The event allows participants to grasp the opportunity to exhibit, promote and share their ideas to the Canadian market, network with various participants from around the world, participate in the educational seminar featuring a valuable keynote speech from a Fortune 500 branding expert, and together celebrate new achievements of winning the international invention innovation competition awards and prizes in Canada, “The iCAN Awards”.
Since the very first edition in 2016, iCAN has received a lot of interest for participation from inventors around the world because it was the first international invention show/competition ever held in Canada. The event has rose to the occasion and proved its consistent growth for its next 3 editions in 2017, 2018 and through 2019 as the show developed into a better version year after year that fully satisfied its participants as well as the delegations. The 4th edition in 2019 resulted in receiving a total of 505 application entries from a record-breaking 50 countries’ participation. Now, as iCAN sets out to prepare for its 5th anniversary edition in August 2020, it is evident that the show has raised its positive reputation to become a premier event in Canada for inventors coming from all sectors of the world. The key uniqueness of iCAN is the fact that it is one of the few shows that features participants from all parts of the world’s continents and regions: North America, South America, Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and even from Oceania.
iCAN 2020 “The 5th Anniversary Edition” goes online
This year marks the 5th annual edition and iCAN will celebrate its 5th anniversary. Thus, the event is expected to be organized in the best way possible to effectively showcase the participants’ ideas and projects. However, due to the global assault of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that affected the whole world and highly limited international travels, the organizing committee and team of iCAN 2020 have decided to proceed this year’s edition only for long-distance mode participants without a physical event in Toronto as we have evaluated the current situation and that it is nearly impossible to hold any in-person events of any kind at this moment.
“iCAN 2020 Online” plans to maximize its offers and options for the long-distance participants who will remotely enter the competition without their physical presence. The competition will still follow the same selection procedures: All applicants will be required to submit their application forms by email during the Preliminaries period in which the deadline is set to be until June 15th, but it will be eventually extended until July 15th. Meanwhile, the jury members will evaluate all application forms to select the Finalists and the winners for gold, silver and bronze medals.
The selected Finalists will then gain an additional/optional opportunity to submit a “video presentation” of their projects for a 2nd evaluation process for the Jury to nominate the winners of iCAN 2020 special awards, best invention awards, and the top prize such as the Grand Prix. When the competition comes to a close on August 29th, the winners will receive their designated awards/rewards package by international airmail to be sent out to their requested addresses.
This year’s goal of iCAN is to reach out to the global community of inventors in every way possible. The committee members, international delegations and partners, the jury members of iCAN 2020 will be involved as much as possible from their locations without a physical gathering. In any case, the iCAN 2020 Committee and Team will strive every ounce of their efforts to produce the best quality of iCAN this year by all means necessary especially in these difficult times.
The 5th International Invention Innovation Competition in Canada
Entry Period: January 15th – June 15th, 2020 (Deadline to be extended to July 15th)
The Finals: August 29th, 2020
Venue: N/A – To Be Progressed Online for 2020 edition
Organized by: Toronto International Society of Innovation & Advanced Skills (TISIAS)
Supported by: Innovation Initiative Co-operative Inc. (IIC) “The Inventors Circle”,
International Federation of Inventors’ Associations (IFIA),
World Invention Intellectual Property Associations (WIIPA),
Inventors College Organization (ICO), and HOW Creative
Website: www.tisias.org/ican-2020.html
Email: ican@tisias.org