text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|May 26, 1998
|Filing date
|Dec 19, 1995
|Priority date
|Dec 19, 1995
|Fee status
|Publication number
|Ronald A. Frederick
|Original Assignee
|Xerox Corporation
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (20), Referenced by (75), Classifications (10), Legal Events (7)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
The present application incorporates by reference co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/146,761, filed Nov. 2, 1993, entitled "Software Video Compression for Teleconferencing," and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/303,918, filed Sep. 9, 1994, entitled "Device for Transcribing Images on a Board Using a Camera Based Board Scanner," both assigned to the assignee hereof.
The present invention is directed to videoconferencing systems, and specifically to a videoconferencing system that can transmit different portions of an image separately, in order to communicate meaningful visual information at higher resolution than is possible with standard video cameras and digitizers.
Videoconferencing systems, meaning systems allowing video images to be exchanged in real time among a small number of parties, are well-known. Current videoconferencing systems use digital data to transmit images. Digitally-based images can be manipulated as desired, such as by placing an image in a small window occupying only a portion of a screen, in a larger software context. Digital transmission technology further enables tradeoffs between the pixel resolution of an image and the time resolution (i.e., the scan rate or frame rate) at which such images can be transmitted in real time.
A typical digital video capture of the output of a commercially-available NTSC camera is at a resolution of at most 640�480 pixels. Typical systems encode color data at sixteen bits per pixel uncompressed, so a typical data rate would be 600 KB per frame. Data rates at this range are currently impractical for transmission, and so the video data must be compressed to a pixel rate of one bit per pixel or less. Typically, such systems encode color differences at half the resolution of the greyscale, so each pair of pixels involves two 8-bit greyscale values, one 8-bit "red" difference, and one 8-bit "blue" difference. It is also common to reduce the vertical resolution by half, so each 2�2 block of pixels has only one color difference pair. In that case, each 640�480 frame takes up about 450 KB uncompressed. For analog-video quality images, there would typically be required twenty to thirty frames per second to be transmitted, and any noticeable "jerkiness" caused by too-low time resolution will occur at about ten frames per second. In many commerically-available videoconferencing systems, the spatial resolution of images as they are transmitted is only 320�240 pixels or less, as part of the tradeoff between resolution and frame rate.
In the most common contexts for videoconferencing, the images transmitted are typically very predictable: usually in the form of one or more "talking heads" whose appearance does not change significantly over time. The predictability of most videoconferencing images can thus be exploited for optimizing the tradeoff among time resolution, pixel resolution, and necessary bandwidth for transmitting the images. For example, one known technique is to identify only those pixels that have changed their signal values with each frame, and transmit only those pixel signals which have changed since a previous time period, letting other pixels (such as for a background) simply remain as they were. In this way, only the changes to the image since the last sampling are transmitted. Other "lossy compression" techniques are known to attain an increased compression ratio of signals being transmitted. Such compression techniques are discloses, for example, in the "JPEG Still Picture Compression Standard," which is known in the art.
In the prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,953 discloses a system in which a video image space is broken down into specific overlapping regions, with a portion of the image space requiring a high time resolution being placed in an area of overlap. The overlap enables an effective high rate of scanning of the overlap area, because the overlap area is refreshed every time one of its regions is refreshed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,008,747 discloses a video system in which the current frame of the picture being shown is compared block-by-block with a previous frame to identify changed pixels. Once those pixels flagged as changing are transmitted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,202 discloses a video communications system in which "motion vectors" of the scene being sampled are detected, and the motion of the scene is thereby predicted for a short time in the future. This prediction technique is used to save the number of frames that must be transmitted.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,142,362 discloses a system which recognizes still-picture portions of a video transmission and codes groups of pixels of a still-picture portion of the video.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,004 discloses a system whereby a subset of video fields are provided, and signals representative of interpolations of action between the sampled fields are derived.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,313 discloses a system whereby a bit stream representative of at least one digital video image is decoded in real time by providing a code-book index from the bit stream, applying the code-book index to an index table to determine an index value, and comparing the index value to a first predetermined threshold. Depending on the relationship between the index value and the threshold, the selection of the next pixel in the subsequent video image is calculated in various ways.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,359,362 discloses a videoconferencing system wherein two cameras are symmetrically positioned at each station on opposite sides of an optical axis between the speaker and the monitor used to produce an image of the listener. The two cameras are used to create a virtual image corresponding to the image that would be viewed by a camera located on the optical axis.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,374,971 discloses a camera stand for directing a video camera at, alternately, a speaker in a room and a document on a table, where the document is oriented to be read by the person seated in the scene.
According to the present invention, there is provided a method and apparatus for transmitting an image representing a scene in real time. A mosaicing camera samples at least a first portion and a second portion of the scene, and outputs a first mosaic image and a second mosaic image. Each of the first mosaic image and the second mosaic image comprises a set of pixels forming a coherent image. The first mosaic image and the second mosaic image are combined, whereby pixels from the first mosaic image abut pixels from the second mosaic image, to yield a coherent composite image. A first specific camera samples a first specific portion of the scene, outputting a first specific image. The first specific image includes at least a portion of the scene sampled in the first mosaic image or the second mosaic image. Pixels from the first specific image are then substituted into the composite image, yielding a coherent final image.
In the drawings:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a general configuration of a videoconferencing system in which the system of the present invention is useful;
FIG. 2 is an example of the relationship of signals from a general camera and two specific cameras as shown in FIG. 1, in terms of positions of pixel signals relative to the scene being recorded;
FIG. 3 is an example of the relative positions of screens created by a mosaicing camera, according to the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a systems diagram illustrating the interaction between pixel signal streams from a general camera and two specific cameras, according to one embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 5 is a systems diagram showing the functionality of a receiving station employed in one embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a simplified perspective view showing an arrangement of cameras in a videoconferencing situation in which the system of the present invention may be employed. FIG. 2 shows a sample composite image as would be provided by the cameras shown in FIG. 1. (In the Figures, a letter indicating a type of camera is also used to indicate the view from that camera.) As can be seen, in a typical videoconferencing situation, one or more persons are typically seated at a table and generally do not move to any great extent during the course of the transmission: while the persons substantially stay in place, there will of course be motion of their faces and hands, and it is desirable to have a realistic coordination of, for example, facial movements with the simultaneous audio.
Comparing FIG. 1 with FIG. 2, it can be seen that there is a "general camera" indicated as G, which is focused on an entire scene, here the two persons. Further, there are also provided two "specific" cameras, a first specific camera S1 focused generally on one of the two persons, and a second specific camera S2, focused on the other person. It will be noticed, in FIG. 2, that the specific cameras are directed to portions of the general scene on which the general camera G is focused, so that, in general, the areas being sampled by specific cameras S1 and S2 are within the frame of general camera G's view of the scene.
Also shown in FIG. 1, viewing the videoconferencing scene, is a "mosaicing" camera indicated as M. The purpose of mosaicing camera M is to sample individual small portions, or screens, of the whole general scene, such as viewed as general camera G, in sequence and then "mosaic" the individual small portions into a single coherent scene, or "composite image," which simulates the field of view shown by general camera G. An example of this "mosaicing" is shown in FIG. 3: the general view G is here divided into nine individual overlapping screens indicated as M1-M9. It will be apparent that the individual screens M1-M9 are in effect pictures that are "taken"by sequentially moving mosaicing camera M to each of nine distinct positions relative to the general view G. The advantage of this mosaicing technique is that the composite image from the nine screens M1-M9 will have a much higher total resolution than the general view G. The individual screens M1-M9 from mosaicing camera M are created by having pixels from one screen abut pixels from another screen in the composite image; preferably, adjacent screens overlap slightly, as shown, so that a relatively seamless total view of the general scene may be created.
Mosaicing camera M is controlled by motion-control hardware, such as shown in FIG. 1 as vertical camera 50 and horizontal camera 52. The motors are automatically controlled in such a manner that the mosaicing camera M sequentially samples the individual views corresponding to screens M1-M9 in a regular sequence, such as one view per second, so that the entire general view G is "refreshed" approximately once every nine seconds. If the mosaicing camera M is an off-the-shelf video camera with a typical resolution of 640�480 pixels, it will be apparent that the resulting mosaic image of the whole general scene will be available at a high spatial resolution (generally, in this example, nine times normal resolution) but at the expense of very slow time resolution (in effect, one new frame every nine seconds).
In a videoconferencing situation such as here illustrated, it will be apparent that, on the whole, the scene sampled by general camera G and rendered as a composite image by mosaicing camera M will remain fairly constant over time, and that most of the "action" over the course of time will take place on the faces of the persons of the scene. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, each camera G, M, S1, or S2 is a video camera which outputs a set of pixel signals corresponding to the raster of image signals which, when assembled, form a coherent image. The rate at which sets of pixel signals forming a coherent image, or frames, are output by each camera corresponds to the "frame rate," or time resolution, of that particular camera. The higher the frame rate, the "smoother" the moving image will appear.
According to the present invention, this mosaic image being output from mosaic camera M, being of very high spatial resolution but low time resolution, is used to establish a background, which is assumed to be on the whole showing relatively little motion over time, on which the action recorded at a high frame rate by specific cameras S1 and S2 can be superimposed. The relatively high spatial resolution provided by the composite image from mosaicing camera M can thus receive "patches" of real-time samples of small areas of the general scene which are of interest over time, i.e., small portions of the total composite image, such as of a person's face, which will require high time resolution for a realistic rendering.
In the illustrated context, the background and area not near either of the persons will change slightly, if at all, from frame to frame, and the most important action will take place on and immediately around the images of the persons. Therefore, a system can be provided which samples the areas of most interest, particularly those areas on which specific cameras S1 and S2 are respectively focused, at a higher time resolution than the remainder of the image.
In a typical videoconferencing situation where there are multiple people in the general scene, it is apparent that very often only one of the persons in the general scene will be speaking at a given time. In such a case, it is possible to select one of the specific portions of the scene, such as shown by S1 or S2 in FIG. 2, and activate that portion of the general scene for substitution of pixel signals by a specific camera. Thus, when the person in portion S1 of the scene is not speaking but is sitting still, a system could select the camera focused on the speaking person in the scene to output signals at the high rate and substitute those high-rate sampled pixel signals into the general scene, while the person in the inactivated camera, who is sitting still, would become part of the general scene, and whose image would simply be scanned at the lower rate by mosaicing camera M. Of course, in situations where a person at the other end of the transmission is speaking, and neither person in the general scene is speaking, for those few seconds, the entire composite scene from mosaicing camera M could be transmitted by itself with no substitution of pixel signals from a specific camera.
As used in the claims herein, the composite image created by the mosaicing of screens from mosaicing camera M, as shown in FIG. 3, is the "composite" image; the composite image with pixels from a specific camera substitued therein is referred to as the "final" image.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, each individual mosaic frame M1-M9 of the image and each specific scene such as from camera S1 or S2, is of the standard 640�480 pixel size. It should be noted that the aspect ratio of the transmitted scene can be freely selected; it may be desirable, for example, to have mosaicing camera M transmit a composite image of two screens in the vertical direction and three in the horizontal direction, as opposed to the 3�3 screens composite image shown in FIG. 3. Also, it is conceivable to have the portion of the scene sampled by a specific camera be in "portrait" (long-vertical) orientation, as opposed to the more common "landscape" orientation.
The present invention enables the transmission of videoconferencing images at a reasonably high spatial overall resolution, by using a combination of relatively inexpensive off-the-shelf video cameras and without unnecessarily taxing the bandwidth of the system. A relatively high spatial resolution, that is, considerably more than the standard 640�480 pixel frame provided by an inexpensive video camera, is desirable in situations where the videoconferencing scene is desired to be displayed on a relatively large CRT or flat-panel display. As can be seen, for example, in FIG. 3, the mosaicing technique carried out by mosaicing camera M can provide an overall view of a scene where there are three times as many pixels as usual along each linear dimension on the overall transmitted scene.
It will be noted in FIG. 2 that the areas into which the specific portions of the scene indicated as S1 and S2 are "patched" (that is, where their pixels are substituted for the pixels in the general scene) are in the shape of distorted rectangles. The reason these rectangles are somewhat distorted is that the specific cameras such as S1 and S2 will probably be in slightly different positions relative to the scene than the composite scene rendered by mosaicing camera M, such as shown in FIG. 1. A patch such as S1 or S2 in FIG. 2 is of a shape which is selected to compensate both for the positional and focal length differences between the two types of camera. Thus, while the patches look like distorted rectangles from the point of view of general camera G and mosaicing camera M, these distorted rectangles will be right rectangles from the points of view of the specific cameras S1, S2 themselves.
A "patch algorithm" can be calculated which determines the necessary shape and position of the patches such as S1 and S2 in FIG. 2 based on the detected relative positions and angles of the specific cameras to the general camera. An example of this technique of determining shapes for patches which are placed into larger images is given, for example, in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/303,918, filed Sep. 9, 1994, entitled "Device for Transcribing Images on a Board Using a Camera Based Board Scanner," incorporated by reference above. FIG. 3 of this referenced application gives an example of how the shape of a patch (called an "image tile" in the referenced application) has to be recalculated as the position of a camera diverges from a right angle to a plane of view.
It should be noted that each of the patches M1-M9 captured by the mosaicing camera M are already in the shape of distorted rectangles when they are fit together to form the initial background image. The patches coming from cameras S1 and S2 are not special in this regard. The algorithm used to integrate the specific images S1 and S2 into the final image is identical to the algorithm used to fit the patches M1-M9 together. The specific images S1 and S2 can be thought of as extra patches to be worked into the mosaic. The only difference is the specific images concentrate on a specific area of the image so that this area can be rendered with a high time resolution.
FIG. 4 is a systems diagram of a transmitting station, indicated generally as 100, showing the relationship among control systems operative of the general camera G, and two specific cameras S1 and S2. The general diagram of FIG. 4 is intended to indicate a system which could operate under the control of a general-purpose computer, although other manifestations may be possible, if it is desired, for example, to place certain capabilities resident within specific video equipment, such as the cameras themselves. In FIG. 4, the horizontal lines indicate operations performed on the signal stream or other outputs from a camera, while vertical lines indicate interactions of control signals between cameras.
Starting with the output pixel signal streams of cameras G, S1, and S2, the first operation is to determine which of the specific cameras S1 or S2 should be substituting its pixels into the general view provided by general camera G. One possible technique for selecting a camera S1 or S2 is to examine frequency changes in the behavior of pixels in certain positions within the raster formed with each frame of the signal stream. Motion, such as of a person in one specific portion of the general scene, will create changes in pixel signal values for pixels in that particular position of the image, and these changes in pixel values from frame to frame can be detected as certain behaviors in the signal stream. These changes caused by motion of a person within the general scene can be used to identify where in the general scene the motion is taking place, and, if possible, can be used to select a specific camera, in this case either S1 or S2, for sampling the moving image. This means for determining frequency changes in the general camera pixel signals is indicated as 102.
Alternately, the determination of where in the general scene there is motion could be detected by other factors, such as through an audio signal. For example, if there are two people in the general scene, and each person is speaking into his own microphone, the presence of an audio signal from a particular microphone, such as shown as 101 in FIG. 4, can be used to indicate where the action of interest is in the general scene.
It will be seen that the main function of general camera G is to provide the system with an "overview" of where in the whole general scene motion of interest is occurring; when motion of interest is occurring at a certain place in the general scene viewed by general camera G, a specific camera such as S1 or S2 is activated for sampling and sending image data. However, what is sent to a recipient video conferencing station is not the general image from general camera G, but rather the mosaiced composite image of the general scene, such as shown in FIG. 3. Once again, this composite image is characterized by relatively high spatial resolution and relatively low time resolution. The images from the specific cameras S1 and S2 are intended to be of a significantly higher, and preferably "smooth" (greater than ten frames per second) time resolution. When the high time-resolution images from the specific cameras S1 or S2 are patched into the composite image from mosaic camera M, the desired overall result will be an image of high spatial resolution, with comparable spatial resolution in the specific areas, but with which the specific areas are of a higher time resolution than the balance of the transmitted image.
During the entire time of operation of the system, there is set forth a sequence of individual screens, such as M1-M9 in FIG. 3, from mosaicing camera M. As mentioned above, mosaicing camera M is positioned by automatic control to run through a sequence of different positions by which a series of small portions of the general scene G are sampled. This automatic, periodic repositioning of mosaicing camera M is performed by a control system which operates horizontal motor 50 and vertical motor 52, thereby aiming mosaicing camera M through a series of small areas of the general scene. A control system can take into account the operation of the motors 50-52 to determine the position of mosaicing camera M at any time, and thereby determine the location of a particular screen being sampled at any time, relative to the general image. According to another possible embodiment of the present invention, instead of having a single mosaicing camera M which is movable by a motion-control system, there could be provided an array of two or more stationary mosaicing cameras, each camera sampling an individual screen at a slow rate. Thus, the function of a single mosaicing camera M can be apportioned among a number of stationary cameras; it will be apparent that such an array of stationary or partially-moving cameras is an equivalent of a single mosaicing camera as shown in the illustrated embodiment. As can be seen in FIG. 4, there is an interaction between the control system, indicated as 106, which controls the motors 50-52 which aim mosaicing camera M, and the necessary patch algorithm created by any individual position of mosaicing camera M. Thus, every time mosaicing camera M moves to a predetermined position to sample one screen M1-M9, the position of the camera M is taken into account, and this position of the camera at any given time is used to determine the patch algorithm by which the composite image may be created. The combination of sampled images and patch algorithms can then be used in a mosaicing assembly program, indicated as 108.
As mentioned above, once a specific camera S1 or S2 is selected for the substitution of pixels, this substitution of pixels will be in the form of a "patch" where the pixel signals from the specific camera will be substituted into those of the composite image. In order to determine the shape of the patch, however, the relative position of the selected specific camera must be determined relative to the general camera. It is possible, given a frame of reference for the position, angle, and focal length of the selected specific camera, to calculate the dimensions of the patch shape for the substituted pixels in the composite image, in such a manner that the image from the specific camera will be least conspicuously patched into the general image. This "patch algorithm," determining the size and shape of the patch for the specific camera, can readily be turned into a list of which subset of pixels in the composite image are to be substituted with pixel signals from the specific camera. The means for determining the patch algorithm, and thus determining which pixel signals in the general camera output will be substituted with pixel signals from the selected specific camera, is shown as 104.
In a practical embodiment of the invention, replacement of pixels in the mosaic image with pixels from a specific camera will not be a simple one-for-one substitution. Because of the distortions involved in replacing a pixel from one camera with a pixel from another camera, the substituted pixel values can be derived from a function of multiple pixels from the specified camera image. The patch algorithm has to compute both the list of pixels to replace and a function to apply to the specific camera pixels to compute the replacement pixel values. For each replaced pixel, this function is generally a weighted sum of some set of pixels from the specific camera. This same technique can be applied when taking the mosaic camera images M1-M9 and fitting them into the overall image.
As can be seen in FIG. 3, for example, the individual mosaic screens M1-M9 are themselves in the form of distorted rectangles, the distortion in the illustrated rectangles being an artifact of the angular camera position relative to a center of the general scene. It will be evident that these artifacts must be taken into account in patch algorithms associated with each individual position of the mosaic camera M when it samples each mosaic screen such as M1-M9.
When the final composite image is created, that is the image comprising portions of each mosaic screen M1-M9 and at least one patched-in image from a specific camera such as S1 or S2, it will be evident that a central control system must take into account the relative position of each individual pixel in all of the mosaic screens and also in the particular patched-in image from a specific camera. A control system for managing the creation of the composite image will take into account both the relative positions of the mosaicing camera M and the selected specific camera S1 or S2, and also take into account the angular offset of the selected specific camera relative to the overall composite image from mosaicing camera M, so that the correct subset of pixels from the composite image from mosaic camera M can receive the substitute pixels from the selected specific camera. Because of the angular differences causing the distortion of the rectangles of each individual screen or patch, such a system will take into account the distortion of shape when selecting particular pixels for substitution.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the operation of a receiving station, indicated as 110, according to one embodiment of the present invention. Depending on the specific design of a system, the substitution of pixel signals from a specific camera into the pixel signals from the mosaicing camera may be performed either at the transmitter or at the receiver. If the substitution is performed at the receiver, the receiver should accept, as shown, signals from the mosaicing camera and the selected specific camera (these signals being in parallel or multiplexed as desired) and a data packet instructing which mosaicing camera pixel signals in the composite image should be replaced with specific camera pixel signals. Of course another design option which will be specific to a particular embodiment is whether the transmitter should send all of the pixel signals from the mosaicing camera (including those pixel signals which will be replaced with specific camera pixel signals) or should remove those pixel signals which will be replaced by specific camera pixel signals. The receiving station 110 recieves the streams of pixel signals and the data packet insturcting which pixels are to be subsituted, performs the substitution, and displays the final image. If the "patching" is desired to be performed at the sender, the video compression algorithm will need to be one that allows the sending of partial frame updates, by which the location of the patches will be encoded into the signal stream. If the reconstruction is at the receiver, the information about where the secondary camera images fit into the overall image is transmitted as additional data, along with other information about how to adjust for the perspective distortion.
Various techniques are known both in the art, and in the cross-referenced co-pending patent application "Device for Transcribing Images on a Board Using a Camera Based Board Scanner," to use motion-detection algorithms on the output of a camera to predict the motion of an object, such as a person, in the scene. For instance, if the person in the view of specific camera S1 moved his arm out of the range of the camera and into the area sampled by the general camera G only, for a noticeable amount of time the person's arm would "disappear" until general camera G took another sample. When the person moved his arm back into the range of the specific camera, the image of the arm that had been recorded by general camera G would appear to hang in space until general camera G took another sample. Techniques for detecting such anomalous behavior of a person or other object in the scene being recorded, such as by predicting motion outside of a range of a specific camera, can be adapted from known techniques and applied to the present invention. Once this anomalous behavior is detected, corrective actions may be provided, such as moving one or another specific camera to capture or "intercept" the motion in the scene.
While this invention has been described in conjunction with various embodiments, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations as fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims.
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|Microsoft Corporation
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|Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.
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|Kenoyer Michael L
|High definition videoconferencing system
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|David Hoerl
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|Jul 25, 2008
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|Scott Coleman
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|Mar 16, 2009
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|U.S. Classification
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|Sep 14, 2001
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 4
|Jun 28, 2002
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text:
Long posts getting truncated after submitting
Hi everyone!
This is a weird one. A highly trafficked blog I help with is starting to see posts with a lot of content getting truncated / cut off. It seems to be in the 10,000+ character range that this is most accurately reproduced. In the meantime I've suggested splitting really long posts into two separate ones – but it's not ideal, and has never been an issue before.
The environment right now is an nginx+lamp stack. The version of nginx we're using is 0.7.64. The reason I mention this is because of something I saw here.
Has anyone else run into this? The problem/symptom is that the last 2 or 3 lines of text in the post gets chopped off / truncated after every update. When the posts is split to about half its size the problem no longer occurs.
Hopefully someone can help! Thanks!
- The topic 'Long posts getting truncated after submitting' is closed to new replies.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Entrepreneurial and creative society
What does it take for Canada to be known globally as the best country in attracting and developing diverse, high-end talent?
Numerous studies have shown the positive relationship between immigration and innovation. Immigrants bring with them specialized skills and experience, diverse perspectives, international relationships and networks, and an entrepreneurial spirit. With an aging population and low birth rates, Canada will increasingly rely on immigration to ensure our labour market needs are met in the future. CPA Canada's own internal occupational demand analysis shows this to be true for our profession.
We face competition for the best and the brightest. If we are to be competitive as a destination of choice, we must do a better job of attracting talent, smoothing the integration of newcomers into the workforce and providing them with the best opportunity to succeed. We must also do a better job of processing applications with speed and certainty.
CPA Canada has provided more specific input to this matter in our submission to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada's recent online consultation, a National Conversation on Immigration.[1] Several key points are worth expanding upon in the context of Canada's innovation agenda.
The Express Entry system of managing the economic class immigration streams would benefit from further refinement. Three reforms in particular are worth consideration: a re-examination of the emphasis on youth; replacing Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs); and supporting the role of international students in meeting labour market needs.
Age is one of the criteria for awarding points in the comprehensive ranking system for Express Entry applications. Generally, it makes sense to award a greater number of points for youth – as the point structure does – because younger immigrants have more years to contribute to Canada's labour market. However, some highly specialized skills or executive-level experience can only be acquired through experience over time. The point system as currently structured unintentionally penalizes senior business executives and specialists for their wealth of experience. It also penalizes Canadian employers who need to fill particular niche roles for which suitable candidates are scarce.
This is particularly important when it comes to one of Canada's biggest innovation challenges: our struggles to grow firms to a larger scale. A 2016 study by the Lazaridis Institute examined the barriers faced by high-growth Canadian technology firms and concluded that the biggest challenge was a lack of experienced management and executive talent. In particular, respondents indicated a shortfall of executives with first-hand experience scaling up technology firms.[2] Canadian firms need access to a deeper talent pool than the country's labour supply is able to provide. Age should not preclude skilled managerial talent from consideration.
A central purpose behind Express Entry was to make Canada's economic class immigration streams more responsive to labour market needs by enabling employer demand to directly impact the selection of immigrants. As such, the offer of employment from a Canadian employer is a significant component of the Express Entry point structure. But as a report by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce illustrated, by making that offer of employment contingent on a positive LMIA, the demand-driven thrust of Express Entry has been negated by what is essentially a protectionist labour market test.[3]
The Chamber makes a well-reasoned argument to replace the LMIA, to which we will just add that the LMIA requirement adds further time, administrative compliance and uncertainty to the Express Entry application process. The resulting delays and uncertainty are felt by both Canadian employers and prospective immigrants. The most sought-after international talent has options, and delays and uncertainty in the application process make Canada less competitive.
International students enrich the learning environment in Canada's education institutions and make a substantial contribution to our economy in the process. There are sound economic reasons why Canada should position itself as the destination of choice for international students. Similarly, there are good reasons why we should look to these international students as potential future Canadians. No immigrants are better poised for success in Canada's labour market than those who already possess a Canadian education, a comfort with Canadian society, and perhaps Canadian work experience.
But once again, Express Entry has minimized the opportunities for this talent pool, or at least created more uncertainty than before the system was introduced. The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) had been a convenient and successful pathway for international students to pursue immigration to Canada. In fact, in recent years, the Canadian government had set ambitious targets for CEC in order to maximize the number of international students who chose to stay. Since CEC is one of the economic class immigration programs subject to Express Entry, international students must now be ranked based on the Express Entry point system and compete with other potential immigrants. Their Canadian education and experience does not necessarily have any additional value under the point system.
Express Entry's impact on CEC may make Canada a less desirable destination for international students in the first place. There should not be any guarantees of permanent residency offered to international students who come to Canada. However, at the same time, students should be able to realistically assess their chances of staying should they want to do so. Express Entry's point system presents a rather cloudy view, and if other international students are less successful in pursuing immigration (as early Express Entry results suggest), then Canada may appear a less attractive choice for their studies. Once again, it is a matter of competition. The best and brightest international students will choose to go to the countries that offer the best educational opportunities along with the best long-term career prospects.
- Re-evaluate the points awarded for age under Express Entry to ensure that Canadian employers are not denied access to international talent with highly valued skills and experience.
- Consider replacing the Labour Market Impact Assessment under Express Entry. If it is necessary to have a labour market test or validation of a legitimate job offer, ensure that the process is fast, efficient and clear.
- If the Canadian Experience Class must be subject to the Express Entry points system, ensure that a Canadian education and experience is valued as it is in the Canadian marketplace.
How do we work together to better equip our young people with the right skill sets for the economy of the future?
Much emphasis is placed on the need for Canada to graduate more students from the so-called STEM fields of study – science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Certainly these fields are critical for an innovation-driven economy. But just as important is the need for business graduates that have a sophisticated understanding of how to grow businesses through each stage of development, how to pursue opportunities in Canada and abroad, and how to anticipate and adapt to change.
An expert panel struck by the Council of Canadian Academies noted that STEM skills are not sufficient on their own to ensure improvements in innovation, productivity or growth. "Other skills such as leadership, creativity, adaptability, and entrepreneurial ability may be required to maximize the impact of STEM skills," their report stated.[4]
The Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity measured the specific shortfall in business skills finding that, when compared to the United States, Canada has a significant gap in the number of business degree holders. "More alarming is the lower educational attainment of those in management occupations, irrespective of field of study. Just over a third of our managers have a university degree, compared to half in the United States," the institute warned.[5]
The OECD has also noted that Canada lags its peers in the development of business and entrepreneurial skills. In addition, it identified another reason to emphasize the importance of management talent – Canadians' perceived aversion to risk and the contribution that makes to the country's commercialization gap. It suggests that more management training and higher education in general would help to address that problem:
The best way to stimulate willingness to take risk may be to boost competitive pressures and openness … and to complement this by enhanced attention to management training and diversity at all educational levels. More tertiary education in general is also needed … Canada still lags in attainment of university degrees, whereas highly educated persons are much more likely to be owners of high-growth innovative firms.[6]
In addition to developing managerial talent, we need to do a better job of instilling basic business skills in graduates of all fields. The STEM graduates who may create the products, processes and services of the future, would benefit greatly from a fundamental understanding of how to commercialize their ideas and take them successfully to market. Yet interdisciplinary studies are often discouraged or even prevented. In some cases, spaces in business classes are reserved for students in business programs, making them unavailable to students in science faculties. On the other hand, students in STEM fields may believe that focusing their studies as narrowly as possible gives them greater expertise and enhances their employability.
The OECD recommends that post-secondary education institutions include training in entrepreneurship and business skills in their science-based programs, a recommendation we endorse. Greater awareness also needs to be generated regarding the business training resources that exist beyond post-secondary institutions, such as those provided by the Forum for International Trade Training (FITT).
Business-oriented financial literacy programs can also improve basic awareness of business skills. In fact, CPA Canada and thousands of CPA volunteers deliver a range of financial literacy programs to Canadians each year. Some of those programs are targeted to entrepreneurs or operators of SMEs to provide some of the essential knowledge and skills for operating a business.
By promoting a general understanding of business and removing barriers to interdisciplinary studies, we would develop a more entrepreneurial, adaptable and innovative workforce. The possession of specialized knowledge or skills along with an understanding of how to apply them in a business environment is a combination that should be encouraged.
- Ensure that Canada's business schools are producing the sophisticated business managers needed to start, lead and grow firms into successful global players.
- Encourage more interdisciplinary study in post-secondary education to enable innovators and inventors to also have a fundamental understanding of business, finance and entrepreneurialism.
[1] To be available on CPA Canada's website at cpacanada.ca.
[2] Lazaridis Institute, Scaling Success: Tackling the Management Gap in Canada's Technology Sector, Wilfred Laurier University, March 2016.
[3] Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Immigration for a Competitive Canada: Why Highly Skilled International Talent is at Risk, January 2016.
[4] Council of Canadian Academies, 2015, Some Assembly Required: STEM Skills and Canada's Economic Productivity, Ottawa: The Expert Panel on STEM Skills for the Future, Council of Canadian Academies.
[5] Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity, Canada's Innovation Imperative: Report on Canada 2011.
[6] Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (2012), OECD Economic Surveys: Canada 2012, OECD Publishing.
Expand access to high-quality work placement opportunities
Anyone who's tried to break into the job market can tell you that most employers ask for 2-3 years of experience, even for entry-level jobs. Work placement programs, like co-ops, internships and apprenticeships, are an invaluable way for students to get real experience in the workplace to complement their technical skills, while helping defray their tuition costs and reducing the level of debt they graduate with. Making high-quality work placements available to more students will equip Canada's youth for today's (and tomorrow's) competitive labor markets. But this isn't just a matter of giving more funding to existing programs. There are serious gaps and shortfalls in the way that work placement is carried out today, which is one reason why there's such a wide disparity in outcomes from post-secondary education. The federal government has a great opportunity to fill in those gaps. By doing so, it will lay the groundwork, not just for a more productive labour force, but for a more inclusive economy.
The quality and availability of work placement programs varies greatly between fields. Students in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects can find rewarding co-op jobs at high-profile and exciting firms. Arts students, who make up the largest part of the undergraduate class at most universities, have far fewer opportunities to gain relevant and high-quality experience in the workplace than their peers in STEM fields.
Just as important, there is a huge variation in the quality of work placement positions even within the same field. Many employers use students as a source of cheap, temporary labour with no regard for their career development. Computer science students who fail to get their dream jobs at Google might find themselves working in a call center instead. Internships can be rewarding, enriching experiences- or the exact opposite, sometimes even within the same organization. Worse, it can be impossible for applicants to know what kind of experience they'll get from a given posting.
This means that students with limited financial resources can't rely on co-op programs or internships for income through their studies. They might well find that a minimum-wage job flipping burgers or stocking shelves, which offers reliable income without needing to sit through extensive interviews or buy expensive work attire, makes more financial sense than trying to find a co-op or an internship. These students are being left behind, working dead-end jobs while their better-off peers compete for plum assignments.
The intense competition for the best work placements means that they're likely to go to financially secure students who are highly motivated, have good interpersonal skills, and who are studying high-demand subjects- in other words, the same people who would probably be able to find a good job after graduation no matter what.
To expand students' access to high-quality work placement programs, the Government of Canada should:
- Encourage employers to use work placement programs for fields and occupations that so far have been under-represented;
- Facilitate new or reformed work placement programs to better meet the needs of employers in fields that traditionally haven't employed students;
- Ensure that work placement offerings are aligned with the future job prospects of graduates, so that every student has the ability to launch their career with a work placement opportunity;
- Create programs aimed at students who are a poor fit for traditional work placement opportunities, such as those with language deficits, disabilities, or those who lack developed interpersonal skills for the workplace;
- Ensure that employers are open and transparent in their job postings about the type of position they are offering, the scope of work, the degree of responsibility, and the skills the experience will foster; and,
- If necessary, amend existing programs to prevent employers from posting jobs that do not provide a valuable experience to students.
Embrace Skilled Labour Mobility
We should design and develop programs that promote young Canadians to gain experience in other nations and establish CDN's to secure global experience.
We should also make efforts to recruit successful Canadians working abroad to return to Canada to share their knowledge and experience.
We should also encourage companies to bring in foreign experts and leaders to work within their Canadian operations. For each of these people we will transfer knowledge to numerous more Canadians.
Four Ideas to Grow Innovative Talent
Canada needs a talent strategy for growth. Within our publicly-funded post-secondary institutions, we need to focus federal supports to produce "made-in-Canada" talent: the highly qualified and skilled workers that Canadian businesses and organizations seek. Without better labour market forecasting, Canada cannot build an inclusive talent pool for the 21st century workplace. We present four ideas below:
- Direct Statistics Canada to create, deliver and disseminate high-quality, current, relevant and comparable labour market information.
This information will benefit learners and employers and encourage informed choices about careers and jobs by providing data on skills-in-demand, employment outcomes by education type, demand for work-integrated learning, apprenticeship completion rates
2. Create a Youth Entrepreneur Seed Fund to support students enrolled in post-secondary institutions to acquire vital entrepreneurial skills.
Polytechnics and colleges offer many services, courses and centres to help young entrepreneurs. Current federal support for young entrepreneurs exists as repayable loans only; we propose a grant program for students working under the guidance of an instructor or mentor.
3. Create an innovation-focused internship program connecting polytechnic and college undergraduate students with firms and non-profit organizations.
This work-integrated learning initiative will build applied research and innovation skills, as well as enhance graduate employment outcomes, while also addressing employer need for workers with innovation skills.
4. Expand existing research talent programs at the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) to increase participation by polytechnic and college students.
Evidence shows that real-world research is conducted by collaborative teams, across the credential spectrum. Yet, programs designed to mentor the next generation of researchers are primarily open to graduate and post-doctoral researchers because of a narrow interpretation of terms and conditions. These programs should include the talent produced by polytechnics and colleges.
A polytechnic education builds resilient and resourceful workers for the 21st century economy. These talented learners should be included in any government action for equipping youth with entrepreneurial and creative skills.
Allowing easier and faster access to human resources to help SMEs innovate
- Streamline temporary and permanent immigration programs to allow easier and faster access to human resources to help with innovation. Recent changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program are a step in the right direction in helping employers deal with labour shortages, and we hope the government's review of the program will result in effective changes to the program;
- Ensure that the number of economic migrants allowed into Canada is not reduced so that employers can continue to access the skilled workers they require.
* For full list of recommendations, see attached CFIB report on SMEs and innovation, Beyond the Big Idea: Redefining and Rethinking the Innovation Agenda
Bringing manufacturing back to Canada
There is a lack of manufacturing in Canada due to high labour costs which could, however, be off set with tax breaks. There should be initiatives in bringing back manufacturing to Canada. The infrastructures of the Canadian railways need to be updated in order to keep up with the growth of our country. We are a country who imports a lot due to the lack of manufacturing, so having railways who are able to get products across the country more effectively would help our country's growth as a whole. The improvement of our railways would also create jobs across Canada.


text:
TUSCALOOSA | Dr. Michael Gerard Poist, age 42, of 4633 Brook Highland Lane, died November 5, 2003, in Albany, Georgia. Services will be held Saturday, November 8, 2003 at 10:00 a.m. at Holy Spirit Catholic Church. Father Ray Dunmyer and Father Gerald Holloway officiating. Burial will follow in Tuscaloosa Memorial Park. Visitation is tonight from 5:30 - 8 p.m. at St. Francis Catholic Church with a 7:00 p.m. Wake Service. Tuscaloosa Memorial Chapel Funeral Home directing.
Survivors include spouse, Virginia "Ginny" Spacek Poist, daughters, Brittany Nicole Poist, Lauren Michael Poist, Alexandra Christine Poist, sister, Andrea Poist Evans and husband Jason Evans, their daughter Isabella Grace, brother, Dr. James Edward Poist, wife Pam and their children Anna Marie, Courtney, Mason, parents, Joseph E. Poist and Rosalie K. Poist, mother-in-law, Margaret Spacek, sister-in-law, Holly Schadewald and husband Rich, niece, Kristina Lynn Whitman.
Born in Williamsburg, Va. Oct. 19, 1961. Birmingham-Southern College, BS, graduated Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, University of Alabama School of Medicine, MD. Residency training at UAB. Joined the practice of Partlow, Harbin & Poist OB-GYN in Tuscaloosa 13 years ago. St. Francis Catholic Church where he served on the Parish Council and as a lectern. Last year, he served as president of the medical staff executive committee at DCH and was instrumental in the renovation of the Women's Center which he served as chief medical consultant. He served on the board of directors of Hospice, Executive board of University of Alabama School of Nursing, DCH Foundation board. Founder of the community information program, "Can We Talk?" for adolescents. Listed in Birmingham Magazine's Best Docs.
Beloved son, husband, brother, father, uncle, friend and doctor, "Dr. Mike," was surrounded in death, as he was in life, with family and friends. There was nothing more important to him than being with Ginny and his girls.
He was known for his compassion, zest for life and his deep devotion to his family and patients. Mike's strong faith guided him daily. He often quoted a phrase his mother taught him, "Let go and let God."
Pallbearers will be Dr. Jim Poist, Jason Evans, Phillip Wright, David Cordes, Dr. George Kurdirka, Bruce Boswell, Mike Chappell, Greg McDonald, John Kontos, Rich Schadewald.
Honorary pallbearers are Dr. Karl Harbin, Dr. David Partlow, Jr., Dr. Steve Madden, Dr. W. O. Fitzpatrick, Bill Cassells, Bryan Kindred, Barbara Jacobs, Shelia McCool, Fred Klunk, extended family, friends and church community, staff and nurses at Partlow, Harbin and Poist OB-GYN and nurses and staff at DCH Regional Medical Center.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to Hospice of West Alabama.