Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Waterloo launches WatSPEED to support the workforce of the future

The University of Waterloo is launching WatSPEED, a new unit that aims to transform lifelong learning and professional education to support the workforce of the future.  

WatSPEED will provide non-credit professional education that enables industry professionals to keep pace with emerging technologies and understand their impact on businesses, economies, the environment and societies. Through made-by-Waterloo programs, businesses, corporations and institutions will be able to retain, upskill and prepare their workforce for a dynamic and disruptive future. 

This work will help support Canada’s economic recovery and the sustainability of Canada’s workplaces. With WatSPEED, Waterloo will be at the forefront of a new approach to lifelong learning, helping the leaders of today and tomorrow navigate an ever-changing environment. 

"With WatSPEED, organizations can partner with the University of Waterloo to create custom professional development content to equip their workforce to stay competitive and continuously evolve to keep pace with technological, societal, economic and environmental disruption," said Sanjeev Gill, associate vice-president, innovation and executive director, WatSPEED at the University of Waterloo.

"WatSPEED is a unique approach to providing relevant education that will prepare professionals for a complex future. It will build on Waterloo’s foundation of academic excellence and strong ties to industry to help create a future-proof workforce." 

Waterloo’s expertise will be at the forefront of WatSPEED’s programming, with content developed and delivered by Waterloo faculty members. These programs will extend the educational impact of the university beyond its traditional boundaries to reach learners in the working world. In particular, WatSPEED will draw upon Waterloo’s strengths to provide a unique education at the intersection of business and technology, targeted at segments of the workforce that need upskilling and training the most. 

WatSPEED’s programming will be developed in partnership with industry, emphasizing the critical skills that are necessary for mid-career professionals and executives to remain relevant and thrive. Industry partners bring valuable knowledge and insight about skills gaps in the market, and they will help promote and deliver these programs to the workforce. In turn, WatSPEED will help organizations future-proof mid-career professionals and business leaders so they can adapt, compete and thrive through change. 

In partnership with CPA Ontario, WatSPEED is launching its inaugural certificate this October, the Digital Certificate in Predictive Analytics for CPAs. This course combines the expertise of Waterloo’s School of Accounting and Finance, with the professional standards of CPA Ontario, and is customized to meet the specific needs of the CPA.  

“This partnership with Waterloo gives our members the opportunity to access learning to further develop the skills to meet the demands in a disrupted and fast-changing environment,” says Craig Smith, executive vice-president of member and student services, CPA Ontario. “And with the creation of this unique digital certificate in partnership with SAF and WatSPEED, we will better prepare our profession for the next frontier of business.” 

Sustainability Office updates its Sustainability Guide

The University of Waterloo's Sustainability Office has launched an updated version of its Sustainability Guide. Replacing the previous guide from 2017, the new interactive guide contains updated information and resources to help students, faculty and staff live sustainably.

The guide is divided into two parts:

1. Learn: This section introduces various topics related to sustainability (climate change, fashion, equity and more). There are resources to learn more and tips for implementing sustainable actions in your life as they relate to each topic.
2. Explore: This section curates diverse resources to enhance your sustainability efforts, including blogs, podcasts, documentaries, job/volunteering opportunities and more. 

"The Sustainability Office developed the Sustainability Guide to help you live a sustainable lifestyle, whether you are new to sustainable living or looking for ways to improve your current sustainable behaviours," says the guide's landing page.

The guide is available now at uwaterloo.ca/sustainability/guide.

New study charts Canada's 20-year journey towards opioid crisis

This article was originally featured on Waterloo News.

A new study looking at national opioid mortality, hospitalization and emergency department visits in Canada has found a nearly six-fold increase in opioid-related deaths between 2000 and 2017.

The study by University of Waterloo researchers is the first publication to assess the growth of Canadian opioid-related deaths during this time period at a national level. Researchers used comprehensive national databases and discovered two distinct trends in opioid-related mortality. First, the number of Canadians dying because of opioid use steadily increased from 2000-2015. Second, after 2015, opioid-related mortality increased rapidly.

“In 2016, the Public Health Agency of Canada began collating data on opioid-related mortality,” said Wasem Alsabbagh, a pharmacy professor at Waterloo and lead author on the study. “We had some understanding of trends at the provincial level prior to 2016, but no comprehensive picture of trends across the country. Our research fills this gap in Canada’s opioid mortality reporting by examining trends nationally from 2000 to 2017.”

The researchers looked at death databases maintained by Statistics Canada. They used data from all provinces and territories, examining all opioid-related death. In addition, opioid use that led to hospitalizations or emergency department visit were captured using data from the Canadian Institute of Health Information. Alsabbagh and the research team analyzed the data using computer modelling to identify patterns.

Twenty Canadians died of opioid-related causes for every million people in 2000. By 2017, that number increased to 118.3 and there was a rapid growth of 52 per cent between 2016 and 2017. Current estimates from the Public Health Agency of Canada lead the researchers to suspect that the number of deaths per million Canadians is much higher today, especially given the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study identified significant regional variations both in opioid mortality rates and hospitalizations. British Columbia and Alberta had the highest mortality rates and hospitalizations, followed by Ontario, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The lowest were observed in New Brunswick, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island. The study also links information from numerous databases, allowing for new observations about trends in specific circumstances.

“We saw a significant increase in the percentage of all-cause mortality – dying from any cause – in those discharged after an opioid-related hospitalization,” said Alsabbagh. “Between 2000 and 2011, the percentage of all-cause mortality went up from 3.9 per cent to 7.4 per cent one year after being discharged from an opioid-related hospitalization. This tells us we need to provide more robust substance use disorder treatments for those who survive opioid-related hospitalizations.”

The large scope of the project – examining nearly 20 years of medical administrative data – required an interdisciplinary team, which included Alsabbagh, Feng Chang, Martin Cooke, Susan J. Elliott and Meixi Chen. The study was published in the journal Addiction.

Tuesday's notes

Plant Operations has announced that beginning Monday, July 5 Steed and Evans will be doing work at the intersection of the Grand River Transit bus terminal and the Ring Road to allow for a bus turn at this intersection by the ION rail line. Traffic will be maintained and a traffic control plan is in place. The work will take approximately 2 weeks to complete.

The Games Institute will be running a virtual seminar event on July 14 on therapeutic gaming. The Therapeutic Gaming seminar aims to foster discussions among scholars, designers, healthcare professionals and enthusiasts, covering various game design aspects, scientific achievements, and various tips and tricks for commercialization. This event with consist of a panel discussion and Q&A of 3 industry experts working in digital therapeutics.

Information about the event and a registration link can be found on the Games Institute website at https://uwaterloo.ca/games-institute/events/virtual-seminar-therapeutic-gaming.