A Toronto-based insurance company has announced that it is opening a new location in the city, inspired by the innovative spirit of Silicon Valley.
Sun Life is opening what it calls a digital lab this September in the new space along One York Street.
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“We’re going to have pretty much one entire floor that will be state-of-the-art lab facilities and it’s going to be defined in a way that’s going to spark innovation,” Sun Life chief digital technology officer Alice Thomas told IT World Canada News.
“Every year the executive team goes to Silicon Valley and you get the idea of how these innovation labs are set up. You don’t have to mimic it all, but you get some ideas of how it’s set up.”
The new location will serve as a part of Sun Life’s new headquarters; it is the fourth such digital lab for the company, with other labs located at India, Waterloo, and another Toronto office. The labs serve as innovation spaces where the company can bring together its IT teams and business leaders to work on projects using an agile methodology.
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“The lab is a great place to try things, you’re not on a time limit,” Thomas explained.
She added that between 30% and 40% of Sun Life’s new projects are applying agile delivery methodology – most of which are digital projects with client-facing attributes.
“They’re sort of unknown when it starts, so you need teams to come together and collaborate,” Thomas said.
The new location meets LEED certification, and features deep water cooling (drawing water from Lake Ontario) to keep the interiors of the facility cool, saving on cooling costs.
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