Beyond RIM: Innovating in K-W. The Waterloo region glittered on Ontario’s innovation economy map for more than a decade as Research in Motion led the world in smartphone and other digital breakthroughs. But after several rounds of layoffs at RIM, does the region’s star shine as brightly? The Agenda looks at the impact the shift in RIM’s fortunes has had on the local innovation economy and how its ecosystem aims to thrive rather than survive.