Innovation Canada: A Call to Action

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Innovation Canada: A Call to Actioncompanies address commercializationchallenges by turning those challenges intostudent-led applied research problems. Collegesand polytechnics also directly assist firms withtheir innovation needs — this is the case, forexample, with the long-standing CollegeCentres for the Transfer of Technologiesassociated with Quebec colleges and Cégeps,which assist innovative companies throughtechnical support, technological development,and information and training (see alsoFigure 2.6). Government laboratories,meanwhile, conduct science in support ofpublic policy mandates as well is in relation tocertain commercially oriented activities.Innovation Input:Talented, Educated andEntrepreneurial PeopleCanada’s future as an innovation-basedeconomy depends on ensuring there aresufficient numbers of talented, educated andentrepreneurial people. The primary source ofsuch talent is our public post-secondaryeducation institutions — the universities,polytechnics and community colleges (includingCégeps in Quebec) that produce the innovatorsand those who support innovative activity. Theseinstitutions are primarily funded through theprovinces, although the federal governmentplays a role through transfer payments, studentfinancial assistance and direct support forresearch training and innovation skillsenhancements. The diversity of highereducation institutions with varying missions andmandates provides Canada with the highlyqualified and skilled people who are thebedrock of innovation. Each of these postsecondaryeducation institutions has a uniquerole to play, producing workers for differentcomponents of the innovation ecosystem. Ouruniversity graduate programs produce theadvanced Master’s and PhD degree holders whocan contribute breakthrough ideas that canensure companies stay at the cutting edge ofR&D; our universities and colleges produceBachelor’s degree holders who are often thefront-line innovation performers; and ourcolleges produce technicians and technologiststo facilitate the commercialization efforts ofthe firm. 1It is the interplay among these complementarytypes of talent that builds an innovationeconomy. Since Canada’s innovation gap ispartly an education gap, improving our globalperformance will require the right mix in boththe quantity and quality of talent. This demandsa collaborative approach that brings togetherour post-secondary institutions, federal andprovincial agencies as well as industry and otherpartners to ensure appropriate recruitment,training and deployment for industrialinnovation needs. While Canada ranks first inthe OECD for the percentage of its populationwith post-secondary attainment, it is middle ofthe pack in baccalaureate output and near thebottom for the number of doctoral graduatesper capita. It is nevertheless encouraging thatthe growth in the number of doctoral degreesgranted in Canada has been stronger —particularly in science and engineering — thanin most comparable countries over the 2005–08period, helping to improve our relative position(STIC 2011).The earnings advantage of individuals withadvanced degrees (relative to high schoolgraduates) is less pronounced in Canada than inthe US (Institute for Competitiveness &1 Canada’s rich and diverse landscape of about 250 post-secondary institutions includes 152 colleges, of which about 48 areCégeps in Quebec, some are degree granting, some are known as institutes of technology and some are known aspolytechnics. Many colleges are emerging actors in downstream innovation near the commercialization activities of smalland medium-sized enterprises. There are 95 universities throughout Canada, many of which have world-class researchcapabilities.2-14
The Context of the ReviewProsperity 2010, p. 35). This is one indicator ofrelatively weaker demand by businesses inCanada for people with advanced degrees, anda situation consistent with a weakercommitment to innovation-based strategies byCanadian businesses. Statistics Canada hasfound that up to a fifth of doctoral graduatesintend to leave Canada following completion oftheir degrees (Desjardins and King 2011). Whenthey go, these graduates take with themknowledge and skills that could contribute to amore innovative and prosperous future forCanada.Students learn not only through traditionalclassroom experiences, but also through handsonresearch experience that exposes them to therealities of the business world and teaches theprofessional and entrepreneurship skills neededto fully contribute to their eventual workplaces.Employers see programs that encourage postsecondarystudent participation in researchprojects with business as having a number ofbenefits, including (i) the chance to identify thebest recruits, (ii) the ability to influence curriculato be more industry-relevant, (iii) exposure tonew ideas and specialized equipment ineducational institutions and (iv) access to aflexible workforce.While domestic production of innovationworkers is an imperative, demographic realitiesdictate that this is not sufficient to meet theexpected industry demand; by some estimates,within 20 years there could be almost twomillion vacancies for skilled knowledge workersin Ontario alone (Miner 2010). An immigrationsystem that targets necessary skill sets presentsCanada with an opportunity to leverage theskills, insights and entrepreneurial talents ofthose born in other countries who come toCanada.Innovation Input:Networks, Collaborationsand LinkagesCollaboration among businesses, governmentsand the higher education sector can contributeimportantly to the conception and successfulintroduction of new products and processes.Businesses develop strategic partnerships inorder to connect to global knowledge flows,share research results and R&D risks, pool skilledstaff, commercialize inventions and help toaccess new markets. As a result, social andphysical infrastructure linking collaborators andsupporting networks are important for businessinnovation.Effective collaboration between the businessand higher education sectors depends onlinking the “supply-push” of research anddiscoveries with the “demand-pull” of firmsseeking to exploit the commercial potential ofnew ideas. As depicted schematically inFigure 2.6, this involves not only firms,universities, colleges and polytechnics, but alsoa spectrum of intermediary players that belongto an innovation “ecosystem” characterized byeffective synergies, connections, and flows ofknowledge and ideas. This is a complex mix,not least because of diverging incentives andorganizational cultures among differentinstitutions. These intermediary actors includethe following:technology transfer offices, which providesupport to help bring university-generatedresearch and intellectual property to thecommercial sphere (others also perform thisfunction, such as the Centres of Excellencefor Commercialization and Research)college applied research offices, throughwhich colleges and polytechnics supportfirms with solutions for their specificcommercialization needs2-15
Page 1 and 2: Innovation Canada:A Call to ActionR
Page 3 and 4: Innovation Canada:A Call to Action
Page 5: Dear Minister,Please find attached
Page 8 and 9: Innovation Canada: A Call to Action
Page 35 and 36: The Context of the ReviewChapterThe
Page 37 and 38: The Context of the Reviewspreads wi
Page 39 and 40: The Context of the ReviewBox 2.2 De
Page 41 and 42: The Context of the ReviewIn absolut
Page 43 and 44: The Context of the ReviewInnovation
Page 45 and 46: The Context of the Reviewdevelopmen
Page 47: The Context of the ReviewBox 2.4 Wh
Page 51 and 52: The Context of the ReviewFigure 2.6
Page 53: The Context of the Review%115110105
Page 69 and 70: Vision and PrinciplesChapterVision
Page 71 and 72: Vision and Principlesout in Chapter
Page 73 and 74: Program EffectivenessChapterProgram
Page 75 and 76: Program Effectivenessand processes.
Page 77 and 78: Program Effectivenessfull spectrum
Page 79 and 80: Program EffectivenessFigure 5.2 Rea
Page 81 and 82: Program EffectivenessFigure 5.4 Sat
Page 83 and 84: Program EffectivenessBox 5.1 Operat
Page 85 and 86: Program Effectivenessassessment of
Page 87 and 88: Program EffectivenessFigure 5.5 Dir
Page 89 and 90: Program EffectivenessFigure 5.6 Per
Page 91 and 92: Program Mix and DesignChapterProgra
Page 93 and 94: Program Mix and DesignBox 6.1 Direc
Page 95 and 96: Program Mix and Designthe needs of
Page 97 and 98: Program Mix and DesignFigure 6.3 Ta
Page 99 and 100:
Program Mix and DesignBox 6.3 Stack
Page 101 and 102:
Program Mix and Designcapital costs
Page 103 and 104:
Program Mix and Designportion of th
Page 105 and 106:
Filling the GapsChapterFilling the
Page 107 and 108:
Filling the GapsBox 7.1 Use of Proc
Page 109 and 110:
Filling the GapsBox 7.2 Canadian In
Page 111 and 112:
Filling the Gapscompetitive levels,
Page 113 and 114:
Filling the GapsBox 7.4 Institutes
Page 115 and 116:
Filling the GapsThe budgetary impli
Page 117 and 118:
Filling the GapsSuch concerns are i
Page 119 and 120:
Filling the GapsAngel InvestmentAt
Page 121 and 122:
Filling the GapsWith the foregoing
Page 123 and 124:
Filling the GapsBearing this in min
Page 125 and 126:
Leadership for InnovationChapterLea
Page 127 and 128:
Leadership for InnovationThe approp
Page 129 and 130:
Leadership for Innovationinnovation
Page 131 and 132:
ConclusionChapterConclusion9We are
Page 133 and 134:
Programs in the ReviewAnnexPrograms
Page 135:
Programs in the ReviewDepartment or
Page 138 and 139:
Innovation Canada: A Call to Action
Page 140 and 141:
Page 142 and 143:
Page 144 and 145:
Page 146 and 147:
Page 148:
show all

Innovation Canada: A Call to Action

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?