Communications Research Centre carves out global niches of excellence

Rawat stepping down this month

When Dr Veena Rawat steps down as president of the Communications Research Centre (CRC) later this month, the veteran scientist and administrator leaves a key federal agency that has carved out niches of global excellence with a budget that has remained largely stagnant over the past several years. As Industry Canada's R&D arm for satellite and terrestrial communication technologies, the CRC supports vibrant research programs in areas considered critical to the future of the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.

After nearly 30 years with Industry Canada (and its predecessor, the Department of Communications) Rawat was appointed CRC's executive VP in 2003, succeeding Gerry Turcotte as president in 2004. Her tenure has been defined by the rapid convergence of wireline, wireless, telecom and broadcast technologies, increasing global competition and stronger formal linkages between CRC and Industry Canada.

Since her arrival, Rawat worked to ensure that the technical requirements of its public and private sector clients were being met while raising the visibility of the CRC internationally. With a research staff of nearly 250, CRC has worked extensively on technical issues and applications underpinning a wide range of application areas, spectrum allocation, software defined radio, green ICT, cyber security and public safety and networking. Test beds have been established to validate and showcase applications, with considerable success in the areas of e-health, e-learning and e-music.

"Over the last five or six years CRC has become a centre of excellence in several areas including MIMO (multiple-input and multiple-output smart antenna technology) and software defined radio," says Rawat. "We're now looking at new areas like greener ICT … Every year we look at what our strategic priorities are … There are a lot of questions about the relevancy of our programs and if they are not relevant we taper them off."

Decisions on R&D programs once made by a board of directors are now made by a recently created advisory council chaired by Helen McDonald, ADM for Industry Canada's spectrum, information technologies and telecommunications (SITT) sector of which CRC is a part. The new council is comprised of representatives from Industry Canada, client departments and agencies and companies such as Research In Motion Ltd, COM DEV International Ltd, Amika Mobile Corp and Shaw Media (formerly Canwest Broadcasting).

"The board continued when I joined in 2003 but then there was a change in the operation of CRC. It was more and more integrated with Industry Canada, plus the technology was moving so fast," says Rawat. "It's a brand new technology council and we've created four technology panels managed by our VPs and they meet three or four times a year."

CRC is also active in technology transfer and commercialization, with a successful incubation facility for start-ups and small firms that remains in demand even in the wake of the telecom downturn.

"CRC is one of the top federal labs in terms of tech transfer (but) it's not just the financial aspect. It's our transfer of technology helping industry that has a domino effect."

A new report on CRC's economic impact conducted by Doyletech Corp shows that, as of 2010, there are 54 active CRC spin-offs that generated FY10 revenues of $2.6 billion, generated $500 million in taxes and employed nearly 8,000 people. Licencing and contract R&D revenue between 1990 and 2009 totalled $45 million.

Having a nimble and responsive management structure has proven particularly valuable to the CRC in recent years as fiscal pressures have resulted in relatively stagnant core funding from Industry Canada. Industry Canada's support for CRC has been reduced by $2 million to $3 million in recent years, alleviated somewhat by $5 million received through the government's economic stimulus program which directed $250 million to upgrade federal laboratories.

fiscal balancing act

Constrained resources have limited the R&D the organization is able to pursue, requiring constant input from all players to ensure that research efforts are properly targeted and focus on current and future needs. With the government's current focus on expenditure restraint, it's unlikely CRC will see any significant budget increases, making careful management of resources an ongoing priority.

"It's absolutely one of the priorities but I think there are opportunities in CRC to see how we can meet some of the fiscal challenges without significantly downgrading its R&D program or its reputation as a world class research organization. I managed it and I'm sure my successor will do it better," says Rawat. "One of my challenges has been to navigate this organization by balancing what is needed for R&D, what's needed for corporate and what's needed for campus operations ... The balancing act has been there because the government has been going through this period of fiscal restraint and I expect it will continue."

international recognition

Rawat's success is managing CRC's finances and coordinating Canada's efforts with other countries led to her nomination as the head of the Radiocommunication Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R). While her bid was unsuccessful, Rawat says the experience was invaluable, allowing her to learn more about the regulatory processes of other countries and the individuals driving policy internationally. It also left her with a desire to remain active in the ICT sector on the international stage.

"The fact that I was running for the ITU, I was planning to be active in the field. That's still my plan. I'm very much interested in moving the technology forward, whether it's from the R&D environment, an international forum or helping our industry," says Rawat, adding that she will take some time before making any decisions. "I want to contribute. That's the main objective."

Rawat also plans to continue her work encouraging women and young people in general to consider working in the communications sector.

"That's been my night job, working with them through formal mentoring, helping with resumes, pushing resumes to colleagues in the federal government. I do that on a regular basis."

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