Editorial - 27-6

Expect the federal government to make a big splash when it unveils the transformed National Research Council this spring as a key innovation engine and facilitator of increased productivity. The NRC has been restructuring itself for the past two years, and while some details have emerged, the government and the NRC itself have been tight-lipped about exactly how the organization will operate.

Needless to say, the changes are profound and have prompted a diversity of responses both within and outside the NRC. Major personnel changes, the elimination of institutes and the closure of some operations are considered heresy by some and long overdue measures by others.

And presiding over it all is president John McDougall, the former president of the Alberta Research Council who was summoned to Ottawa to execute what is arguably the biggest shake-up of a major S&T organization in generations. In an interview with RE$EARCH MONEY (see lead article), McDougall was blunt in his assessment of the NRC he found when he arrived in 2010 and adamant that the status quo was no longer an option in the 21st Century.

He's right of course but only time will tell whether the changes he's enacteing are the right ones to prepare Canada for the increasing tough environment in which it must navigate. The government has maintained and even increased the NRC?budget to fortify its programs for the battles it will inevitably wage to engage industry in ways that benefit Canada's economy and well-being.