Investing in applied research: Innovation, productivity and the R&D continuum

Analysis

By Dr Robert Luke

If Canada is to compete in the global innovation economy, we must increase and improve our capacity for innovation and productivity. To do this we need to take research from ideas to invoice: we must craft an Innovation Policy that encourages firms to invest in R&D and provides an "any point of contact" entry to link industry with our postsecondary institutions (PSIs).

Canada's colleges and polytechnics are stepping up to meet these challenges by working with established and complementary research centres to engage industry, our students and our faculty. This multi-stakeholder approach to solving industrial problems is resulting in a measurable impact on productivity. But much work remains to be done in this vein, and funding provided to support it, to help Canada realize its innovation potential.

Like our OECD counterparts, Canada measures R&D three ways: basic research, applied research, and experimental development. As a country we do very well at basic research; we have been less successful at realizing later-stage commercialization. Applied research and experimental development need stronger coordination and increased funding to help bring basic research — "disruptive innovations" — to market, and to support firms with incremental innovations in their sectors. We also require marketing support to get the word out to industry that they can access PSIs to help them innovate.

The recent Conference Board of Canada report Innovation Catalysts and Accelerators: The Impact of Ontario Colleges' Applied Research, offers important information on the complementary role that colleges and polytechnics play in the Canadian innovation system. This includes encouraging industry to invest in R&D, something Canadian firms do not do on par with our international counterparts. Correcting the imbalance between Canada's high per capita spending on R&D funded through higher education and the lack of spending by the private sector is key to arresting our slide into lowered productivity and innovation capacity.

Canadian colleges and polytechnics are key enablers of the innovation economy. We work with industry partners and universities to boost knowledge translation and commercialization. Our educational programs are enhanced by applied research conducted in concert with industry partners, mobilizing our faculty, students and facilities to assist industry in new product prototyping, development, and testing. Our impact supports the diffusion of innovation, as we fill in the parts that are not currently well supported in Canada — the applied research and commercialization-focused "last mile" services industry innovation needs.

Colleges and polytechnics offer value creation for industry and basic research ideas seeking market entry. Polytechnic and college applied research support industry problem-solving in ways that are complementary to established, discovery-based research institutions. We focus on market pull — industry pulls expertise from the applied research sector, in contrast to basic research which supports the push of ideas from lab to market. Both are necessary components of a high functioning innovation system. The key for college applied research is instrumentality: the intentional application of applied research and innovation services to innovation needs and contexts.

By directly involving our students in applied research we promote innovation literacy, producing graduates who have research, problem solving, leadership and entrepreneurial skills, along with the ability to recognize innovation in work contexts. This is in addition to the job-ready skills of our graduates. Fostering innovation literacy in our graduates is a key differentiator of the college and polytechnic advantage.

Our graduates emerge from programs that are linked directly to industry workforce needs. These graduates are not only content experts in their fields of choice, but also expert learners. Graduates with innovation literacy embody current technological capability and have a multiplier effect on the potential for innovation arising from the mobility of skilled personnel within and across industries.

Of particular importance to all PSIs is how well we prepare the next generation of talent for entrepreneurial and innovation activities. Typically in Canada we measure the effects of student engagement in R&D by counting highly qualified personnel (HQP), primarily graduate students. We must broaden and expand this to include undergraduate students to reflect highly qualified and skilled personnel (HQSP). This allows for the deployment of the larger potential associated with an entire work force engaged in innovation capacity development. Graduate degree holders represent less than 5% of our population.

We need innovation literacy at all levels of the work force. Canada's productivity and innovation challenges demand of us a consolidated approach to improving the innovation capacity of all workers in all sectors of the economy. The diffusion of innovation starts with engaging the next generation of workers, all of whom must be agile and adept agents of innovation no matter their work context or educational terminus.

It is time to modernize the Canadian postsecondary environment and create a national innovation system that clearly articulates universities, polytechnics and colleges. This new national system will be receptive to industry engagement, and will foster innovation literacy at all levels of HQSP. Doing so will achieve a threefold return on investment:

* A Return on Interest from basic research that provokes thought and ideas, leading to disruptive innovations through long term research investment;

* A Return on Innovation from applied research that increases industry R&D spending and our collective capacity to innovate, leading to improved productivity; and

* A Return on Investment from experimental development through the creation of new products and processes and through the training of students, who enter the workforce ready to innovate.

College and polytechnic applied research plays a key role in strengthening our national capacity to innovate. Applied research enhances business investment in R&D and competitiveness. Our goal is common to all who are involved in the innovation economy: increasing social and economic productivity in Canada.

Dr Robert Luke is assistant VP Research and Innovation at George Brown College and chair of the Polytechnics Canada Research Group. rluke@georgebrown.ca