ISTPCanada marks successful first year of operation

Trilateral discussions, student internship exchanges and a match-making service for small Canadian and Indian firms are just a few of the innovations that emerged in the first year of International Science and Technology Partnerships Canada (ISTPCanada) Inc.

The novel organization's initial achievements were recently celebrated in Ottawa with the release of ISTPCanada's first annual report. It contains tangible evidence that the modest funding it receives from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) is having a major impact in fostering bilateral and even trilateral S&T collaboration between Canada, China, India, Israel and Brazil.

Advancing collaboration with China was highlighted by the first-ever Canada-China-Israel roundtable on agricultural technologies. The so-called Tangling meeting has been a success with another planned for mid 2009, to advance the overall objective of establishing a trilateral centre of excellence in agricultural and agri-food research. The collaboration has also established a template for more multi-lateral initiatives, with several to be rolled out in the coming months.

Activities with India also yielded important breakthroughs, including a unique match-making service for Indian and Canadian firms seeking partnering opportunities or intelligence on competition within a firm's technology niche. More recently, the two nations have established a student internship exchange program involving several partners including the MITACS Network of Centres of Excellence, the British Columbia government, Western Economic Diversification and India's Department of Biotechnology. ISTPCanada's first year also saw the establishment of a Canada-Brazil program with initial activity anticipated in the coming weeks.

ISTPCanada also took on the role of the official delivery agency for the Canada-California Strategic Innovation Partnership. It is managing the initial call for proposals which will allocate US$2 million towards the development of formal proposals for bilateral research collaboration.

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