High aspirations, soft targets

The Liberal government is taking to the road this summer to consult on its new Innovation Agenda with the goal of producing an action plan by the fall. The consultation phase will feature round-table discussions led by a group of innovation leaders sourced from all sectors including not-for-profits and social entrepreneurs (see chart page 2).

The government hopes to recapture momentum that was lost in the previous decade and a half. Driven by "a vision to build Canada as a global centre of innovation", the initiative will be led by Industry, Science and Economic Development (ISED) minister Nav-deep Bains, with support from Kirsty Duncan, minister of Science and Bardish Chagger, minister of Small Business and Tourism.

In announcing the consultation, the government outlined its direction with a six-point agenda to frame discussions (see chart page 2), encompassing clean tech, science excellence, the digital economy, innovation clusters and the scaling up of promising tech firms. An interactive website will be launched in the coming weeks to flesh out the agenda and serve as a forum for discussion and comment.

Days before the launch of the Innovation Agenda, ISED also announced that Duncan would oversee a promised review of federal support for fundamental science led by an expert panel (see chart page 2). Chaired by Dr David Naylor — former Univ of Toronto president and author of a recent Health Canada-commissioned report on the future of healthcare innovation (R$, July 29/15) — the review will feed into the Innovation Agenda, which is expected to be a major focus in the next federal Budget.

While some of the agenda's aspirational goals are new, many have been part of previous attempts to kick-start Canada's innovative economy. In his speech announcing the agenda, Bains resurrected former finance minister Paul Martin's goal of moving Canadian R&D into the top five globally (R$, October 2/00), albeit in the form of a question.

"Among 34 of the world's most advanced economies, Canada ranks 22nd in business spending on R&D. What would it take for our businesses to move into the top five? How can we mobilize government and the rest of society to support this incredibly ambitious goal?" stated Bains. "We don't need another report on what our challenges are. We need fresh ideas and a joint action plan that will make innovation a national priority. It's time to take action to put Canada on a firm path to long-term economic growth."

Coincidentally, the launch of the Innovation Agenda overlaps with yet another report on innovation by Dr Andrei Sulzenko, former senior ADM policy at Industry Canada and a key leader in the 2002 innovation agenda. His newest report, Canada's Innovation Conundrum: Five Years After the Jenkins Report, examines the Canadian innovation landscape and recommends structural and policy changes to help place innovation at the heart of federal economic strategy (see page 3).

Sulzenko says the 2016 innovation agenda's six main action areas "focus more on university research and commercialization as opposed to business incentives" and avoid some of the tough issues that must be addressed to improve productivity.

"Human and risk capital and the innovation ecosystem are the glue that hold innovation together — but proceed with caution. It's easy to piss away money," says Sulzenko. "Governments only like to deal with the win-win stuff but it's 2016 and time that Canada grew up ... We've done well economically without high innovation performance because we had labour force growth, big trade growth and resource rents. All three have gone down the rat hole and the only thing left is productivity improvement. The Liberal government has got that right ... But governments will deal with controversial issues — like tackling our regulated industries — only if they have to."

Innovation Action areas

1. Entrepreneurial and Creative Society — Being innovative becomes a core Canadian value: Overhauling the education system from the primary level onwards forms the basis of this action area. Making the next generation of Canadians "innovation ready" requires cooperation and collaboration among all levels of government. The description of the action area suggests the government is seeking to foster creativity, risk-taking and ambition at home as well as attracting foreign talent. The disciplines viewed as highest priority include science, technology, engineering and financial literacy in conjunction with business, math, social science and the arts.

2. Global Science Excellence — Canadian science capabilities and research infrastructure become among the best in the world: Science minister Kirsty Duncan's parallel review of federally supported fundamental science is at the core of this action area. Canada's previous top three ranking in higher education research support was eroded under the previous government and its inclusion here aims to reverse the trend. The role of colleges in the innovation system is highlighted, as is the necessity of increasing business demand for science, technology, engineering and math graduates.

3. World-Leading Clusters and Partnerships — Super clusters that are the destination of choice for ideas, talent and capital: The emphasis on clusters and partnerships is a work in progress, with advancement achieved under the previous government and past experiences within organization like the National Research Council. The literature supporting the role of clusters to attract companies, skilled personnel and investment is strong but the temptation to establish clusters based on geographic and political considerations must be avoided. Lack of focus in previous innovation strategies has been instrumental in their failure to achieve greater productivity and competitiveness.

4. Grow Companies and Accelerate Clean Growth — Canadian companies compete to win and create jobs: This action area captures the current policy emphasis on scaling up companies as the best way to ensure firms are of sufficient size and capacity to penetrate and impact global markets. Medium-sized tech firms are in short supply in Canada yet they have far more impact on economic growth and job creation than start-ups. The action area wisely includes the need for patient capital and top talent as key ingredients for success. The need to capitalize on new and existing business accelerators and incubators and strong supply chains is important although the coupling of clean tech to this action area seems arbitrary.

5. Compete in a Digital World — Canada at forefront of economy-wide digital development and adoption: This action item is a no-brainer given the rapid assimilation of digital technologies across all sectors of the economy. The agenda highlights the opportunities represented by advances in cloud computing, digital manufacturing, quantum computing and autonomous cars and the ability of digital technologies to lower costs, enhance capabilities and meet global competition on an even playing field. Like other strategies, it emphasizes the need to extend digital technologies such as high-speed Internet to rural and remote regions of the country.

6. Ease of Doing Business — Canada is the location of choice for investment and growth: Tackling the regulatory framework to make it easier for companies and entrepreneurs to commercialize products and services has been a mainstay of most, if not all, S&T and innovation strategies. That this action area is still a priority focus suggests that follow-through on enhancing laws, regulations and standards is an ongoing and persistent issue.

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