Major challenges ahead as Canada prepares to retool its innovation policies and programs

There were many highlights at RE$EARCH MONEY's 15th annual conference which assembled a slate of respected leaders from industry, government and academia to discuss ways of moving Canada's innovation game to the next level. We've compiled a selection of those highlights that focus on the challenges Canada faces in its quest to become a significant global player in the knowledge-based economy.

Driving innovation through exports

"An innovation strategy is an export strategy": It's a message Global Advantage Consulting CEO David Watters has been telling R$ Conference delegates since 2012. Speaking again at this year's conference, he said increased government support for global exports would help grow more Canadian companies and reduce the country's trade deficit, which grew to $1.9 billion in February, triple the shortfall of $628 million the month before.

Marta Morgan, associate DM at Finance Canada, agreed that an innovation agenda must be "focused on the world and on our key trading partners".

Watters, an economist, recommended doubling the size of the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service as part of a government strategy to help small- and medium-sized enterprises grow into globally competitive firms. He said Canadian firms need to boost sales by over $1 trillion to self-finance an increase in the R&D outlays and contribute to Canada achieving parity with the OECD average. For Canadian firms this would mean a 175% increase in exports..

A better model for technology transfer?

Academic institutions could do better at technology transfer by adopting an open innovation model. That's the message from Dr Ted Hewitt, president of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the lead partner at this year's R$ conference.

"I would argue that precious little technology actually gets transferred in Canada," said Hewitt. "Most institutions are sitting on a sea of patents … the $50 or $60 million institutions typically pull in in a year (for licensing and royalties) barely covers the cost of the (tech transfer) operations."

He points to the Structural Genomics Consortium in Toronto and the Montreal Neurological Institute as examples of publicly funded groups that make their scientific data available to anyone — no patents or copyrights. Similar models have surfaced in certain industries, such as forestry, aerospace, ICT and drug development.

"If, as some suggest, we can get ideas to market faster under the open innovation model, then why can't we do it in our colleges and universities?," asked Hewitt.

"Our universities not set up for future"

"I cannot think of a more conservative institution than universities writ large. We have the same departments we have today because those are the departments we had 100 or 200 hundred years ago. Does that make any sense in today's world? Absolutely not. But we are loath to change," Dr Allison Sekuler, McMaster Univ's interim VP research, told conference delegates during a panel on "Taking Canada's talent pool to the next level".

Sekuler suggested undergraduate programs are too specialized and often don't meet the needs of the next generation of students, notably women, Indigenous people and foreign students. What's needed, she argued, is a more personalized education model that takes into account people's interests, skills and backgrounds and teaches students resilience and how to learn and adapt throughout their lives.

"We have to become disruptors of the educational system … or risk falling further behind in the world economy."

Governor General pegs legacy to innovation

Open Text Corp chair Tom Jenkins is working with Governor General David Johnston to pen a new booked, titled Ingenious, which will feature stories of Canadian innovation. Its release is slated for spring 2017. In a keynote address, Jenkins said the former president of the University of Waterloo has been a leading advocate of developing a culture of innovation in Canada, a passion he shares with prime minister Justin Trudeau.

"The book will be in keeping with the Governor General's original speech (October 1, 2010) on Canada being a smarter, kinder, safer, healthier, wealthier and happier nation. We have over 1,000 stories in a national innovation database, and 10 educational lessons spread throughout the book and a curriculum for youth."

In May, Johnson will be handing out the first-ever Governor General Innovation Awards. Nominations will come from a national network of public, private and not-for-profit groups that are already recognizing innovation, including local science fairs. The Canada Foundation for Innovation is managing the adjudication process.

Using big data and analytics to scale globally

Canada's strength in big data and analytics needs to be applied more effectively to challenges in energy, food production and transportation, says Patrick Horgan, IBM Canada's VP manufacturing, development and operations. In a keynote address at the R$ Conference, Horgan said investments in data and analytics are critical if Canadian companies want to survive and thrive globally. He outlined his firm's leadership in the Southern Ontario Smart Computing Innovation Platform Consortium which aims to help smaller firms scale rapidly.

Horgan pointed to IBM's collaboration with LifeLearn Inc which allows veterinarians to access and interpret massive amounts of structured and unstructured information.

"It's scaling like crazy," said Horgan. "LifeLearn is now licensing its technology to vets around North America."

Canadian procurement programs "terrible"

The president and CEO of the Information Technology Association of Canada says Canadian procurement programs are terrible and don't support companies. Karna Gupta told R$ Conference delegates that firms must establish a global footprint to be successful but there's no systemic way to help smaller firms achieve this, resulting in their sale to foreign companies. Moseda Technologies Inc CEO Lisa Crossley said the procurement policies could be incentivized by giving organizations money or tax credits if they buy locally or from Canadian sources.