The recently formed New Brunswick Research and Innovation Council (NBRIC) has launched a $15-million competition to select between three and six large-scale industry R&D projects — a key element of its new $80-million research and innovation strategy. The Industry Innovation Challenge (IDIC) will award up to $5 million for each successful initiative for up to five years, with funding to be matched by industry and augmented by other provincial and federal industrial R&D programs.

The projects must mobilize the province's public research capacity and support provincial priority areas. New Brunswick's economy has been struggling of late, beset by rising debt levels and persistent double-digit unemployment.

Opportunities in natural resources — specifically shale gas exploitation and an east-west pipeline ending at Saint John and the Irving Oil refinery — have been fraught with controversy and protests.

The IDIC competition will be overseen by the NBRIC, which will also select the winning applicants. Each project must be led by a company or industry consortium. The deadline for the competition's first round is December 13th, with second-round applications due by May 30/14.

high-potential niche areas targeted

Winners must be able to demonstrate that their projects are able to "support a niche area of economic development with the potential to create and/or solidify a clear market advantage", leading to the development of new national and international markets.

The 12-member NBRIC is co-chaired by premier David Allard and Geoff Flood, founder and president of Fredericton NB-based T4G, a business management software firm. The council has representation from industry, academia and government, with the latter including ministers responsible for economic development and post-secondary education.

The province has also established a new Energy Institute to study emerging energy sector issues. The institute will be led by Univ of Moncton biologist Dr Louis Lapierre, who produced a report on the shale gas industry in 2012 and recommended the creation of such an institute.

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