Researchers propose new performance indicators to better measure superclusters’ progress

Canada needs a new set of indicators to more precisely measure the performance of its innovation superclusters, say the authors of a new study by the Montreal-based Institute for Research on Public Policy.

Canada’s five superclusters, which are “somewhat of a Canadian experiment,” are in fact large innovation ecosystems and that is the lens through which their performance should be monitored and assessed, the co-authors argue.

Dr. Catherine Beaudry (PhD), a professor at Polytechnique Montréal and Canada Research Chair on the Creation, Development and Commercialization of Innovation, and Laurence Solar-Pelletier, a project manager and analyst at Polytechnique Montréal, surveyed the literature on superclusters and performance metrics.

“As none of the [performance measurement] lenses suffices to comprehend the dynamics of innovation ecosystems, a multidisciplinary framework needs to be developed to fully understand how the superclusters operate, to measure whether their goals are achieved, and to evaluate their performance,” Beaudry and Solar-Pelletier concluded.

The initial key performance indicators developed by the federal government to track the superclusters’ progress overlook crucial elements for understanding innovation outcomes, according to their study. These elements include the nature of the links and relationships among innovation ecosystem constituents, the innovative capacity of the people involved, and the extent of knowledge transfer and technology adoption taking place.

The authors propose a list of expanded key performance indicators that add more details, such as the number of science and technology professionals participating in supercluster activities, and the number of patents generated, in order to more accurately measure whether:

• The private sector invests in technology research, development, demonstration and commercialization;
• Private, academic and public sector organizations collaborate;
• New or improved products or processes are developed and commercialized;
• Innovation ecosystems contribute to wealth creation; and
• Innovation ecosystems grow.

The expanded indicators “are directly aligned with the government’s strategy to advance business-led innovation and technology leadership activities, and to boost productivity, performance and competitiveness,” Beaudry and Solar-Pelletier assert.

Measuring the level of investment in demonstration and commercialization activities is important because Canada has been falling behind other OECD countries on business enterprise R&D for more than a decade.

The study noted that Canadian public policy and regulation are still developed in sectoral silos, which needs to change to support innovation ecosystems and “the necessary transformations, within firms, universities, government and society in general.”

Since launching the superclusters, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada has been consulting with experts and working with members of the five superclusters to develop a more detailed and precise set of performance indicators.

Beaudry and Solar-Pelletier are working on developing such metrics, as part of a five-year research project by the Partnership for the Organisation of Innovation and New Technologies. In their study, they urge all stakeholders to continue working together to design and test new indicators that are better adapted to the reality of innovation ecosystems.

“This would enable them to truly measure the impact and potential of these ecosystems and to adapt innovation practices and policies accordingly."

R$