STIC signs MOU with Chilean counterpart

Canada's Science, Technology and Innovation Council (STIC) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Chile's innovation council, the first time the federal advisory council has entered into such an agreement with a foreign counterpart. The MOU, to which Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is also a signatory, will boost the benchmarking of STI performances and sharing of best practices. It builds on an existing Canada-Chile S&T MOU, which has been in place since 2008.

"This MOU is precedent setting … There is no other such formal relationship between governments," says STIC chair Dr Howard Alper, noting that the signing was attended by governor general David Johnston and Chilean president Michelle Bachelet. "The MOU is not a formal government-to-government agreement. It has legal binding but there's no Parliamentary approval required."

The MOU with National Innovation Council for Competitiveness (CNIC) arose from discussions between the Alper and CNIC president Gonzalo Rivas when they attended an Americas Competitiveness Forum meeting in Trinidad and Tobago's Port of Spain in October.

"It moved at lightning speed. There are real opportunities for councils to do something together. We had a good discussion and then we consulted our governments," says Alper "According to the World Economic Forum, STI is a key part of trade and accounts for three quarters of economic advancement and increased technology flows, an indicator created by STIC and now being used internationally."

In addition to benchmarking and sharing best practices, the MOU will see the two councils jointly exploring organizational structures and governance, monitoring and evaluating how governments implement advice and "determining how to ensure adequate information between innovation councils, the government and the public".

The MOU calls for any outputs arising from the collaboration to be disseminated widely and for any intellectual property rising from the collaboration to be "affordably commercialized into markets where they are needed most".

The MOU also includes a provision to hold an international meeting of innovation councils next year in Santiago, with a follow-up meeting in Canada in 2016. "This will be a first-ever meeting bringing together all advisory councils in the world. There are more than 20 of them," says Alper.

For its role, IDRC will share its expertise of working in Chile and provide organizational support to the MOU.

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