Person: Dr Richard Hawkins

Barton panel pitches large growth funds, procurement to improve innovation ecosystem

The creation of two large funds aimed at scaling high-growth tech firms is among the recommendations contained in the second wave of reports from the Advisory Council on Economic Growth. The funds would target what the panel describes as bottlenecks in the innovation ecosystem – early- and expansion-stage companies as well as established small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with high impact potential.

Dr Richard Hawkins, professor, University of Calgary

Innovation by numbers: A plea to stop counting and start investigating
By Dr Richard Hawkins

As one who has always advocated the expansion of capabilities to monitor and measure innovation, I venture what follows with trepidation.

Dr Richard Hawkins, Professor, University of Calgary

Is Canadian innovation past its due date?
By Dr Richard Hawkins

Is innovation passé? An absurd question many would protest. But if innovation drives economies, then certainly it is fair to inquire why in the midst of the most dynamic period of innovation in human history, sustained growth remains so elusive and prosperity so fragile.

Dr Richard Hawkins

Jenkins Report a welcome breed apart
By Dr Richard Hawkins

The report of the Jenkins expert panel is the latest in a string of federally commissioned studies about innovation policy in Canada. With the notable exception of the 2009 report from the Council of Canadian Academies, which in many respects is the conceptual blueprint for the Jenkins report, these earlier efforts were frankly of indifferent quality and limited vision.