Creating gravitational pull in the innovation space

Yesterday the federal government announced the winners of the supercluster competition, with five winning bids spanning the regions of Canada in important industrial sectors: AI, proteins, ocean research, digital technology and advanced manufacturing. OCAD University is very pleased to be part of the advanced manufacturing group.

The supercluster narrative is of course based on the work of Porter et al that sees public and private actors working together in support of promoting discovery through basic research, applied research and realizing market value of these via experimental development.

There is significant potential here for Canada to amplify our move into the innovation economy. These investments will help transform the economy from simple resource extraction into one that focuses more on product and service design and adding value to the raw materials we have in abundance (and here I include the ideas that emerge from basic research in our world leading universities). Translating basic research into market success - moving from idea to invoice - is essential in the global economy. The supercluster initiative will create gravitational pull, fostering public+private research and development partnerships (P3RD) in support of resilient regional economies.

Definition of supercluster: noun; astronomy: a cluster of galaxies which themselves occur as clusters.