Intentional Innovation

Much ink has been spilt in Canada regarding our lacklustre innovation capacity as a puzzling counterpart to our international excellence in basic research. I won't be retrying these arguments. Rather, I want to point out an excellent article on the need for intentional innovation and the absolute necessity of updating our approach to how we integrate research and industrial innovation ecosystems. 

In Canada needs a new approach to science, research to stay competitive, Robert Asselin does an excellent job of articulating the need for "The modern application of science and technology is the new frontier of economic competitiveness." This statement will alienate some who might prioritize the approach to publicly funded research outlined by Vannevar Bush in Science: The Endless Frontier, in which public funding was exchanged for autonomy to pursue basic research. Applied research and experimental development were thought to emerge naturally from market-facing actors who would create value from the fruits of basic research as they realized a vague downstream potential. That was good when this was first articulated in the 1945. But as Asselin points out "The arms-length science model we adopted after the Second World War does not provide an adequate framework for today’s economic paradigm."

As Asselin says, "the road to innovation is long and hard," and it requires us to think and act in new ways. This means being intentional about creating and protecting intellectual property (IP), and helping to foster collaboration across the public and private sectors. Below I've put a logic model that outlines such an approach, reposted from earlier. 

And we have successfully piloted this model in Toronto as part of an orchestrated COVID-19 response where the 8 colleges and universities in Toronto worked together to support City of Toronto research priorities. eCampusOntario is supporting all of our 53 members to bring this model to fruition across the province. 

Watch this space for more, but in the meantime, read this article. And while you are at it, check out this one From Dan Breznitz and Daniel Trefler.

An Integrated Model for Intentional Innovation: From Idea to Impact

From Idea to Invoice: Permeability and Public + Private R&D

Today I attended an excellent panel discussion hosted by Universities Canada and the Economic Club of Canada.

Research, Innovation & the New Economy featured Martha Crago, Vice-Principal, Research & Innovation at McGill University, Molly Shoichet, Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Tissue Engineering, University of Toronto, Paul Davidson, President of Universities Canada, and was moderated by Globe and Mail Science Reporter Ivan Semeniuk.

The discussion is an important one and focused on the value of basic research as a pipeline feeding applied research and experimental development, all the way through to innovation.

I've written a fair bit on the value of what I call P3RD - Public+Private Research and Development partnerships, so there is of course some confirmation bias here. But the panelists did an excellent job of articulating the value of the R&D enterprise writ large to the economy of Canada. This includes the development of ideas, knowledge and technologies - the intellectual property assets that arise from R&D. This reinforces the value of public + private partnerships for R&D. 

Molly Shoichet talked about the development of a technology to help enable drug delivery to the brain - an output of her research that is now being commercialized. In discussing the problem - the lack of permeability in the blood-brain barrier - it occurred to me that this is a good metaphor for public+private R&D partnerships. 

There has been historically little permeability between the public and private R&D worlds: this has been like the blood-brain barrier. Getting better at making this boundary more permeable is a positive way to leverage the excellent assets Canada has in its world leading basic research. 

The need to continue to enhance this connective tissue was one recommendation of the Council of Canadian Academies Expert Panel report Competing in a Global Innovation Economy: The Current State of R&D in Canada. And thing are getting better. Public sector organizations - universities, colleges, Technology Access Centres - are increasingly working with the private sector not only to push ideas into markets, but to enable the private sector to pull ideas, talent and support from the public sector. Martha spoke about the value of NSERC Engage grants in supporting partnerships at Dalhousie and McGill, and used Germany as an example where there is high permeability between public and private R&D performers. 

Germany is also a model for the linkages between public education and private sector engagement. Germany is heralded for its approach to apprenticeships, though it is important to note (as Alex Usher did some time ago - this should be required reading for anyone interested in this subject BTW) that the types of apprenticeships in Germany are much more diverse than ours. The point here is that there is real educational value in R&D apprenticeships being conducted right now in university research labs across the country. 

"Students are the motors of the research world," said Martha, meaning they conduct the work under what I would call an R&D apprenticeship. This fosters not only deep research expertise in a given field, but also innovation literacy, crucial to enabling career success and social and economic productivity widely across the economy. The recent (much needed) focus on work integrated learning is one example of a 21st Century apprenticeship platform. The panel's discussion of the educational value of R&D participation as one form of work integrated learning is an apprenticeship in innovation. 

There was good discussion about the different roles needed throughout various stages of R&D and innovation. This is essential to ensuring that we have the needed capacity and complementarity of skills and competencies to make the kinds of social, economic and cultural contributions we should expect from public investments in science and research. 

Quoting former Governor General David Johnston, Paul said "the best technology transfer is a pair of sneakers." That is, the value of R&D engagement comes in creating new products, services and what-not, but also in the incidental knowledge transfer that happens when our students graduate with innovation literacy. Our approach to research excellence and our focus on equity, diversity and inclusion makes Canada an excellent and enviable platform for going from idea to invoice. 

Council of Canadian Academies launches latest expert panel report: Competing in a Global Innovation Economy: The Current State of R&D in Canada.

This week saw the launch of the Council of Canadian Academies’ latest expert panel report, Competing in a Global Innovation Economy: The Current State of R&D in Canada. This report offers the most comprehensive view of the Canadian science and technology ecosystem, and its strengths in both capacity and contribution. Here is what the CCA summary says about the report:

Competing in a Global Innovation Economy: The Current State of R&D in Canada is the fourth report from the Council of Canadian Academies (CCA) in a series documenting Canada’s S&T and R&D strengths and weaknesses. It assesses the latest evidence on Canada’s R&D and innovation performance, combining up-to-date data with expert insights and analyses, and benchmarking against the performance of other countries. www.scienceadvice.ca

The expert panel had a wide remit, charged with considering the areas of excellence in basic research, applied research and experimental development, in both public and private sectors. Further we were asked to discuss how these inputs relate to our collective capacity or wealth creation – social, cultural and economic.

The data show that Canada has clear research strengths in several areas in terms of magnitude, impact, and growth: Clinical Medicine, Public Health and Health Services, Psychology and Cognitive Sciences, Philosophy and Theology, and Visual and Performing Arts. However, Canada now stands well behind the OECD average and is ranked 33rd out of 40 countries on an index of business R&D investment, intensity, and growth.

This is a worrying trend. More worrying is the fact that “Canada is now a net exporter of patents, and the outflow of patents is accelerating. In 2003, approximately 96% of the patents invented in Canada were owned in Canada. By 2014, that figure had dropped to 74%.”

Notwithstanding a lack of business investment in R&D, Canadian businesses do excel at fields, based on a composite indicator of magnitude, intensity, and growth, that includes:

• Scientific research and development services
• Computer systems design
• Communications equipment manufacturing
• Aerospace products and parts manufacturing

Overall, on the connections between R&D, Innovation & Wealth Creation the panel has this to say:

While Canada is a highly innovative country, with a robust research base and thriving communities of technology start-ups, significant barriers — such as a lack of managerial skills, the experience needed to scale-up companies, and a high rate of foreign acquisition of high-tech firms — often prevent the translation of innovation into wealth creation.

Dr Max Blouw, President and Vice-Chancellor Emeritus of Laurier University and Chair of the Expert Panel, and I were interviewed for Research Money article (paywall alert). When asked about the report and what was most significant to me, here is what I said:

“For the first time, there’s a strong linkage between the production of knowledge … and what the private sector does,” says Dr Robert Luke, VP Research and Innovation at OCAD Univ and member of the CCA expert panel. “It’s the most interesting aspect (of the report) – the connective tissue and propensity to leverage excellent knowledge in Canada.”

The idea of connective tissue is important, as we found there are strong and growing links between academic researchers and the private sector. While there are disparities in cultures (to be expected) that are exacerbated by different motivations (academics by tenure and promotion; read: publications; the private sector by sales), these are not insurmountable, and there are positive signals to build on with respect to enhancing the retention of IP in Canada and standing and scaling up global businesses here.

Fundamentally this is about ensuring the we can successfully de-risk long bets in research and capitalize on these downstream. Certainly not all paths from idea to invoice are linear nor simple, nor is every discovery immediately applicable into useful and usable contexts. But the report data show that we should all be asking what we get out of our investments in public science. Being excellent in research that fuels other countries’ economies is suboptimally oriented toward Canada increasing – let alone maintaining – our productivity.

The report is strong evidence for the efficacy of public+private R&D partnerships and the need to encourage these. Doing so across the entire spectrum of public and private sector actors will increase our collective capacity to make positive contributions to social, economic and cultural productivity.

Download the report here, and check out the CCA’s microsite that provides an excellent overview of the data.

The Council of Canadian Academies’ latest expert panel report:
Competing in a Global Innovation Economy: The Current State of R&D in Canada

As a member of this expert panel I can attest to the extremely high level of rigour that went into assembling it and performing the review and analysis of data. It was truly an honour and a privilege to be able to work not only with my colleagues on the expert panel, but also with the CCA staff, who brought to the task a dedication to excellence and exacting standards.

CCA Launches Expert Panel on the State of S&T and IR&D in Canada

The Council of Canadian Academies has launched a new assessment on The State of Science and Technology and Industrial Research and Development in Canada. The Panel is being chaired by Max Blouw, president of Wilfrid Laurier University. As stated in the CCA press release, a multidisciplinary and multisectoral expert panel has been assembled to provide input to the federal ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED). The panel will address the question: "What is the current state of science and technology and industrial research and development in Canada?"

This comes at an important time as the Canadian government is reviewing basic research (the Review of Fundamental Science) and innovation. The CCA has provided key policy input via a series of reports on Canada's research and innovation capacity - see the list here. I am pleased to be serving on this panel (having served on the 2012 report panel).