Auditor General's Report on Research

The Auditor General conducted a value-for-money audit on the Ontario Research Fund, and among the recommendations is more focus on applied research. Of note is CONII, singled out in the last budget for expansion, which is listed as a model for applied research. Colleges' closeness to industry and ability to leverage private sector contributions fosters more direct business expenditures on R&D. GBC's focus on grads who not only get the job, but get the job done, is a key differentiator of the College applied research advantage.

Science and Technology Showcase Highlights Value of Polytechnic Research

The Fourth Annual Polytechnics Canada Science and Technology Showcase - "Igniting Innovation" - was held last Friday at Seneca College. The event was a great success, featuring student presentations on industry applied research projects. Read the Polytechnics Canada press release to learn more about the event, including speeches by Minister of State for Science and Technology Gary Goodyear, and NSERC President Suzanne Fortier. GBC students Angella Mackey and Gita McAllister won first prize for their presentation on the Heart Monitoring Vest.

Of note is the announcement of the new NSERC CCIP winners, and the Strategic Partnerships Initiative, which is linking applied research with industry more directly, a theme picked up also by CIHR at two other conferences I attended this past week. "Connect. Collaborate. Prosper" is NSERC's partnerships tagline, and encompasses well the need for Canada to engage in more public+private partnerships that will increase social and economic productivity and foster innovation literacy in our highly qualified and skilled graduates as they enter the innovation economy.

OCAD Health Summit a Success

Cultural Knowledge and the Healthy Society closed yesterday, having generated some great discussion on the role of design research in healthcare. The program featured many excellent speakers from a wide range of disciplines in health, human factors and design, all oriented toward finding meaningful ways to work together to promote a healthy society. Debate and discussion resulted in solid foundations for future partnerships as well as raising the issues of interprofessional research and the importance of design disciplines in the Canadian innovation agenda. Watch this space, as well as OCAD, for more results as they emerge.

Report on Colleges and the Polytechnics Canada Showcase

Today's Globe and Mail contains the Report on Colleges, which outlines several key advantages of college education and applied research. The latter story outlines some of the many interesting applied research stories being sponsored across the country, including through the NSERC College and Community Innovation Program. The former outlines how many university graduates, for example, go to colleges following convocation to obtain the job-ready skills for which college programs are noted - this is the principle behind innovation literacy. There is also an interview with Algonquin College president Robert Gillet on the Polytechnics Canada consortium, which is a good segue into a reminder of the annual Polytechnics Canada Science and Technology Showcase being held at Seneca College on 27 November.

The event will begin with a reception on the evening of Thursday, November 26 (from 5 to 8 pm) and continues with a full day event for Friday, November 27.

The topic of this year’s Showcase is “Igniting Innovation” and has been chosen to demonstrate how our institutions are positioning our SME partners for success, and adding to their competitive edge.

This annual event showcases winning applied research projects being conducted by the faculty and students of our member institutes; and convenes a policy discussion amongst Presidents of our institutes, industry leaders (often SME representatives), officials from government and granting agencies.
Our keynote speakers on November 27 will be:

• Hon. Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, and Member of Parliament for Cambridge, Ontario  

• John Breakey, CEO of UNIS LUMIN and Chair, Colleges Ontario Network for Industrial Innovation’s Industry Strategy Committee

An afternoon panel discussion will focus on the important role that polytechnics and colleges play in preparing Canada’s future workforce for industry innovation, by providing students with applied research experience.

The Showcase will also feature some of the winners of the latest round of the College Community Innovation Program of NSERC.

This event is sponsored by Polytechnics Canada and attendance is open to everyone at no cost.

Global cities, productivity, and innovation

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development launched their Territorial Review of Toronto at the Toronto Forum For Global Cities, held over the past two days. Among the many findings is the widely reported loss of productivity that traffic jams cause the city, in which home to "a fifth of national GDP, and 45% of Ontario’s GDP [and] 40% of the nation’s business headquarters."

The conference offered many good insights on the role of cities in the world economy, set against the backdrop of increasing urbanization and the estimate that, by 2050, 70% of the world's population will be living in cities. Thus the theme of the conference was how to improve the cities in which we live and work "in the post-bailout era" that will see governments of all levels struggling with increasing large debt loads.

Bill Hutchison of Waterfront Toronto was among the many presenters. Hutchison presented the vision for the revitalization of the Toronto Waterfront, where GBC is building our new campus. Called the “The Intelligent Community Open Architecture” (see image), the idea is that space and place are the foundations around which coalesce the social, economic and cultural development of the innovation economy.

Other panels that stand out include on on "Smarter Economic Development," which featured Ontario Minister of Economic Development and Trade and New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham. While the focus was on varying levels of government, there was also good discussion on the role of post-secondary education and the development of a highly skilled and talented workforce. As noted in earlier posts, colleges are key to Canadian educational attainment figures ,and our graduates - 70% of the work force - are key innovation instigators.

Robert Reich, Former U.S. Secretary of Labor, gave a keynote talk on Competing in an Innovation-Intensive Economy, in which he spoke about the role of innovation in the economy of the future. Reich spoke of the need to avoid decisions that could compromise our long term ability to invest in citizens, education and health. Early childhood education was singled out as a key investment/enabler, echoing Martin and Florida's Creativity report. Governments must invest in research, human capital and infrastructure, Reich intoned, warning that "the biggest enemy of innovation is past success." That is, we must not be complacent as we orient ourselves toward public private partnerships in support of the innovation economy.

Inside ACCC outlines applied research advocacy

The latest issue of Inside ACCC - the Association of Canadian Community College's newsletter - links to a story in the Hill Times by ACCC President James Knight that outlines the value proposition of college applied research. In "Goodyear should look to Canada’s colleges, institutes and polytechnics to get innovations ‘out the door'," Knight says

Colleges, institutes and polytechnics are leaders in applied research and technology transfer, yet the role of these institutions in Canada’s research and development agenda is not adequately understood. They help businesses start, develop and grow, and are vital contributors to our innovation system. Building on a half-century of experience, they embody an enormous concentration of expertise on the application of technology to process improvement and product development. They are graduating our next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs. More than any other institutions, they are key to improving Canada’s lagging productivity.

Improving productivity is essential if Canada is to compete in the innovation economy. The innovation economy is both a driver and an outgrowth of a knowledge- based society that requires us to ensure our graduates are not only content experts in their fields of choice, but also expert learners, able to adapt to our changing world. By directly involving our students in applied research we promote innovation literacy, producing graduates who have research, problem solving, leadership and entrepreneurial skills, along with the ability to recognize innovation in their work contexts. This is in addition to the job-ready skills our graduates already possess.


The ACCC has established a Science and Technology committee "to strengthen the position of colleges, institutes and polytechnics within Canada’s science, technology and research agenda and to access sustained funding." Access to secure funding for college applied research is one tenet of the ACCC advocacy agenda.

OCAD hosting conference on design research and health

The Ontario College of Art and Design is hosting a conference on the relationship of design research to health. Cultural Knowledge and the Healthy Society: A Research & Innovation Summit is being held November 23 - 25, 2009 at OCAD. This is an excellent opportunity to engage and interact with colleagues interested in the relationships between health, health informatics and design disciplines.

Cultural Knowledge and the Healthy Society: A Research & Innovation Summit was born of the belief that adding the knowledge and insights from design, cultural industries and creative/artistic research to health research will lead to a more effective system of health care and prevention as well as foster technological innovation.

This 2.5-day summit will bring together leading thinkers in Canada and internationally in the areas of design, art/creative research, cultural industries, health, humanities, social science, science and engineering to explore the possibilities of this interdisciplinary collaboration.

This event consists of free public talks (HospiTALKs) on topics that interest a large audience as well as small informal think tank discussions (inKamerA) on policy and research issues that will be attended by invited guests.

Education for the Innovation Economy

I've been to several events recently that have all focused broadly on the innovation economy. The ACCC Metropolitan Colleges Symposium held in Montreal at the beginning of October offered was billed as the first of future opportunities to surface issues common to metro colleges. Common themes emerged commensurate with the conference agenda: (in no particular order) immigration and workforce integration, student services, teaching and learning, relationships with industry/external partners, and consensus that collaboration is key to collective success.

Innovation: Ideas to Action, an "unconference" sponsored by Helix Commerce International, brought together people from various industries to talk about how we can spark and improve innovation in the GTA, Ontario and Canada. It offered an excellent opportunity to hear from key innovation instigators. The next Helix Innovation Hive event, themed “Applied Innovation for Value Realization”, is scheduled for April 20th, 2010 in Toronto. Visit Applied Innovation for Value Realization. Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.

The Technical Workshop on Estimates of Research and Development in the Higher Education Sector (HERD) sponsored by Statistics Canada was held in Ottawa on Friday October 16, 2009. This was a very unique opportunity to participate in the review of how HERD is calculated (the last time this was done was in 1999 or so). Colleges were not included in the last version, largely because our applied research efforts were likely limited at the time. Now, however, we are playing an increasing role - $110M per year according to the ACCC. This figure does not represent all of the hidden unsponsored applied R&D we do. Of particular note is that the Frascati Manual (the OECD's outline for how HERD is calculated) outlines three forms of research. These are basic research, applied research and experimental development:

Basic research is experimental or theoretical work undertaken primarily to acquire new knowledge of the underlying foundation of phenomena and observable facts, without any particular application or use in view. Applied research is also original investigation undertaken in order to acquire new knowledge. It is, however, directed primarily towards a specific practical aim or objective. Experimental development is systematic work, drawing on existing knowledge gained from research and/or practical experience, which is directed to producing new materials, products or devices, to installing new processes, systems and services, or to improving substantially those already produced or installed. (2.1.64)

College applied research encompasses the last two of these, and is it worth noting that our focus on complementarity with other R&D organizations enables us to have a significant impact on the innovation economy.

The innovation economy is both a driver and an outgrowth of a knowledge- based society that requires us to ensure our graduates are not only content experts in their fields of choice, but also expert learners, able to adapt to our changing world. By directly involving our students in applied research we promote innovation literacy, producing graduates who have research, problem solving, leadership and entrepreneurial skills, along with the ability to recognize innovation in their work contexts. This is in addition to the job-ready skills our graduates already possess.

College graduates are vital to the national economy. Canada ranks first in the OECD attainment of tertiary education only when College education is factored in. GBC has an important role in addressing both the skills shortage and the skills gap within Ontario and across Canada. Our role in promoting innovation literacy makes us ideal participants in an "ecology of innovation" that promotes partnership, entrepreneurship, and educational pathways for students, industry and community partners alike.

All of us involved in the innovation economy are oriented toward the same goal of increasing social and economic productivity in Canada. The college applied research system will play a lead role in strengthening national and regional capacity to innovate, working with research centres, industry and community partners to enhance competitiveness in the sectors we serve.

On this note, it was somewhat interesting to see that Willard Boyle, recent Nobel Laureate, lamented government's intrusion into research by requiring business plans. While curiosity based research is a necessity, Boyle gets it wrong by reinforcing a false dichotomy between basic and applied research. After all, someone at Bell - where Boyle did his Nobel-winning work - wrote a business plan to pay his salary, a fact conveniently ignored by those who have been writing in the press about the state of research funding in Canada. As I've noted previously, Canada spends more than most countries on HERD; where we do poorly is on Business Expenditures on R&D (BERD), and the relation of HERD and BERD to Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD).

An article in Saturday's globe picked up this duality. Unfortunately there is too much polarizing discussion about the relative merits of basic versus applied research. Suffice to say we need both, but we also need to turn our brightest minds to work on the problems of the day: sustainability and the green economy, climate change and productivity, for example. Steve Balmer's recent article on R&D and innovation underscores the need to foster more of this directed R&D in the IT field, one area in which Canada can compete internationally.

Funding for both basic and applied research that leads to innovation, advancement of knowledge, and commercialization is critical to improving community economic and social development. Call it a return on innovation.

CONII Expansion

The Colleges Ontario Network for Industry Innovation has achieved a major milestone - the expansion of the network to include 10 more Ontario colleges. Boreal, La Cite, Fleming, Cambrian, Lambton, Georgian, Mohawk, Durham, St. Lawrence and Sault Colleges bring the CONII number to 20 out of 24 Ontario colleges. This is a significant leap in our collective ability to engage with industry and community partners as we work together to foster and improve social, economic and cultural productivity in Ontario and Canada.

Education, quality, assurance

Here is a good article on the status of education and the need for broader quality assurance. The author is deficient in his focus on university education. Had author Ross Finnie bothered to look into colleges (other than to mention colleges in the opening statement) he would find out that there is a very robust and coordinated institutional research program at work that is driving system-wide improvement in the quality of teaching and learning. It's interesting to note that one of the viewer comments that "training in teaching is a voluntary activity for professors, which most avoid." This is not so for college professors who are dual professionals: industry experts, and expert teachers.

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, commensurate with another Globe article ("Canadian innovation starts in the classroom"), colleges represent a key avenue for the integration of innovation literacy in our future (and present) work force. Our faculty are instrumental in our collective efforts to meet the educational needs brought on by the skills gap and skills shortage Canada is experiencing. Our institutional research focuses on promoting institutional effectiveness by providing data and information for planning, quality assurance and policy development. We link this to faculty development to ensure our students get a quality learning experience, grounded in industry reality, and oriented toward improving social, economic and cultural benefit.

ACCC Metropolitan Colleges Symposium

Dawson College is hosting The ACCC Metropolitan Colleges Symposium from 4-6 October:

The 2009 ACCC Metropolitan Colleges Symposium will bring together representatives of colleges and institutes located in large urban centres to exchange information and exemplary practices on issues facing Canada's metropolitan institutions. Participants will collaboratively explore strategies to enhance effective partnerships that contribute to community economic and social development, as well as critical services and employment opportunities for learners in metropolitan areas.

This is a good opportunity to review and reflect on productivity and its relation to economic development, including the role of applied research in fostering regional social and economic development.

For more information, see the conference home page.

Innovation, Teaching and Learning

It is suitable that, as we embark on the beginning of a new school year, we turn to thinking about the relationship between innovation, productivity, and teaching and learning, our core mission as an educational institution. "Canadian innovation starts in the classroom," an article today by Warren Jestin and Stan Shapton, asks us to consider the need for "Fresh thinking about our 'innovation ecosystem'" and "to more fully integrate the education process into our economic and social fabric." To do this, Jestin and Shapton say we need to promote more industry-academic collaboration, something the Colleges excel at.

The one fault to the article is that the authors fail to recognize the College system in their call for greater educational and R&D collaborations as we map out a road to economic recovery and increased productivity. Colleges train 70% of the workforce, and play an important role in addressing both the skills shortage and the skills gap in Ontario and Canada. Our role in promoting innovation literacy makes us ideal partners in a complementary "ecology of innovation" that promotes partnership, entrepreneurship, and educational pathways for students, industry and community partners alike.

Economy n+1

Recent news reports about the breakup of Nortel have emphasized how far Canada is from a healthy R&D ecosystem. Pundits from across the political spectrum have lamented the loss of innovative technology patents that may result from selling off the assets of this storied company. Roger Martin, in a 7 August piece in the Globe ("Time for Ottawa to learn business hardball"), points out that Nortel's technologies have been developed with generous tax subsidies. The Canadian government, Martin asserts, should "step up" and assert control over the technology by blocking the sale of Nortel's key wireless patents to Sweden's Ericsson. Regardless of whether this happens, the dismantling of Nortel is a big blow to the R&D spectrum in Canada. Notwithstanding the spin offs and other benefits of the R&D giant, Nortel represents a significant part of Canadian business investment in R&D (BERD).

An Op-Ed piece in today's Report on Business, asks rhetorically in its headline: "What in the world are we waiting for?" In their Agenda article, Tom Jenkins, Kevin Tuer, and Ian Wilson further reinforce the tragedy that is the loss of Nortel in their thoughtful call to action on the digital economy - "the 3.0 digital economy." They refer to a very useful distinction in the development of web technologies, which I understand with the help of Unix CHMOD:

• Web 1.0 - r [read]
• Web 2.0 - rw [read, write]
• Web 3.0 - rwx [read, write, execute]

What this means is that, where in the Web 1.0 world we could only browse and read web pages, in the Web 2.0 world we can read and write these pages easily (c.f. this blog and its Internet interface). In the Web 3.0 world, we can read, write, and execute programs from the browser, and from our mobile applications. (One of the best resources on web 2.0 is Web n+1: The Future of Web Interfaces, by Steven Pemberton of the W3C.) The point, reinforced here by Jenkins, Tuer and Wilson, is that in the n+1 world of information and communication technologies (ICT), Canada has a significant opportunity to capitalize on early investments and carve out a leading position globally. They rightfully point out that most, if not all, future productivity gains globally will be made with, or as a result of, ICT. Canada cannot afford to sit on the sidelines for this.

The authors do a good job of articulating what the digital economy is, and why it is important. Perhaps more significantly, they point out that Canada has made good investments on ICT use and access in the past, but we are slipping in international rankings on digital access, use and content provision. Investing in ICT - from design, R&D to education - is essential if we are to maintain or gain a leadership position in the world. Which brings us back to Nortel.

By all accounts, Nortel's new wireless technology is poised to rewrite the rules of mobile Internet access. As we move from the old, manufacturing-based economy, to the new, 3.0 digital economy, we need to ensure that we are preparing the next generation of entrepreneurs and skilled workers while supporting applied research and innovation throughout the tech sector. Relinquishing control of Nortel's patents (paid for, in large measure, with Canadian tax subsidies, as I mentioned above) seems like a step in the wrong direction. Time, it would seem, is of the essence.

Save the date for next Polytechnics Canada Science and Tech Showcase - November 27

The annual Polytechnics Canada Science and Technology Showcase will be taking place this fall on Friday, November 27, 2009 at Seneca College's Markham campus in Toronto. Please save the date in your calendars.

This year the Showcase will be hosted jointly with the Colleges Ontario Network for Industry Innovation (CONII) and will have applied research project presentations, poster sessions as well as keynote speakers from government and industry.

With the addition of two new members for Polytechnics Canada and joining forces with CONII, we are hoping for a great turnout and generation of student and faculty projects.

More information will be distributed in the coming weeks about the agenda, accommodations/registration, the guest speakers, selection of winning project presentations, and other logistical details.

Report on Canada's innovation gap

A very good article in yesterday's Report on Business details Canada's innovation gap and our worsening productivity, specifically focusing on the role of R&D spending by firms in Canada. Konrad Yakabuski outlines our woeful productivity performance as measured against Business Expenditures in Research and Development (BERD). It's a good read. The comparison to Finland is a good lesson for all of us involved in the R&D continuum in this country. Focusing on how we can move past being mere "hewers of wood and drawers of water" - beyond simple commodity exports - is a key lesson that reinforces the value-add design can bring to applied research and innovation activities.

Yakabuski refers to the Council of Canadian Academies' recent Report on state of management and business research in Canada: Expert panel calls for more contact between researchers and managers. This report outlines the disconnect between our research institutions and the application of research outputs into practice. The realignment of the HERD|BERD imbalance requires the setting of national research priorities and a focus on applied research and technology transfer - where applicable - across all research areas.

Innovation is not invention; it is the new application of an existing technology, or the application of a new technology to new contexts. Complementarity means supporting research from discovery to application and design, where Canadian firms, universities and colleges work together for common innovation goals. Idealistic, perhaps, but necessary nonetheless.

GBC Research in the News

Pandemic preparedness is a hot topic, and researchers from GBC's School of Emergency Management are working with Tenet Computer Group to test the company's Pandemic Management Toolkit. Read the press release here. A follow up story in Computer World Canada outlines the project in more detail.

The project with Tenet is part of our NSERC College and Community Innovation Program.

ONE Way to Work Together in Support of Innovation

John Wilkinson, outgoing Minister of the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation (MRI), yesterday launched the Ontario Network of Excellence (ONE) during a speech at the Economic Club of Canada. The announcement is an update on the Ontario innovation system, and outlines how MRI is leveraging the considerable, collective assets supporting R&D in the province. Central here is the idea of an innovation ecosystem that MRI has been promoting for some time. This is the collaborate to compete model whereby all aspects of the system function in a complementary fashion in support of research, development and innovation. All of us involved in the innovation equation are oriented toward the same goal of increasing social and economic productivity in Canada.

Features of ONE include a client-focused and collaborative approach to the Ontario Commercialization Network whereby the parts are better integrated and coordinated, in order to make it easier for industry to access the intellectual and financial capital needed to create and improve new products and services. This is a transformation of the Ontario innovation system, said Wilkinson, calling it a "reboot" whereby industry can "access, understand, navigate and collaborate" with any part of the whole. This any point of access philosophy is in keeping with the kinds of systems approach many jurisdictions have constructed, from the EU, to the Boston Corridor and Singapore. A virtual, distributed research cluster built on the principles of a mesh network will offer seamless service delivery in support of R&D and innovation.

Four pillars will define ONE:

1. The Ontario Centres of Excellence will lead the academic/industry partnership development portfolio, something OCE is already excelling at.
2. Bringing new technologies to market will be led by MaRS, primarily through their Business Accelerator Program.
3. Regional Innovation Networks across the province will provide points of presence and contact for industry for the network.
4. Strategic financing will be provided by MRI.

All of these will be conjoined and oriented toward common metrics. These metrics, perhaps the most significant aspect of ONE, will ensure accountability and delivery on results. The metrics will be consistent across the network. ONE will "make geography irrelevant," as the focus will be on common innovation service delivery where the quality of ideas, depth of commitment, and the drive to succeed will be defining factors in the overall success of all, working together.

George Brown College, and our partners in the Colleges Ontario Network for Industry Innovation (CONII), are a core part of this network. Funding received in the last provincial budget has supported the continuation and expansion of CONII. GBC's own innovation support services are founded on this model of articulation and complementarity, and the ability to work within the innovation ecosystem in support of our common productivity goals.

Education is the foundation of the innovation economy, Wilkinson reminded the audience. Bringing talent into the innovation system is a key differentiator of the global economy where capital and labour are increasing mobile. The Ontario education and innovation systems will be well placed to integrate as the new MRI minister. John Milloy, is also Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. Our focus on fostering innovation literacy in our graduates commensurate with work on industry-facing applied research projects is fully aligned with the direction MTCU and MRI are headed. This is a significant step forward in ensuring that Ontario can regain its competitive edge and be a global player in research, development and innovation.

Design and the Business of Innovation

Following on the heels of my last post - "There's no such thing as a science of innovation" - I've been giving more thought to the business of design and its relation to innovation. As noted in that post, the GBC Research Labs offers our industry partners Innovation Support Services that comprise the intentional application of design and expertise within our faculty and student community to support industry projects. Design is "a new and underestimated aspect of innovation," according to the Science, Technology and Innovation Council (p. vii), and is one way that Canada can differentiate itself in the innovation marketplace. While there are many facets to design, design in all of its permutations is certainly on the ascendancy in terms of its relative merit to the science, technology and innovation enterprise.

As I noted earlier, the GBC Research Labs focuses on human centred and participatory design in our approach to innovation support and problem solving. Our staff are trained in these methods and precepts, and are expert at engaging all of our stakeholders in the applied research projects we undertake. This underscores our mandate of complementarity in the R&D continuum. I read recently about a distinction between science and technology that has its antecedents in 19th century industrialism. Science in this context is about discovery,whereas technology is about applying discoveries to problem solving.

University of Toronto President David Naylor, in his recent column in the alumni magazine, draws on this distinction as he outlines his view on the role of "Universities and the Innovation Economy." Naylor acknowledges the BERD|HERD disparity that hampers innovation in Canada, and posits a basic and functional antimetabole about the role of research in general:

Think of it this way. When industry does or sponsors applied research, necessity is the mother of invention. That’s an excellent source of incremental innovation. But when basic research is taken to the marketplace, invention becomes the mother of necessity. And whole new industries can emerge on the backs of disruptive technologies.

Key here is the difference between incremental and disruptive innovation. Both are essential components of the innovation equation.

"There's no such thing as a science of innovation"

Shlomo Maital, noted economist and innovation guru, gave a talk to the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto the other day, in which he reminded the audience that "There's no such thing as a science of innovation." Science is based on the premise of contingent knowledge, whereby current understandings of the world are testable and evolve as we observe, review, and learn about phenomena. Maital's premise is that innovation is about breaking rules: there is no science inherent to innovation. Innovation is likened to the state of creativity a child has before going to school. Those who survive school with creativity intact are more likely to succeed in entrepreneurial activity, Maital posits. His talk - "Stumbling on the Star Trek Principle: Innovation Secrets of da Vinci, Edison, Einstein and Picasso" - outlined his view that, in order to succeed at disruptive innovation, we must "boldly go where no one has gone before". This is particularly important now, in the midst of a global depression, as history teaches us that depressions are the fulcrum for great innovation. Loathe to deploy business school jargon, Maital invoked the "paradigm shift," whereby the rules by which we do business will be fundamentally rewritten. Every single industry, he says, will rewrite its rules. Those who do the writing will emerge as the new leaders.

Many pundits have weighed in on similar issues, and there is evidence to support Maital's claims that innovation emerges from depressions. His trenchant question--what will the new rules of the game be?--can be resolved only through a creativity that leads to thinking differently. We must also be amenable to failure. "A reason to fail is a powerful lever for innovation," as it is the freedom to learn from failure that is the hallmark of innovators. "Innovation is breaking the rules" he says, and our ability to imagine the future (via a "future photograph"), combined with an ability to learn from mistakes, lets us enable a future state.

Maital ended with a call to action, to use the principles of design to design our lives. This is the basic principle of the Innovation Support Services that we use in our applied research services. That is, we focus on the intentional application of design and expertise within our faculty and student community to support innovative activity within the College and within industry partnerships. Design for us is the fulcrum for solving industry problems. A triad of programs at George Brown College--the Institute without Boundaries, the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Community Innovation, and the Research Commercialization and Innovation programs--all have design as a component of their educational programming. The GBC Research Labs has expertise in human centred and participatory design, and this informs our approach to collaborative problem solving with our partners.

While there may be no science of innovation, there is definitely a need for science in innovation. The intentional application of applied research and innovation services to industry needs and contexts means we focus less on discovery, and more on the design and diffusion of innovation - how to test the practicality of new products or services (adoption and adaptation). This application requires disciplined approaches to problem solving, to induce innovation and encourage its incipient growth.

The Innovation Equation: The Role of Research in Canada

[NB - I've moved this post to its own for ease of reference. It was originally part of this post. An Archive version is here.]

Canada's Science, Technology and Innovation Council (STIC) recently released its report on the state of innovation in Canada. State of the Nation 2008 offers benchmarking data on how we fare at innovation, science and technology. Other assessments, such as our "D for Innovation" from the Conference Board of Canada, suggest we are mediocre at best. The STIC report was released amid much talk about the funding of basic research, the setting of national research priorities, and the role of applied research. Pundits have weighed in on both sides of the innovation equation: funding basic, curiosity-driven research versus applied research, innovation and commercialization. While the former is a necessary part of any healthy academic ecosystem, we ignore the latter at our national peril.

Some have decried the lack of funding for basic research, particularly as compared to US President Obama’s recent announcement of a 3% GDP allocation to basic science research. This is a laudable goal, but ignored in our debate is the fact that Canada is second only to Sweden among OECD countries in per capita investment in higher education expenditures on research and development. We rank lower—12th in the world—when it comes to business expenditure in research and development. Fixing this imbalance and encouraging more private R&D investment is seen by many as the path to increased productivity. This context, overlooked by those seeking more funding for basic research only, is why it is important for Canada to set national research priorities and direct funding accordingly. Investing in Canada`s applied research will enhance our overall social and economic productivity.

The STIC report calls for greater collaboration between colleges, universities and businesses. Colleges offer industry-facing applied research capabilities that fill gaps in Canada`s R&D pipelines. Our focus on applied research, innovation and commercialization supports industry problem-solving in ways that are complementary to established, discovery-based research institutions. This is a strength, and a necessary facet of the R&D continuum. Supporting College applied research capacity is part of the federal Science and Technology Strategy (through the College and Community Innovation Program) and the Ontario Innovation Agenda.

The Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation’s Colleges Ontario Network for Industry Innovation funds industry problem-solving using College resources, students and faculty. By directly involving our students in industry-focused applied research we promote innovation literacy, producing graduates who have research, problem solving, leadership and entrepreneurship skills, and the ability to recognize innovation in the product development lifecycle. This is in addition to the job-ready skills our graduates already possess. College graduates are vital to the national economy. Canada ranks first in the OECD attainment of tertiary education only when College education is factored in.

The college applied research system is well positioned to play a lead role in strengthening national and regional capacity to innovate, working with research centres and industry partners to enhance competitiveness in the sectors we serve. Firms in Canada are not yet making effective use of the postsecondary research facilities we currently have, but this is changing. College applied research centres offer complementary capacity for R&D that enables industry to make more effective use of publicly funded research facilities. We offer services to industry that are not currently widely available in Canada – the applied research, commercialization-focused “last mile” services that industry needs in order to test market practicality assumptions. Broadening the potential outputs for R&D in a given area by supporting applied research will foster increased productivity, enabling Canada to realign R&D expenditure imbalances, and correct our long-standing poor record on innovation.

Should all research be directed toward a commercial outcome? No. Nor should commercialization become our only yardstick for measuring return on investment of tax dollars. Instead, call this a return on innovation. Funding for both basic and applied research that leads to innovation and commercialization is key to improving community economic and social development. We must certainly maintain and improve our commitment to funding basic research, but we must also see the very real benefits that will come from funding applied research and the commercialization of innovations. Canada has historically been good at invention, but less effective at exploiting innovations for social gain. This has to change. The STIC report is yet another wake-up call.

http://hdl.handle.net/10299/167

Creativity and the Canadian Innovation Agenda

Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology, appeared at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences yesterday to reaffirm the importance of creativity to Canadian innovation. Creativity is a staple of innovation literacy, and there is a valuable contribution from the humanities and social sciences to the innovation agenda, as mentioned in my post a few days ago. Setting national research priorities and marshaling our collective resources toward these is important, as is acknowledging interprofessional and disparate views on the social and economic productivity challenges in Canada.

New Waterfront Campus receives federal funding

GBC's new Waterfront campus, currently in the design stage, has received $30M in federal funding, part of the recent federal infrastructure spending. These funds are in addition to the funds already committed by the Province of Ontario. The new campus will be a significant anchor for interprofessional health sciences education in the GTA health cluster. The campus will also feature applied research capacity--the George Brown College Health Sciences Inter-Professional Online Research and Technology Assessment Laboratory (I-PORTAL). I-PORTAL will establish a significant new capability for applied research and technology design, prototyping, development and commercialization in the context of interprofessional health care.

"...the unfinished business of the innovation agenda"

An article today about the Congress for Social Scientists outlines argues for more funding for social sciences research. Chad Gaffield, president of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, calls this "...the unfinished business of the innovation agenda." Certainly we need to acknowledge the need to fund and foster creativity within our innovation agenda.

Recently I wrote an update to my post on Canada's Science, Technology and Innovation Council report on the state of innovation in Canada. It is relevant to the discussion on research funding:

The Innovation Equation: The Role of Research in Canada

Canada's Science, Technology and Innovation Council (STIC) recently released its report on the state of innovation in Canada. State of the Nation 2008 offers benchmarking data on how we fare at innovation, science and technology. Other assessments, such as our "D for Innovation" from the Conference Board of Canada, suggest we are mediocre at best. The STIC report was released amid much talk about the funding of basic research, the setting of national research priorities, and the role of applied research. Pundits have weighed in on both sides of the innovation equation: funding basic, curiosity-driven research versus applied research, innovation and commercialization. While the former is a necessary part of any healthy academic ecosystem, we ignore the latter at our national peril.

Some have decried the lack of funding for basic research, particularly as compared to US President Obama’s recent announcement of a 3% GDP allocation to basic science research. This is a laudable goal, but ignored in our debate is the fact that Canada is second only to Sweden among OECD countries in per capita investment in higher education expenditures on research and development. We rank lower—12^th in the world—when it comes to business expenditure in research and development. Fixing this imbalance and encouraging more private R&D investment is seen by many as the path to increased productivity. This context, overlooked by those seeking more funding for basic research only, is why it is important for Canada to set national research priorities and direct funding accordingly. Investing in Canada`s applied research will enhance our overall social and economic productivity.

The STIC report calls for greater collaboration between colleges, universities and businesses. Colleges offer industry-facing applied research capabilities that fill gaps in Canada`s R&D pipelines. Our focus on applied research, innovation and commercialization supports industry problem-solving in ways that are complementary to established, discovery-based research institutions. This is a strength, and a necessary facet of the R&D continuum. Supporting College applied research capacity is part of the federal Science and Technology Strategy (through the College and Community Innovation Program) and the Ontario Innovation Agenda.

The Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation’s Colleges Ontario Network for Industry Innovation funds industry problem-solving using College resources, students and faculty. By directly involving our students in industry-focused applied research we promote innovation literacy, producing graduates who have research, problem solving, leadership and entrepreneurship skills, and the ability to recognize innovation in the product development lifecycle. This is in addition to the job-ready skills our graduates already possess. College graduates are vital to the national economy. Canada ranks first in the OECD attainment of tertiary education only when College education is factored in.

The college applied research system is well positioned to play a lead role in strengthening national and regional capacity to innovate, working with research centres and industry partners to enhance competitiveness in the sectors we serve. Firms in Canada are not yet making effective use of the postsecondary research facilities we currently have, but this is changing. College applied research centres offer complementary capacity for R&D that enables industry to make more effective use of publicly funded research facilities. We offer services to industry that are not currently widely available in Canada – the applied research, commercialization-focused “last mile” services that industry needs in order to test market practicality assumptions. Broadening the potential outputs for R&D in a given area by supporting applied research will foster increased productivity, enabling Canada to realign R&D expenditure imbalances, and correct our long-standing poor record on innovation.

Should all research be directed toward a commercial outcome? No. Nor should commercialization become our only yardstick for measuring return on investment of tax dollars. Instead, call this a return on innovation. Funding for both basic and applied research that leads to innovation and commercialization is key to improving community economic and social development. We must certainly maintain and improve our commitment to funding basic research, but we must also see the very real benefits that will come from funding applied research and the commercialization of innovations. Canada has historically been good at invention, but less effective at exploiting innovations for social gain. This has to change. The STIC report is yet another wake-up call.

The Innovation Equation

The OCE Discovery 2009 is on now - drop by to see the GBC Research Labs' booth and learn more about the innovation equation:

Public-Private Partnerships + Research and Development = P3RD

Investing in industry-facing applied research and commercialization activities and fostering "open innovation" and complementarity across the R&D value chain will result in improved social and economic productivity in Canada.

Putting Healthcare on the Map

Speaking of innovation, Infonaut, a company with which the GBC Research Labs has been collaborating, was featured in a story in the Report on Business this week. The Real-Time Locating System for Improved Infection Control project is testing Infonaut's Intelligent Platform technology to track all assets in a healthcare institution. In the event of any outbreak, this practice would allow hospitals to identify, locate and isolate any equipment that has come into contact with infected patients in recent use. The Infonaut project is part of our NSERC CCIP research program.

This is the kind of applied research the country needs - innovation meeting real needs.

State of the Nation's Innovation

Canada's Science, Technology and Innovation Council has released their report on the state of innovation in Canada. State of the Nation 2008 offers benchmarking data on how we fare at innovation, science and technology. As per other reports, notably our "D for Innovation" from the Conference Board of Canada, the STIC report says we are mediocre at best.

The report is released while much talk abounds regarding the funding of basic research, the setting of national research priorities, and the role of applied research. Suffice to say, basic and applied research are both important - we need to support curiosity-driven research that does not have a clear path to commercialization at its outset. But we also need to focus our research priorities (as Canada has done in the Science and Technology Strategy), and fund work that fits with these areas. Some have said that this is the wrong approach. But Canada cannot afford to not focus efforts. Our tax base will not support a wide-open field of inquiry, and we must compete on the world stage, and so support those areas where we can have the most impact.

We must also fund applied research and the commercialization of innovations. Where Canada has historically been good at invention and innovation, we have not been effective at exploiting innovations for social and economic productivity. This has to change. The STIC report is yet another wake-up call.

George Brown College Response to the CFI 2009 Consultations

The Canada Foundation for Innovation has embarked upon a consultation process in advance of distributing the $600M in new funds received from the recent federal budget. As part of this consultation process, all institutions wishing to participate in the funding programs were asked to send in their thoughts as to how best to structure any new funding programs. Below is the response from George Brown College.


This response to the CFI consultation discussion paper offers several ways in which better support for Colleges and Polytechnics will aid Canada’s innovation strategy and the federal Science and Technology Strategy. Colleges address the four areas that CFI is interested in exploring, some directly, some indirectly. While CFI has historically focused on the capabilities of individual investigators within institutions, we need to make the case that, while we do conduct some discovery based research that meets the excellence criteria for individual investigators, Colleges are more institutionally focused. That is, we offer industry-facing applied research capabilities that are institutional, not individual, as applied research centres marshal resources (people, materiel) from across our Colleges to fill gaps in the R&D pipelines in Canada. Our focus on applied research, innovation and commercialization activities supports industry problem-solving in ways that are complementary to established, discovery-based research institutions. This is a strength, and a necessary facet of the R&D continuum. Supporting College applied esearch capacity thus is in line with the federal Science and Technology Strategy (most notably through the College and Community Innovation Program administered by NSERC), and provincially in Ontario through MRI’s continued support of the Colleges Ontario Network for Industry Innovation (CONII). George Brown College has received first round NSERC CCIP funding, and is also a founding member of CONII.

CFI should recognize and support the unique contribution that colleges are already making to strengthening Canada’s capacity for research, innovation and commercialization. To do so, CFI needs to structure its strategy and its application and granting process in order to leverage the institutional versus individual applied research focus that Colleges bring to the equation. In saying this, we are not asking for special consideration in our applications to the CFI for funding of infrastructure. We expect to be judged based on the excellence of our proposals and our ability to complement the R&D continuum, as noted above.

The impact of CFI’s work will be extended considerably by drawing more intentionally and more fully on the capacity of Canada’s community colleges. Investing in the applied research layer of Canada will enhance our overall social and economic productivity. Colleges represent a key vehicle for attracting business expenditures on research and development (BERD), matching the higher education expenditures on R&D (HERD).1 Colleges work with established basic research centres and industry partners to enhance competitiveness overall in the sectors we serve. Generally speaking, firms are not making effective use of the postsecondary research facilities we currently have. The goal of College applied research centres is to enable firms to make more effective use of public applied research facilities in support of increased BERD, which will result in increased productivity.

CFI should take a proactive approach to supporting R&D complementarities, and the institution-based applied research strengths of Canada’s Colleges. For George Brown College, the intentional application of applied research and innovation services supports industry needs and contexts, thereby facilitating the design of innovation - how to test the practicality of new products or services (adoption and adaptation). Colleges most ably speak to the need documented by CFI to enhance the role of Canadian institutions in knowledge translation and commercialization that is of benefit to Canada. Our participation in the R&D continuum fosters social and economic productivity across the fabric of industry sectors we serve. Our impact is not as much based on discoveries by individuals in individual laboratories. Rather, our impact is more environmental, in that we support the whole by filling in the parts that are not currently well supported in Canada – the applied research, commercialization-focused "last mile" services industry needs in order to test market practicality assumptions. CFI should build on the initiatives started by the CCI Program, and encourage industry sector partnerships that go beyond providing deep discounts to infrastructure. Industry should be supported in seeing themselves as equal participants in the applied research facilities, with ongoing investments in their use.

Supporting applied research in Colleges, particularly those (like George Brown College) that work well with established university partners, will strengthen regional innovation clusters, and create more value for industry-facing research and development activities. Broadening the potential outputs for all R&D in a given area by supporting applied research inputs will foster increased productivity, thereby enabling Canada to realign R&D expenditure imbalances, and correct the long-standing poor record we have on innovation generally, as understood by the OECD and the Conference Board of Canada.

We know from various national and international studies that Canada lags in innovation compared to similar developed countries. The Conference Board of Canada, in its 11th annual snapshot of Canada’s socio-economic performance entitled How Canada Performs: A Report Card on Canada, assessed Canada's ranking as 13th out of 17 countries in innovation and gave this component its worse grade — a "D".2 The OECD and Global Insight have drawn similar conclusions regarding Canada's weak position in terms of innovation capacity and performance. Global Insight assigned a rating of "C- ", its lowest rating among eight factors reviewed, for Canada's 'Capacity to innovate'.3 The Conference Board of Canada called for action from educational institutions to support the innovation agenda in another report entitled, 'Solving Canada's Innovation Conundrum: How Public Education Can Help'.4 The authors note that "how students develop their innovation skills depends on the nature of their educational experience... Ultimately innovative processes, tools, and techniques generate students with higher levels of skills for innovation". One of the three strategic approaches identified to make innovation a priority is the development of relevant institutional capacity. The Conference Board's call to action consists of four 'pillars':

1. Develop a pan-Canadian framework for promoting innovation skills;
2. Recognize and credential innovation skills;
3. Strengthen links among education, business and communities; and,
4. Increase innovation training in pre-service and in-service programs for educators.

Our proposed work will contribute to several facets of this call to action.

College applied research supports the development of highly qualified and skilled personnel (HQSP). Our students working on applied research projects gain innovation literacy: the ability to think creatively, evaluate, and apply problem-solving skills to diverse and intangible issues within industrial problems and multidisciplinary contexts. Fostering innovation literacy in our highly qualified and skilled graduates is a key differentiator of the College and Polytechnic advantage, particularly as regards applied research conducted in close concert with industry and community needs. In this way, College applied research supports the call for better deployment of public funds in the R&D sector, supporting the applied research capabilities of Colleges working in concert with regional networks in support of innovation. In recognizing the unique capabilities of the applied research layer the Colleges bring to the equation, CFI can support HQSP graduating from College programs: this represents 70% of the Canadian workforce. In so doing, CFI has a unique opportunity to support what is called open innovation in Canada: "the use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation, and expand the markets for external use of innovation, respectively" (Chesbrough). This is the central facet of R&D complementarities, whereby all R&D organizations, working together with firms, can foster an open approach to innovation and capacity building for improved social and economic productivity in Canada.

1 Canada is second in the OECD for HERD; 12th for BERD. Realigning this imbalance and encouraging more private R&D investment is seen by many as one way to increase productivity.
2 http://sso.conferenceboard.ca/HCP
3 Global Insight Canada on Canada's Fundamentals
4 Solving Canada's Innovation Conundrum: How Public Education Can Help, July 2003, The Conference Board of Canada

Innovation means making mistakes, and learning from them

Here is an interesting interview with Tim Jackson, from Tech Capital Partners, from yesterday's Report on Business. In it, he talks about the value of making mistakes, learning from these, and leveraging this forward as part of the R&D innovation process. Some time ago I wrote about the need to fail fast and learn quickly, and to build on our successes and failures. This is a staple of innovation literacy - the ability to solve problems,creatively, and to build ideas from disparate parts.

George Brown College Innovation Rounds and NSERC Announcement - April 22

You’re invited to attend the George Brown College Office of Research and Innovation’s Research Rounds on April 22.

Come learn about our nursing simulated practice centre and HUB of excellence, emergency preparedness simulation training, organic pixels and a rat femoral osteotomy model (then you’ll know what this is!).

On April 22 the Office of Research and Innovation is pleased to have five of our faculty presenting their research projects and we hope you’ll join us.

Our president, Anne Sado, will also make a formal announcement about GBC’s recent receipt of a significant NSERC grant from the College and Community Innovation Program.

Date: April 22, 2009
Time: 12.30 pm to 3.00 pm, preceded by a light lunch at 11.30am
Location: Room E325, Casa Loma campus (map)

Space is limited, so please RSVP by April 17 by email to blewis@georgebrown.ca.

Ontario budget supports applied research

Yesterday's budget by the Ontario government includes $10M for the continuation (for three years) of CONII. This is in addition to the tax cuts for businesses and infrastructure spending to match federal money form Budget 2009. Combined, this represents a favourable environment for industry-focused applied research and other avenues for "Accelerating Innovation." Funding for programs such as CONII are excellent vehicles for what I have termed P3RD - the Public Private Partnership R&D investment required for increasing productivity. Other highlights of the budget include the infrastructure spending for colleges and universities, and funding for skills training.

Polytechnics Canada releases Solutions Report

Polytechnics Canada released the Solutions Report early in February. Subtitled "how industry-driven research at polytechnics helps Canada compete," the Solutions Report provides an overview of how polytechnics - and all colleges engaged in applied research - fit into the R&D continuum. The need to build the infrastructure of complementarity is reflected in federal and provincial funding programs that are increasing applied research capacity in Canadian colleges. This capacity building is essential to Canada's social and economic productivity.

New online resource for RCI program

A new online resource for GBC's Research Commercialization and Innovation program has been launched. Social bookmarking site Delicious is used to categorize learning resources that will be used in the program. Tom Gram, who built the resource, has a good post about it here. We worked with Tom to define some of the parameters of the resource, and he came up with a very innovative way to use Delicious as integrated within problem based learning (PBL) strategies.

Most Learning Resource repositories are provided by instructors and course designers and are therefore one-directional. Students are left to identify and manage any supplementary resources they find in the course of their studies. A collaborative learning resource repository where resources can be shared, accessed and reviewed by students, instructors, and external experts all within the same environment will be a highly useful tool in the problem based learning process.

Potentially the greatest value of the Delicious-based RCI learning repository is its collaborative features. Students, instructors, and external experts are encouraged to add resources they find valuable and to grow the repository with new and valuable resources as they are discovered. The current site has over 120 resources. This number will grow and refine as students (and instructors) from session cohorts add their resources in the process of completing assigned projects.

Tom and I will be presenting a paper on this at the upcoming This Is IT conference, hosted by GBC's Learning Innovations and Academic Development department, 20-22 May.

Applied Research: Innovation, Productivity and the R&D Continuum

The ACCC 2009 Applied Research Symposium: What does success look like? was held in Ottawa on 25-26 February, and featured interesting and informative presentations about the role of colleges in the R&D innovation chain. The conference focused mainly on some of the issues involved in establishing college applied research: building a research culture, intellectual property, metrics, and community-focused versus industry focused research. Walter Stewart, from the Toronto Region Research Alliance, gave the opening keynote, and challenged the audience to focus our efforts in applied research capacity development on how we can serve our mandate to students and industry. In so doing, we must not try to be all and do all, but rather focus our efforts according to our strengths. This fits well with the notion of complementarity.

My own talk - from which I took the title of this post - was intended to illustrate the role of Polytechnic applied research. My focus was on topics I have written about here, and the shared challenge we all have to work within our areas (geographic, specialization): complementarity.

Here are my speaking notes:

Innovation

• Canada’s Innovation Capacity
• 13th out of 17 countries (OECD)
• “D” for innovation: “it’s been a D for decades”
  Conference Board of Canada, How Canada Performs: A Report Card on Canada
  
  Canada seems very good at inventing things, but not so good at capitalizing on inventions.

Productivity

• Canada is second in OECD for HERD; 12th in BERD
  HERD: Higher Education Expenditures on R&D
  BERD: Business Expenditures on R&D
• Firms are not making effective use of postsecondary applied R&D capabilities
  “We’ve gone too far in subsidizing R&D, and not far enough in subsidizing diffusion of innovation.” (Sharpe 2009)
  
  Our goal is to help firms make better use of applied R&D capabilities.

Role of the applied research office

• We focus on Regional R&D Capacity and Innovation Transfer and
• Complementarity in the R&D Continuum
  
  We are not trying to replicate what any of the university, government or industry research labs do. Rather, we do what they cannot do: fabrication of prototypes, for example.

Startup.edu

• We are a startup, and we help startups
• We offer “Last Mile” R&D services
• The Stages of technology development provide a useful framework for how we fit into the R&D continuum

How we’re different

• We respond to industry needs
• We have industry governance through the GBC Research Innovation Advisory Board
• The IAB is a multi-sectoral SME and entrepreneurial stakeholder group whose primary role is to provide a current and effective link between the Research and Innovation office at George Brown College and the key sectors it serves

Innovation Support Services

• We offer innovation support services to sector partners, using a validate/simulate/adaption model to
• Validate practicality and usability of new technologies/products/processes
• Simulate impact of their use
• Adapt those technologies for deployment under diverse conditions
  
• Testing practicality and market/user/practice adoption and adaptation lets us focus on the implementation of innovation
  
  This is the Diffusion of Innovation

From discovery to design

• Our Multidisciplinary Collaborative Problem Solving model mobilizes college disciplines in support of industry needs
• The intentional application of applied research and innovation services to industry needs and contexts means we focus less on discovery, and more on the design of innovation - how to test the practicality of new products or services (adoption and adaptation)
• Our model uses college verticals in a horizontal integration strategy
  This is a matrix for understanding our innovation intentionality:
  College disciplines are verticals of expertise. A project is a horizontal that accesses expertise as needed/required from each vertical.
• Move from idea to invoice

Innovation Literacy

• This is a cornerstone of what our students gain from participating in applied research projects: the ability to think creatively and apply problem-solving skills to diverse and intangible issues within industrial problems and contexts.
• Innovation literacy is a transferable skill that enables our students to be flexible innovators in the workforce.
• Our students are Highly Qualified and Skilled Personnel
  Innovation literacy is the creativity called for by Martin and Florida

Open Innovation

• “…the use of purposive inflows and outflows of knowledge to accelerate internal innovation, and expand the markets for external use of innovation, respectively.” (Chesbrough)
• All colleges, working together, can foster an open source approach to innovation and capacity building for improved social and economic productivity in Canada

Open Innovation Network

• Polytechnics are a de facto Applied Research Cluster (PARC)
  A distributed research cluster or open innovation network.
• AutoPARC
• EcoPARC
• EnviroPARC
• HealthPARC
• Etc.
  
• Fostering what the EU calls “Regions of knowledge” means that colleges can collaborate to compete together. We form an open innovation network that is more than the sum of its parts.

College and Community Innovation Program

• The NSERC CCIP represents a significant investment and awareness of the importance of colleges in the innovation chain in Canada.
• Relating back to HERD and BERD (see Productivity, above), the CCIP is a P3RD
  A Public Private Partnership R&D investment
• This is a public R&D subsidy that is specifically designed to increase BERD commensurate with HERD

We must take this opportunity, and, in recognizing it as P3RD, deploy these funds strategically to foster social and economic productivity. We have an important role to play in the R&D continuum in Canada, and that role should also focus on how colleges can work together - like the Polytechnic Applied Research Cluster model - to ensure that this capacity can realize its potential and contribute meaningfully to improving Canada's innovation capabilities. Canada's college are key to improving community economic and social development.

My challenge to us all is to make this collaboration work, to find ways to work together in a complementary fashion. It is important to celebrate our successes, but it is even more important now to look ahead to the future and chart where we are going. This future-forward orientation will be the focus of a panel I will be convening for the ACCC Annual Conference.

GBC Research Labs awarded CCI funding

The GBC Research Labs proposal to the first round of the NSERC College and Community Innovation (CCI) Program has been approved. Read the NSERC press release.

The program and the award were announced last night at a special event as part of the ACCC Applied Research Symposium (I'll post a full report on this later.)

We are looking forward to initiating our work as outlined in the proposal, and continuing our capacity development for applied research complementarity in the Toronto region.

Here is our proposal summary:

George Brown College (GBC) is developing its applied research, innovation and commercialization capacity by creating the GBC Research Labs to serve the needs of industry and community partners. Our core areas of research are health & information technologies and health promotion, which are well-aligned with GBC's Strategic Plan and the needs of these significant local sectors. Continuing and proposed projects emphasize multidisciplinary problem-solving and opportunity development for industry in our region, and investigate: health systems change management, utilization and human services; health promotion; medical devices, prosthetics and aids; and, prototyping for health technology development and health informatics. We conduct research in collaboration with SMEs, larger companies, health care agencies and other research institutes. We help foster adoption of new devices and systems, better patient outcomes as well as adaptation and integration of new technologies/practices into health care and health promotion. CCI funds, most importantly, will enable us to more adequately release faculty to work on current/new projects and engage with industry partners. It will also provide for student stipends, the development of a Research Partnerships Portal and the implementation of our SME Engagement Plan. Local industry will benefit from a suite of Innovation Support Services to help accelerate the innovation-to-market cycle, including: Innovation Receptor Support Services (Problem/ Opportunity Identification, Faculty/Industry Brokering, Concept Development, Market Research, and Team Mobilization); Multidisciplinary Collaborative Problem-Solving (multidisciplinary assessment on design and prototype development, validating usability and testing market potential); and, Innovation-Market Assessment Services (evaluating usability/market demand and strategic fit with potential investors). Our motivated faculty and students, various unique facilities, strong industry partnerships and leadership in applied research capacity development at the national and provincial levels position us well to strongly leverage CCI program support to further the growth of applied research, innovation and commercialization at George Brown College.

As I noted during my presentation at the symposium, I will be making our full proposal publicly available as part of our website. Please contact me if you would like a copy in the meantime.

Dr Andrew Sharpe to speak to GBC's Innovation Advisory Board, Feb 23rd. 11-1230

Dr Andrew Sharpe, Executive Director of the Centre for the Study of Living Standards, will address The GBC Applied Research Innovation Advisory Board. Dr Sharpe will provide a unique economist perspective on productivity, labour markets, innovation and the role Colleges play in supporting it. Here is a brief bio of Andrew:

Andrew Sharpe is Executive Director of the Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS), a research organization he founded in 1995. He has held a variety of earlier positions, including Head of Research and Editor, Quarterly Labour Market and Productivity Review at the Canadian Labour Market and Productivity Centre and Chief, Business Sector Analysis at the Department of Finance. He is a past President of the Canadian Association for Business Economics (1992-94), was as a founding editor of Canadian Business Economics from 1992 to 1998 and is founder of the International Productivity Monitor. He received a Ph.D in Economics from McGill University in 1982.

He will address the Innovation Advisory Board from 11AM - 1230. A lunch will be served following the talk. The event is being held at 250 Yonge Street, 35th Floor, Collaboration Boardroom. The GBC Research and Innovation Innovation Advisory Board is a sector-driven governance for our business development.

Mobile Experience Innovation Centre Outreach and Orientation

The  Mobile Experience Innovation Centre is hosting an information session at the George Brown College School of Design, Thursday 19 February 2009, 230 Richmond Street East, from, 4PM-530PM. Please RSVP to mperras@ocad.ca. 

A partnership of industry and academic organizations actively involved in the mobile content and services space, the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre is a centre of excellence for applied research, design and commercialization. Focusing on the role of user experience and usability design, the commercialization capabilities of advanced mobile and embedded services and content, and the value of strategic foresight in cultivating a climate of innovation, the industry-academic and industry-industry linkages of the MEIC will sustain and build capacity for excellence in mobile design and innovation, with a scope both local and international.

Darwinian R&D or, the ecology of innovation

On this the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth, articles about a Darwinian approach to the economic meltdown are appearing as part of a capitalization on the event itself commensurate with a need to find ways to explain how best to fix the economy. A good example in today's Report on Business is an article about "The Natural Selector" and Darwin's approach to business. It echoes the oft-reported sentiment that businesses and banks should be left to fail as these are part of the natural order of things.

The set-up is trenchant:

What would Darwin have done?

If Charles Darwin were alive today, the scientific genius who gave the world the theory of natural selection would be on the prowl for businesses that make themselves fit for survival by adapting nimbly to change.*

Adapting to change in the current economic climate means focusing R&D efforts, already articulated in the federal Science and Technology Strategy. It also means paying attention to the environment of innovation where multiple facets of the R&D innovation chain can articulate social and economic productivity by working together. This "ecology of innovation" is the collaborate to compete or open source model that has emerged along with the Internet as a viable way of fostering what Chesbrough has called open innovation.

Speaking of which, Internet pioneer Mark Cuban has announced his own personal stimulus plan which he calls Open Source Funding. Call this an adaptive approach to start-up development.

As Darwin said, "It is not the strongest of the species who survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change."

Happy Darwin Day.

Creativity and innovation literacy

Roger Martin and Richard Florida of the Martin Prosperity Institute today launched their report on Ontario's economy. Commissioned by Premier McGuinty, the Ontario in the Creative Age project outlines their call for the promotion of creativity - brains over brawn - as the main driver of the economy. The launch today was hosted by the Economic Club of Toronto and was sponsored by Porter Airlines. Martin and Florida's thesis is that we need to move from the knowledge based economy into the idea based economy - where knowledge is applied and ideation encouraged in all aspects of every work place. Their ambitious goal is to have 70% of the workforce with a post secondary education would result in 50% of the population in creativity jobs by 2020. Kudos to them for focusing on the role of education - university, college, secondary, and especially early childhood - as the route to social and economic prosperity. Their focus on creativity aligns well with the concept of innovation literacy, or what Florida today referred to as "social intelligence skills": the ability to apply analytic skills to job functions, to motivate teams, and to build organizational capacity. The rise in creativity is commensurate with the need to fine tune our economy and to look to the future needs of the world economy for context.

Applied Research in the News

The Globe and Mail today published a Report on Colleges, which included a story on the role of applied research, particularly as it relates to polytechnics. "Innovation in the 'dead zone'" outlines how college and polytechnics applied research fills a gap in the product development life cycle. This is the notion of complementarity that I have written about in other posts. With government funding programs in place that enable colleges to work with industry, we become stewards of public investment in the R&D innovation chain. This is an important role, and encouraging this investment and the formation of clusters (what the EU calls Regions of Knowledge) will spur the development of the infrastructure to enable Canada to advance its social and economic productivity.