Posted on Sept. 17: Canada’s innovation strategy develops at McMaster

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/Gianluigi_Botton.jpg” caption=”Innovation Summit”]Business, academic and youth leaders from across Hamilton and the Halton region are at McMaster University today to discuss Canada's innovation strategy.

More than 100 attendees, representing area businesses, academic institutions and governments, are participating in facilitated dialogue discussions, a plenary session and hearing from a panel of innovation champions, including Mamdouh Shoukri, vice-president research and Doug Barber, former chair of McMaster's Board of Governors and Distinguished Professor-in-Residence in the Faculty of Engineering.

The dialogue sessions are focused on four key themes: knowledge creation and commercialization; innovation policy and regulatory climate; skills and learning; and strengthening community
capacity. Participants are discussing local and regional business productivity and spin-off issues, as well as innovation at the community level, while proposing solutions to a number of challenges.

Other McMaster participants include President Peter George, Ken Norrie, provost and vice-president academic, Mo Elbestawi, dean of engineering, Chris Bart, director of the Management of Innovation and New Technology research centre in the School of Business and business professor Marvin Ryder.

The federal initiative, launched earlier this year by Industry Minister Allan Rock and Human Resources Development Minister Jane Stewart, included a plan for comprehensive and focused discussions that would help refine and implement the strategy.

Other participants include Canadian Heritage Minister Sheila Copps,
Stan Keyes, MP for Hamilton West, Tony Valeri, MP for Stoney Creek, Paddy Torsney, MP for Burlington, John Bryden, MP for Ancaster-Dundas-
Flamborough-Aldershot, Beth Phinney, MP for Hamilton Mountain, and Julian Reed, MP for Halton.

The event was organized in partnership with Industry Canada, Mohawk College, Redeemer University, Sheridan College, the City of Hamilton, the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, the Regional Municipality of Halton and leaders of local industry and the business community.

“Canada's Innovation Strategy requires a national effort,” said minister Copps. “If we are going to improve our competitive position, we need all regions and all sectors of our economy to identify actions that remove barriers to innovation and push Canada toward a common goal of being one of the most innovative countries in the world.”

In recent years, Canada has eliminated the federal deficit, kept inflation low, dramatically reduced unemployment, improved the debt-to-GDP ratio and made significant investments in the infrastructure that supports research and development. However, Canada has to do more.

On Feb. 12, minister Rock announced Industry Canada's component of the plan. Integral to this plan are a series of regional and sectoral meetings to be held across the country, including 34 regional and 30 sectoral meetings, which seek. These meetings will culminate in a national summit in November 2002.

A Do It Yourself Kit will enable local MPs and organizations to initiate their own discussions at the community level or submit ideas directly to the Government of Canada. The kit contains background information, a discussion guide and a reporting template that can be used to provide input into the development of the national
action plan. The kit is available online. An interactive Web site, http://www.innovationstrategy.gc.ca, has also been developed to enable Canadians to provide their views directly. The site, which features stories about innovative Canadians, will be continually updated with information from the meetings.

“The Government's engagement plan outlines a number of ways for Canadians to get involved in Canada's Innovation Strategy,” said minister Rock. “It's important that we take a few months to get the strategy right, gather the good ideas and identify the challenges and opportunities.”

Copies of Achieving Excellence: Investing in People, Knowledge and Opportunity and Knowledge Matters: Skills and Learning for Canadians, as well as the Do it Yourself Kit, can be obtained at http://www.innovationstrategy.gc.ca or by calling 1-800-O-CANADA (1-800-622-6232).
For more information on Industry Canada and Canada's Innovation Strategy, please visit http://www.innovationstrategy.gc.ca.

Further information and photos are available on Industry Canada's Web site at http://www.ic.gc.ca.

Photo caption: Canada Research Chair Gianluigi Botton, assistant professor, Materials Science and Engineering, second left, is presented a plaque from Stan Keyes, MP for Hamilton West, left, Canada Research Chairs executive director Reni Durocher and McMaster President Peter George at the Innovation Summit's introductory session. Also presented plaques were McMaster Canada Research Chairs Paul Higgs, professor, Physics and Astronomy, Manel Jordana, professor, Pathology and Molecular Medicine and Tamas Terlaky professor, Computing and Software.