Two organizations are beginning to apply the wisdom of casting the innovation net broadly. Mitacs and the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) have both expanded their scope to incorporate previously under-utilized components of the innovation system, and for good reason.
For Mitacs, its recently replenished internship funding will allow the pioneering former Network of Centres of Excellence to push into industry sectors with low R&D intensity, as well as advocating for the use of social sciences research in addressing company challenges.
At the OCE, the decision to merge with the Colleges Ontario Network for Industry Innovation (CONII) brings Ontario’s 24 colleges closer to the decision making apparatus that determines where increasingly scarce public resources can be directed for maximum impact (see page 5).
Proponents of colleges and the social sciences have long argued that their place at the innovation table has been ignored for too long and must be expanded. The word appears to be getting through.
Yet another indication of the broadening innovation policy landscape comes from a study by OCAD Univ on Ontario’s mobile industries. The report from OCADU argues, in part, that excellent design is critical in growing a world class mobile sector.
All this is well beyond the traditional technology-centric thinking about innovation and it can only help Canada’s quest to advance the transition to an economy that’s firmly grounded in knowledge as well as natural resources.
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