Author: Mark Henderson

Editorial 31-6

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Seizing opportunity and taking risk may not be considered innately Canadian traits but they should be. US president Donald Trump’s ascension to the White House, his nativist rhetoric and the Republican Party’s plans to slash spending on key areas of research have opened up opportunities on several levels.

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Agri-food policy makers seek to combine research and innovation to boost sector to global prominence

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The Advisory Council on Economic Growth (ACEG) has spurred an outpouring of interest and innovative activity for adding value and expanding global markets for Canada’s agricultural and agri-food sector, with a follow-up report urging the government to establish an Agri-Food Growth Council and inter-departmental task force to provide leadership and alignment.

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Where is the protection of patents in Canada?

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There is a big problem with how Canada deals with goods infringing on patents being imported in Canada. In a nutshell, Canada doesn’t. Canada can seize goods at the border that infringe on a copyright or a trademark. But there is no general mechanism for goods infringing on a Canadian patent. Sure, my legal advisors tell me that in exceptional circumstances a court injunction could be obtained. But this is very rare.

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Time is ripe for boosting support for research and research infrastructure says departing CFI president

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Over his seven year term as president and CEO of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Dr Gilles Patry has witnessed firsthand the dramatic changes in the research landscape and the rise of innovation as a key priority for government, academia and industry. Once considered something of an (albeit expensive) outlier in the research ecosystem, the CFI is now more closely aligned with other players from researchers to industry as well a key driver in efforts to encourage cross-sectoral collaboration nationally and internationally.

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Race is on to secure a share of $950M in supercluster funding

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One of the most anticipated competitions for S&T funding in recent memory has begun with the launch of the competition for $950 million in supercluster funding that will see up to five sectoral, knowledge-based initiatives selected to become future drivers of economic and job growth. Since its initial announcement in Budget 2016, groups in several areas — from agri-food to artificial intelligence and driverless vehicles – have formed to develop collaborative proposals that will now have an opportunity to compete for $950 million in funding between 2017 and 2022.

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Paul Geyer

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Serial entrepreneur Paul Geyer has been appointed CEO of Vancouver’s Discovery Parks. Geyer will be responsible for launching a subsidiary —Nimbus Synergies Investment Program — a $20-million initiative to accelerate the growth and commercialization of up to five companies annually in the health technology sector. He holds a BSc in electrical and biomedical engineering and…

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Bill Tam

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Bill Tam, CEO of the BC Technology Industry Association, is stepping down after six years following the organization’s AGM in October 2017. Prior to joining the BCTIA, served as CEO of Vancouver-based EQO Communications, a venture partner at SpringBank TechVentures in Calgary, VP business development at AT&T Canada and VP of product strategy and marketing…

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Aharon Aharon

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Aharon Aharon has been appointed board chair of the Canada Israel Industrial R&D Foundation (CIIRDF). Aharon is CEO of the recently created Israel Innovation Authority (IIA) and a high-tech veteran of several start-ups and branch operations of multinational firms. He most recently served as CEO of Apple’s Israeli operations. The IIA was formerly known as…

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NRC working with industry, academia to build value chain for lithium-ion batteries

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Escalating demand for specialty materials that go into next-generation lithium-ion batteries has prompted the National Research Council to create an R&D group to bolster the value chain for their use in the transportation and stationary applications. Advanced discussions between NRC officials and several companies are already underway to determine the extent of their participation in the new lithium-ion battery technologies (LiBTec) program, which kicked off June 7 with a webinar.

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