Author: Mark Lowey

Canada needs a targeted industrial strategy to improve innovation performance, experts say

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Canada’s continued poor performance in innovation and business productivity is due to a failure to link publicly funded research and innovation programs to an industrial strategy based on the country’s strengths, say innovation experts. Meanwhile, studies by University of Toronto researchers show the federal innovation agenda has negatively impacted funding for basic, investigator-driven research but hasn’t addressed the underlying problem of industrial innovation in Canada.

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Oil and gas innovation network has yet to spend $80 million of federal funding for cleaner technologies

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A pan-Canadian oil and natural gas innovation network has yet to spend the bulk of $100 million of federal funding on commercializing new, cleaner technologies, two years after Ottawa announced the funding and seven months after a contribution agreement was signed. The Clean Resource Innovation Network, which aims to produce the world’s cleanest hydrocarbons, plans to announce details of its planned three technology competitions by end of March 2021.

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Nova Scotia researchers to test whether UV light reduces COVID-19 at long-term care homes

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Nova Scotia researchers are launching a $1.7-million project to test whether ultraviolet (UV) lights installed in long-term care facilities will reduce COVID-19 and other infections among residents. Previous studies have shown that germicidal UV light effectively kills seasonal coronaviruses, and there are now Canadian companies selling UV light disinfection systems.

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Calgary vaccine developer reaches deal with Manitoba government after hearing no response from Ottawa

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Providence Therapeutics, a Calgary biotechnology company in human trials with its COVID-19 vaccine, struck a supply deal with the Government of Manitoba after sending the federal government a proposal and receiving no response. In a video, Providence founder and CEO Brad Sorenson criticized Ottawa’s “apathetic response” as “unacceptable” and he implored the government to take initiative to establish a secure domestic vaccine supply.

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Analysis: Updated mandate for federal innovation minister shows a Prime Minister preoccupied with COVID-19

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is much more focused on his government’s response to COVID-19 than on science and innovation priorities, judging by the PM’s updated mandate letter to the minister of innovation. The letter mentions the world “innovation” once, compared with more than a half-dozen references to COVID-19 and the federal response to the pandemic

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Canada’s deep-sea science imperiled by outdated research ships, say scientists

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Canadian scientists are no longer able to do cutting-edge deep-sea research off Canada’s coasts because of outdated and unreliable research vessels, say co-chairs of the National Research Vessel Task Team. As a stop-gap measure, the group is proposing the development of modular ocean research infrastructure (MORI) that could be deployed on industry ships and other non-specialized vessels.

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