Past Conferences & Events

The financing landscape is changing dramatically as the Internet opens up new mechanisms for ordinary citizens, special groups and professionals to invest in companies and causes. These new modes of financing bring expanded opportunities for entrepreneurs and companies to attract funding from anywhere in the world and for investors to leverage their investments in innovative ways. They also promise to disrupt how public and private support for entrepreneurship and business development is delivered.

The 14th annual RE$EARCH MONEY conference will expand and deepen our analysis of implications of recent federal budgets for business innovation support. This year, our focus will be on examining Canada’s innovation agenda through the lens of the natural resource sectors – Canada’s traditional areas of strength – to understand the broader context of innovation.

The 13th annual RE$EARCH MONEY conference continues our examination of the implications of recent federal budgets for business innovation support. This year, we will look at how Budget 2014 builds on the last two budgets, in particular the extent to which the government is changing the balance between indirect and direct support of firms and the balance between supporting basic and applied research in academia and academic-industrial research collaboration.

Supporting a successful innovation strategy is crucial for a country to stay competitive in today’s global environment. Budget 2012 was a work in progress, signaling some potentially significant changes in the way the federal government supports business innovation. A number of recommendations from the Jenkins Report are being implemented, where others were implicitly acknowledged for possible consideration in future budgets. Some were ignored altogether.

Our last conference in May 2012 focused on the implications of Budget 2012 for innovation in Canada and was an overwhelming success. We will continue the conversation at the 2013 conference by looking at Budget 2013 and what it signals for emerging government policies, priorities, and strategies that affect Canada’s innovation ecosystem and culture.

How are Canada and other countries supporting economic growth through research in the private and public sectors? How are their investments in research support linked to industrial and economic strategies and programs? What are the expected outcomes of these investments and how do governments measure them? International, national and regional practitioners and experts will share their experiences and insights.

The large industrial research lab is no longer the norm. Multinational firms now globally distribute their R&D and collaborate with partners in public and private sector institutions. How has this dramatic change affected public policies and how have policies affected private sector R&D and the corporate environment? Does the “new normal” offer opportunities to a country like Canada? Join RE$EARCH MONEY to discuss and debate the present reality and future of industrial R&D.

RE$EARCH MONEY will look at how best to help Canadian technology firms expand into other countries to grow their business. CEOs of successful Canadian technology firms will describe how they do it, the challenges they faced, and where the Canadian policy and cultural environments need to change to make it easier for others. International experts from the public and private sectors will share best practices from around the world. Policy makers will have an opportunity to explore future options so that Canada can compete effectively in the global knowledge economy.

Does Canada have what it takes to grow domestic multinationals in knowledge-based industry sectors such as ICT, biotech and cleantech? What is the nature of Canada’s entrepreneurial culture? Are Canadian entrepreneurs able or willing to grow multinational firms? Does Canada have the executive talent to run tech multinationals from a Canadian base? Is such behaviour encouraged and recognized positively in Canada? Do we train our young people for these kinds of entrepreneurial and executive roles? Leading tech entrepreneurs and executives in Canada and the U.S. share their own experiences and perceptions on Canada’s entrepreneurial culture, and explore ways to improve Canada’s performance in knowledge-based commerce.