Taken as a whole, the stories in this issue of RE$EARCH MONEY provide an advance snapshot of the direction that Canadian S&T will be moving in the new year. Although the image is still blurry, one can discern a growing willingness by all sectors in the innovation system to boost R&D spending and tackle barriers to increased productivity and prosperity.

No one can fault the delegates to the National Innovation Summit for departing from the event with a renewed sense of optimism. For the first time since the consultations were launched, innovation, skills and learning finally seemed to be on the national agenda.

Few will argue that Canada is desperately in need of a national S&T policy. The Holy Grail of this week’s national innovation summit is a national innovation and learning action plan that’s realistic, ambitious and above all achievable.

One can forgive the confusion swirling through the federal S&T community in the wake of the decision to yank FINE from going forward for Cabinet consideration. The FINE proposal – short for Federal Innovation Networks of Excellence – was supposed to be the magic bullet that would break the funding logjam that has bedeviled the government’s science-based departments and agencies (SBDAs) since the mid 1990s.

Targets are useful tools. They help to focus debate, concentrate effort and provide a rallying point that everyone can get behind. But what happens when targets set by governments are unrealistic, as is the case for many of those created for Canada’s innovation performance?

It’s been nearly two years since Canada’s innovation targets were first announced.

Canada’s strategy for becoming a global leader in biotechnology is about to receive a major endorsement with the imminent decision by DSM Biologics to double its Montreal bioprocessing facility. Although the deal isn’t final, construction crews are already preparing the site on land leased from its neighbour, the National Research Council’s Biotechnology Research Institute.

If there’s a time when the innovation agenda needs a champion, it’s now. Buffeted by an R&D spending downturn and the backroom maneuvering of Liberal leadership hopefuls, the prospect of a dynamic, effective innovation strategy appears to be losing momentum.

The selection process used for the first competition under the Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF) once again raises serious questions about the often awkward relationship between determining scientific excellence and the federal government’s role in regional development.

Two of Canada’s most respected research organizations are pushing to have an even greater impact on the nation’s innovative capacity. The Canadian Microelectronics Corp (CMC) and Precarn Inc are both massaging their strategic directions and seeking new funding sources as the federal government prepares to launch a national innovation strategy (see pages 3 & 5).

Like a slow moving freight train, Ottawa’s innovation agenda is gathering speed and on track to reach its first destination in Toronto this November. The leisurely pace of progress in developing an effective innovation strategy is dictated in part by the need to consult widely with all relevant players.