The world of technology development for the military is complex and fraught with uncertainty. Just ask the people behind a unique technology roadmapping initiative that has been more than two years in development (see lead story).

From the perspective of research and S&T, the Conservative government’s Speech from the Throne and re-introduced Budget represents a lost opportunity. The failure to boost S&T as a priority and revisit the S&T provisions of the March 22 Budget indicate that innovation policy and its implementation will continue to trail those of our competitors.

Will S&T suffer a hit once the Conservative government launches its deficit elimination strategy? I’d happily take a nickel for every rumour swirling through business, academia and government. The prospect of cutting funds to research and innovation when many key mechanisms are already underfunded is frightening indeed, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Canadian technology may be able to de-risk one of the most promising future sources of energy that currently poses a grave environmental threat under current extraction practices. Hydraulic fracturing or hydrofracking now uses what many critics have described as a toxic stew of chemicals mixed with water to release natural gas trapped in rock formations.

The Ontario Centres of Excellence is to be congratulated for taking the initiative to improve Canada’s weak track record for commercializing publicly funded research. Through its federally supported Centre for the Commercialization of Research (CCR), it has spearheaded the formation of the International Commercialization Alliance (ICA) which aims to share international best practices and models to boost the economic outputs stemming from research (see page 4).

The aftershocks of the 2008 economic meltdown and subsequent orgy of stimulus spending are putting the squeeze on new investments aimed at boosting innovation. Bulging federal and provincial deficits have resulted in a slew of budgets in which S&T, R&D and innovation are fighting an uphill battle with soaring health care and education spending.

Canada’s S&T community writ large could use some good news in next week’s Budget. The recent release of the Main Estimates shows that most departments and agencies are set to experience stagnation or declines in their funding next year, with the exception of the Canadian Space Agency.

A new program that’s funding large-scale research into childhood cancers and rare disorders is shining proof that much can be accomplished with relatively little spending. The Advancing Technology Innovation Through Discovery Program is a joint initiative of Genome Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Anyone looking for the benefits of making long-term investments in basic research need look no further than Ontario. The province appears to be on the cusp of a major influx of foreign direct investment in its medical and assistive technologies (MAT) sector with the decision by GE Healthcare to establish a centre of excellence for pathology imaging in Toronto.

A comparison of the US and Canadian approaches to stimulating innovation provides a telling picture of two dramatically different strategies. The US position was forcefully outlined in president Barack Obama’s January 27th State of the Union Address.