What does 2016 hold for Canadian science, technology and innovation (STI)? The new Liberal government has issued upbeat messaging about the importance of science but has so far been light on the specifics.

If you’ve been wondering about the current state of federal S&T and options for the future, this issue’s lead story on the an expert advisory group’s report provides an illuminating window on ways to enhance government science, engineering and technology.

Some dubbed this year’s Canadian Science Policy Conference the most successful event in its seven-year history. With nearly 500 delegates and strong representation from the federal government, the Ottawa conference was a heady affair with renewed optimism and hope for the future pervasive in virtually every panel session and keynote address.

Expect to hear more from federal policy makers as the Liberal government moves forward with crafting its science, technology and innovation (STI) policies. Mandate letters delivered to the new Cabinet ministers make it clear that openness and inclusiveness are to be hallmarks of the new administration.

Will Canada’s science, technology and innovation (STI) strategy be getting a much needed overhaul? The incoming Liberal government’s election platform didn’t have much to say about STI but that hasn’t stopped a torrent of advice from business and academia, urging the new government to get serious about the knowledge-based economy (see page1).

The federal party platforms have now been released and the S&T community can be forgiven for expressing disappointment that science, technology and innovation (STI) are being afforded little prominence in the most important election in a generation.

David Crane got it right in his Hill Times column this week when he called for a public investment strategy to build Canada’s innovative economy. The veteran economic journalist isn’t the first, nor will he be the last, to call attention to Canada’s weak competitiveness and slumping market share in key industry sectors.

As the Canadian economy continues to slump, the federal government appears to have turned its back on a report that urges the kind of action required to boost this country’s knowledge-based economy. Delivered to Health Canada by the Advisory Panel on Healthcare Innovation was quietly posted on the department’s website on a Friday afternoon; a corresponding press conference by the minister was cancelled.

Another report, another call for Canada to create a chief scientific officer. This time the recommendation is being made by the Royal Society of Canada (RSP), an august scientific society that has recently taken on a more proactive role in its advocacy of policy (see page 6).