Joanne Weber has been named the first Canada Research Chair in Deaf Education, François-Philippe Champagne replaces Navdeep Bains as Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, the Canadian Space Agency opens a competition to foster innovative food technology production, and Vancouver is the latest city to benefit from the federal government’s LC3 initiative.
Organization: Government of Canada
Canada’s deep-sea science imperiled by outdated research ships, say scientists
Canadian scientists are no longer able to do cutting-edge deep-sea research off Canada’s coasts because of outdated and unreliable research vessels, say co-chairs of the National Research Vessel Task Team.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.
Opinion: Canada’s service sectors are poised for a tectonic shift
Canada needs to be prepared for the “tectonic shift” of intangibles powering new ways of delivering services that contribute more than three-quarters of Canada’s GDP, Bert van den Berg writes in an op-ed.
The Short Report – Jan 6, 2021: National Research Council has a new president, drones deliver PPE to remote communities, a hydrogen strategy for Canada, and more
NAIT researchers are collecting and analyzing microplastics in a first-of-its-kind study, Tim Hockey has been recruited to lead digital transformation in Ontario for the next three years, Dr. Ted Hewitt is reappointed president of SSHRC, and the IRPP calls for a roadmap to link training opportunities to skills and jobs.
Canada’s first patent collective launched with defensive “war chest” to protect Canadian IP
Canada has launched its first patent collective to help data-driven clean tech companies understand, generate and strategically use intellectual property in scaling up. The Innovation Asset Collective, backed by $30 million in federal funding, includes a defensive “war chest” to help Canadian SMEs defend their patents in an often predatory global IP marketplace.
Federal government must improve “catastrophic” innovation performance, say innovation experts and business groups
Innovation experts and business groups are stepping up calls for the federal government to fix a “weak and out of balance” innovation ecosystem. Canada continues to lag other countries in innovation performance and productivity, according to international indexes.
Ottawa defends innovation performance and initiatives to strengthen ecosystem
Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada, in a detailed response to growing criticisms, defends the federal government’s innovation performance, policies and programs.
The Short Report – Dec. 9, 2020: New funding for pandemic preparedness in LTC homes; a first-of-its-kind biofuel plant for Quebec, and more
Michael Sabia is the new deputy minister of Finance; a consortium of food-based businesses will test new applications for pulse flours; British-based Hg Capital will spend $1.1 billion to assume majority control of Calgary-based Benevity; Canada’s top 50 research universities posted a combined research income of $8 billion in fiscal 2019.
New US$100-million investment fund aims to help startups in Canada and India
Toronto-based digital accelerator Bay Street Diary and India Network have teamed up to establish a US$100-million venture capital fund for entrepreneurs and startups in Canada and India.
Government science must take a comprehensive approach to integrating AI, say experts
Integrating artificial intelligence into research and government is necessary, but requires more attention to ethical, security and data literacy issues, experts told the Canadian Science Policy Centre’s annual conference.