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Invest in people, Science and Research Committee recommends

The Standing Committee on Science and Research this week tabled its first report, which recommends greater integration of federal granting council activity and a focus on investing in the people who participate in scientific enterprises.

Alberta Innovates provides $9.1-million boost for the province’s tech SMEs

Alberta Innovates is investing more than 9.1 million in 15 projects aimed at supporting Alberta’s SMEs and addressing gaps in the innovation continuum from ideation to commercialization. The largest grant — nearly $1.35 million — went to Calgary-based Cybera Inc. for its newly established Applied Data Science Lab for Economic Development program.

Lessons learned and points to ponder — a fading pandemic’s legacy

Sound government policy is required to guide the major forces shaping Canada’s post-pandemic future, including: digitization; managing debt; role of government; expectations of business; behaviour and values; and environment and energy, Arden Brummell and Greg MacGillvrary, managing editors at Calgary-based Scenarios to Strategy Inc., say in an op-ed.

Good to Know: Canada first

“We can solve Canadian problems first, and export technologies to the rest of the world.”             Ken Coates, Canada Research Chair in Regional Innovation, University of Saskatchewan, testifying before the Standing Committee on Science and Research on the question of a national science strategy could be applied to Canada’s economic advantage.

Championing a charter to facilitate health data sharing

A group of experts charged with providing strategic direction and roadmap for the maximizing the impact of health data is calling for the establishment of a Canadian Health Data Charter — one of 10 recommendations released this month as part of the Pan-Canadian Health Data Strategy.

Research with and for communities

Enlisting research subjects as research managers builds strong bridges of trust and understanding with communities that are being studied. It also yields better findings.

Good to Know

“The time is now for all stakeholders — funders, institutions, publishers and researchers — to consider how we can work together to dismantle systemic legacies of exclusion.” From an editorial in Nature, published 30 May 2022, outlining the journal’s new policy to address the problem of “helicopter research” — when researchers from high-income settings conduct…

Bring on the robots and create better jobs, report argues

Canadian businesses are failing to invest adequately in innovation, new technology and R&D, hurting productivity and negatively impacting the composition and quality of work, according to a report by the Centre for Future Work.