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Phillipson steps down after six years

For his last media interview, Dr Eliot Phillipson was clearly anxious to discuss the recently concluded contribution agreement hammered out between the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and Industry Canada.

The Sentinal Bioactive Paper Network is seeking to expand its clout as a world-leading source of applications for detecting water, air and food-borne pathogens using bioactive paper. The Network, which currently receives funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), has been short-listed for the next competition of the Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) program, which will provide $57 million for four new Centres among the remaining 10 applicants.

Year-long consultation process

The Public Policy Forum (PPF) has capped a year-long examination of Canadian business innovation and is developing a comprehensive strategy that it hopes will generate the kinds of actions that previous initiatives have failed to achieve.

The latest annual report from the Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity (IC&P) argues that Canada must increase its investment in education and develop innovation strategies that go beyond the traditional focus on scientific invention or risk falling further behind other knowledge-intensive jurisdictions.

Focus on Waterloo

Just two years after its creation, the Waterloo Institute of Nanotechnology (WIN) is gearing up to move into the largest and most expensive building in the history of the Univ of Waterloo.

Basis for national energy strategy?

The Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE) is teaming with the David Suzuki Foundation (DSF) to undertake a major, multi-year project examining the future of Canadian energy and energy supplies that could lay the foundation for a much-needed national energy strategy.

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is forging ahead with new international agreements on neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) as it continues discussions with government officials on its plan to make Canada a world leader in the field.

Moncton NB is home to a new innovation enabling organization that its backers hope will help the region’s nascent tech and life sciences clusters develop and prosper. More than five years in the making, Tech Southeast Inc (TSE) aims to link the major innovation players and support organizations in the southeast section of the province to facilitate the creation and growth of companies in the information and communications technologies (ICT) and life sciences sectors.

For the first time in three years, the federal government is coming to the table to participate in the the recently revived annual meetings of S&T ministers, raising optimism for a new era of coordination for S&T policy making and an integrated innovation agenda.

Ontario is pushing ahead with plans to establish a chief scientist for the province following premier Dalton McGuinty’s announcement while on a life sciences trade mission to Israel. The new position — a first for Canadian provinces — would help to identify commercialization opportunities, especially those relating to its three R&D priorities — life sciences, green energy and clean water and provide advice on how to achieve better alignment of the various players in the innovation system.