Article Type: Generic

The MaRS Discovery District has announced that the London region will be its first geographic affiliation as part of a strategy to establish a provincial network aimed at moving promising research into the marketplace.

Emerging model for telecom industry

Bell Canada is forging long-term collaborative relationships across Canada to develop innovative products and services that will differentiate the telco in a rapidly changing marketplace.

Latest competition’s success rate only 25%

The implementation of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s (CIHR) ambitious mandate is being thwarted due to inadequate funding. Late last month, Canada’s primary health research funding agency revealed that 600 research proposals ranked ‘very good’ or better could not be funded through its September/05 Open Operating Grants Competition.

Brings impressive network of contacts

The Canadian Academies of Science (CAS) has scored a major coup with the appointment of Dr Peter Nicholson as its inaugural president. Nicholson joins the fledgling CAS just days after stepping down from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and will immediately set to work filling key positions and travelling the country to meet with members of the three scientific societies that comprise the new organization.

US State of the Union address

George W Bush has unveiled a new American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) to maintain and enhance US leadership in the physical sciences. The initiative should come as a timely signal to the new Conservative government in Ottawa that it ignores the government’s role in competitiveness and innovation at its peril (see related article below).

The renewed prominence of S&T south of the border is being viewed as a golden opportunity for Canadian backers of increased R&D spending to convince the new Conservative government that Canada must follow suit or risk being left behind in the global economic arena.

The new Conservative government’s election platform was virtually silent on matters pertaining to R&D, S&T and innovation, but its March 2005 policy platform provides some vague insight as to how it will approach the public role in providing assistance in these areas.

The Strategic Grants Program (SGP) of Science and Engineering Research Canada (NSERC) has honed the focus of its target areas with seven new research themes designed to align Canada’s university-based research activity with Canada’s strategic requirements over a 10-year horizon.

A team led by two Univ of Toronto researchers have won their second major five-year grant to study the role that creativity plays in developing strong, innovative city regions. The $2.5-million grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) will support the Social Dynamics of Economic Performance research project, with the three-pronged aim examining the social and creative aspects of innovation, as well as how civic associations and leaders work to develop support for innovative initiatives.

The National Research Council (NRC) is entering the critical phase of its renewal project that will determine the structure and priorities of Canada’s premier R&D agency. Launched in February/05 after several abortive attempts to reinvent itself, the project has completed the essential groundwork and is now working to establish an operational plan for the next 10 years when the NRC will face an increasing competitive global knowledge environment.