Article Type: Generic

The Canadian aerospace industry wants the government to revamp its R&D assistance programs and open its coffers to counter the decline in public investment in the sector over the past decade. In its new innovation paper —Aerospace — Meeting Canada’s Innovation Challenge — it calls for a “reinvigorated” national aerospace program and substantial new investments in basic research, pre-competitive technology development and demonstration and process improvements.

While the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) continues to press the federal government for a long-term funding commitment, it is making profound changes to its governance structure and activities to better encompass the grand experiment in health research launched 16 months ago.

EMPOWR Canada Inc is set to become the first organization to form a national innovation platform (NIP) with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), a novel new mechanism that would allow the flow of targeted research funding without having to create a new organization.

Researchers from the TeleLearning Network of Centres of Excellence (TL-NCE) are exploring the feasibility of creating a new networking mechanism in the wake of Network’s failure to obtain Phase II funding.

New and ongoing research and development initiatives feature prominently in the first update to the First National Climate Change Business Plan (FNBP) which was recently released to provide current details on the host of national and provincial measures now underway.

The federal government will not introduce any new S&T programs that require substantial matching provincial funding without first consulting with the provinces. The agreement, which was not included in the final communiqué of the recent meeting of S&T ministers in Quebec City, would delay the introduction of any new programs stemming from the innovation paper until the fall of 2002.

RE$EARCH MONEY Exclusive

The federal government’s unfolding skills and learning agenda is proposing an urgent initial investment of $860 million to begin meeting core policy objectives, according to documents obtained by RE$EARCH MONEY.

RE$EARCH MONEY Analysis

What a difference a few months make. This fall was supposed to usher in the triumphant unveiling of Ottawa’s comprehensive Innovation Agenda and establish a key milestone in the quest to make Canada a globally competitive knowledge-based society.

RE$EARCH MONEY CONFERENCE
Canada’s R&D Challenge: Moving from 15th to 5th in Global R&D Spending
Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, Ottawa, November 13, 2001

“The aerospace industry has a central role to play in realizing the goal of moving Canada from 15th to 5th in R&D investment.

Playing catch-up with the rest of the world

The materials research community is engineering an ambitious proposal to create a national Materials Innovation Cooperative (MIC) that will enhance the research infrastructure of the transportation, construction and energy sectors and give academic researchers widespread access to essential equipment and services for the first time.