Topic: automation

Innovation waits for its Covid moment

Innovations once seen as threatening can turn out to be immensely useful and welcome, as circumstances change to enable them to provide positive economic or social benefits.

How do we future-proof the Canadian economy?

Given the changing nature of work in Canada, governments, employers and educational partners will need to get creative with their support for reskilling and upskilling workers. This includes collaborating to build and modify the content of training and educational programs and incentivizing workers to retrain, says Darren Gresch, Senior Research Associate, Innovation and Technology, at the Conference Board of Canada, in an op-ed.

The Short Report – Feb. 9, 2022: Quebec getting Canada’s first universal quantum computer, Canadian cleantech companies receive more than $52 million in SDTC funding, Ocean Supercluster announces largest project to date, public servants learn about AI, and more

The Short Report – Feb. 9, 2022: Quebec gets Canada’s first universal quantum computer, Canadian cleantech companies receive more than $52 million in SDTC funding, Ocean Supercluster announces largest project to date, public servants learn about AI, new VP of research programs at CIHR, and more.

How Canada can upskill its workforce after the COVID-19 pandemic

The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has created the perfect conditions to consider new, innovative approaches to rapidly upskill and redeploy domestic talent, say AJ Tibando and Arvind Gupta, the executive director and the CEO of Palette Skills, respectively, in an opinion piece.

After billions in funding, Strategic Innovation Fund failed to improve Canada’s innovation performance, experts say

Nearly $3.4 billion in federal spending through the Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF) during the last three years has failed to improve Canada’s “disastrous” innovation performance and productivity, say some innovation and policy experts. An analysis by Research Money of SIF data shows that Ontario, Quebec and foreign-based firms have received the lion’s share of SIF funding.

Alberta agri-food sector gets a boost with launch of new research and innovation network

A new $108.5-million technology and agri-food research and innovation network, supported by the federal government and industry, is expected to begin operations by the end of this month. Alberta Innovates’ Inventures conference also highlighted a new $40 funding challenge from Emissions Reduction Alberta to accelerate technology innovation in agriculture, agri-food and forestry.

The Short Report, April 28, 2020: Alarming drop in donations for health charities; Health Canada approves COVID-19 clinical trial; and more

Health charities are seeing an “alarming” drop in donations, which they warn will compromise the health of Canadians living with chronic disease. HealthPartners, a collaboration of 16 Canadian charities, released the findings in its report, The Impact of COVID-19 on our Most Vulnerable Canadians. In response to declining donations, the report says health charities have…