Topic: Innovation Agenda

Entrepreneurship is thriving on university campuses: Report

Canadian universities are taking diverse approaches to equip students with entrepreneurial skills and foster a start-up culture on campuses.

That is the conclusion of a new report released this week by Mitacs, a national not-for-profit organization that provides research and training programs to support innovation. Titled Entrepreneurs on Campus: University-based support for start-ups, the report provides an overview of the diverse approaches universities are taking to prepare students for a rapidly changing workforce—as entrepreneurs or as employees.

Is Canada’s Innovation Budget ambitious enough?

Opinion is decidedly split on the federal government’s delivery of its promised innovation Budget. The March 22 budgetary planning document contains a wide range of measures related to skills, company financing, program consolidation and clean technology.

Study to review national model for offering start-ups free IP advice

A Waterloo policy think tank founded by former Blackberry executive Jim Balsillie is funding a new study that will examine how start-ups can get access to free intellectual property legal services across Canada. The one-year project is examining the success of the Innovation Clinic at York Univ’s Osgoode Hall Law School, with a view to replicating the model nationally.

Editorial – 31-2

The federal government has been afforded a timely opportunity to move the markers on innovation with the latest recommendations from the Advisory Council on Economic Growth

Government and business need to identify key growth sectors: Barton council

The Advisory Council on Economic Growth says Canada must choose a small number of promising sectors for growth as the US, UK, New Zealand and Australia have done with varying degrees of success. And while the council does not provide a specific list, it does single out agriculture and food, energy and renewables, mining and metals, healthcare and life sciences, advanced manufacturing, financial services, tourism and education as the best bets.

Barton panel pitches large growth funds, procurement to improve innovation ecosystem

The creation of two large funds aimed at scaling high-growth tech firms is among the recommendations contained in the second wave of reports from the Advisory Council on Economic Growth. The funds would target what the panel describes as bottlenecks in the innovation ecosystem – early- and expansion-stage companies as well as established small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with high impact potential.