Topic: Superclusters

Digital Technology Supercluster kicks off with $153 million ISED funding

The B.C.-based Digital Technology Supercluster announced its official launch after receiving a funding allocation for $153 million from the Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Economic Development (ISED) and $200 million in funding commitments from member organizations.

Advanced manufacturing and protein industries superclusters sign funding agreements with ISED

Two of the five Canadian superclusters in ISED’s $950-million Innovation Superclusters Initiative have signed funding agreements and are set to launch. On November 13, economic development minister Navdeep Bains announced the investment of nearly $230 million in the Ontario-based Next Generation Manufacturing Supercluster (NGen), while public safety minister Ralph Goodale, speaking on behalf of ISED,…

Kendra MacDonald

Canada’s Ocean Supercluster (OSC) has named Kendra MacDonald its new CEO. MacDonald has held leadership roles in Australia, Hong Kong and Canada, most recently as Chief Audit Executive for Deloitte Global. She is also the Chair and Acting CEO for the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Technology Industries (NATI) and the Chair of the Audit…

Superclusters: Success depends on far more than tech-focused innovation policy

The supercluster initiative marks a new and positive step in Canadian innovation policy. It is more than a research granting exercise. Instead, it is one that is designed to ensure a clear reaching out to all parts of the research ecosystem in industry, non-profit organizations, academia and government.

Supercluster contenders must include strategies for confronting the risks in managing diverse interests

Managing different organizations with varying interests and different sizes of financial commitment will require a change in culture for the companies and institutions engaged in the Innovation Supercluster Initiative (ISI) competition. Governance and managing millions of dollars in government funds matched by industry are among the key challenges and risks ISI contenders will face, according to panelists at the recent Canadian Science Policy Conference

Government banks on supercluster initiative to boost economy through innovation

Almost a billion dollars in taxpayers’ funds are the carrot that the federal government hopes will bring industry and other stakeholders together to talk to each other and tap into each other’s resources to boost the Canadian economy through innovation. That’s the logic behind the $950-million Innovation Supercluster Initiative (ISI) which is heading into the final stretch of the two-phase selection process for between three and five winners.

NRC to strengthen collaborations with academia and government as part of evolving mandate

Change is coming to the National Research Council (NRC) with plans to modify the ways in which it generates new knowledge and expertise for business. The 100-year-old agency is recalibrating to enhance its role in the national innovation agenda by placing greater emphasis on exploratory research in emerging fields, stepping up collaboration with higher education institutions and enhancing integration within the federal innovation ecosystem.

Vector Institute aims to play key role in Canada’s bid to maintain AI leadership

Geoff Hinton, Yoshua Bengio and Richard Sutton may not be household names but in the world of artificial intelligence (AI) these Canadian researchers are superstars at the forefront of a field that is attracting a host of marquee tech titans angling to gain competitive advantage in the rapidly evolving field. Yet many highly accomplished AI researchers have left Canada to seek opportunity elsewhere prompting a remarkable alignment of government, academia and industry to make Canada the go-to destination for AI advancements in an ever-expanding range of industry sectors.