The IPL newsletter: Volume 2, Issue 31

National Research Council of Canada announces a new technology spin-off, Ionalytics Corp.

NRC’s latest technology spin-off company, Ionalytics Corporation, will be licensing FAIMS technology (ion separation technology) developed by at the Institute for National Measurements Standards. With a start-up investment of $2 million from Genesys Capital Partners Inc. of Toronto, Ionalystics will design and manufacture FAIMS chemical analysis systems from its the Industry Partnership Facility on NRC’s Ottawa campus. The technology will be sold as accessories for the mass spectrometers, which are used in such areas as proteomics, drug discovery, in the detection of chemical and biological agents, and in the monitoring of environmental waste sites. NRC has created close to 50 companies in Canada since 1996.

Provincial investment to boost research to ease traffic congestion

The Ontario government, through the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund (ORDCF) and the Ontario Innovation Trust (OIT), is investing close to a $1 million to help establish the Centre for Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) at the University of Toronto. These investments will enable Canadian engineers to develop the communications technology needed to reduce gridlock and solve the environmental and economic challenges it brings. Intelligent transportation systems is an emerging global industry that uses advanced technologies to better control over-congested transportation networks. For more information on the project and its industrial partners, please see background information.

2001 Federal budget includes more than $1.1 billion over three years to support strategic investments in skills, learning and research

S&T highlights from last week’s budget include increased funding to the National Research Council for leading-edge technologies and for expanding regional innovation initiatives, increased funding to the Research Councils (NSERC & SSHRC), and extended funding for Internet initiatives including SchoolNet, and the building of CA*net 4, a new generation of Internet broadband network architecture. In total, the Government’s expenditures on science and technology are estimated at $7.4 billion in 2001-02, an increase of 25 per cent from the previous peak.  For a summary of funding increases, see table.

NRC hopes to expand technology clusters

The National Research Council will spend the $110-million it was granted in last week’s federal budget to try to expand technology clusters across the country, the federal body’s latest attempt to turn public sector research into private sector activity. The NRC will use the new money over the next three years to start or expand six fledgling clusters west of the Maritimes, following the council’s move last year to spend another $110-million to kick-start four clusters in the Atlantic provinces.  Dr. Arthur Carty, the NRC’s president, said the money is expected to create about 500 jobs and establish about the same number of seats for students and visiting academics. [The Globe and Mail]

A framework for cluster – based economic development policies

R. C. Turner, The Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government

This paper examines how state and local policy makers in New York identify the members and boundaries of a cluster and promote the regional technological dynamism associated with Silicon Valley. The cluster concept, according to the author, is useful to policy-makers for understanding a regional economy and the sources of its competitiveness, promoting greater collaboration among regional firms and for maximizing the impact of government services to private industry. Specific recommendations for each of these uses are developed. The paper concludes with a pilot proposal to identify successful examples of cluster policies at the regional level which other policy makers around the state can emulate.

Next Silicon Valley: Riding the Waves of Innovation

Joint Venture: Silicon Valley

This White Paper provides a framework for understanding and communicating what is now happening in the Valley’s economy and for stimulating further action. The paper discusses how short-term economic cycles, longer-term waves of innovation, and external economic shocks have shaped the Silicon Valley habitat and asks whether Silicon Valley is strong enough to absorb current short-term forces and shift into new directions. Understanding the cycles that drive the Valley, and learning how to deal with them are, according to the authors, critical for future success. Though the authors note that the Next Silicon Valley is already emerging in a few companies today, they caution readers of the need to appreciate how much more volatile the new world of global innovation is for both organizations and people.

A Practical Guide to Regional Foresight

European Commission

Foresight, a process that involves constructively bringing awareness of long-term challenges and opportunities into more immediate decision-making, has been mostly visible at the national level especially in Europe. This guide suggests that it is also suitable at a sub-national level where there is a minimal degree of local identity and political leverage available. The guide is aimed more specifically at potential Foresight practitioners, focusing on how and why regional Foresight can be used, what the different approaches to Foresight are, when and where they may be appropriate, and how a regional or local situation has to be taken into account in the design of a Foresight process.

An Introduction to the Economy of the Knowledge Society

P. A. David & D. Foray

This introductory article reviews the main themes relating to the development of new knowledge-based economies. After placing their emergence in historical perspective and proposing a theoretical framework that distinguishes knowledge from information, the authors characterize the specific nature of such economies. They go on to deal with some of the major issues concerning the new skills and abilities required for integration into the knowledge-based economy; the new geography that is taking shape (where physical distance ceases to be such an influential constraint); the conditions governing access to both information and knowledge, not least for developing countries; the uneven development of scientific, technological (including organizational) knowledge across different sectors of activity; problems concerning intellectual property rights and the privatization of knowledge; and the issues of trust, memory and the fragmentation of knowledge.

CITO InnoTalk: An Intellectual Property Guide For Weathering The Downturn 

Toronto, 16 January, 2002

This seminar will focus on a variety of cost-effective strategies for IP protection at a time when many intellectual property protection budgets have been cut back. The presenter for this half-day talk will be patent and trade-mark agent, Anthony de Fazekas, from Keyser Mason Ball.

The 5th World Congress on the Management of Intellectual Capital 

Hamilton, 16-18 January, 2002

The McMaster World Congress will showcase presentations and panel discussions with worldwide e-commerce leaders and forward-thinking analysts, while providing opportunity for attendees to meet and network. This year’s themes include knowledge management, innovation management, intangible assets, organizational learning, management of new technology, and human capital. The Congress will also be hosting an e-commerce case competition for MBA students, special e-government track for both the knowledge management in government and e-learning in government, and a Ph.D. consortium.

2002 Incubation and New Ventures Conference: How Incubators Fit In

Calgary, 21 –22 January, 2002

This Conference Board of Canada event focuses on how incubators fit in with innovation, the economy, technology, regional cities, universities and colleges, research parks, the community, major corporations and entrepreneurship. The session topics discussed by the panels include: ‘Financing New Ventures, Angel Investors and the Role of Incubators’, ‘Incubators in Health, the Life Sciences and Biotechnology’, ‘Incubators in Rural Communities and Mid-Sized Cities’ and, ‘Making Incubation Work: Incubators, Research Parks and Regional Economic Development’.

Regional Governance in an Age of Globalization

Stuttgart, 8-9 March, 2002

This conference aims to examine and advance theories and practices in understanding regional governance in an age of globalization. The focus will be on globalization and its impact on subnational governments around the world with a particular interest in the intersection of the international with the local and regional and how this phenomenon is affecting the development of international and transnational relations on the one hand, and governance internationally, nationally, and subnationally on the other. The influence of unprecedented technological change on globalization and governance is also of interest to the conference organizers.

Sixth International Research Conference on Quality, Innovation and Knowledge Management 

Kuala Lumpur, 17-20 February 2002

The theme of this conference is ‘Convergence in the Digital Economy’, a rubric that seeks to encompass the many new ideas relating to quality, innovation and knowledge management and the associated challenges in the rapidly developing digital economy of the 21st century. Papers will be presented in such areas as ‘Quality Management and Innovation’, ‘Quality and Innovation in Services’, ‘Knowledge Management and Organisational Learning’ and, ‘Human Capital, Intellectual Capital and Innovation’.

Rethinking Science Policy: Analytical Frameworks for Evidence-based Policy

Brighton, 21-23 March, 2002

This conference focuses on new models for science policy, exploring the European context where traditional foundations for science policy have been increasingly questioned during the last few decades of science policy research as policymakers search for new methods of harnessing scientific investigation. Twenty-six new papers, including eight invited papers by leading authorities in the field of science policy, will be presented. Final date for acceptance of abstracts November 1, 2001.

16th International Conference on Business Incubation: Explore Your World, Enrich Your Community 

Toronto, 28 April – 1 May, 2002

Sponsored by the National Business Incubation Association and the Toronto Business Development Centre this international conference brings together industry leaders from around the world for four days of knowledge sharing and networking.  Along with pre-conference workshops, the conference includes three days of educational sessions and roundtable discussions covering incubation’s latest topics.

Innovation in an Evolving Economy

Ottawa, 6-7 May, 2002

Statistics Canada’s Economic Conference 2002 will be focusing on the investments required to meet the challenges of rapidly changing economic and social realities. The event will include several plenary sessions featuring invited guest speakers who are leading authorities in their fields. It will also include presentations in which participants will discuss research providing new perspectives on topics related to one of the following sub-themes: ‘Investing in a competitive Canada’, ‘Investing in the global context’, ‘Investing in infrastructure’ and, ‘Investing in an innovative work force’.

2002 International Symposium on Technology and Society: Social Implications of Information and Communication Technology

Raleigh, (North Carolina), 6-8 June, 2002

In an effort to establish a critical dialogue on the social and ethical dimensions of ICT, ISTAS’02 will bring together ICT professionals, computer science and engineering educators, scholars in the humanities and social sciences, students and policymakers to discuss several important and topical themes. These include electronic publishing, ICT and democratic processes, intellectual property rights in the digital era, social implications of wireless technology and gender issues in ICT. Among the plenary session speakers will be Dr. Lucy Suchman from the Department of Sociology, Lancaster University. Proposal deadline for sessions, panels, or individual papers is December 13, 2001.