 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
||||||||
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |
||||||||||||
 
|
|
||||||||||||
|
|
SubmissionOceans Technology Industry (West Coast)BackgroundAs part of Canada’s Innovation Strategy launched earlier this year, the Oceans Technologies (Pacific) Industry Innovation Committee was appointed to advise Industry Canada on the goals and targets outlined in “Achieving Excellence.” The committee looked at the following four key areas:
In addition, the committee sought to develop a report with recommendations for improving Canada’s innovation performance in Ocean technology. The meeting was chaired by John MacDonald, founder of MacDonald Dettwiler & Associates, and recorded by Ian Brotherston of the Canadian Institute for Market Intelligence. The following companies participated: Paul Lacroix, Chair What is Innovation?Innovation means coming up with new ideas about how to do things better or faster. It’s about making a product or offering a service that no one had thought of before. Innovation starts with a problem. It’s about having access to your customer’s problems, figuring out solutions and having the capability to react. Innovation is not the same as research and development because anyone can innovate. Innovation is for all Canadians. Achieving Excellence:Recommendation #1
Canada is a maritime country, despite the vastness of its Interior across North America. With three oceans bounding 244,000 km of coastline and approximately half of its sovereign lands under water, Canada is responsible for managing the second largest exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the world, encompassing some 5 million square kilometers of Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans. Canada is recognized as a world leader in the processing and application of ocean data sets, and is globally respected for its expertise in the development of marine technologies. The global marine information services market is projected to grow to $8.05 billion CAD by 2010 and $12.42 billion by 2020 (Greenwich Report, 2000). Canada can make a global impact in this market. While humanity has the ability to peer into space and reveal and study our moon, the planets, stars and even distant galaxies, we know relatively little about the oceans of our own planet. The oceans cover about 75% of our planet, but 95% of the oceans remain relatively unexplored. Consequently, society is ignorant of the significant impact that the oceans have on our existence, and perhaps more importantly, of the impact that we are having on our oceans. This represents a tremendous opportunity for Canada. Recommendation #2
Over the next decade, the Canadian Federal & Provincial Governments, along with industry, are estimated to invest $232 million in four major West Coast projects. These include:
Recommendation #3
Eight of Canada’s provinces and all three territories border salt water. Supporting this reality, some 23 federal departments and agencies are involved in the varied aspects of oceans management, together with provincial governments and various other non-government organizations. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is the designated lead department that co-ordinates the management of Canada’s oceans. However, the complexities of managing differing mandates, as well as the often complicated conflicts between regulatory, environmental conservation and sustainable development concerns, and the goals of the commercial fishery, industrial and economic development make the task of effective integrated oceans innovation strategy a considerable challenge. Recommendation #4
Government should increase funding for industry, universities and laboratories through existing programs that encourage innovation. These include: Industrial Research & Assistance Program (IRAP), Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC), and the Knowledge Development Fund (KDF). The governments need to align their policies to support the innovation goals. This alignment should encompass purchasing, reduced taxation, and regulatory barriers. Innovation champions should be recognized and encouraged. Entrepreneurial attitudes and technology transfer to industry from government must be part of the job. The government should use successful programs such as CCRS/SR&ED and IRAP to encourage more applied development (ie. “big D”) as well as commercialization. In order to encourage an innovation environment, the government must send clear signals to their employees and industry that their policies and programs are aligned. Recommendation #5
Canada is recognized as a world leader in the processing and application of ocean data sets and is globally respected for its expertise in the development of marine technologies. This reputation did not come easily but rather was earned through decades of technical and financial investment in one of the world’s harshest marine environments. This investment not only allowed the country to capitalize on its marine resources while gleaning a better understanding of the marine environment, but also established the country’s marine technology community as an international leader in the field. Recommendation #6
Ocean Technology industries offer:
Throughout the 1980’s, the Institute of Ocean Sciences in Sidney, B.C. and the Beaufort Sea project helped promote and enhance the development of Ocean technology on Vancouver Island. Companies located in Vancouver were established to commercialize technologies developed for the submarine industry. The Unsolicited Proposal (UP) Program was an excellent mechanism for innovation. “It helped to build MacDonald Dettwiler into what it is today”, says John MacDonald founder of MDA. Canada needs to reinstitute the UP program. For a “Buy Canadian” policy to work, as it did in the past with the UP program, the federal government needs to restore adequate funding and independent decision-making to its labs and agencies here on the Pacific Coast. Government labs can not effectively purchase and support innovative products without the budget to do so. Currently, there are several hundred companies employing 40,000 persons in BC’s Ocean Technology Industry. More than fifty of these companies work in ocean instrumentation and related business. They have world leading technology, with over 85% of their sales exported from Canada. Due to the lack of any sizeable Canadian domestic market, these companies have had little collaborative business together and have little to no resources targeted for the domestic market. While profitable, this sector is not well capitalized. 30-50% of their annual expenditures are directed toward research and development. A “Buy Canadian” procurement policy would offer product validation for SME's competing internationally. The first question most foreign governments ask is, “Has your government purchased your product/service?” Too often the answer is no. Recommendation #7
The innovation process starts with accessing problems and continues through R&D, commercialization, demonstration & validation, and commercial success. Government and University personnel need to understand that significant innovation, including R&D, is carried out in industry, as well as in government and university laboratories. A new “worldview” must be adopted and encouraged through the creation of public-private-partnerships or “Clusters.” Recommendation #8
Risk avoidance generates a large volume of regulation and paperwork for both government and industry. The government should accept reasonable levels of risk and reward government innovation champions, departments, and programs that accept risk, rather than penalizing them. This will encourage innovation, reduce paperwork and bureaucracy, and save resources. Innovation by its nature requires risk. Recommendation #9
Increasing resources to learning institutions, encouraging our youth, and initiating a skill-based immigration policy are key parts of any solution.
|
|||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
