Review of the
Broadcast Technologies Research Branch
Communications Research Centre
Final Report
Prepared by:
Performance Management Network Inc.
Prepared for:
Broadcast Technologies Research Branch
Communications Research Centre
October, 1999
Executive Summary
This review of the Broadcast Technologies Research Branch was undertaken in order to help CRC management determine the extent to which the programs and activities of the Branch are appropriate and effective in meeting government needs for technical support to broadcasting and, in addition, to identify opportunities to improve the performance of the Branch and its effectiveness.
The review has taken account of the recent policy paper on S&T activities within the federal government “Science and Technology for the New Century” and the response of the Industry Portfolio, outlining its main strategies for undertaking and managing S&T activities in the future.
CRC began a research program linked to broadcasting about ten years ago. Since that time, radio and television broadcasting research has continued under various organizational structures. The groups have been combined, split apart and rejoined several times, however the scientific and technical programs have continued essentially uninterrupted. The long life of the radio and television research programs, together with the recent changes made the Broadcast Technologies Research Branch a logical candidate for a major review at this time.
The Broadcast Technologies Research Branch has expenditures of about $3.5 million annually. These consist of salaries for 50 person years of effort provided by about 33 permanent and 17 temporary staff, and $1.3 million for operational and minor capital expenditures. Revenues and special funds provide about $650,000, or 17% of Branch expenditures.
The review addressed three major issues and a number of questions which addressed specific aspects of each issue. Detailed analysis and discussions on the various questions can be found in the main body of this report.
It is clear that, overall, the Branch is appropriately and effectively fulfilling the role of a government research laboratory in the field of broadcasting, meeting the needs of both public and private sector clients and stakeholders. Based on the responses of clients and experts interviewed, the Branch is providing valuable and important services to clients, through the generation of results of a technical or strategic nature difficult or impossible to achieve without the contribution of the Branch. Clients rate the quality of research, services and equipment highly. However, there is concern that loss of qualified staff has left the Branch less able to meet client needs.
An overview of the evidence and conclusions for each issue, followed by recommendations for change is provided below. It should be noted that, while the purpose of the study was to review the Broadcast Technologies Research Branch, a number of the recommendations apply not just to the Branch, but to CRC as a whole.
Issue 1. To what extent are the programs and activities carried out within the Broadcast Technologies Research Branch relevant and effective in terms of the appropriate role of government laboratories?
It is clear that the Canadian government expects its scientific laboratories to fulfill a dual role in support of both the public interest and economic growth and wealth creation. This is reflected in the CRC mission statement. The Broadcasting Technologies Research Branch is effectively performing these dual roles in a complementary manner. Broadcasting is important both as an instrument of public policy and as a vehicle for economic growth and wealth creation. The social and cultural well being of the public needs to be supported through an efficient, effective, and accessible broadcast system and the private broadcasters need appropriate standards, regulations, and technical assistance to help them develop and provide a quality broadcast system. The role of government S&T is also to provide technical support to the development of national regulations and standards compatible with international systems. Neutral independent testing of systems is also recognized as an important role for government laboratories, free from commercial interests and influences. Evidence collected also shows that the Branch effectively undertakes these roles on behalf of the Canadian Broadcast community.
The need for Branch capabilities is particularly acute at the present time, as digital broadcasting is being implemented. There are many demands for new standards, regulations and testing as well as technical assistance to implement the new technology. The Canadian broadcast industry has lost much of its technical capability through downsizing and in many cases, the Broadcast Technologies Research Branch is the principal remaining source of expertise and knowledge about this technology in the country.
A review of Branch programs and projects, analysis of clients and collaborators, and feedback from the client survey, staff and expert interviews show that the Branch is effectively supporting both public and private interests within the Canadian and international broadcast community. In fact, the Branch has been credited with helping draw these two stakeholder groups into a closer, mutually beneficial relationship with respect to Broadcast technology, particularly digital radio and television. In addition to R&D and technical advice and support, the Branch is valued by its clients and partners for providing other types of important, relevant services, such as information, advice, and strategic intelligence.
While the Branch is seen by the community as working in a highly relevant, effective manner, additional needs were identified to which the Branch can make a contribution. For example, in addition to the testing, technical assistance and advice provided, clients and other sources suggested that the strategic intelligence which the Branch obtains from international broadcasting standards meetings and other sources is valued highly. It is an important asset which many feel should be utilized more effectively. A number of members of the broadcast community interviewed would like the Branch to make a greater effort to make them aware of technical developments and other emerging issues on a regular basis.
Another emerging need in the broadcast community is for highly qualified personnel with experience in digital broadcasting technologies. A number of the skilled staff of the Branch have been hired away to fill these needs in other organizations. There was a suggestion that the Branch work with industry to develop a more formal role for the Branch in providing support for the training of personnel for industry while also providing additional staff for Branch research and development programs.
Relevance – Recommendations
Communications and Awareness
The Branch should move to address the need in the broadcast community for improved access to strategic intelligence on international technical developments and emerging issues. Communicating with the broader broadcast stakeholder community about Branch initiatives and perspective on emerging issues should become a higher priority, and the Branch should develop new methods to complement those already in use. It is likely that a combination of approaches will be more effective than a single one.
Training of Highly Qualified Personnel
In order to help meet the need for highly qualified personnel in the broadcast industry and to attract young researchers to work on broadcast research priorities, the Branch should work with the broadcast community to develop creative, new methods for bringing young people into the Branch to work on projects of relevance to both the Branch and industry.
Maintain Multiple Complementary Roles
It is clear that the Broadcast Technologies Research Branch is uniquely positioned to meet needs of both the public and private sectors within the Canadian broadcast community and that insight into the needs of one group contributes to the Branch’s ability to meet the needs of the other. The Broadcast Technologies Research Branch should continue to maintain a balance among its various roles, providing technical support and services to meet both public and private sector needs in a complementary manner.
Issue 2. Is the Broadcast Technologies Research Branch being managed effectively?
Management of research is in transition. Traditionally, in many government laboratories, there has been much delegation of responsibility to local managers and senior professional staff. More recently, during the 1980s and 1990s, there has been increased pressure for a more formal management approach, with senior management taking a greater role. There has been a new emphasis within the federal government to continue the change, particularly following the release of the government strategy for federal S&T in 1996 entitled "Science and Technology for the New Century”. This involves complementing the distributed operational management structure with a more formal, active senior management component which provides strategic management input and monitors overall performance based on agreed upon indicators and adjusts programs and resources to ensure that objectives are achieved. The new approach is also used to demonstrate effective use of government resources to Parliament and stakeholders, and accountability for the use of public funds through performance reporting.
At the corporate level, CRC has recently identified strategic directions for the next 3–5 years, and Branch strategies, activities and projects are expected to reflect those goals through a reallocation of resources. While the Branch has performed well in the past, evidence suggests that the Broadcast Technologies Research Branch, like other CRC research branches, has not yet moved significantly to the new, more formal approach to strategic and operational management of research identified in the government S&T Strategy. It is also clear that the Branch has performed well under its present approach to management.
Formal performance reporting within the Branch primarily consists of the quarterly progress reports from each group, which are focused on activities and outputs. There is little or no feedback received from senior management on the information in the reports. The Branch is required by CRC to keep track of financial records of revenues and expenditures, and keeps track of publications and presentations to conferences and workshops as part of activity reporting and input to the staff promotion system.
While the President of CRC has recently introduced initiatives to encourage collaborations among Branches, evidence suggests that branches within CRC remain largely self-contained, with inter-branch collaboration primarily for a specific separately funded project, revenue producing contract or through informal staff contact. The result is that branches operate largely as separate entities. The Broadcast Technologies Research Branch has had mixed experiences with CRC collaborations; some have been successful, but others have not. Collaborations between the Branch and universities have been facilitated through adjunct professorships held by Branch scientific staff, and NSERC funded projects. There have been a number of successful collaborations with broadcasting laboratories in other countries focused on sharing technical information and developing new regulations and testing procedures.
Clients were generally pleased with the present mix of activities (research, application and development, contracts, testing, technical assistance, and advice) within the Branch. While the overall balance in the Branch was about right, evidence suggests that there may some need for rebalancing within individual groups. The Radio Broadcast Systems Group has been working on developing software to measure broadcast coverage patterns from various transmitter configurations since the early 1990s, with heavy expenditures of resources and the reception of several hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenues. Licensing a commercially focused, up to date, user friendly version of this successful technology to a Canadian private sector firm would ease the workload in this area and allow the group to refocus its priorities on new emerging areas.
Some evidence suggests that the integration over the past year of the five groups which were brought together in April 1998 has moved slowly, and the Branch is still evolving. The Branch needs to move forward to develop and implement a unified strategy to respond to the pressures towards convergence in the broadcast and communications communities.
Management – Recommendations
Branch Management Strategy
As the needs of various stakeholder groups for broadcast and related technologies converge, the Broadcast Technologies Research Branch may need to develop a more integrated strategy to meet those needs. A Branch level, integrated approach to strategic and operational decision making should be developed to ensure that resources are appropriately allocated and that the Branch develops a supportive, coordinated approach.
To support this Branch level approach, minimize confusion and lack of awareness, regular meetings should be held with staff to discuss options and share information.
Development of Performance Measurement, Management and Reporting Strategy
To support government requirements for improved performance management and reporting, CRC should develop a high level performance measurement approach based on Industry Portfolio preferred practices, and link it to their operational and strategic planning. Improved information on clients and partners, quality of service and the results of client interactions would support more informed decision making by Corporate and Branch level management, and help demonstrate the value and impact of CRC on the various communities it serves.
With the completion of this review, the Broadcast Technologies Research Branch is in a good position to develop and pilot test a new approach before widespread implementation.
Alignment of Corporate Goals and Reward Systems
CRC should ensure that the reward systems for staff are well aligned with the objectives and priorities of the organization. CRC has evolved from a research organization whose primary goal is to do research to one whose primary goal is to utilize CRC's scientific and technical capabilities to support public and private sector needs and to help improve social well being and create wealth.
Support for Inter-Branch Collaboration
CRC has recently introduced several mechanisms to encourage inter-branch projects, including special funding for cooperative projects. However, the study suggests that branches still have a tendency to act as individual organizations, without consideration of CRC level objectives or the needs of other branches. CRC should continue to develop improved mechanisms to support inter-branch collaborations, where appropriate, as a means to better meet clients' needs through access to a more extensive pool of expertise.
Focus on Application of Knowledge for Benefit of Clients
While the present overall mix of research, development, testing and contract work seem reasonable at the Branch level, the balance at the group levels needs to be monitored and adjusted as required. As a government agency providing scientific and technical support to public and private sector clients, the focus needs to be on utilizing existing knowledge to support achieving their objectives, while continuing to make resources available to perform research in order to build capability to meet emerging needs.
Licensing of CRC-COV
In order to support the transfer of technology to the Canadian private broadcast sector and free up resources for other priorities, the Branch should move to complete as quickly as possible a basic, user friendly, WINDOWS version of CRC-COV, suitable for use in the design of digital broadcast systems, and license it to a Canadian broadcast consulting firm. The Branch should continue to make available to the broadcast community specialized services using the general multicapability version of CRC-COV in those cases requiring the highest level of expertise.
Issue 3. To what extent does the quality of research and services provided by the Broadcast Technologies Research Branch meet the needs of clients and collaborators?
The issue of the appropriateness of quality of research and services was reviewed through a number of complementary methods. Based on the client survey results, expert and other interviewees, the large majority of clients and collaborators are generally highly satisfied with the quality of research and technical services provided by the Branch, and have confidence in the results obtained. Clients and experts also both agree that existing services are highly relevant to the needs of the broadcast community. When clients were asked to rate their satisfaction with the Branch's contribution to a specific project, the average rating was 9.0 out of 10. This is an extremely high rating, indicating a very positive relationship between the Branch and the clients surveyed. However, some clients thought that the quality of research is now lower than it has been due to the inability to retain qualified professional staff. There has been a significant loss in the past several years of highly qualified staff, leading to a loss of important research and testing capabilities in the Branch.
For those interviewees who had worked with other communications laboratories, the Branch also compared reasonably favourably. In many cases, these other organizations were large national laboratories such as NASA (USA), BBC R&D (UK) and CCETT (France), which are much better funded than the Branch, so in that respect clients noted that the comparison may not be fair. Clients rated the quality of Branch equipment and facilities somewhat poorer, quality of personnel slightly better and overall responsiveness to client needs much better than these comparable organizations. When asked to provide a summative overall perspective, clients rated the Branch somewhat better than comparable organizations (5.9 out of 10, where 5.0 is equal). It is clear that the Branch staff’s responsiveness is largely responsible for the overall positive rating.
Quality – Recommendations
Hiring and Retention of Qualified Staff
CRC should treat the hiring and retention of qualified professional staff as a priority. The President, in cooperation with DND DREO, has recently made representations to Treasury Board to alleviate the situation. While these efforts were unsuccessful, other avenues to ameliorate the situation need to be explored with central agencies and other public sector stakeholders. For example, CRC could consult with other science based departments and agencies through various means such as the Science ADM committee to explore options. The practices of other government research agencies such as NRC should be reviewed to provide information on available options, including flexibilities which could be introduced into rules and regulations on staffing issues.
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