After four years, the federal government’s billion-dollar superclusters are finding their feet, but they need more time. Canada has a long history of underperforming on measures of private-sector spending on research and development, and failing to capitalize on the commercial potential of scientific discoveries made in the country. And it has almost as long a […]
innovation
Canada announces new innovation agency — and it’s not modelled on DARPA
The unit will instead mimic Finnish and Israeli agencies. But some researchers worry Canada might be too big and regionalized for the scheme to succeed. The Canadian government has announced that it will invest Can$1 billion (about US$780 million) over the next five years to create a funding agency focused on innovation in science and […]
Canada’s innovation gap remains, new report finds
Investment in R&D as a share of GDP has steadily declined since 2001, mainly due to low business R&D expenditures, says expert panel. Canada has maintained its strong performance in research and education but is falling ever further behind in industrial R&D, innovation and wealth creation, according to a new reporton the state of science and […]
National Research Council lays out a four-year reform plan
This latest overhaul of the NRC aims to boost engagement, restore lost morale. The National Research Council of Canada will set up a postdoctoral program, appoint a chief scientific adviser and establish a president’s research excellence committee as part of the lat-est round of reforms at the agency. The four-year reform plan, the result of […]
Data sharing: Access all areas
Advocates say that open science will be good for innovation. One neuroscience institute plans to put that to the test. In the cut-throat world of early-stage clinical development, where aggressive defence of data and intellectual property is thought to be key to amassing profits, one academic institute is opting out. Over the next five years, […]
What can ‘frugal innovation’ do for development?
Last summer, Jessica VanderGiessen did something unusual. The bioengineering student from Santa Clara University in California, United States, spent two days travelling the rough dirt roads of West Bengal state in India, testing the drinking water in rural villages for arsenic contamination. But instead of taking water samples back to a distant lab for analysis, VanderGiessen simply put […]
Canada’s CIDA reform could aid innovation work
Innovation and technology development could be boosted by the controversial merger of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) with the country’s foreign affairs department, according to the head of a group that represents Canadian NGOs. But CIDA should be careful not to neglect development at the expense of foreign affairs and trade interests through the new arrangement, says Julia Sánchez, […]