Government, Industry react to STIC report
The STIC report on the state of the Canadian “Science, Technology, and Innovation System” has been getting widespread media attention since its release Tuesday. Yesterday, the government issued an official reaction when Industry Canada issued a press release in which Industry Minister Tony Clement and Minister of State for Science and Technology Gary Goodyear “welcomed” the STIC report. The release suggests that the ministers and their aides didn’t receive an advance copy of the report, or at least couldn’t be bothered to address its specific content, as the reactions are simple platitudes reiterating the government’s love of science.
Our government places a high value on the advancement of science, technology, innovation and commercialization,” said Minister Clement. “This report is important feedback on the Government of Canada’s science and technology policy; it provides a valuable baseline to track our progress. I would like to thank the Council members for their hard work and for lending their expertise to Canada.
Wow – important feedback, valuable baseline. Minister Goodyear?
Since 2006, our government has been committed to investing in research and development in order to improve the quality of life of all Canadians and strengthen the economy for future generations,” said Minister of State Goodyear. “Investing in science and technology is crucial to developing highly skilled people and improving the long-term competitiveness of Canadian firms.
Yawn. Let’s hope the report’s impact grows with time…
Industry’s response wasn’t much more enthusiastic. The president of the group representing Canada’s pharmaceutical industry also issued a press release in response to the report. How would Russell Williams, President of Canada’s Research-based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D) respond to the observation that Canadian industry lags the world averages in R&D spending?
The report identifies pharmaceuticals and medicine as one of the key sectors responsible for a “disproportionately large share” of the total Research and Development (R&D) performed in Canada. Our member companies collectively invest more than $1 billion annually in R&D in Canada. However knowledge industry jobs and investment will not grow unless Canada improves the climate to encourage the private sector to commercialize discoveries working in partnership with academia and governments.
What does he mean by that last sentence? There’s a lot going on there. Canada needs to improve the climate? I assume he’s not talking about global warming, but it’s also hard to imagine that he’s talking about the tax system, which the report suggests is more supportive of business innovation than any other G7 country. He couldn’t be talking about encouraging private-public partnerships, since Canadian universities were shown to have a very high share of its research supported by industry funding, at four times the G7 average. Indeed, the report suggests a major inhibitor of innovation in Canada is the inability of industry to collaborate effectively: “Canada ranked only 24th in the OECD in the percentage of firms collaborating in innovative activities, our worst performance in theBusiness Innovation basket of indicators”. The report also points out: ”Canada is almost at the very bottom of the pack when it comes to companies interacting with public research organizations.” The report concludes:
This indicates that Canadian firms in the manufacturing sector are relatively insular islands of entrepreneurial activity. In a world where collaboration on innovative activities is increasingly essential to performance and meeting market needs, our performance on this indicator is indeed troubling.
But it isn’t industry’s problem, it’s that the Canadian government hasn’t devised a proper strategy, Mr. Williams concludes:
We see this as an excellent basis for the Government of Canada to move forward with a strategy that will improve the environment for life sciences and lead to more medicines and vaccines being developed in Canadian laboratories. Prompt action is critical and our industry is eager to work in partnership with the government and other stakeholders to ensure Canada reaps the rewards of innovation including high paying jobs and a better quality of life.
It seems to me that the report suggests industry would do well to stop looking to new government strategies and start looking at how it can better make use of the advantages that already exist, as identified by the STIC report.
