Speaking Points
The Honourable Gary Goodyear, PC, MP
Minister of State (Science and Technology)
Oakville, Ontario
May 8, 2012
Check Against Delivery
Thank you for that kind introduction. I'd also like to thank everyone at Sheridan College and Polytechnics Canada for inviting me to join you once again this year.
I have had the privilege of attending several of your meetings, and I am always impressed by the talent and vision of your members.
Your organization provides a valuable voice as we forge ahead with Canada's innovation agenda. You understand that innovation must be encouraged in every part of the economy. And you understand that innovation needs to be a central focus from the research laboratory to the production floor because it is the key to maintaining our country's position as a global economic leader.
Through gatherings like this and through your annual Applied Research Showcase, you have made great strides in encouraging applied research and preparing students for the challenges and opportunities of the knowledge-based economy.
Our government shares your vision of supporting promising applied research and of developing the ideas and skills needed in the workplace to help Canadian firms develop new products and adopt innovative processes and technologies.
That's why I am taken with the theme of this year's conference—Polytechnic Education Works: Talent and Innovation for Employers.
For Canada to remain a global innovation leader, we need to demonstrate how to transfer ideas, skills and applied research from our post-secondary institutions into the workplace and into the marketplace.
Ladies and gentlemen, we know we have the capacity to innovate in Canada. From the pacemaker to the Canadarm to the first mass-market smartphone, we have a long, successful track record of transforming ideas into world-leading products.
But we can do better. We know that businesses need to devote more attention and resources to innovation and research and development (R&D). That was why our government asked an independent panel of experts to conduct a comprehensive review of federal support for R&D.
That panel, led by OpenText chair Tom Jenkins and including Polytechnics Canada's CEO Nobina Robinson, made recommendations aimed at optimizing the effect of federal programs that contribute to innovation and create economic opportunities for business.
Through Economic Action Plan 2012, we are taking action on the panel's advice. We are promoting business innovation that will create high-value jobs through enhanced support for high-growth companies, research collaborations, applied research, procurement opportunities and risk financing.
We know that increasing business investment in R&D is crucial to our long-term competitiveness. So we are focused on ways to make it easier for businesses to innovate. One of the best ways to do so is to strengthen the links between publicly funded research and private sector needs through programs like the College and Community Innovation Program, or CCI for short. The CCI program increases the exchange of knowledge, technologies and skills between colleges and the local business community.
I'd like to point out some other examples of where we are working on issues that are at the heart of the theme of your conference.
We have made significant investments through the $2-billion Knowledge Infrastructure Program to enhance the research and training capacity at universities and college across Canada. Here at Sheridan, funding was provided to develop new programs in the area of digital media and to construct a new campus facility, which will provide training space to accommodate over 2,700 additional students and 7,500 continuing education students.
Just down the road from here, our government invested in the new Cambridge campus for Conestoga College, which included the creation of the new Institute of Food Processing Technology and the School of Engineering and Information Technology. These projects respond directly to the needs of the business sector and are creating opportunities for hundreds of apprentice students, technologists and technicians.
And let's not forget about the Digital Technology Adoption Pilot Program. This new $80-million initiative was launched this past November to help small and medium-sized enterprises adopt digital technologies by connecting them with student experts in colleges and other organizations across Canada.
And now, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to take this opportunity to announce the results from the latest round of funding under the CCI program.
This year, more than $36 million will be provided to 60 innovative partnerships between colleges and business.This includes the inaugural recipients of two new programs established in Budget 2011, namely three recipients of the College-University Idea to Innovation awards and 14 new Industrial Research Chairs for colleges.
One of these new Industrial Research Chairs will be shared by Sheridan College's researchers Dr. Ed Sykes and Dr. Khaled Mamud who will hold the NSERC Industrial Research Chair for Colleges in Mobile Computing. The $1.1 million in funding over 5 years will support a research program focused on improving context-aware mobile computing and cloud integrated mobile computing—two technologies that will enable your smartphone help you find a nearby restaurant or give you the forecast for tomorrow's weather. I am particularly encouraged by the fact that this position will be supported by several industrial partners, notably Cisco Systems Canada, Research In Motion, TELUS Corporation and Xtreme Labs.
I think we can all agree that ideas in today's classrooms or labs can help form the basis for tomorrow's successful companies. That is why we must continue to work together to find ways to nurture these ideas. Through programs like CCI, we are committed to creating high-quality jobs, investing in the drivers of growth and encouraging prosperity for all Canadians.
I would like to congratulate Sheridan College, Dr. Ed Sykes and Dr. Khaled Mamud, as well as the other colleges and cégeps that received CCI awards.
I trust that you have found this conference to be a useful forum to discuss and debate ideas and to collaborate with colleagues from across the country. I look forward to hearing about the outcomes of the discussions.
Thank you.
