For immediate release
GATINEAU, Quebec, July 26, 2012 – The Honourable Rona Ambrose, Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women, is pleased to announce that the Government of Canada will partner with Canadian entrepreneurs to buy and test 20 new innovations through the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program.
“Our Government’s top priority is the economy and we understand that helping Canadian businesses expand and succeed directly benefits Canadian workers and families by creating jobs and prosperity,” said Minister Ambrose. “By supporting new Canadian innovations, we are helping these businesses take one step closer to success in domestic and international markets.”
Successful businesses will see their new innovative products and services put to use within government departments, and will benefit from valuable, real-world feedback from users.
“We are proud to partner with Canadian businesses to get new products and services from the lab to the marketplace,” said Minister Ambrose. “A kick-start like this can help create homegrown success stories across the country.”
Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) will work to match new innovations with the right departments to test them. This will facilitate moving Canadian innovations into domestic and international markets, while at the same time helping the Government of Canada serve Canadians in the most cost-effective manner possible.
Launched in 2010, the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program has already shown encouraging results, connecting Canadian companies with federal departments and agencies that have a need for new products and services. By selling to the federal government, businesses can demonstrate the value of their products and services, and potentially generate future sales to non-federal customers.
To build on the early success of this program, Economic Action Plan 2012 allocated an additional $95 million over three years, starting in 2013–14, and $40 million per year thereafter to make the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program permanent. The program will include an added military procurement component.
For the complete list of the successful innovations, please refer to the backgrounder.
-30-
Ce texte est également disponible en français.
For more information, media may contact:
Michelle Bakos
Office of the Honourable Rona Ambrose
819-997-5421
Media Relations
Public Works and Government Services Canada
819-956-2315
PWGSC news releases are also available on our Internet site at http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/medias-media/index-eng.html.
Follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/PWGSC_TPSGC.
As a part of the Economic Action Plan, the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program (CICP) was created to bolster innovation in Canada’s business sector, and was designed to help companies bridge the pre-commercialization gap for their innovative products and services by:
- awarding contracts to entrepreneurs with pre-commercial innovations through an open, transparent, competitive and fair procurement process;
- testing products or services and providing feedback to entrepreneurs on their performance;
- providing innovators with the opportunity to enter the marketplace with a successful application of their new products and services; and
- providing information on how to do business with the Government of Canada.
CICP targets innovations in four priority areas:
- environment;
- safety and security;
- health; and
- enabling technologies.
CICP has two complementary components. The first identifies Canadian innovations to test within federal operations in order to support businesses as they move their innovations to commercialization. The second builds on current efforts by the Office of Small and Medium Enterprises (OSME) to improve small and medium enterprises’ (SME) access to federal procurement activities, and enables companies to showcase innovative products and services to potential government users.
Public Works and Governments Services Canada (PWGSC) continues to work with all stakeholders to ensure that SMEs receive the vital government support needed to thrive in today’s evolving economy.
OSME, through its network of headquarters operations and six regional offices, assists SMEs as they navigate through the government procurement system. It is strengthening access to government business for SMEs by collaborating with industry associations and individual businesses on training, providing information, developing support tools, and recommending procurement policy changes. OSME is also working with SMEs to identify and pursue opportunities that encourage the introduction of innovative products and services to the marketplace.
Here is a list of the pre-qualified innovations the Government of Canada may buy and test through the Canadian Innovation Commercialization Program:
For descriptions of the innovations please visit https://buyandsell.gc.ca/initiatives-and-programs/canadian-innovation-commercialization-program-cicp/pre-qualified-innovations.
Proposals related to the opportunity to test innovative products and services are accepted through a competitive Calls for Proposals.
