By Gwen Merchant
The voice of the natural resource industry is slowly being drowned out by the noise of innovation, and people are listening.
Canada’s Innovation Strategy, the eighth summit of 35 to be held across Canada, took place in Thunder Bay on June 5.
About 165 people registered for the summit, 20 per cent of them represented businesses. The participants were divided into different groups to discuss various topics. Information was then taken to the whole group and combined. The idea is to come up with a blueprint after all the summits are finished.
While the summit provided a forum for key players in the region, geography is bound to pose some challenges when collaborating ideas, said Scott Dougall, director of software development and marketing at SkyStream Networks.Com, a Thunder Bay-based software and hardware developer.
“Our region is very diverse, which is one of the reasons we love it so much, but with such diversity, it will be a monumental challenge to get us in agreement,” Dougall said.
The regional participants discussed strategies for retaining and improving the skills base in local communities, attracting private capital for smaller innovation-driven businesses and encouraging more applied research and development partnerships between local industry and post-secondary educational institutions.
The strategy, launched by Industry Minister Allan Rock, and Jane Stewart, minister of human resources development, includes a plan for comprehensive and focused discussions that would help refine and implement the strategy. Regional summits will be held in every province and in the territories and will focus on local, regional and national innovation priorities.
Canadians who wish to organize their own discussions at the community level, or submit ideas directly to the Government of Canada, can do so using the Do It Yourself Kit, which can be obtained at the Web site www.innovationstrategy.gc.ca.
The City of Greater Sudbury will hold its innovation strategy summit on Sept. 27.
www.innovationstrategy.gc.ca/summits
