KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Frank McKenna
Deputy Chair
TD Bank

John Risley
President and CEO
Clearwater Fine Foods Inc.

Canada’s procurement policy and its associated value proposition and Industrial and Technological Benefit (ITB) policies have the potential to create powerful strategic opportunities for Canadian industry and R&D. These opportunities include increasing demand-side pull instead of the more common supply-side push. In addition, ITBs and value propositions can provide new opportunities for Canadian companies to enter and move up sophisticated global supply chains.

On the other hand, these policies might potentially further complicate an already complicated procurement process and mitigate the primary objective of equipping the Canadian Forces in a timely way. To achieve the significant potential economic development benefits, ITBs and value propositions must be designed and negotiated strategically. This will therefore require priority attention from the responsible departments of government.

An authoritative panel will bring a variety of perspectives to the policy issues. The panel will include members from: a Canadian company with a contract for naval vessel construction; a federal regional development program; a federal ministry responsible for the operation of the policies; a provincial government; and a retired military officer. The panel is chaired by Peter Nicholson who has had extensive experience in science and innovation policy, including its relationship with defense procurement.

Documents:
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MODERATOR DETAILS

Peter Nicholson
Chair, Standing Selection Committee
Networks of Centres of Excellence

PANELIST DETAILS

John Knubley
Deputy Minister
Industry Canada

Christyn Cianfarani
President
Canadian Association of Defense and Security Industries (CADSI)

Jim King
Independent Consultant, former Vice-Admiral

Eric L. Cook, P.Eng.
Executive Director/CEO
Research and Productivity Council (RPC)

To provide the knowledge to address big problems or complex issues with no obvious solutions, nations are turning to large multi-disciplinary research networks. These networks draw on researchers from the social and natural sciences, and create large amounts of data. Government departments, coastal communities, and industrial users of the ocean are seeking closer interaction with such academic-led networks. A number of research networks in Canada are nationally-funded to provide information relevant to sustainable ocean developments. These networks address well-defined, relatively narrow research questions, and collect very different types of data. Yet they overlap in their geographic areas of operation, and network results could potentially be integrated to generate new products and knowledge. We bring four, Atlantic-based, ocean-centered networks (Ocean Tracking Network (OTN), Marine Environmental Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR) , Fisheries-Western and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (Fish-WIKS), and Community Conservation Research Network (CCRN) together to consider the strengths and weaknesses of their focuses, the challenges each faced in building their networks and dealing with big data, their strategies to move their knowledge into policy and management spheres, and what synergies could be achieved by integrating these networks in new ways.


MODERATOR DETAILS

Sara Iverson
Scientific Director
Ocean Tracking Network (OTN)
sara.iverson@dal.ca

PANELIST DETAILS

Ronald Pelot, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Dept. of Industrial Engineering,
Dalhousie University
Ronald.Pelot@Dal.ca

Fred Whoriskey
Executive Director
Ocean Tracking Network (OTN)
fwhoriskey@dal.ca

Tony Charles
Professor/Director, School of the Environment
Saint Mary’s University
Tony.charles@smu.ca

Lucia Fanning
Director, Marine Affairs Program
Dalhousie University
lfanning@dal.ca

The cost to Canadians of natural hazard events is substantial and continues to increase. Major Canadian S&T investments, such as the Ocean Networks Canada observatories and the Marine Environmental Observation, Prediction and Response network enhance the capacity of the scientific community to deliver benefits by providing heretofore unavailable marine geo-scientific information that enables Canadians to minimize potential material and economic losses associated with earthquakes, tsunamis, storm surge and underwater landslides. Research outcomes are designed to foster improved understanding and assessment of marine hazards, to support decision makers in utilizing these assessments, and to provide tools to ensure increased preparedness of Canadians for responding to hazard events. As such, the research directly supports Natural Resources Canada’s mandate “to ensure Canadians have relevant information to manage their lands and natural resources, and are protected from related risks”. Building on the findings of the recent Council of Canadian Academies assessment, Ocean Science in Canada: Meeting the Challenge, Seizing the Opportunity, and on a session convened for the CPSC 2013 meeting, this panel brings together national and international leaders in marine geohazard research and policy to address how ocean S&T capacity can be optimized to mitigate risks for Canadian coasts and communities.


MODERATOR DETAILS

Martin Taylor
University of Victoria
Emeritus Professor
smt@uvic.ca

PANELIST DETAILS

Kate Moran
Ocean Networks Canada
President and CEO
kmoran@uvic.ca

Laurie L’Heureux
Emergency Planning Coordinator
Alberni Clayoquot Regional District
laurie_l’heureux@portalberni.ca

Phillip Hill
Director, Geological Survey of Canada-Pacific
Natural Resources Canada
Philip.Hill@NRCan-RNCan.gc.ca

Douglas Wallace
Dalhousie University
Canada Research Excellence Chair in Ocean Science and Technology and MEOPAR Scientific Director
douglas.wallace@dal.ca

Canadian academic research in all disciplines is among the best in the world but Canada is not extracting full social and economic value from this research. Reductions in the policy capacity within government create opportunities to engage academic researchers in structured policy dialogues on policy areas of strategic importance to Canada. Supporting collaborations on policy research will create an innovative policy environment that will have an impact across government and on Canada’s research and graduate student community. Structured policy dialogues on topics important to Canadians will provide an important means to maximize the return on government investments in university research and will build capacity and partnerships to better enable knowledge mobilization and enhance the public benefit of publicly funded research.

This panel will feature experts from the university research and federal policy environments. Panelists will make the case and explore possibilities for growing partnerships between federal policy makers and the broader policy community. The moderator will then seek feedback from the audience in a design session format to inform the development of a process that will maximize the impact of Canada’s academic research community on Canada’s federal public policy process.


MODERATOR DETAILS

Dr. Robert Haché
Vice-President Research and Innovation
York University

PANELIST DETAILS

Dr. Rainer Engelhardt
Chief Science Officer
Public Health Agency of Canada

Anthony Giles
Director General
Strategic Policy, Analysis and Workplace Information, Labour Program of Employment and Social Development Canada

Neil Gall
Executive Director
MEOPAR NCE

Christine Tausig Ford
Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer
Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada

Genomes are made out of DNA and contain the “code of life” of any living organism. The work of cracking these codes is unleashing innovations that are helping to address some of the most critical challenges facing the world today, including food security, adaptation to climate change, energy demand and human health. Through a sustained and focused investment of more than $2.3 billion in genomics over the past 14 years, Canada finds itself among world leaders in this field. Further, we are now perfectly positioned to reap the social and economic benefits enabled by this revolutionary technology across all sectors of the life science-based industries, collectively constituting the bio economy. Genome Canada President and CEO, Pierre Meulien, will discuss this game-changing field of science and technology and what it means for Canada. He will be followed by Genome Atlantic President and CEO, Steve Armstrong, who will explain how these two organizations help Atlantic Canadian companies and organizations benefit from genomics.

Canada’s knowledge-based economy relies on collaboration more than ever – collaboration is required not only to create new knowledge but also to transform this knowledge into products and services that create socio-economic benefits for all Canadians. One of the key issues identified in the Canadian innovation system is the slow pace of knowledge mobilization from “campus to commerce”.

In light of new policy direction from the Government of Canada, as highlighted in Digital Canada 150 framework and Government’s Open Data initiative, this panel will bring together experts with unique perspectives on how Canada can incentivize sharing and collaboration among various stakeholders in the innovation ecosystem while leverage existing resources.

The panelists will also describe how their unique partnerships are flourishing and driving tangible benefits for both public and private sector partners. They will discuss how they have taken advantage of new opportunities to add value to their stakeholder communities, and how these partnerships may be replicated and expanded.

Documents:
Download Panel Powerpoint


MODERATOR DETAILS

Jim Ghadbane
President and CEO
CANARIE

PANELIST DETAILS

Laura O’Blenis
Founding Director
Association of University Research Parks (AURP)

Mark Hoddenbagh
Acting Executive Director
Partnerships and Applied Research, Algonquin College

Robin Winsor
President and CEO
Cybera

Dr. Steve Liang
Professor and Entrepreneur
University of Calgary

Small and medium size universities across Canada are critical for advancing Canadian economic development and prosperity. Research excellence takes place in all universities and has a strategic and significant impact to the development of a prosperous economy based on science and innovation in all communities in the country. National Science policies too often ignore or underestimate the crucial role and impact of small and medium size universities.

Without the contribution of small and medium size universities, national science capacity would be severely undermined. Likewise, without science policies that recognize the important contributions of these institutions, S&T impact on economic and social development would be severely hampered across the nation, and perhaps more particularly, in smaller communities where these universities are often located.

The panel is composed of key representatives from comprehensive small and medium size research universities across Canada, will present cases of research excellence and their impact on economic and social development, and proposed avenue for advancing Canada’ science policy.

Intended outcomes are of two folds: evidence of research excellence across the country and its impact on all communities; and, identification of risks to our national science capacity if the role of small and medium size universities is not adequately recognized and support by science policy in Canada.

Documents:
Download Panel Powerpoint Intro
Download Panel Powerpoint


MODERATOR DETAILS

Daniel J. Weeks
President and Vice Chancellor
University of Northern British Colombia

PANELIST DETAILS

J. Kevin Vessey
Associate Vice President of Research, Dean of Graduate Studies, and Professor of Biology
Saint Mary’s University

Michael Owen
Vice President Research, Innovation & International
University of Ontario Institute of Technology

David Cruise Malloy
Vice President Research
University of Regina

André Manseau
Dean of Research
Université du Québec en Outaouais

Collaboration and partnerships are the order of the day. From “public-private partnerships” at the level of government agencies, to industry-academic research collaborations that drive technology transfer and commercialization, many of our public and private institutions are under pressure to initiate or expand strategic partnerships. This includes public universities eager to grow programs and student experience, corporations interested in leveraging intellectual property and know-how flowing from research institutes and government labs, and not-for-profits seeking expert support in basic or applied research, and pathways to greater engagement with consumers, the Canadian citizenry, or a global audience.

But what is the nature of a strategic partnership? How we dig beneath the buzzwords to get at real value, lessons learned, and cautionary tales? How are they devised, created, and sustained? This panel will address these broad themes by drawing on the expertise of seasoned veterans of the industry-academic interface in Canada. In the spirit of the CSPC 2014 theme of “Innovation and Partnerships: A recipe for success”, this panel will cover a few key sub-questions, including:

What can Canada learn from other nations in this domain?
Do regional, national, and international frameworks catalyze partnerships, or do they begin with one-on-one relationships between individuals?
What is the role of direct investment from government and private capital, including philanthropy, in seeding and sustaining sustainable partnerships?


MODERATOR DETAILS

Marcius Extavour
Director of Government & Corporate Partnerships at the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering
University of Toronto

PANELIST DETAILS

Marianne Romansky

David Tweddell
Senior Consultant (Strategic Initiatives)
Western University

Stephen Perelgut
Senior Relationship Manager for Academic Relations
IBM Canada

Edward Thomas
Industry Partnerships Manager
Queen’s University

The office of the Auditor General, will be presenting the findings of Canada-Alberta oil sands monitoring program, CEAA 2012, and marine navigation in the arctic. The need or the benefit of similar programs in science and technology will be discussed among panelists by answering the following questions;

Given the federal mandate for science and technology, what are the key things the federal government needs to do well?
Which federal activities regarding science and technology are working well?
For which federal activities regarding science and technology are there areas for improvement? If so, what are they?
What are the biggest risks to the federal activities around science and technology? What would be the impact?

To view the recently released 2014 Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, please visit:
http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_cesd_201410_e_39845.html


MODERATOR DETAILS

Janet Halliwell
Principal
J.E. Halliwell Associates Inc

PANELIST DETAILS

Dr. Martha Crago
VP Research
Dalhousie University

Peter Nicholson
Chair, Standing Selection Committee
Networks of Centres of Excellence

Alan Bernstein
President and CEO
Canadian Institute for Advanced Research

Pierre Meulien
President and CEO
Genome Canada

Julie Gelfand
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development

This panel will provide a national-level discussion on the future of graduate student and postdoctoral training in Canada. What does Canada’s next generation of innovation leaders look like? What skills will they want and need to succeed? What are their career aspirations and whose responsibility is it to ensure that they are properly prepared for those careers upon completion of their academic training? The panel will examine the evolving research training ecosystem for grad students and postdocs and discuss what challenges need to be overcome to meet the increasing demands of Canada’s knowledge-intensive economy. One possibility is to increase the linkages and collaborations that exist between the university and the wider community through research, training and innovation. Practical ways to do this and address other skills training challenges will be discussed, while recognizing the broader goal of ensuring that students and postdocs can succeed as future innovation leaders. This is a timely topic as these questions are being debated across the country and calls are being issued to consider new and re-imagined forms of graduate and postdoctoral research training.

Documents:
Download Panel PowerPoint


MODERATOR DETAILS

Rachel Brighton
President
Finest Point Periodicals Limited

PANELIST DETAILS

Andre Bezanson
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dalhousie University

Valerie Walker
Director, Policy
Mitacs

Kevin Dunn
Director, Industry Liaison and Innovation (ILI)
Dalhousie University

Ross Laver
Vice President, Policy and Communications
The Canadian Council of Chief Executives

Governments are increasingly concerned with the economic impact and societal relevance of scientific investments. Canada’s new knowledge economy is strongly enabled by premier national research institutes that support a broad cross section of academic, government, and industrial users from many different disciplines. Large science facilities are important drivers for growing Canada’s future economy and fostering innovation in industry. They include the Canadian Light Source, TRIUMF, SNOLAB, and Ocean Networks Canada, to name a few.

From the training of highly qualified personnel to the engagement of the private sector through unique research capabilities to the transfer of laboratory-developed technology to Canadian businesses, these facilities stimulate growth at both the local and national levels.
The purpose of this symposium is to discuss the unique and complementary manner in which large science facilities drive societal and economic impacts for Canada. The discussion will highlight basic principles, challenge assumptions, and analyze specific examples.

Documents:
Download Panel PowerPoint


MODERATOR DETAILS

Mark Henderson
Editor
RE$EARCH MONEY

PANELIST DETAILS

Nigel Smith
Director
SNOLAB

Martin Taylor
University of Victoria
Emeritus Professor

Dr. Jonathan Bagger
Director
TRIUMF

Robert Lamb
Executive Director
Canadian Light Source Inc.

Government science is currently undergoing a historic transition that will ultimately re-define its internal structure, the direction of its partnerships and networks, and the future of Canada’s science, technology and innovative capacity. Alongside cuts to science-based departments and agencies (SBDAs), government policies and practices are shaping the ways in which government science collaborates with academia, industry, and the international S&T community.

Government of Canada and departmental-specific strategies highlight the essential role of collaboration and transparency to Canada’s innovative capacity, emphasizing the importance of partnering with universities and the private sector. Despite these strong principles, government scientists and science advocacy groups have drawn attention to the ways in which cuts to science funding, restrictive policies on communication, and cumbersome red-tape have limited the ability for scientists to collaborate and, in turn, are stalling Canada’s capacity for research and innovation. In response, Canada has seen an unprecedented mobilization of scientists, academics, and public supporters who are leveraging a diversity of tactics to “stand up for science.”

This panel will bring together stakeholders from across sectors and disciplines to discuss the gaps between policy and practice, addressing the following questions:

Is there still a role for government science in innovation? In the current environment, can federal government scientists still collaborate effectively? If not, what is required to enable them to do so?

What are the guiding principles of government science that support open communication and collaboration? What are key enablers and barriers to implementing these principles?

What are some examples of successful partnerships between government, industry and academia, and what are some of the lessons learned from these experiences? What avenues do scientists and policy makers have to share ideas and collaborate on ideas and policies?

How can we ensure that collaborative networks are inclusive, pan-Canadian, and engage the next generation of young scientists who value creativity, open communication, and autonomy?


MODERATOR DETAILS

Ivan Semeniuk
Science Reporter
Globe and Mail

PANELIST DETAILS

Peter Morand
Former president of NSERC

Michael Halpern
Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS)

Thomas J. Duck
Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science
Dalhousie University

Katie Gibbs
Executive Director
Evidence for Democracy

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

The Honourable Ed Holder
Minister of State (Science and Technology)

This session is jointly sponsored by Research Data Canada (RDC), the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) on behalf of federal funders. Walter Stewart, Co-ordinator RDC, will moderate the session. Ted Hewitt, Executive Vice-President SSHRC, will speak to the reasons and the mechanisms for the introduction of a requirement for Data Management Plans (DMP) in Canada and the consultation process underway by the TC3+. Chuck Humphrey, Research Data Management Services Coordinator at the University of Alberta, and Wendy Watkins, Data Librarian at Carleton University, will provide practical advice in preparing a DMP and will demonstrate Web-based tools supporting this. Participants are encouraged to bring a research use case for developing a data management plan in their context. Participants will come away from the session with the following:

An appreciation of the value of data management plans
An understanding of the content that goes into a data management plan and of tools that will help prepare such a plan
An awareness of where to go for support in preparing a data management plan.
An overview of developments to build research data management infrastructure around the country.

Documents:
Download Panel PowerPoint


MODERATOR DETAILS

Walter Stewart

PANELIST DETAILS

Christine Trauttsmansdorff
Executive Director
SSHRC

Ernie Boyko
Data Librarian
Carleton University

Charles (Chuck) Humphrey
Research Data Management Services Coordinator
University of Alberta

Over the past several decades, Complex International Science, Technology, and Innovation Partnerships (CISTIPs) have emerged as an increasingly popular policy instrument through which governments seek to build domestic capacity in science, technology and innovation through collaboration with globally recognized expert organizations. For example, countries like Singapore, Russia, the UAE, Portugal, and Saudi Arabia have hired leading research universities from around the globe, including MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and Harvard, to assist them in jumpstarting or strengthening selected research fields, increase innovation and entrepreneurial activity at their leading national universities, or build whole new universities from scratch. Likewise, countries like Algeria, Chile, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, Thailand and the UAE have entered into collaborative satellite development projects with foreign firms and space agencies from countries such as China, France, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States, to obtain access to cutting-edge satellite technology, raise domestic engineering capabilities, and harness the broader socio-economic benefits of space engineering. CISTIPs can also be currently observed in other sectors such as nuclear power and high-speed rail. Canada has been increasingly involved in such partnerships.

While CISTIPs have become widespread, there has been little understanding of the underpinnings of such partnerships – e.g. what design and implementation approaches exist, how they fit (or do not fit) into traditional innovation policy or technology transfer patterns, or how to evaluate them in light of their complex goals and activities. This panel will present a theoretical framework to systematically analyze and design CISTIPs and better understand their roles within national science and innovation strategies. We will discuss implementation patterns and evaluation methods for CISTIPs based on emerging approaches from systems architecture, technology policy, science and technology studies, and network science. Several case studies of CISTIPs, including university partnerships and collaborative satellite development projects, will be presented to highlight successes and challenges in previous or ongoing CISTIPs. Finally, the panelists will draw conclusions about future directions for the current Canadian partnership programs and opportunities to create new partnerships to build innovation capacity in Canada.

Documents:
Download Panel PowerPoint


MODERATOR DETAILS

Dan Roos
Japan Steel Industry Professor Emeritus of Engineering Systems and Civil and Environmental Engineering
MIT

PANELIST DETAILS

Mac Hird
PhD Student
MIT

Danielle Wood
Research Engineer
Johns Hopkins University

Sebastian Pfotenhauer
Lecturer & Research Scientist, MIT Technology & Policy Program
MIT

Pierre Bilodeau
Chief Operating Officer
International Science and Technology Partnerships Canada (ISTPCanada)

Manuel Heitor
Full Professor
Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon

The objective of this panel is to share individual experiences of successes in supporting effective innovation and commercialization in Atlantic Canada.

The panel will examine the need for collaboration and partnerships among the four key stakeholder sectors of the University, Industry, Government and Community, in order to be effective in supporting innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives. The panel has been drawn primarily from University and business associations that manage innovation and entrepreneurship programs. In addition, some of the panelists have run successful companies before taking their current roles, including international experience.. The panel will also discuss good practices to obtain Intellectual property rights around the world (including best practices for protecting university research).

The panel will discuss how effective collaborations (among universities, governments, the private sector and communities) have been designed and built in Atlantic Canada to support the successful commercialization of research. Some relevant international examples will also be outlined by the moderator. This issue is directly linked to two themes of the conference, namely:

Best practices in the details of how to achieve effective innovation and commercialization through collaboration are important (what works, what does not work) and need to be identified and examined in order to improve Canada’s innovation performance; and,
Some of the success factors and issues involved in collaborative approaches to innovation and entrepreneurship. This will help the audience chart out their own policies and road-maps within their own organisations for future innovation and entrepreneurship programs.


MODERATOR DETAILS

Muthu Singaram
Chief Mentor, Head of Consulting and Corporate Facilitator
Muthu Singaram Consulting

PANELIST DETAILS

Jeffrey Crelinsten
President and Co-founder
The Impact Group

Larry Shaw
CEO
Knowledge Park Inc

Kathleen Rayworth
Executive Director
Entrepreneur’s Forum

Kevin Dunn

David Burns
VP Research
University of New Brunswick