Abstract:
This panel will explore the policies, partnerships, and institutional mechanisms needed to foster a robust dual-use technology ecosystem in Canada. Drawing on the perspectives of leaders from industry, academia, and government, the discussion will examine how Canada can better align its research and innovation efforts with strategic national objectives, particularly in the context of emerging procurement needs, critical supply chains, and evolving security threats.

Summary of Conversations 

The discussion centered on the imperative to accelerate the development of technologies with both civilian and military applications to strengthen national sovereignty and foster economic prosperity. Speakers stressed that effective, mission-driven partnerships are vital, necessitating integrated collaboration between government agencies, academic institutions, and industry partners. Universities are crucial for training specialized talent and conducting fundamental research, which establishes a technological edge. Industry’s role is to bridge the gap by translating scientific concepts into user-validated products. A significant challenge identified is the lack of scale-up funding, often referred to as the “Valley of Death,” causing promising small businesses to seek foreign investment and hindering domestic commercialization. Proposed solutions include establishing secure, co-located innovation hubs and moving away from short-term project-based funding to long-term, outcome-driven programs. This shift is essential to operate at the speed of modern threat cycles, which are measured in weeks.

Take Away Messages/Current Status of Challenges

• Pace of Innovation vs. Threat Cycle: The Canadian research, development, and procurement cycle operates too slowly, measured against modern conflicts where the innovation cycle (design, testing, defeating a new weapon) is measured in weeks, not years.
• The “Valley of Death” in Scale-Up: A critical barrier is the lack of scale-up funding and venture capital needed to move small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from successful R&D prototypes (Technology Readiness Level – TRL) to industrial production and commercialization within Canada.
• Fragmentation of Funding Mechanisms: Innovators face extreme difficulty navigating the highly fragmented landscape of government funding, with numerous existing programs (over 100) lacking a cohesive, single-window approach.
• Lack of Integrated Ecosystems: The current structure lacks a co-located and integrated research ecosystem where military end-users, industry partners, and academia can organically collaborate to define and solve problems responsively.
• Need for Secure Research Capacity: Moving into classified defence research requires universities to adopt new working models, including secure research facilities, robust digital/physical security, and personnel security for data handling, which is a significant new challenge.
• Risk of Talent and IP Leakage: Insufficient domestic scale-up capital and opportunities risk losing highly-trained Canadian talent and valuable domestic intellectual property to foreign ecosystems like the US and Europe.
• Project- vs. Program-Based Funding: The reliance on short-term, project-based funding restricts the ability to sustain the long-term, fundamental research essential for staying ahead of future threats and ensuring sovereign capabilities.

Recommendations/Next Steps

• Establish Defence Innovation Secure Hubs (DISH): Implement new, secure, co-located regional hubs to serve as a framework for industry, academia, and defence partners to collaborate on classified, threat-driven priorities (such as space systems and quantum communication).
• Implement a Single-Window Entry Point: Develop a single-entry Defence Innovation Portal or similar system to guide innovators, particularly SMEs, through the complex funding landscape and streamline the entire process from application to adoption.
• Bridge to Acquisition Pathway: Introduce pilots and a new acquisition framework within existing programs to ensure a formal transition pathway from successful R&D prototypes to adoption and deployment by the Canadian Armed Forces.
• Adopt Long-Term Program Funding: Shift funding from short-term, project-based grants to long-term, sustainable programs that cover the full spectrum of the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale, from fundamental research to applied solutions.
• Foster Organic Academic Interaction: Create more active, organic collaboration channels to expose students and new entrepreneurs early to defence-related challenges, ensuring that knowledge is transmitted effectively and talent is retained domestically.
• Align Talent/Infrastructure Investments: Strategically align new federal announcements for research chairs, graduate students, and complementary infrastructure funding with the specific requirements for secure, dual-use research.

Leverage International Alliances: Actively pursue and integrate innovation with key international allies through platforms like NATO DIANA and the Five Eyes community to leverage global research and technology rather than attempting to develop all capabilities domestically (“Canada first does not mean Canada alone”).