Young and emerging talent are key to sustained innovation

Multiple industry sectors, from health sciences and technology, to manufacturing, sustainability, and small businesses, are witnessing transformative levels of innovation, investments in new technologies, capacity building, and public-private partnerships to expand their market and social impacts. The evolving nature of challenges both globally and domestically, for example in disease diagnosis, pandemic preparedness, climate change, geopolitics, export-import, manufacturing, etc., demands solutions that are future-proof, durable, which bring social and economic value, and are driven by collective stakeholder buy-in. Young professionals constitute a potent human capital source for creating and executing these solutions, emphasizing the distinctive role young professionals play in the formulation and execution of a national innovation strategy. Multiple reports indicate young leaders to be drivers of innovation leading to inclusive policies, better governance, and sustainable practices1,2, moreover, social enterprises leveraging technology and led by women and youth have known to generate ~$2 trillion in revenue annually and employee ~200 million people, thereby indicating societal and economic impact at a large scale.3 This is also highlighted by the European Council’s work exploring youth participation in decision-making at national, regional, and local levels, and also identifying barriers such as lack of funds, political support, and understanding by public authorities.4

Canada is home to a number of industries, such as advanced manufacturing, agribusiness, cleantech, life sciences and biotechnology, technology. Industries offer a platform for graduates and young talent to gain real-life experience, in turn, young talent can also help close looming skills gaps (for example, global manufacturing could see a shortage of 85 million people by 20305). Young talent also brings fresh perspectives and new knowledge, which is valuable to the industry, helping it navigate changes in its sector and across markets and communities it operates in. Prioritizing on talent cultivation can thus help industries address gaps and design improvements in core functions (E.g., technology, operations, workforce management, upskilling and training, decision-making and governance, risk management), thereby also continuing to provide an attractive platform for career growth and identify avenues to hone innovation both within their organization and through external collaborations. A relevant example is Artificial Intelligence – recognizing AI as a strategic tool can help identify training opportunities for the workforce, as well as understand how AI can help streamline operations, design better products, and aid in overall decision-making.

So how can industries help hone a human capital talent base? Some avenues to drive capacity building are as follows:

1. Work-integrated learning (WIL) programs: These programs help senior undergraduates get ready to enter the workforce by developing future proof skills such as communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, cross-collaboration, social and emotional thinking, and more. WILs help build awareness of Canadian businesses, understand key skills gaps, knowledge requirements, industry and sector trends, thereby helping students understand how they can apply their education and competencies in the industry. In the medium term, WILs also lead to capacity building and honing potential talent. Industries have a significant role to play, by partnering with WILs, encouraging participation across different organizational levels (product managers, consultants, people and culture) in these programs, and communicating the potential role of WIL-partnerships internally within the organization.
2. Innovation Incubators: Master’s and doctoral students are an important human capital source to drive innovation. In Canada, there were over 300,000 master’s and over 30,000 doctoral students during 2017-2021.6 Often, research outcomes and results can be the starting point of spin-offs, leading to outcomes such as creation of a novel diagnostic tool or new climate/earth-system models, which are in-turn potential sources of innovation and employment. Both Canadian universities and industries have a unique opportunity to contribute to skills development in young researchers by partnering to create incubation centres and innovation programs wherein researchers are trained on the market, policy, and fiscal drivers of scaling their innovation (subjects which may often not be formally taught in STEM coursework). Moreover, these centers provide opportunities for researchers and their supervisors to connect with the broader business and investment ecosystem. By taking part in such innovation clusters, industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, AI and computation, telecommunication can invest in high-risk, high-reward projects, thereby also incubate potential solutions to grand challenges.
3. Industry-academia collaborations: Industry-academia collaborations help drive commercialization of early-stage research ideas, secure funding, providing in-house consultation and expertise, and idea scale-up. In general, this is a more well-known avenue of training and capacity building of high-quality personnel (HQP), chiefly implemented through collaborative R&D grants by Canadian funding agencies such as Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), or external global granting agencies. Other partnerships include Networks of Centres of Excellence which funds collaborations between universities, industry, government, and NGOs to develop large-scale national research networks, train young researchers, mobilize talent, and train scientific and business leaders.7 

The above offer opportunities for young Canadian talent to directly and indirectly contribute to innovation and growth in Canada, and also seed potential global partnerships. Embedded in the above is also the scope of expanding science literacy.8 The Canadian Foundation of Innovation’s research on youth involvement in science recognizes several drivers such as i) science-based curricula, ii) engagement, iii) science communication, empathy, and dialogue on controversial matters and emerging challenges, iv) STEM-based upskilling, and v) welcoming inclusivity and diverse backgrounds to expand science literacy among youth. Several of these drivers have application in the present discussion, moreover, emphasis by industry can drive this motivation further.

Young and emerging talent are the thinkers and strategists of tomorrow. Providing them opportunities to hone their talents, learn new skills, and embrace change can go a long way to growing Canadian innovation, while upholding the important role of both industry and academia in nurturing this talent.

Bibliography

1. United Nations Development Program, available here.
2. Youth innovation can help shape the future of African cities, 2022, Chatham House, available here.
3. Meet 3 social innovators using tech to empower and educate the next generation, 2024, World Economic Forum, available here.
4. New and innovative forms of youth participation in decision-making processes, 2017, Council of Europe, available here.
5. This is why manufacturing needs to prioritise the recruitment of young talent, 2020, World Economic Forum, available here.
6. Statistics Canada. Table 37-10-0020-01  Postsecondary graduates, by institution type, status of student in Canada and gender, DOI: https://doi.org/10.25318/3710002001-eng.
7. Networks of Centres of Excellence, Government of Canada.
8. Youth and science: A promising future. Report on the proceedings from a national conversation, Canada Foundation for Innovation/Fondation Canadienne Pour l’Innovation, available here.