First, we’re wishing all our clients a happy fiscal year-end. Here’s hoping you find time to sleep in April.
With the release of the Federal 2018 Budget, we’ve finalized the new 2018 Canadian R&D and Innovation Ecosystem Map, available now in print, and soon to be available digitally – drop me a line (adam@gaconsulting.ca) if you’re interested in digital access to the map, and we can discuss your needs. This new digital tool will continue to develop, and over this year we’re going to be adding a number of exciting new features to make data access and analysis, decision making, and executive presentations even easier for you and your team, including implementing our new Dancing Data animation tool into the digital map tool.
While we build up our software tools, we’re also engaged in projects of a more traditional sort. At the beginning of March we won two proposal competitions, the first with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and the second with the National Research Council (NRC).
For NRCan, we’ll be investigating the nature and potential of disruptive digital technologies, centred around AI-driven technologies and processes which will reduce GHG emissions and boost productivity in Canada’s natural resources industries, including Forestry, Minerals and Metals, and Energy (Oil and Gas and Renewables). These technologies may be in use around the world now, or are cutting edge and likely to be adopted into the industry soon. Canada has a very strong resource sector, but to remain globally competitive, we cannot continue to rely on technology that, in some cases, would have been familiar to the Romans. At the same time, we do not need to invent every new technology we need; rather, we can look globally at current technologies to see what Canada can adopt or adapt to strengthen our sectors, and what we should consider investing our money in when we do need to invest a technology.
For the NRC, we’ll be examining the role of the Canadian Microsystems Corporation (CMC), and where the opportunity may lie to modernize CMC’s mandate or shift its focus to better serve the microsystems and advanced manufacturing ecosystems in Canada.
Additionally, we have three new maps under development: building from our previous Forest Sector Innovation Ecosystem, we’re producing a map of the Forest Bioeconomy Innovation Ecosystem, for NRCan; a map of Upstream Forest Science and Research, also for NRCan; and, building from our previous College Applied Research map, we’re producing a map of Regional Funding and Research Strengths in College Applied Research, for Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC).
Finally, I’d like to welcome Shannon to our team. Shannon will be working on our digital projects, building up the capacity and features of our new software products, while helping us maintain our existing services.
We’ll have many more updates through the summer; check back from time to time to see where we’re at! And of course, reach out to one of us or through our contact page if you have a project or project idea you would like to discuss or explore.
