|
Ottawa, August 15, 2003 -- Canada's largest high tech association, CATAAlliance, released today the third in a series of consultation papers that will provide guidance on how to achieve Canada's Innovation Strategy goals. Entitled "Commercializing innovations: Phase II of the Innovation Agenda," the 20 page consultation paper was developed under the direction of a special CATA Task Force, led by Chris Gully, and Barry Gander, respectively CATA Senior Research Associate and Executive Director. Findings were drawn from Ipsos-NPD Surveys, and through the input of senior executives from a cross section of CATA's members and leading practitioners.
In its consultation paper, CATA observes that Canada is a hotbed of world-class ingenuity with a proud history of innovation that dates back to the country's infancy.
Alexander Graham Bell's invention of the telephone in the latter part of the 19th century set the tone for a new way to communicate. The idea was conceived in Canada, and Canada continued to be the inventor's preferred place of residence and discovery. The world's first long-distance telephone call, for example, was made in Paris, Ontario.
Mr. Bell's experience, in fact, illustrates a pattern for technology development in Canada. Ideas are born in Canada, and commercially developed in the United States. A glance at Canadian inventions through history illustrates the extent of the "invent and sell" syndrome.
Public policy, with laudable goals, has thus far tended to reinforce the "invent and sell" syndrome. Focussing on our historic strength in invention, current public programs like the research tax credit program create a hothouse environment for invention. Today, Canada churns out ideas -- 21 per cent of corporate Canadian budgets are spent on research and development. In the U.S., only seven per cent of corporate budgets are allocated to R&D.
Unfortunately, the reverse is true when it comes to commercializing those Canadian ideas and turning them into profits. While U.S. technology companies spend 21 per cent of their annual budgets on marketing and sales, Canadian companies only spend seven per cent.
We have more than addressed the problem of "R&D" in Canada. Now, we need to address the problem of "C" -- Commercialization.
CATA believes that the primary focus of technology-related public policy today should be on measures to stimulate commercialization. Our goal should be to create a climate of investment balance, where a sizeable portion of corporate and public sector budgets are spend on commercialization.
This shift should not be achieved by cutting down on our encouragement of R&D. It should be achieved by stimulating activities that successfully bring products to market, with the goal of enabling a higher percentage of companies to grow to become global leaders.
'Commercialization', in this context, means the inclusion notion of getting a product or service from the labs, onto stores shelves, and into customers' hands, to meet market demand.
- The key question regarding commercialization in Canada is:
- Can Canada become a nation of merchants?
- Can we cross the "commercialization Chasm", or will our ideas continue to cross the 49th parallel?
The answer to that question will determine whether our knack for invention can be turned into the profits that produce the jobs and the taxes that fund our high standards of education, health and culture.
|
++ Call to Action: CATA is calling on members to provide counsel on the recommendations presented in the Commercialization paper as part of the process of finalizing its Commercializing innovations campaign.
Please email: info@cata.ca | | 
