THE CANADA WE WANT IN 2020 //
Increasing Innovation & Productivity
Canada’s innovation and productivity performance − both of which are central to economic growth, competitiveness and our standard of living have been stagnant for years. This is particularly problematic in light of Canada’s low levels of labour-force growth and the competitive challenges from emerging economies.
The Honourable Kevin G. Lynch, P.C. is Vice Chair of the BMO Financial Group. He was appointed the 20th Clerk of the Privy Council, Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Public Service of Canada in 2006, a position he held until 2009. Prior to that he served as both Deputy Minister of Industry and Deputy Minister of Finance, as well as Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund. He was made a Member of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada in 2009.
DESPERATELY SEEKING A MORE INNOVATIVE CANADA
Kevin G. Lynch
We are entering a new global normal. Things will not be as they were. The international economic geography is shifting to Asia and other dynamic emerging economies. The demographics of aging are creating a global talent hunt. The digital universe is transforming what markets mean and how social interaction and communication take place.Canada’s innovation and productivity performance has been stagnant for years
The choice for Canadians is whether our innovation approach needs some restyling or whether it requires a complete makeover
Lawson Hunter is head of the Competition/Antitrust Group at law firm Stikeman Elliott, where he has had a long career as a regulatory and government relations counsel. Formerly Canada’s senior civil servant in charge of competition policy and enforcement, Mr. Hunter played a key role in drafting the federal Competition Act. From 2003 – 2008, he served as executive vice-president and chief corporate officer of Bell Canada and BCE Inc., where he was responsible for overseeing regulatory, governmental relations and corporate affairs.
Dr. Peter Nicholson was the inaugural Chief Executive Officer of the Council of Canadian Academies from 2006 – 2009. Prior to this he was the Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy in the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada and, between 2002 – 2003, Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the OECD. From 1995 – 2002 he was Chief Strategy Officer of BCE Inc. He holds a BSc. and MSc. in physics from Dalhousie University and a PhD in operations research from Stanford University. Dr. Nicholson is a Member of the Order of Canada.
AN INNOVATION AGENDA FOR THE PUBLIC SECTOR
Lawson Hunter and Peter Nicholson
Innovation is the principal driver of productivity growth and economic prosperity. Contemporary discussion focuses almost exclusively on innovation by businesses and on what governments can do to support this. While this emphasis is appropriate up to a point, it ignores the elephant in the room: the public sector itself, the activities of which contribute more than a quarter of Canada’s GDP and whose regulatory policies profoundly affect the behaviour of the private sector.
Jim Stanford is an economist with the Canadian Auto Workers, Canada’s largest private-sector trade union. He received his PhD in Economics from the New School for Social Research in New York, and also holds economics degrees from Cambridge University and the University of Calgary. He writes an economics column for the Globe and Mail and is a mem- ber of CBC TV’s regular National News economics panel. His book, Economics for Everyone, was published in 2008.
Increasing Innovation and Productivity
Olivier Dumetz
2011-11-24 14:50:55
(I can’t wait to take the time to read all the papers…) some thoughts I’d like to share:
Real Artists Ship.
I heard that a few years ago in a presentation.
Real Innovators Need to Ship.
There are tons of great ideas, every day. It’s rarely about the idea, it’s about what we do with it. The canadian economy has to develop models that encourage innovators to pursue their ideas, rather than just ‘have’ ideas.
Angel investors need to re-evaluate what the idea is worth when they finance ventures. Financing schemes that encourage bringing innovative ideas to fruition, encourage the building of the human and technological infrastructure to make things happen.
There is a great article in the Ottawa Citizen about this… I think Shopify’s Tobias Lutke has the right vision for how to build business in the new Canadian Economy. Terry Matthews should take a hard look at what shopify is doing, and how they’re doing it.
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Last+chance+high+tech/5739594/story.html