Setting Canada’s research and technology priorities

By David Watters

David Watters is a former assistant deputy minister for economic development and corporate finance in the Department of Finance, the founder and former CEO of the Global Advantage Consulting Group, and the founder and current president of the not-for-profit Institute for Collaborative Innovation. This op-ed first appeared here in The Hill Times.

This past June, Canada’s research-intensive universities signed a remarkable document, called the Berlin Statement, with their counterpart institutions in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Europe, and Japan.

This joint statement articulates the role of this network of 166 universities “to mobilize knowledge to the benefit of all.” It calls upon governments “to work with us and our partners to ensure we can realize the full potential of the distinctive research, innovation and partnerships our universities offer.”

Why is this commitment important?

First, because research-intensive universities are at the forefront of developing the talent and new knowledge from research that are needed to anticipate and respond to the cluster of interrelated and interdependent economic, social, environmental, security and technological risks that are impacting our societies.

As the Berlin Statement notes: “Research in all its forms is front and centre in solving local and global problems and achieving human progress. It serves as the foundation for pioneering technologies and solutions and is laying the groundwork for the social and economic well-being of our global community.”

Second, Canada’s universities continue to play a central institutional role in our national science, technology, and innovation ecosystem, along with governments and the private sector.

However, it is becoming increasingly clear that, as the gathering storm of global challenges intensifies – recently characterized as a “polycrisis” – we will need to improve the performance of our national asset – the science, technology, and innovation ecosystem – in order to adapt to and manage these risks.

For example, as the Berlin Statement acknowledges: “Recent years have seen rising geopolitical tensions, a global pandemic, mass migrations, clear evidence of climate change, and greater polarization as both opinion and rhetoric pushes more towards extremes. All of this is occurring in a context of rising technologies such as automation and AI, that may replace and reshape many current industries and societies in ways we don’t yet fully understand.”

In this regard, as the Berlin document notes, “As the world confronts increasing challenges, our universities are working relentlessly to develop solutions.”

How to implement this commitment in Canada?

One important way to achieve this is for the Canadian signatory schools (the U15 group) to establish a process through this network of 166 international research-intensive universities to conduct an annual assessment of the global trends in research and technology development.

Then, on the basis of this global assessment, the U15 should partner with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada to establish an annual domestic process that examines the implications of these research and technology trends on our institutions and the public, culminating in an annual briefing of the federal cabinet. The annual process could be structured in four phases:

1.  Academic institutions: an assessment by the U15, Universities Canada and our colleges to summarize the domestic implications of these global research and technology trends.
2.  Business: an examination of the implications of these global trends by the country’s private sector, particularly through major associations like the Business Council of Canada, the Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, etc.
3.  Federal government: a review by the 13 federal science-based departments and agencies of these global trends, the academic and business assessments noted above, and a determination of the implications for the roles of governments.
4.  Cabinet: building on these three previous steps, present an annual briefing to the federal cabinet on the state of global research and technology development, and the implications for Canada to help identify research and technology priorities, investment opportunities, and new national policy priorities in the context of federal budgets.

In summary, this important initiative – to be led by the U15 – offers a rare and valuable opportunity for Canadians to not only anticipate their future, but also to help shape it.

In a world where research and technology are the drivers of economic, social, and environmental progress, we cannot afford to sit on the sidelines. Canadians must take an active role in assessing global developments, understanding their implications for our country, and making the strategic decisions needed to improve our prosperity and security through the mobilization of new knowledge, talent, and technology.

The future will not wait, and neither should Canada.

R$