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But finding and figuring out government innovation programs is tortuous

Stop me if you’ve heard this: a man walks into a business, looks around and says, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

Bogdan Ciobanu isn’t laughing. As director general of the National Research Council’s (NRC) Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), he insists he is actually here to help Canadian businesses go digital, and he’s got more than 210 agents and $197.5 million to devote to that goal.

And it’s badly needed help. Last spring, the World Economic Forum ranked Canada 35th in digital economy leadership out of 138 countries, down from 26th place in 2010. For government prioritization of ICT, Canada sits at 31st.

This is not good. The goal of both government and industry was to make Canada a digitally driven innovation economy by 2017, and it isn’t happening. So, what to do? More government funding, more tax breaks? No, say leaders like Tom Jenkins, CEO of OpenText, who chaired and delivered a review of federal support for research and development last fall.

“Government needs to do a better job helping our innovative SMEs grow larger,” Jenkins said in tabling the report. “What we found was a funding system that is unnecessarily complicated and confusing to navigate.”

We need to move quickly, because as Jenkins wrote last year in a paper on public policy: “We are at the dislocation point between an old economic order and a new one that may last for decades, if not centuries. Innovation is the wealth creator in this new order, and we would be wise to structure our economy to optimize our ability to innovate and thus compete globally.”

Money itself isn’t the issue. There is approximately $7 billion in federal funding alone and hundreds of millions more in provincial programs. But the application process can be so tortuous and rife with hidden qualifiers and disqualifiers, many shy away or are unaware of whether they even qualify.

Programs, said Jenkins, must be more visible and accessible, and driven by results. Start-ups and existing companies looking to grow need access to capital and to new markets, and they need to recruit and retain key people. His panel’s report made six simple suggestions: n create an Industrial Research and Innovation Council with a clear business innovation mandate as the centerpiece to all government programs n simplify the successful $3.6 billion Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program by basing the tax credit for SMEs on labour-related costs n use the government’s substantial purchasing power to buy innovative products and demand leading-edge goods, services and technologies from Canadian suppliers n restructure the National Research

Council to create a business-driven collaborative agency separate from public policy research n help high-growth, innovative firms access the risk capital they need through the establishment of new funds where

gaps exist through the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) in collaboration with the private sector n establish a clear voice for innovation, with an Innovation Advisory Council of external experts, and engage in a dialogue with the provinces to improve co-ordination and impact.

How may I help you?

Knowing where to look for support is key, said Jenkins, arguing for the creation of a service—a concierge—that can guide companies to relevant federal and provincial programs.

Perhaps surprisingly, the feds reacted immediately; in the spring budget, the government initiated the concierge concept under Ciobanu’s NRC-IRAP program and rolled it into the Digital Technology Adoption Pilot Program (DTAPP). It launched last fall and is in the process of cutting cheques to 431 companies to help them adopt digital technology. Another 200 will likely be added when the funding wraps up in 2014.

DTAPP is an extension of what IRAP has done for 60 years, Ciobanu said. IRAP has 210 Industrial Technology Advisors (ITAs) who consult with business leaders and provide funding from an $87.5-million budget for technology and training to help businesses be more productive and competitive.

Those ITAs—and more are coming— will match SMEs to DTAPP and to other programs where there may be a good fit, such as IRAP, SR&EDs or provincial funds.

September 2012 / backbonemag.com 15

Great government funding experience

I felt compelled to report on my experience utilizing the information in your article

“Finding and figuring out government innovation programs” by Ian Harvey (September 2012, http://goo.gl/sW6Oc).

I had heard about these government programs in the past but never believed I would be able to find the appropriate program or that I would find the right person to talk with. After reading your article and

“Our ITA (Industrial

Technologist Advisor) has also started the wheels turning for additional program funding through

IRAP, which could amount to a cool $1 million in matched ” funding for new product development. Wow! —ERIC PIERCE

using the references to the DTAPP and IRAP programs, I made an initial pursuit through the 800-O’Canada general information service and referenced these two programs. To my amazement, I received a call back with contact information for the Industrial Technologist Advisor (ITA) in my area. I sent off an e-mail and left a message for the ITA on a Wednesday and on the following Friday I got a call back. (Gasp!) The ITA asked a few simple questions and I described our company profile, then she asked if we could meet on Monday morning! (Whaat?! Unimaginable!) The next Monday morning we meet, I took her on a quick tour of our company and she told me we were eligible for the DTAPP grant program which would start next March. (This can’t be that easy!) We are now preparing for the program and working with their consultants to research and organize ourselves for the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning system. To top it off, our ITA has also started the wheels turning for additional program funding through IRAP, which could amount to a cool $1 million in matched funding for new product development. Wow!

Thank you Backbone.

—Eric Pierce, a division of Waycon Canada, Waterloo, Ont.

Some Canadian politicians impress

You wrote a very good column on Canada’s digital economy strategy (November 2012, http://goo.gl/0qPCL). I loved the way you contrasted the Malaysian and Nigerian focus on ICT with the fact that our own PM would not travel 40 minutes to be there. Very telling. i-CANADA ran a SUMMIT the day before the WCIT. Our Governor’s Council is chaired by the premier of New Brunswick, David Awlard, and he was there, as were the mayors of Canada’s smartest cities and the heads of Canada’s smartest corporations and sectors. Some people get it, but you are right: the policy setters don’t.

—Barry Gander, co-founder, i-CANADA

Little government action

Interesting comments in your November editorial. Welcome to the world of “supportive” politics. You are absolutely right in saying that what we are doing isn’t working, in your area of expertise as well as mine. For the past seven years our literacy rates have remained virtually the same and no one is talking about changing anything.

Keep up the good work, I really enjoy reading your magazine.

—Edda Manley

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Remembering 300 baud modems

Your September 2012 editorial (“Technology and vacations: a terrible confession,” http:// goo.gl/7uf0t) got me into a nostalgic mood. In your reminiscing you stated:

“Broadband has wiped the reality of 28.8 Kbps from your memory. A link you would click from home or work without a thought takes two minutes to open...” Well, Peter, I have news for you: as a student circa 1975, I recall working at 300 baud on an acoustic coupler. We thought we’d died and gone to heaven! And when I then got out into industry and had a 1200-baud modem, well...I could hardly contain my excitement!

What’s interesting is two things. First,

how right so many futurists back in the ’70s and ’80s were who were saying that telecom costs would soon be negligible. The second is how our productivity does not seem to have gone up in commensurate measure.

Today I have a 7Mb connection, roughly 100 times more bandwidth. Am I 100 times more productive? Not at all.

Best regards, and thank you for keeping the magazine so wonderfully readable.

“As a student circa 1975,

I recall working at 300 baud on an acoustic coupler. ” We thought we’d died and gone to heaven! —STEVE POzGAJ

—Steve Pozgaj

No Kindle library loans

I appreciate receiving Backbone with my Globe and Mail and read or scan almost all articles. Like me, all of your readers support their public libraries through their municipal taxes, therefore hundreds of e-books are free to library members. (The November issue recommended the Kindle e-reader: http://goo.gl/WSN92.) Other e-readers are a better recommendation. Especially in this economic climate, the price is right: $0 per book. This is because publishers do not allow libraries to loan e-books in a Kindle-compatible format in Canada: http://goo.gl/4DVyj.