Six Quick Hits for Canadian Commercialization

Abstract

The Conference Board of Canada created theLeaders' Roundtable on Commercialization to establish a sharedcommercialization vision for Canada and an action plan that recognizes theunique challenges facing various sectors and regions.Composed of47senior business executives, university presidents and deputy ministers, thisroundtable conducted 35 interviews with scholars, firm executives, andgovernment officers to gain insight into tactical actions ("quickhits") that can be taken within the next 12 months to address problems andseize opportunities in commercialization. These actions are the subject of this report.The quick hits arecategorized into people, research, financing, and institutions.The quickhits identified include the following: (1) industry-led collaborative researchnetworks, (2) regionally-based commercialization internships, (3) angel taxcredits, (4) pilot program to expand R&D tax credits, (5) strategicprocurement, and (6) federal seed capital investment. For each of the quick hits, anexplanation of the action, a rationale,and how it will be measured are provided.An integrated, long-termstrategy has yet to be developed, but these quick hits provide a foundation forthe work of this roundtable. (SRD)