and leading to actual innovations— that would not have occurred without college expertise and funding, according to a study by The Conference Board of Canada.
Moreover, the Board reports, “Ontario colleges are helping businesses and other organizations create new and improved products, services, and processes much more quickly, and with greater quality, than they otherwise would have been able to achieve without college support.” Currently, 20 out of 24 publicly funded colleges in Ontario incorporate a network of innovation centers called CONII–Colleges Ontario Network for Industry Innovation (http://www.conii.ca). The centers provide one-stop assistance for innovators. Their unusual innovation model was described to CIMS Sponsors at their Fall 2010 meeting by Trish Dryden, AVP Research and Corporate Planning at Centennial College, one of CONII’s founding colleges. Here’s what she reported:Canada currently ranks 14th among the 17 peer countries on innovation. Since the 1980s, the Conference Board of Canada has consistently given Canada a “D” ranking in innovation. Canada outspends OECD peers on government spending on R&D; however, it trails in business R&D spending, indicating less-than-ideal innovation activity at the firm-level, especially among SMEs (small and medium enterprises with fewer than 500 employees.). Only 2% of Ontario firms perform research vs. 3.3% of Quebec firms and 3.5% of U.S. firms.
Applied Research and Innovation
Against this backdrop, increasing emphasis has been placed on the Canadian college system to develop a capacity for applied research and innovation that would enhance social and economic development. The system is made up of 150 post-secondary institutions that are roughly equivalent to the U.S. community college system. In 2006, the CONII pilot project was created with a three-year grant of $3.5 million from the Ontario government. As a result:
- Industry Innovation Centers were established in 10 colleges in Ontario;
- 873 potential innovation projects were reviewed, and
- 298 industry-led projects involving 492 faculty and 1,878 students were completed.
Market Pull Model
The CONII model is based on market pull, a solution-focused applied research and innovation activity that is largely incremental, focused on SMEs, and has developed business-friendly intellectual property policies. Ontario’s colleges provide industryfaculty expertise and connect student ingenuity with real-world experience in order to “learn through solving.” They create the qualified people necessary for a rapidly changing workforce, and the new and improved products, processes and services needed for an increasingly competitive world marketplace. Specifically, CONII provides innovative companies and entrepreneurs with speed-to-market through:
- Proof-of-principle projects and testing
- Product and process development
- Prototype development and testing
- Industrial design
- Business planning and market research
- Marketing and communications strategies
- Support to access funding opportunities and tax credits
Innovation Catalysts and Accelerators
In assessing the economic and social innovation performance of Ontario colleges’ applied research model, the report concludes that although funding has been modest, the scale is limited, and many colleges are new to applied research, the results of the completed projects are impressive. Ontario colleges are serving as:
- Innovation Catalysts: The colleges’ applied research services stimulate new R&D activity and spending in one-third of collaborations with businesses, which would otherwise not have occurred without the college expertise and applied research funding.
- Innovation Accelerators: The applied research services accelerate innovation in nearly all collaborations, including contributing to product and/ or process improvements, reducing time-to-market, increasing business R&D spending and activity, and on other metrics.
- Enhancers of Innovation Skills and Entrepreneurial Ambition: Participation in applied research projects improves students’ technical and employ-ability skills, innovation literacy, and entrepreneurial ambitions, thereby contributing to the innovation-readiness of the future workforce.
Angel Research at Centennial College
Centennial College is a large, diverse, multicultural, urban college in the east end of Toronto. Its Applied Research and Innovation Centre (ARIC) conducts “angel research”; i.e., matching interdisciplinary teams of innovation and entrepreneurial-savvy faculty and students with local and regional industry partners in order to solve pressing “real world” problems. Having grown from a handful of applied research projects a decade ago into a vibrant, experienced technology transfer centre, ARIC (http://www.centennialcollege.ca/applied), is preparing Centennial’s graduates for innovation and entrepreneurial leadership. With over 60 industry, academic and government partners collaborating on over 100 successful R&D projects, Centennial’s multidisciplinary teams in engineering, health, new media, business, manufacturing, and sustainable energy are working together to create more jobs and sustain economic growth by helping small businesses bring new ideas into the marketplace faster.
Educational Games
One example is Spongelab Interactive, a Toronto-based educational game design and production SME (http://www.spongelab.com/spongelab/main.cfm). Centennial College and Spongelab Interactive have collaborated to produce an interactive, biology-based game that will assist teachers in bringing technology into their classrooms while providing users with an immersive, interactive, story-driven biology learning experience. Over the course of the project, Centennial faculty and students (computer science, media and design, and biotechnology) were intimately involved in the production of a custom game engine, the background research and storyline development, and the creation of stunning artwork. CEO Jeremy Friedberg has called Centennial’s collaboration an enormous asset to Spongelab in developing its Genomics Digital Lab game, launched online in 2010 as part of Spongelab’s award-winning platform of biology based games. “We’re a small firm doing cutting-edge development,” Friedberg said. “Our work is very technically challenging and requires a lot of passion and perseverance. The talent at the College has been an enormous asset, especially in this particular game, which had strong development challenges.” Future collaborative projects between Spongelab and Centennial are underway.
Collaboration with REGEN Energy
Funded by the Ontario Power Authority and the Ontario Centre for Energy, this project involved ARIC, Centennial College’s Energy Institute, and REGEN Energy Inc. (http://www.regenenergy.com) in a joint research initiative to evaluate REGEN’s innovative load-management device, which helps large electricity users to reduce their demand, saving both money and energy. As a result of the collaborative research, REGEN was able to convince the owner of the pilot site to purchase REGEN’s controller units. Since the first pilot project, REGEN has gone on to validate its controller technology in a number of similar demonstration sites. The EnviroGrid™ wireless energy management solution cuts electricity costs 5–10% or more. That’s equivalent to one “free” electric bill every year. Nominated for the prestigious Ontario government “Mind to Market Award,” REGEN has leveraged its work with Centennial College to successfully market its technology on a global scale. REGEN senior VP Chris Beaver comments that, “Since 2006, REGEN Energy has enjoyed a close working relationship with Centennial College to iteratively test and refine our technology for load management applications. We are very encouraged about the collaboration between our two organizations.” The consulting and applied research relationship between the two partners is ongoing. These examples of a growing number of such collaborations illustrate how ARIC connects people, ideas and resources. They bear out our conviction that innovation, creativity and speed to market are vital for building sustainable communities.
Trish Dryden;
Associate Vice President, Research
and Corporate Planning;
Centennial College;
tdryden@centennialcollege.ca
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