Type a word to start your search
Type a word to start your search
Written by Marie-Pierre Ippersiel, president and CEO of the Pôle de recherche et d'innovation en matériaux avancés (PRIMA Québec)
In its November 30 economic update, the Government of Canada announced $250 million over five (5) years, starting next year, to support businesses in innovation in order to stimulate growth and job creation, and enable them to support the recovery from the crisis. For its own part, as outlined in its budget update presented on November 12, the Quebec government plans to invest $147.5 million over two (2) years to support research and innovation. These investments are strategic for Quebec businesses, which have contributed significantly during this pandemic.
We are witnessing a global emergency in real time, demonstrating the vital importance of innovation for businesses and public services alike. It's true that the pandemic has also put businesses around the world to the ultimate test. Overnight, companies of all sizes, from multinationals to SMEs, that were thought to be solid, have seen their business model collapse like a house of cards. Many of them had no choice but to innovate or perish.
Some have shown remarkable inventiveness and managed to adapt to the new context in record time, for example by converting their operations to design and produce personal protective equipment for employees in our healthcare establishments. Our entrepreneurs have good ideas, but these are not enough; industrial innovation requires the mobilization of a wide range of factors: knowledge and talent, research facilities, financial support, an appropriate regulatory framework, competent partners and suppliers, and national as well as international networks both to fuel the research and to commercialize the results.
Businesses, especially SMEs, need personalized support with access to all these resources, as well as to the innovation expertise capable of assembling them in the precise mix required for each project. Otherwise, the best project in the world cannot be developed. It will be crucial for our various levels of government to continue to be involved; the dynamism of the innovation ecosystem, which benefits our entire economy, depends on it.
In recognition of this reality, Quebec has set up nine (9) sector-based industrial research clusters (RSRIs) active in the flagship sectors of the Quebec economy: aluminum, aerospace, industrial bioprocesses, biopharmaceuticals, electrical energy, advanced materials, information, communications and digital technologies, medical technologies and metal transformation.
The RSRIs act as intermediaries between the capabilities of our public and private research centres and the needs and projects of our industrial entrepreneurs. They are also at the heart of the Quebec government's innovation zones strategy.
From 2015 to 2018, the nine (9) RSRIs invested $84 million with financial assistance from the Ministère de l'Économie et de l'Innovation (MEI) to support the development of innovative technologies, products and processes. This financial leverage has led around a thousand companies to invest more than $160 million in these same technologies. The result has been hundreds of innovations that increase the productivity of our businesses and enable them to develop new domestic and international markets, attract foreign investors to Quebec and create joint ventures with entrepreneurs from other countries. This support has also made it possible to train more than 1,800 graduate students, providing our businesses with a highly qualified workforce.
Quebec as a whole must keep up the pace and continue to encourage innovation if it is not to fall behind competing economies. Developing knowledge and putting it to work for our businesses is absolutely essential if we are to remain at the forefront of modern economies whose prosperity is based on constant innovation. Collaboration between industry and research centres increases the scale of innovation tenfold, the impact of our public and private investments in research and the ability of our businesses to assert their presence on international markets. The government's investments are therefore more than welcome. The RSRIs, priviledged partners of the government and businesses, will be there.
* Co-signataires :
Alain Aubertin, president and CEO, Consortium de recherche et d’innovation en aérospatiale au Québec (CRIAQ)
Mohammed Benyagoub, president and CEO, Consortium de recherche et innovations en bioprocédés industriels au Québec (CRIBIQ)
Diane Côté, president and CEO, MEDTEQ+
Gilles Déry, president and CEO, Centre québécois de recherche et de développement de l’aluminium (CQRDA)
Diane Gosselin, president and CEO, Consortium Québécois sur la découverte du médicament (CQDM)
Jean-François Pouliot, managing director, Consortium de recherche et d’innovation en transformation métallique (CRITM)
Luc Sirois, managing director, PROMPT — Technologies de l’information, des communications et du numérique
André St-Pierre, managing director, InnovÉÉ — Innovation en énergie électrique