Dare to Innovate Regional action tables for the next Québec Research and Innovation Strategy MESI/SSI 06/09/2016 Message from the Minister In a knowledge economy context, the intensity of research and innovation is fundamental to Québec's social and economic development. In particular, this intensity makes it possible to ensure the competitiveness of our economy, stimulate our productivity and improve public welfare. We must take the lead in the emergency of a culture centred on innovation and on valorization and knowledge transfer in order to support entrepreneurs, researchers and other players in innovation, support cutting-edge research and development, induce both young and more experienced people to have new ideas, and encourage collaboration on a larger scale. The Ministère de l’Économie, de la Science et de l’Innovation (MESI) is launching its consultations of the Québec population for the development of the next Québec Research and Innovation Strategy, which is seeking to meet these challenges. For this purpose, I have mandated Saul Polo, Parliamentary Assistant, to set up regional action tables for this future strategy. These regional action tables, the first stage of the consultations, have the goal of fuelling the discussion. This stage will be followed by sustained citizen participation via a Web platform and a series of co-creation workshops on specific themes, bringing together key research and innovation partners. During these consultations, which will extend over a 90-day period, several means will be deployed to reach the entire innovation ecosystem. Everyone will have the opportunity to express their views. This collaborative approach brings together different partners whose field of action extends from the business community to universities and colleges, including social entrepreneurs and the non-profit sector. This is a crucial approach, because the Government cannot act alone. These regional exchanges will allow us to pool our strengths so we can work together on seeking creative and bold solutions for the Québec of tomorrow. We need your contribution to dare to dream and think differently so that together we can move Québec forward. Research and innovation are present in every region of Québec and in all circles. We enthusiastically will look for players and users of research and innovation who together are shaping Québec society. Together, I am convinced we can contribute to a more innovative Québec, thanks to the contribution of innovative ideas and solutions from all regions. (Signature) PJ5
Transcript
Dare to Innovate Regional action tables for the next Québec Research and Innovation Strategy
MESI/SSI 06/09/2016
Message from the Minister In a knowledge economy context, the intensity of research and innovation is fundamental to Québec's social and economic development. In particular, this intensity makes it possible to ensure the competitiveness of our economy, stimulate our productivity and improve public welfare. We must take the lead in the emergency of a culture centred on innovation and on valorization and knowledge transfer in order to support entrepreneurs, researchers and other players in innovation, support cutting-edge research and development, induce both young and more experienced people to have new ideas, and encourage collaboration on a larger scale.
The Ministère de l’Économie, de la Science et de l’Innovation (MESI) is launching its consultations of the Québec population for the development of the next Québec Research and Innovation Strategy, which is seeking to meet these challenges. For this purpose, I have mandated Saul Polo, Parliamentary Assistant, to set up regional action tables for this future strategy.
These regional action tables, the first stage of the consultations, have the goal of fuelling the discussion. This stage will be followed by sustained citizen participation via a Web platform and a series of co-creation workshops on specific themes, bringing together key research and innovation partners. During these consultations, which will extend over a 90-day period, several means will be deployed to reach the entire innovation ecosystem. Everyone will have the opportunity to express their views. This collaborative approach brings together different partners whose field
of action extends from the business community to universities and colleges, including social entrepreneurs and the non-profit sector. This is a crucial approach, because the Government cannot act alone. These regional exchanges will allow us to pool our strengths so we can work together on seeking creative and bold solutions for the Québec of tomorrow. We need your contribution to dare to dream and think differently so that together we can move Québec forward.
Research and innovation are present in every region of Québec and in all circles. We enthusiastically will look for players and users of research and innovation who together are shaping Québec society. Together, I am convinced we can contribute to a more innovative Québec, thanks to the contribution of innovative ideas and solutions from all regions.
(Signature)
PJ5
Dare to Innovate Regional action tables for the next Québec Research and Innovation Strategy
MESI/SSI 06/09/2016
Table of Contents Message from the Minister ........................................................................................................................... 1
Presentation of the consultation approach in the regions ........................................................................... 3
Objectives of the consultation .................................................................................................................. 3
The intervention lines of the consultation ................................................................................................ 3
Conducting the meetings .......................................................................................................................... 4
Focus Area 1: Consolidate excellence in research and stimulate innovation in business ............................ 6
Situation in brief ........................................................................................................................................ 6
Some findings and problems ..................................................................................................................... 7
Areas to think about .................................................................................................................................. 7
Focus Area 2: Develop the talent, the succession and the culture of innovation ........................................ 8
Situation in brief ........................................................................................................................................ 8
Some findings and problems ..................................................................................................................... 8
Areas to think about .................................................................................................................................. 9
Focus Area 3: Invigorate the transfer and commercialization of research results – Bet on collaboration
and synergy ................................................................................................................................................. 10
Situation in brief ...................................................................................................................................... 10
Some findings and problems ................................................................................................................... 11
Areas to think about ................................................................................................................................ 11
APPENDIX 1: Major trends according to the OECD ..................................................................................... 12
APPENDIX 2: Conference Board of Canada comparative innovation report card of Canadian provinces .. 13
Dare to Innovate Regional action tables for the next Québec Research and Innovation Strategy
MESI/SSI 06/09/2016
Presentation of the consultation approach in the regions
Objectives of the consultation
The diversity of Québec society's assets is an undeniable competitive advantage and contributes to the growth of productivity, our prosperity and the common good. These assets are based, in particular, on our knowhow, the excellence of our scientific research, our use of cutting-edge technologies, our ability to extract and transform natural resources, and our ability to innovate.
The regional action tables1 therefore seek:
1. to engage the active forces of society in the process of developing the next Québec Research and Innovation Strategy (QRIS);
2. to help us understand the context specific to each region or territory and take note of the concerns and opinions of the stakeholders who are part of the research and innovation (RI) ecosystem;
3. to explore the most promising innovative practices and avenues to improve the policies and initiatives in support of research, innovation and commercialization, so the Québec and its regions can benefit from more productive, more competitive and more dynamic economies.
The intervention lines of the consultation
Non-exhaustively, the MESI particularly wishes to discuss the following three focus areas with the regional players:
Focus Area 1: Consolidate excellence in research and stimulate innovation in business
Focus Area 2: Develop the talent, the succession and the culture of innovation Focus Area 3: Invigorate the transfer and commercialization of research results –
Bet on collaboration and synergy The results of the regional action tables will be made public in a report produced by the MESI. All this will contribute to enrich the discussion and the decision-making process in order to determine the Government's major focus areas for research and innovation (RI) over the next few years. Research and development (R&D) is a process that combines human and material resources to increase the sum of knowledge, including knowledge of people, culture and society, and the use of this knowledge to create new applications. Innovation consists of new ways of doing things that have value. Inventions become innovations only once they are implemented relevantly. Innovation exists in several forms, including process innovation, product innovation, and social and organizational innovation. Science is a coherent system of knowledge pertaining to certain categories of facts, objects or phenomena obeying laws and/or verified by experimental methods.
1 The regions visited are: 1- Montréal and Montérégie; 2- Laval, Laurentides and Lanaudière; 3- Estrie; 4- Centre-du-Québec and Mauricie; 5- Outaouais and Abitibi-Témiscamingue; 6- Capitale-Nationale and Chaudière-Appalaches; 7- Saguenay−Lac-Saint-Jean, Côte-Nord and Nord du Québec; 8- Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine.
Dare to Innovate Regional action tables for the next Québec Research and Innovation Strategy
MESI/SSI 06/09/2016
Conducting the meetings
The meetings will be held in half a day (3 hours and 30 minutes), in the morning or the afternoon
(see diagram). The participants will be asked to perform co-creation exercises with the following
objectives:
1. determine the main regional issues in RI;
2. put forward promising solutions to stimulate RI in every region of Québec.
A resource person specializing in co-creation and facilitation will support the participants in this process. The following diagram summarizes the projected conduct of the meetings. More detailed information will be communicated to the participants at the beginning of the activity.
Official welcome,
introduction and
presentation of the
work process
Activity 1
"Defining and
connecting our issues
and challenges",
followed by a moment
of dialogue
Break
Activity 2
"Tips for
collaboration"
Activity 3
"Generating concrete
solutions ",
followed by a moment
of dialogue
Closing
Total
time:
3 hours
30
minute
s
Dare to Innovate Regional action tables for the next Québec Research and Innovation Strategy
MESI/SSI 06/09/2016
Context2
In a knowledge society, it is essential to invest in research and innovation in order to support economic growth and ensure our international competitiveness.
In 2013, the last year for which data is available, Québec ranks 1st among Canadian provinces (13th in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD) for its gross domestic expenditure on research and experimental development (GERD) relative to its GDP. It also ranks 1st in Canada (8th in the OECD) for the proportion of researchers in its workforce. This proves that Québec has a critical mass both in research and development investments and in the availability of a highly skilled workforce.
However, several indicators tend to show that Québec could increase the transfer of R&D results to the market and deploy more innovative practices. Québec only ranks 3rd in Canada for patented inventions relative to its population3 and below the Canadian average for the percentage of business enterprises that participate in innovation-related activities. Investments in ICT could also be increased, because Québec ranks 4th in Canada for such investments as a percentage of GDP.
Overview of Québec results in research and innovation4
Indicators Data for Québec
Comparison (OECD and/or Canada)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD), as percentage of GDP (2013) 2.32 13th place in the OECD 1st place in Canada
Percentage of gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD) funded by companies (2013) 49.4 14th place in the OECD 2nd place in Canada
Business expenditure on R&D (BERD), as percentage of GDP (2013) 1.29 14th place in the OECD 1st place in Canada
Higher education expenditure on R&D (HERD), as percentage of GDP (2013) 0.92 2nd place in the OECD 2nd place in Canada
Percentage of higher education expenditure on R&D (HERD) funded by business enterprises (2013) 7.7 8th place in the OECD 3rd place in Canada
Higher education expenditure on R&D (HERD) funded by the provincial government, as percentage of GDP (2013)
0.11 1st place in Canada
Number of researchers per thousand people in the workforce (2013) 10.2 8th place in the OECD 1st place in Canada
Investment in information and communications technologies (2013), as percentage of GDP 2.38
4th place in Canada 3.25 United States 3.28 Switzerland 3.51 Denmark
Investment in venture capital, as percentage of GDP (average 2011-2013) 0.24 0.23 United States 0.11 OECD
Number of inventions patented with the USPTO per million population (2014) 166 3rd place in Canada 250 (2013) Finland 414 (2013) Japan
Percentage of business enterprises participating in product innovation-related activities (2012) Percentage of business enterprises participating in process innovation-related activities (2012)
27.7 26.0
35.1 Canada 29.0 Canada
Percentage of business enterprises participating in innovation-related activities (four types of innovation) (2012) 60.9 63.5 Canada 71.2 Ontario 62.1 Alberta
2 All the statements contained in this document are primarily based on data from Statistics Canada or the Institut de la statistique du
Québec. In some cases, scientific studies or findings formulated during public consultations also served in drafting this document. These sources can be sent to you on request. For this purpose, please write to [email protected]. It is also possible to consult the following document: https://www.economie.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/contenu/publications/etudes_statistiques/innovation/tableau_synoptique.pdf
3 This data refers to inventions patented with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
4 To provide more comparisons, the innovation ranking produced by the Conference Board of Canada are presented in Appendix 2.
Dare to Innovate Regional action tables for the next Québec Research and Innovation Strategy
MESI/SSI 06/09/2016
Strengths to maintain Performances to improve
Percentage of high technology in international manufacturing exports (2015) 26.8
13.5 Canada 16.0 (2014) Germany 26.0 (2014) France
Legend:
Focus Area 1: Consolidate excellence in research and stimulate
innovation in business
Situation in brief
Québec public research performs very strongly on the Canadian and international scale. The expenditures associated with public research (institutional and government) in fact exceeded 1% of the Québec GDP in 2013.
Researchers disseminate new knowledge widely through the usual channels, particularly by means of scientific publications. Québec researchers produce approximately 1% of the world's scientific publications, while Québec's population only accounts for 0.1% of the word population. These Québec scientific publications perform strongly n the international scientific community, as shown by the key bibliometric indicators.5
On the other hand, Québec industrial R&D expenditures are in sharp decline. In 2006, they
represented 1.63% of the Québec GDP, an investment level that was appreciable overall.
Since then, however, this indicator has declined consecutively and stood at 1.29% in 2013.
Parallel to this, Québec shows mixed results for most of the other indicators rating the
degree of innovation of business enterprises, particularly regarding patented inventions,
labour productivity or ITC investments.
Finally, Québec must deal with emerging applications and technologies. There are many
recommendations in this sense. Furthermore, the OECD affirms in its Ministerial
Declaration on the Digital Economy (Cancun Declaration-2016), that it is essential to:
5 Québec researchers publish a significant number of articles in very reputable journals worldwide, as shown by their average of
relative impact factors, far higher than the world average, i.e. 1.21 during the 2010-2014 period (world average = 1.00). These Québec publications are also well received in the international scientific community because they received an average number of citations 36% higher than the world average (relative citation average of 1.36 for the 2010-2014 period).
Dare to Innovate Regional action tables for the next Québec Research and Innovation Strategy
MESI/SSI 06/09/2016
Focus Area 2: Develop the talent, the succession and the culture of
innovation
Situation in brief
To dare to innovate, Québec must adopt the competencies, means and practices necessary for the establishment of an environment that favours creative thinking and valorization of knowledge.
The culture of innovation assumes that companies or agencies have the competencies and adopt the means and space necessary to have an innovative reflex.
This culture depends, in particular, on the creative leadership of individuals and communities who, for example, can rely on open innovation or living laboratories.
Some activities are of such nature as to carry the germs of innovation further. Higher education and entrepreneurship are key vectors for stimulating innovation.
Despite strong growth of the proportion of its population with a university degree, Québec has not yet caught up with Canada and the OECD average. In 2014, the percentage of the population (ages 25 to 64) who obtained a university degree reached 26.3%, nearly 5.7% below the average of the OECD countries.
It remains essential for Québec to train an innovative succession, meeting the needs of a changing society, and to encourage entrepreneurs to be bold.
Some findings and problems
For pupils transitioning from elementary to secondary school, a sharp decline is observed in
their interest in science and technology, and a decrease in confidence in their ability to
succeed in these subjects.
In particular, according to some studies, girls have a lower perception of ease than boys
concerning the disciplines of "mathematics", "science and technology" and "social universe".
This finding is reflected in the share of degrees awarded to women in pure and applied
sciences, and the fact that relatively few women hold jobs in science and technology.
In 2013, 20.3% of university graduates in Québec obtained their degrees in the natural
sciences and engineering. Only three Canadian provinces reported a lower proportion, and
the Canadian average was 21.8%. The OECD average was 22.1% in 2012.
According to the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC),
Québec ranks below the national average in scientific knowledge; only 26% of the
respondents reach the competency threshold in scientific literacy.
Québec also suffers from a lack of commercialization competencies in SMEs, a shortage of
skilled labour in some key sectors, particularly due to the ageing population, and stiff
international competition in attracting talent.
On the international scale, Québec makes a strong showing regarding the entrepreneurial
intention. . Its rankings for this indicator are equivalent to the rest of Canada. However, the
Dare to Innovate Regional action tables for the next Québec Research and Innovation Strategy
MESI/SSI 06/09/2016
Québec business creation rate nonetheless remains lower than what is observed in the
other Canadian provinces.
Areas to think about 1. Are the efforts for dissemination of scientific culture sufficient or effective for your region's
development?
2. How can a real culture of innovation be deployed in Québec society and meet the challenges
better? Must certain tools or mechanisms be made available to Québec innovators?
3. How can a better fit be favoured between training of the succession and the needs of
innovative companies?
4. How can young technology and scientific startups be encouraged to set up in your region?
What could further encourage young people in your region to become entrepreneurs?
5. How could the State create an environment that favours scientific careers and technological
entrepreneurship?
Dare to Innovate Regional action tables for the next Québec Research and Innovation Strategy
MESI/SSI 06/09/2016
Focus Area 3: Invigorate the transfer and commercialization of research
results – Bet on collaboration and synergy
Situation in brief To be able to keep pace, an innovative company or organization must benefit from the
collaboration of partners. It must also be able to identify potential partners quickly,
particularly in the institutional research community, and establish relationships with them to
favour synergies. A high degree of synergy allows acceleration and accentuation of the
results at every stage, from research to commercialization.
The portion of the higher education research sector funded by the private sector is an
indicator of the level of university-business collaboration. In Québec, in 2013, 7.7% of HERD
was funded by the private sector, compared to 7.2% for Canada as a whole. Québec ranks
3rd in Canada in this regard, and this indicator is declining.
Many obstacles still exist to the fluidity of this collaboration, particularly with regard to
management of intellectual property, the way research projects are managed and
conducted, and the integration of technology into the recipient environments.
Several economies comparable to the Québec economy have also intensified their
internationalization efforts to attract and retain industrial research centres, multinationals
active in R&D, and world-class researchers, and to export high value-added innovations and
knowhow on the cutting edge of progress.
Collaboration is developing in Québec. Québec has already deployed mechanisms or
incentives favouring collaboration. They take various forms, including tax credits, research
consortiums and industrial research clusters in many industrial environments. Social
innovation agencies are also trying actively to develop collaborations.
Moreover, the new QuébecInnove platform, created in December 2014, favours collaboration, coordination and synergy among the innovation system's players. Every day, this platform is gaining maturity and allows federation of the players by facilitating access to the agencies of the Québec innovation system.
In general, R&D investments could be transposed more frequently into investments related to innovation, regardless of whether the R&D work is stimulated by the market ("pull" model) or by the advancement of knowledge ("push" model).
It is important to find solutions to accentuate the transfer of R&D results to society, the
market and the users in order to increase the impacts.
Dare to Innovate Regional action tables for the next Québec Research and Innovation Strategy
MESI/SSI 06/09/2016
Some findings and problems The service offering of Québec government departments and agencies should reflect an
overall integration strategy developed coherently between the two levels of government.
The synergies between companies, universities and researchers should be increased and
facilitated in every region of Québec.
Private sector access to public research infrastructure continues to be difficult. Efforts must
be made to facilitate access and sharing, even among institutional researchers.
Access to funding seems difficult at certain riskier stages of innovation and
commercialization, and for business startups, particularly in the regions.
Relative to other regions or comparable countries, Québec only obtains average results in
commercialization. The difficulties in this regard generally concern capital, competitiveness
in world markets, attraction of talent, and development of all the appropriate competencies.
Areas to think about 1. Do you reflexively rely on research or innovation networks? Can access to these resources
be simplified?
2. How can we grow the partnerships among the industrial players, the research centres and
the public sector to favour innovation in all sectors?
3. How can interaction be facilitated between the research and innovation players, particularly
during contract negotiations and for management of intellectual property?
4. How can innovative SMEs be supported so that they engage more in precompetitive
research with other partners, particularly abroad?
5. How should we support social and organizational innovation better to contribute to your
region's sustainable growth or improve the public's welfare?
Dare to Innovate Regional action tables for the next Québec Research and Innovation Strategy
MESI/SSI 06/09/2016
APPENDIX 1: Major trends according to the OECD
Concerning the major global trends regarding public policies on RI, the OECD (2015)8 observes that at the beginning of the decade, most member countries are focusing on consolidating their innovation ecosystem. For this purpose, they are mainly addressing:
- strengthening public R&D capacities and infrastructure; - improving general resources in human capital, competencies and deployment of means
of action, and the framework conditions of innovation, including competitiveness.
It is also observed that almost all member countries have given priority to innovation in companies and innovative entrepreneurship.
The analysis of the national priorities and the public policies in research and innovation of the OECD countries (2015) shows that government actions greatly concern public research, competencies in innovation, and innovation in companies. More specifically, the priority areas of action of the countries, in order of the percentage responses of the members participating in the survey, are: - Public research infrastructure (45%). - Human resources and competencies in general (45%). - Structural conditions for innovation (43%). - Private innovation and entrepreneurship (39%). - Social issues (34%).
In the context of drafting its OECD Innovation Strategy 2015, the OECD invited the member countries to consider its top five (5) priorities to stimulate innovation: 1. Strengthen investment in innovation and foster business dynamism. 2. Invest in and shape an efficient system of knowledge creation and diffusion. 3. Seize the benefits of the digital economy. 4. Foster talent and skills and optimize their use 5. Improve the governance and implementation of policies for innovation.
8 OECD (2015). Science, technologie et industrie : Perspectives de l’OCDE 2014 / OECD Science,
Technology and Industry Outlook 2014, December 2015, http://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/science-and-technology/science-technologie-et-industrie-perspectives-de-l-ocde-2014/incitations-fiscales-en-faveur-de-la-r-d-et-de-l-innovation_sti_outlook-2014-18-fr (August 18, 2016).
