October 10, 2018 - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Session 3

Date: October 10, 2018
Location: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Key themes or ideas

1. Education and Training
2. Industrial and Technological Benefits (ITB’s)
3. Government structuring and programming
4. Partnerships
5. Gender balance

Q1) What does a stronger western Canadian economy look like 10 years from now?

• The next generation of experts who are entrepreneurs need to use the research tools, data and digital space.
• ITB’s can plan a role in moving this sector forward.
• Engineers and physicists are creative people,which is a trait for good entrepreneurs, innovation and creating new technology.
• Having a clear strategy, i.e. the federal government space strategy that pushes innovation, technology, miniaturization, reducing power usage on satellites is important.

Q2) What are the best ways to spur new growth in western Canada

• The Canada First policy for employment creates challenges in/for academic hiring, limiting ideas and innovation. You are not allowing for a mixture of ideas from outside Canada and this limits our potential.
• Funding for research is relatively targeted and limits the discovery of ideas.
• The Naylor report recommends agencies work together. There is still much work to be done to streamline and make more opportunities including more training.
• We need to grow support for high-risk research and innovation.  Current incentives for business to partners with academia are low; we need more incentives to spur research.

Q3) What will help the Indigenous economy continue to grow?

Q4) How can we improve economic participation in the west of underrepresented groups, including women, youth, and new immigrants

• Participation of women is lower in many fields related to the digital space, physics and engineering.
• It seem that those areas with an environmental or social benefit seem to attract more female participants.

Q5) How can governments, industry, and western Canadians work together to grow the regional economy?

• Agencies need to work together, streamline programming to provide more opportunities and training.
  • Having a clear strategy would provide direction.
  • Funding is relatively targeted thus making the discovery of ideas in non-target areas more difficult.
• Partnerships
  • Building connections, networks and understanding other country’s strengths and weaknesses is very important.
  • Public / private partnerships are difficult to develop.
• Coordinating our response - Our ability to responds to research challenges and opportunities has not set us on the forefront.  Is this budget, strategy, or lack of commitment?  We have the people and knowledge to undertake many of these activities.