Feds plan to include latest thinking on S&T Strategy in Economic & Fiscal Update

The federal government's imminent Economic and Fiscal Update (EFU) will have a major S&T component, according to sources familiar with the latest version of draft S&T Strategy now under development. There have been major shifts in the tone and emphasis of the strategy, which is now being described as outward-oriented, with greater relevance given to aspects of S&T outside of the Industry Canada portfolio, particularly international.

The strategy will reportedly be informed by international excellence through the competition of ideas, partnerships for coordination and leveraging investment, transparent decision making and reporting of results. Initiatives will be organized along the themes of talent, knowledge and innovation - the latter described in an earlier draft discussion paper as application of knowledge (R$, October 4/06).

A more developed draft of the strategy is now being circulated at senior bureaucratic levels within government to be followed by consultations with the science community. How extensive those consultations will be and whether they will have a significant impact on the final version of the strategy are being hotly debated within the S&T community. The strategy is officially a joint effort between Industry minister Maxime Bernier and Finance minister Jim Flaherty. But major input behind the scenes is being provided by Kevin Lynch, clerk of the Privy Council and a major S&T force throughout the last decade of Liberal rule.

Slated for early November, the EFU is expected to focus on productivity, prosperity and competitiveness - objectives that all have a critical S&T component. But it is an increased focus on the international dimension of S&T that marks a departure from previous attempts to develop a national strategy.

GREATER INTERNATIONAL FOCUS

Calls for a greater international S&T focus go back years and include a major report in 2000 by the Advisory Council on Science and Technology (ACST). Entitled Reaching Out: Canada, International Science and Technology, and the Knowledge-based Economy, it recommended the creation of an S&T fund jointly administered by Industry Canada and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) and financed at a minimum of $150 million annually (R$, October 23/00). It also called for $20 million a year for the Industrial Research Assistance Program "to support the international S&T endeavours of Canadian SMEs." Those recommendation were ignored and DFAIT in particular has struggled with extremely limited resources ever since (R$, July 7/03).

By injecting a broader international dimension into the S&T Strategy, it's hoped that Canada will be able to improve a number of dismal economic indicators, such as low productivity, weak business R&D spending, declining foreign direct investment and anemic commercialization performance stemming from massive investment in university-based research.

Canada already has many and varied S&T linkages to other nations, mostly in the form of memoranda. But a new proposed initiative with California has the potential to transform the way in which Canada interacts with its international counterparts (R$, October 18/06). With a strong focus on commercialization and private sector involvement, the Canada-California Strategic Innovation Partnership is now being led by DFAIT, raising that department's S&T profile at an opportune time.

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