Corporate Canada increasingly outsourcing innovation to universities

Corporate Canada increasingly outsourcing innovation to universities

More Canadian businesses outsourcing
R&D to universities

Canadian businesses are increasingly relying on
universities to provide research and development, reports Canadian Business. Rob
Annan, interim CEO of Mitacs, says that by outsourcing innovation to
universities, businesses are able to minimize their exposure to risk. Moreover,
university labs may have access to funding channels not available to the
private sector. Annan adds that many Canadian businesses are not large enough
to support internal R&D departments, leaving the universities as their best
option. Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HECQO) President Harvey
Weingarten notes that Canadian companies spend far less on R&D than those
in other member states of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD). Weingarten says Canadian businesses undervalue research.
“If you look at the total number of researchers and scientists in Canadian
companies versus other countries, we have a lower percentage of scientifically
trained and research-trained employees in Canada relative to other countries,”
he said. Canadian Business