Seeking to maximize its investment in research, the Ontario Government has launched a new Commercialization Strategy, hoping to leverage greater returns on its disbursement of research dollars.

The strategy, also designed to boost Ontario’s international research relationships, was recently launched by Economic Development and Trade Minister Joe Cordiano.

While Ontario is home to many of the best research and scientific minds in the world, the province says it has invested approximately $2.6 billion into public research during the last decade, but that less that 10 per cent of companies are tapping into the world-class research capacity that exists in our public research institutions.

“We are in a race with the world every single day,” said Cordiano.

The strategy refocuses government resources and programs to significantly increase the rate of commercialization of scientific and technological research and position Ontario to lead in the innovation and knowledge economies.

In a speech to the Economic Club of Toronto, Cordiano signaled the new government also aims to strengthen Ontario’s international research relationships and work to attract leading scientists and researchers here.

That’s good news for ORION President and CEO, Phil Baker, who is currently working with advanced networking colleagues in New York and Michigan, and strengthening ORION’s ties with external networks, including Internet2 in the U.S. and SurfNET in Europe.

The government is hoping that a new Commercialization Strategy will help turn innovative research into successful products.

The first step in the Strategy is the investment of $63 million to link public research institutions with companies that can move the research out of the lab and into the market.

Universities, colleges and hospitals will receive $27 million to help them identify promising research and make them investor-ready; and institutions will receive $36 million to help them establish pools of seed capital to commercialize the best ideas.

This is expected to enable Ontario’s world-class research capabilities to create spin-off companies and accelerate the growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises and leading-edge jobs.

Ontario is creating an Ontario Commercialization Advisory Committee to advise the Minister on commercialization opportunities. It is also asking the Roger Martin Task Force On Competitiveness, Prosperity and Economic Progress to advise on the creation of more leading-edge companies.

The government also expects to place a greater focus on commercialization in all its science and technology programs, including The Ontario Centres of Excellence.

While the new Strategy will help build capacity in university and college technology transfer offices and help increase their networks, the commercialization offices of academic research centres across Ontario have joined forces to promote the commercialization of innovative research.

A new organization, the Ontario Society for Excellence in Technology Transfer (onSETT), is expected to be the voice for technology transfer from these institutions in the province.

OnSETT’s mission is to foster a robust technology transfer environment by strengthening commercialization networks, promoting high quality commercialization practices, collecting and disseminating statistics and measures of commercialization activity, and educating members and stakeholders.

“There was a clear need for universities, research hospitals and other academic centres to come together through a network of like-minded professionals to share know-how, promote best practices and communicate the importance of the task of technology transfer to the community and its vested partners," says Thomas Parsons, the newly elected Chair of onSETT’s Board of Directors and Senior Business Development Officer with the University Health Network.

onSETT says it welcomes the support of the Centre for Innovation Law and Policy (CILP) as a partner in network creation. The Centre will assist by hosting a virtual meeting place on the Web, promoting and disseminating research in commercialization practices, and sponsoring and developing conferences and other educational events. More information can be obtained at the www.onSETT.ca web site.

ORION is part of Ontario’s success story as a leading research jurisdiction, and the new network is actively promoted by the Ontario Government’s international marketing efforts as it woos industry and investors from around the world.

Although designed primarily to provide high-speed connectivity for Ontario colleges, universities and not-for-profit research and education institutions, ORION allows private sector research partners to connect to the network, but on a special research project basis, in collaboration with an ORION user institution, such as a college or university.

Baker points to the fact the new Strategy aims to strengthen specific growth industries that are concentrated in regions where ORION has a significant presence, through its 22 network connection points, province wide.

ORION plans to work with government representatives in the months ahead to explore how the network can support the government and its partners, in helping Ontario deliver on its research agenda.