Montreal Pump House (in Old Montreal) where the Canada/UK Joint Innovation Statement was signed!
The signing happened in Montreal’s Old Port, at the Youville Pumping Station, at 173 Place d’Youville – (Montreal’s first electrically operated waste water pumping station, with a unique Canada/UK enginnering connection).
So what, you may be asking yourself, is the value of all this? How will this agreement and, agreements of this nature affect anything concrete on the ground? Funny you should ask that, I’ve been having discussions with my colleagues and stakeholders on this very subject, and although I’m admittedly biased (this required a certain amount of work and conviction on our part to get through), I am more than happy to explain to you why I think that this is not only a valuable document for the immediate future, but how it will also help us to work towards, and define priorities in the Canada/UK relationship into the future.
As you are likely aware, last fall, our two Prime Ministers jointly endorsed the Canada/UK Joint Declaration “A Stronger Partnership for the 21st Century” (for more detail, or if not aware – see blog posting here). Within this context, I’m happy to report, Science and Innovation featured fairly prominently. The Joint Innovation Statement is an addendum to that, building upon the initial PM agreement, and helping to define priorities in the Canada/UK relationship on which to build. To demonstrate the value specifically, let me draw your attention to work we’re currently doing in the area of Marine Renewable energy, particularly Wave and Tidal.
You may not be aware of it, but both Canada and the UK are leaders in this developing field of renewable energy, which looks to harness the power of the ocean (through waves and tides), and also rivers (unidirectional currents), in order to create a clean, secure and reliable source of renewable energy. In both the Joint Declaration, and the Joint Innovation Statement the UK and Canada commit to working more closely together on the commercialisation of this technology, the specific text in the Joint Declaration is:
“We will encourage the development of technology systems necessary for commercial-scale electricity production from marine energy. We plan to lead the world in moving forward from pilot wave and tidal energy devices to exploring actual power generation stations connected to our respective electricity grids.”
How can this affect people and communities onthe ground? Well, in the Orkney Islands, North of mainland Scotland, where the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) is located, development of the marine energy sector has resulted in an increase in high paying highly technical jobs to the local economy (EMEC has a partnership with the Fundy Ocean Research Center for Energy (FORCE), a similar facility in Nova Scotia) . It is a large part of the reason that the Orkney Islands are recognised internationally as having some of the best resources in Europe for the research, development and testing of wind, wave and tidal technologies.
These technologies not only offer the opportunities for remote coastal (and river side) communities to become self-sufficient (in terms of energy production), but will also be an employment draw for engineers and technicians building, installing and maintaining theses facilities, thus further supporting local economies. This is but one example of how these kinds of agreements could provide longer term, on the ground benefits, and others could easily follow.
All this to say that within these documents we’re looking to foster additional collaboration between Canada and the UK in applied research, in areas that will directly affect people on the ground, bringing the research out of the lab and into society, be that through commercial, health or social benefits (none of which are mutually exclusive). The priorities identified within this document are areas that both of our countries recognise as priorities, and as we move forward on increased work in these areas, this document provides us with both a road map to areas both governments have identified as important going forward, but also with the additional leverage of the commitment made by our Ministers, to deliver on this statement and to develop these areas of research to the benefit of their constituents (us), our countries, our economies, and the international community.
These are the priority areas identified within the Canada/UK Joint Innovation Statement (watch this space for future blogs working on the delivery of these governmental commitments, by the UKinCanada Science & Innovation Team, and all our Canadian and UK partners)
Health research: Facilitating the translation of advanced knowledge into life-changing therapies for the benefit of patients, healthcare institutions and industries. Areas of specific focus may include: neurosciences; ageing; infectious diseases; regenerative medicine; stratified medicine; cancer imaging; and global health;
Sustainability, renewable energy and clean technologies: Encourage joint collaboration on technology development and knowledge sharing between both countries to accelerate the development, demonstration and deployment of technologies and process to support the marine energy sector. Other priority areas may include bioenergy, hydrogen and fuel cells, and sustainable construction;
Advanced manufacturing: Foster collaborations in applied research that address specific industry needs, in particular capitalising on existing support mechanism in aerospace and exploring opportunities for collaboration between institutions of both countries;
Innovation policy: Develop a structured exchange of ideas and best practice on the role of government in supporting innovation, and the effective operation of national innovation systems;
Entrepreneurship: Enhance linkages between start-up campaigns and entrepreneur groups to help young, high-growth companies access global markets and bring an international dimension to entrepreneurial learning;
Social innovation: Working with academic, government, and civil society partners to leverage research and innovation activities for greater societal benefits.
