Action To Promote Economic Growth

Investing In Innovation

Mr. Speaker, in many of our natural resource sectors, we clearly see the capacity of scientific research and technology applications to advance economic development opportunities. But research and technology can also generate economic opportunities in other sectors, sometimes in completely unexpected ways. Innovators harness the capacity of the human imagination to invent new ways of manipulating the world around us to advance health care, communications, environmental protection and so forth. While these scientific pursuits have intrinsic value, they can also have tremendous economic value, as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians are proving in outstanding ways. This past year, we launched our province’s first Innovation Strategy to promote ingenuity and commercialize the products of research for economic gain. Two Innovation Strategy programs have proven to be successful in capturing the benefits of innovative work. The launch of the Innovation Enhancement Program and the Commercialization Program in August 2006 fulfilled a commitment of government’s Innovation Strategy, but more importantly a long standing gap in programming, both for the business community and for regional innovation efforts. The Commercialization Program helps bridge the difficult gap faced by new start-ups and smaller companies in moving from promising new technologies to true commercial activity. Interest in the Commercialization Fund has been strong. Nine approvals have been completed for a total investment of $2.3 million. The Innovation Enhancement Program is supporting public sector institutions, not for profit groups, community organizations and industry associations involved in activities that are enhancing the innovative capacity of the province. Five projects valued at $538,000 have been approved to date, and proposals with a total value of almost three times that amount are now being evaluated for approval. This year, we will continue to support these important economic development initiatives.

Research and development expenditures in Newfoundland and Labrador are the lowest in Canada. We will never become masters of our own destiny by allowing others to determine the extent to which we can move forward. Over the next couple of years, our government will significantly increase expenditures on R&D. To accomplish this, with an initial investment of $300,000, we will launch a Newfoundland and Labrador Research and Development Strategy, an unprecedented collaborative effort that will draw on the research strengths of the College of the North Atlantic and the Grenfell and St. John’s Campuses of Memorial University and marry them with the market-oriented goals of the Innovation Strategy. R&D is one of the most important vehicles we as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians can use to harness our strengths and ingenuity effectively to become masters of our own house. As part of this new R&D Strategy, our government will establish a new Crown entity, headed up by the new position of Chief Science Advisor, to oversee and direct R&D initiatives across multiple sectors throughout Newfoundland and Labrador in concert with our post-secondary institutions. Complementing this venture will be a new Premier’s Advisory Committee on Science and Research comprising professionals with recognized expertise in basic research, applied research, education, business, venture capital and the like. This coordinated effort will achieve three far-reaching goals: first, to ensure public policy on environmental and economic issues is firmly evidence-based; second, to foster commercialization and competitiveness through the incubation of new technologies; and third, to position Newfoundland and Labrador’s academic institutions, enterprises and Government as global leaders in sustainable development through science and innovation. Facilitating the work of this Crown corporation will be a key priority of our government. If providing additional resources can significantly accelerate our progress in achieving R&D leadership, then our government is prepared to make those investments to ensure we will be ready sooner to lead on this front. In recognition of the research strengths of the College of the North Atlantic and the Grenfell and St. John’s Campuses of Memorial University, we will nurture in our province an entrepreneurial drive that draws upon the inventiveness and ingenuity of our brightest and best.

One of the most exciting research and development initiatives of our government is the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre of Excellence for Environmental Science, Research and Technology, which is based in Corner Brook. With a particular focus on sustainable natural resources, applied research and commercialization activities, the Centre of Excellence will bring together innovators who are ready to position Newfoundland and Labrador as an international leader in climate -friendly green technology. Work on this initiative will proceed this year with an investment of $1.25 million. The CEE will be a cluster of both existing and potential new program activities related to disciplines such as sustainable forestry, freshwater ecology and other elements of the environmental sector. For the upcoming budget year, $795,000 will be allocated to the Sir Wilfred Grenfell Campus of Memorial University to begin a graduate science program, establish a policy centre, and provide supports for a sustainable forestry cluster as well as project administration. Additionally, the College of the North Atlantic campus at Corner Brook will receive $455,000 to offer a new geomatics advanced diploma program and to support its existing geospatial research facility.

The Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Science, or IBES, lends research support to the Centre of Excellence and plays a vital role in ensuring government research priorities for ecosystem conservation and sustainable use are addressed by the academic community. To that end, this year’s budget provides $737,000 to enable IBES to play a greater role in focusing international research capacity on issues of importance to Newfoundland and Labrador, and by promoting our province as a natural laboratory.

The ocean that washes up along our thousands of kilometres of coastline has long been considered a sea of opportunity, but as science and technology progress, we are beginning to recognize new advantages that offer economic opportunity. With that in mind, we undertook to develop an Ocean Technology Sector Strategy to position Newfoundland and Labrador as a national and international centre of excellence in ocean technology by building ocean-related strengths and activities into competitive niche products, services and expertise. Recognizing the significant gap in ocean observing capacity at the principal North American gateway between Labrador and Maine, the Premier engaged with his United States counterparts to develop a Northwest Atlantic Ocean Observing System in order to create growth opportunities for local ocean technology companies engaged in maritime surveillance, remote sensing, radar systems and other communications technologies. The Premier also signed a Memorandum of Understanding in March formalizing the relationship between Newfoundland and Labrador and Ireland in the area of ocean technology. With these new initiatives, we sit at the apex of an ocean technology triangle with vital new linkages in both the US and Europe.

To further capitalize on opportunities to demonstrate leadership in ocean science and technology, we are providing $1 million to establish at the Marine Institute of Memorial University a new School of Ocean Technology. The School will draw together experts in ocean technology, enable these experts to share research and incubate new technologies, provide an excellent training ground for students and greatly enhance Newfoundland and Labrador’s international reputation as a world leader in ocean technology.

The province’s new focus on research and development blends well with key initiatives promoting growth in several natural resource sectors. Our $283,800 investment in a comprehensive forest research program will promote sustainable forest management. Our investment in geoscience data initiatives will promote economic advances in our energy and mining sectors. We will also provide $1.85 million over three years to our offshore regulator towards an enhanced information management system that will provide for more effective management of the province’s oil and gas resources. Our investment of a further $300,000 in a five-year investigation of cod stock dynamics will promote stock rebuilding and conservation. Our cod aquaculture demonstration project, our three-year fishing industry R&D initiative, our caribou predation pilot study, our caribou recovery strategy and our other wildlife initiatives will harness the power of research in an effort to achieve tangible gains. Through our Environment and Conservation department, which will administer the new Sustainable Development Act, we will provide $600,000 this year to coordinate and implement a Sustainable Development Round Table, and commence development of Strategic Environmental Management Plans. Through R&D, we will protect our environment while at the same time generating new opportunities to reap the benefits of demonstrating leadership in world-class, leading-edge economic ventures.