Bring health care into the 21st century
Information technologies have revolutionized virtually every aspect of our lives, from banking and business to travel and leisure. But they’ve been notably absent from the management of patient information in Canada’s health system. Such information continues to be captured primarily on paper, a system that’s been around since Hippocrates, a system with considerable limitations that […]
Canada must place good policy above partisan politics on innovation, science, and technology
MONTREAL—”Could do better.” Three words on a school report card with which many parents and students are all too familiar. You are not living up to your potential, the teacher says, you need to apply yourself. Look past the repeated scolding, and there’s an underlying optimism in this message. Many often miss it: You can […]
Time to open up knowledge generation to people untrained in science
VANCOUVER, B.C.—Until recently the notion of “democratizing” science—reforming the scientific elite—seemed ridiculous to me. I had spent years of my life in graduate school, surrounded by fleece-wearing, coffee-drinking, slightly introverted physicists. I saw no evidence of an elite. But working in women’s health research over the last few years, I have begun to understand how […]
A new model of innovation for successful societies
OTTAWA—As the first decade of the 21st century draws to a close, a new model of innovation is placing people squarely at centre stage. In recent decades, the dominant concept of innovation has evolved from a linear-transfer “push” model, to a more iterative “chain-link” model, and most recently to a complex model connecting researchers to […]
Feds need to tap into global innovation opportunities
Although the federal government is doing a good job at investing in research and development, Canada is still in the bottom half of OECD countries when it comes to innovation and both businesses and governments should be looking at different ways to tap into global innovation opportunities, say experts. “I think the first thing that […]
Canada needs a branding makeover in global, knowledge-based economy
Many would agree that the beaver, a traditional national branding symbol, just doesn’t quite cut it in a rapidly-changing, highly-mobile, knowledge-based economy. Don’t get me wrong, beavers are cute, if you like water rodents. The mascot of our five-cent coin, the beaver symbolizes the amiable industriousness often associated with Canada. Advertising professionals will tell you […]
Time to tackle Canada’s productivity challenge
The global economy is experiencing the biggest downturn since the Great Depression, and according to the IMF, this is the first time in 60 years that it will shrink. The federal government reacted swiftly by implementing Canada’s Economic Action Plan, providing $40-billion over two years in stimulus. When combined with provincial funds, the total stimulus […]
Key to robust innovation lies in effective matchmaking between scientists and stakeholders
WATERLOO, ONT.—When budgets are tightened in industry and government, research laboratories are traditionally the first to feel the effects. I believe that knowledge transfer between research and its beneficiaries, advocates, and stakeholders is essential to protect project development and stimulate innovation at a time when it is most needed. But efficient knowledge transfer and uptake […]
Canada needs a scientific advisory board to Parliament to help formulate science policy
WATERLOO—Who speaks for science? The naive answer to the question would be “scientists.” Don’t psychologists speak for psychology? Don’t chemists speak for chemistry? Don’t physicists speak for physics? Well, yes—but which physicists? Speaking to whom? About which subjects? Answering what questions? Proposing what policies? These fundamental questions make it clear that finding the right spokespersons […]
Reconceptualize science to reduce violence in our world
TORONTO—Albert Einstein used to say that “science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” We can also add that: “Science without democracy is arbitrary, as democracy without science is ignorant.” The interface between democracy and science has always been a complex and problematic one, which, to be properly understood, must be situated in […]
