Last week, a report was released about Canada’s top performing research companies and sectors.
According to RE$EARCH Infosource, Canada’s telecommunications sector again leads the pack, with 2008 research spending on telecom products and services representing 40% of total industrial R&D.; Of the top 100 R&D; performers, 15 were from the telecom sector, including number 1 ranked Nortel at $1.7B and number 2 BCE at just under $1B.
In 2008, Nortel spent more on R&D; than Bell and number 3 Magna combined. There are serious implications for Canada’s knowledge economy. Next year’s report will likely see the pharmaceutical sector replace telecom products as the leading performer of R&D; in Canada.
The analysis [
pdf, 111KB] from RE$EARCH Infosource is worth reviewing.
The full effect of the deteriorating world economy will be reflected in next year’s Fiscal 2009 corporate R&D; spending results. It is hard to envisage better overall performance than in 2008. For one thing, it appears that Canada’s perpetual R&D; spending leader (Nortel Networks) will be absent from the list in 2009. In consequence, total corporate R&D; spending will undoubtedly be affected – in a downward direction.
There is little doubt that total corporate R&D; spending will be dropping in the 2009 report, but there may be a more fundamental shift at play as well.
What is happening to the Nortel people and their jobs?
Although many of the researchers from Nortel may find employment with the acquiring companies [such as Ericsson’s expected doubling of its R&D; efforts], others have started their own firms or found a home with a smaller company.
There is a lot of R&D; activity among home-based entrepreneurs, some of whom have little knowledge of or interest in government SRED tax credits.
RE$EARCH Infosource offers a dozen recommendations to boost research and innovation. I’m not sure I agree with all of them, but this is an important issue to be more prominent on the national agenda.
More than just tax credits and grant programs, we need to invest in the development of multi-disciplinary education programs.
We should make sure that ICT education includes opportunities to develop skills associated with entrepreneurship, understanding enough about safeguarding intellectual property rights, business, accounting and export literacy, among other areas.
It seems to me that we need to be concerned with more than just incubating the next Nortel or Newbridge or RIM. How do we ensure that we have the right environment to foster hundreds of small, nimble innovators?