Telfer School Hosted Meeting of Innovation Systems Experts from Canada and Germany

A workshop hosted by the Telfer School September 24 -25 brought together experts from Canadian research institutions and the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (ISI) in Karlsruhe, Germany. It was organized by Professor Sandra Schillo, Telfer School, and Rainer Frietsch, Fraunhofer ISI. Participants delved into questions related to R&D efficiency, measurement of public research, scientific impact, and innovation policy, building on an earlier Telfer-Fraunhofer workshop that was hosted by the Canadian Embassy in Berlin in November 2013.

“These researchers share a particular interest in the policy implications of innovation, and the topic is of great relevance to both countries,” said Sylvain Charbonneau, Associate Vice-President, Research at the University of Ottawa, in his opening remarks. “R&D efficiency, for example, aims to address issues that need to be solved in order for governments to develop more nuanced policies that are better suited to achieve desired societal outcomes.”

Martine Spence, Vice-Dean (Research) said that the Telfer School’s strategic focus on innovation and entrepreneurship and the renewed Canadian interest in international models of innovation provide an opening for new research connections with the university, industry and the public sector.

“In Canada and elsewhere, universities and their partners are getting a handle on the role they can best play in regard to R&D efficiency, while identifying the knowledge that will be needed to build better innovation systems,” Dr. Spence said.

Germany is a very important partner for the University of Ottawa and more than 80 research collaborations, both at the individual researchers’ level and the institutional level, exist between the university and Germany, Dr. Charbonneau noted. The second day of the workshop coincided with a visit to the university by Germany’s President, Joachim Gauck [This link is no longer available]. President Gauck was on an official visit to Canada September 24 to 27.