The document summarizes the services provided by the Centre for Research & Innovation (CRI), a partnership between Grande Prairie Regional College and the Peace Region Economic Development Alliance. The CRI helps innovators and inventors with intellectual property protection, prototyping, workshops, and accessing funding like innovation vouchers. It has helped over 476 clients and provided support to several startups that are now ready to market products. The CRI also runs workshops on topics like intellectual property management, marketing, and accessing investment capital to support innovation in the Peace region.
1. Innovation and Services for Inventors Presented by: Bruce Rutley PhD PAg Director April 29, 2010 The Centre for Research & Innovation ~a GPRC-PREDA partnership~
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3. Protecting your idea is best THEREFORE – it is important that you do not share an unprotected idea in public. PLEASE DO NOT speak openly about your unprotected idea in this workshop! This is a workshop about creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship and nothing within this workshop can constitute an agreement, implicit or explicit, between the workshop organizers, instructors and the Centre for Research & Innovation and/or any participants or among any participants. Intellectual Property 101 Workshop/ IP services Caution re: Disclosure
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6. Further development of value-added and knowledge components of the regional economy (the Next Generation Economy). Why Innovation?
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10. ‘ We are not used to thinking of ideas as economic goods, but they are surely the most significant ones that we produce. The only way for us to produce more economic value – and thereby generate economic growth – is to find ever more valuable ways to make use of the objects available to us.’ Paul Romer Ideas & Things, in The Economist, September 11, 1993 Ideas as Economic Goods Innovation and the Economy
11. The paradox for the Peace Country is that our strongest asset may be our ideas. Yet as an economic good they are undervalued. The challenge is to capitalize on and commercialize our ideas. In this way, the idea as an economic good can, in time, complement resource extraction as the basis of our economy. We need to change our thinking in order to more fully appreciate the value of new ideas and recognize them as an economic generator. Ideas as Economic Goods Innovation and the Economy
12. ‘ We live in a period of very rapid change... That also means that the opportunities for improving, for getting results, are changing very fast. Things that were not possible or were not needed yesterday suddenly become possible, and things that made a great deal of sense yesterday do not make sense.’ Peter Drucker Innovation and the Economy
16. Creativity and Innovation Creativity is the ability to combine ideas in a unique way or to make unusual associations between ideas. Webster Innovation is the process of taking a creative idea and turning it into a useful product, service, or method of operation. Webster Invention is the act of creating a novel device, method, product, process or technique. Quantum3.co.za
17. Process to Capture Innovation ‘ The truth that sets you free is that you can experience in imagination what you desire to experience in reality, and by maintaining this experience in imagination, your desire will become an actuality.’ Neville Goddard The Power of Awareness
22. Rural Innovation Service Model GPRC: Fairview College Campus GPRC: Grande Prairie Campus Centre 2000 City and Chamber of Commerce Peace River Community Futures Peace Country What does innovation look like?
23. The CRI and how we help? The Centre of a Network of Regional Researchers and Innovators
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26. Rural Alberta’s Development Fund contributes $3.4 m Room B309 Project Vision “ Growing a Culture of Innovation in Northwest Alberta” July 2008 Centre 2000 ~a GPRC-PREDA partnership~
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29. Trinity of Management Sirolli Production Marketing Our Approach Leadership Business Management “ Show me someone who wants to do something and I’ll help them!”
31. Marketing 1. What business are you in? 2. Who are your customers? 3. How’s business? 4. If you weren’t already in your business, would you enter it today? http://www.marketingprinciples.com/index.php Peter Drucker
32. Financial Management Angel Investment (access to capital) Angel Capital Workshop (August 2009) Angel Capital Network (under development)
33. Who is the Entrepreneur? Creativity and Innovation General management skills, business know-how, and networks high high low Timmins & Spinelli 2007 Inventor/Innovator Entrepreneur Promoter Manager Administrator
39. Round 2 Innovation Voucher recipients David Forseth Cherry Point Enviro/Clean Technology Terry Bullen Clairmont Energy Dave Rigler Grande Prairie Energy Chris Anderson Grande Prairie Industrial Technology Davco Solutions Inc. Grande Prairie Industrial Technology Bill Wilt Valleyview Other (Ag. Equipment) Dave Larson Fairview Enviro/Clean Technology Rhinokore Composites Ltd. Grande Prairie Industrial Technology Innovation Voucher Approved Service Provider
40. Round 2 Innovation Voucher recipients Innovation Voucher Approved Service Provider Sam Perera Grovedale Enviro/Clean Technology James Munro Grande Prairie Industrial Technology Avalon Research Ltd. Grande Prairie Energy Pomeroy Construction Ltd. Wembley Industrial Technology The Green Fuel Company Inc. High Prairie Enviro/Clean Technology Samurai Trucks Grande Prairie Other Foehn Energy Services Grande Prairie Energy V2 Enterprises Ltd. Grande Prairie Health/Bio Technology
41. The Centre for Research & Innovation ~a GPRC-PREDA partnership~ Innovation and Services for Inventors Presented by: Bruce Rutley PhD PAg Director April 29, 2010
Editor's Notes
Canada is an uneven performer, according to the new report card that benchmarks Canada’s performance against that of leading OECD countries across six broad domains—Economy, Innovation, Environment, Education and Skills, Health and Society. With one “A,” three “B”s and two “D”s, our mediocre overall standing confirms the message the Conference Board of Canada has been reiterating for the last decade: Canada is not keeping up with the top performers in the new global economy. Most startling and important to Canada’s competitiveness and sustainable prosperity is the “D” grade on Innovation, where Canada ranks fourth to last in the 17-country comparator group. Our only “A” grade is earned in Education and Skills where, despite our ability to deliver a high quality education to children and youth, a large percentage of adults with low level basic skills and literacy remain underserved. Additionally, we do not stimulate enough students to complete post-graduate degrees.
Canada is an uneven performer, according to the new report card that benchmarks Canada’s performance against that of leading OECD countries across six broad domains—Economy, Innovation, Environment, Education and Skills, Health and Society. With one “A,” three “B”s and two “D”s, our mediocre overall standing confirms the message the Conference Board of Canada has been reiterating for the last decade: Canada is not keeping up with the top performers in the new global economy. Most startling and important to Canada’s competitiveness and sustainable prosperity is the “D” grade on Innovation, where Canada ranks fourth to last in the 17-country comparator group. Our only “A” grade is earned in Education and Skills where, despite our ability to deliver a high quality education to children and youth, a large percentage of adults with low level basic skills and literacy remain underserved. Additionally, we do not stimulate enough students to complete post-graduate degrees.
Canada is an uneven performer, according to the new report card that benchmarks Canada’s performance against that of leading OECD countries across six broad domains—Economy, Innovation, Environment, Education and Skills, Health and Society. With one “A,” three “B”s and two “D”s, our mediocre overall standing confirms the message the Conference Board of Canada has been reiterating for the last decade: Canada is not keeping up with the top performers in the new global economy. Most startling and important to Canada’s competitiveness and sustainable prosperity is the “D” grade on Innovation, where Canada ranks fourth to last in the 17-country comparator group. Our only “A” grade is earned in Education and Skills where, despite our ability to deliver a high quality education to children and youth, a large percentage of adults with low level basic skills and literacy remain underserved. Additionally, we do not stimulate enough students to complete post-graduate degrees.
Canada is an uneven performer, according to the new report card that benchmarks Canada’s performance against that of leading OECD countries across six broad domains—Economy, Innovation, Environment, Education and Skills, Health and Society. With one “A,” three “B”s and two “D”s, our mediocre overall standing confirms the message the Conference Board of Canada has been reiterating for the last decade: Canada is not keeping up with the top performers in the new global economy. Most startling and important to Canada’s competitiveness and sustainable prosperity is the “D” grade on Innovation, where Canada ranks fourth to last in the 17-country comparator group. Our only “A” grade is earned in Education and Skills where, despite our ability to deliver a high quality education to children and youth, a large percentage of adults with low level basic skills and literacy remain underserved. Additionally, we do not stimulate enough students to complete post-graduate degrees.
With the change in status, the College was looking to solidify its applied research activities in an innovative manner. Leading up to the amalgamation, PREDA was searching for a way to solidify its efforts related to diversifying the regional economy through innovation. The Innovation Network had been created for that purpose and had operated as a regional network since 2003. Previously, and with Western Economic Diversification funds among others, The Innovation Network had a full-time Executive Director and part-time staff and contract consultants that were assisting regional inventors develop new products and move them into the market place. I would like to note that while The Innovation Network worked with many clients, developed a number of workshops, and was considered a success by most of us in the region, it worked primarily with inventors working out of their garage’s and little capacity. What made the launch of the CRI possible was a 3-year $330,000 grant from Advance Education and Technology that enabled the CRI to start. GPRC gave it a home, PREDA provided project funds and it operated under the direction of a GPRC-PREDA Steering Committee. From April 2007 until July 2008, the CRI was operated by a very part-time project manager, a part-time administrative assistant and contract consultants who more often than not volunteered their time to keep the client services support alive.