Canada’s sorry state of innovation
As if Canada didn't already suffer from a big enough complex about our neighbours to the south, here's another reason to feel inferior: This country holds just 1.36 per cent of patents filed worldwide, compared to 30 per cent for the United States.
Why does it matter? According to the Conference Board of Canada, patents are a solid measure of a country's capacity to innovate, since filing one is the first step toward commercializing new technologies.
Experts who've studied the country's innovation deficit agree that a big part of the problem is a low appetite for risk that permeates our culture, from the private sector and governments right on down to lenders and educational institutions.
"Innovation by definition requires taking a risk," says William Polushin, an adjunct professor at º«¹úÂãÎè's Desautels Faculty of Management and director of its international competitiveness program. "We are uber-conservative." Indeed, when he asks his º«¹úÂãÎè business students how many of them plan to start their own companies after graduation, typically only a couple of hands shoot up.
Read full article: , October 8, 2010