They can ensure that infrastructure is available to do so.
In the case of MCN, my company, one thing that greatly benefited us is that we needed to take this up to larger scale. We had been doing some work in the lab at the POS pilot plant and needed to take it to a larger scale. A factory that we could rent happened to be available, one that had been purchased by the Saskatchewan government. We could produce large quantities of this material. If it hadn't been for that facility and the expertise there, we would never have been able to go forward and demonstrate enough production.
Where government can play a significant role is to ensure that the funding available to innovation is available at that point of demonstration, and be able to be used for that point. Oftentimes, we have observed that research funds and market development funds are two very different pots, and thou shalt not cross them. As a result, we take research to the research end, but then there's a gap. There needs to be a continuum where you can take that research, work with the universities and founders, and help them bring it into a commercial reality.