Thank you.
Mr. Chair and members of the committee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to appear on behalf of NSERC, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. I am president of NSERC.
I am especially happy to be here with my colleagues from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
The unprecedented crisis in the global financial system has given the world a strident wake-up call and a new understanding of the interdependence of our economies and future prosperity. Added to the need to improve Canada's record innovation, the crisis has called attention to the urgency of laying the groundwork for a research- and development-driven economic renewal.
As in many developed countries, Canada enjoys a complex, rich, and dynamic system of science and innovation. Our challenge is to fully exploit this system to give Canada a competitive advantage. First and foremost, this starts with an unfettered commitment to important principles. Striving for excellence, working as partners, making the tough choices and being accountable for them are the foundation on which we need to lay the groundwork for Canada's economic recovery.
Second, we all need to understand our place in this system, playing our distinct roles to the best of our abilities and interacting optimally with other parts of the system. Our joint appearance today illustrates our commitment to working as a system, and as the title of our brief indicates, to share in a common vision and a concerted plan to ensure that we can all reap the benefits of the investments that have been made and will continue to be made in S and T.
Finally, we need to turn this wake-up call into a call for action. Now is the time to up our game.
At NSERC, we have heard the call to action and are focusing our efforts on new initiatives that change the way we do things, with a view to being more effective in our unique roles and working in partnership with other key science and technology stakeholders.
The three parts of our brief are as follows. First, allowing people to fully realize their creative potential is paramount to an innovative society and a competitive economy. Two major studies recently confirmed that NSERC's discovery grants program is one of the most effective and productive tools in the world for promoting creativity. It is the envy of researchers the world over. Implementing the recommendations of those studies enhanced the program's competitiveness, making it more dynamic and raising the bar in research and development. By implementing these recommendations, we showed that Canadian researchers are also prepared to pick up the pace.
Since its inception 30 years ago, NSERC has had a strategy for bringing academic researchers and companies together. In today's highly competitive global marketplace, however, this strategy needs to be constantly renewed and kept alive.
Over the last months, NSERC has mobilized an advisory committee of leaders from industry, government, and academia and has held consultations across the country to help us develop a strategy for partnerships and innovation that responds to today's needs and positions NSERC to do its part to lay the groundwork for Canada's economic recovery.
The strategy, which will be launched in the very near future, aims to increase innovation by connecting industry to the world-class academic research network in a more flexible and agile way. We at NSERC are determined to extend the reach and impact of our programs so that a greater number and range of companies and researchers can benefit from them. We have had direct experience with the power and potential of such partnerships.
Let me share with you just one example.
I think I will have to skip the example, because I got the signal that my time is almost up. I'll get to the end, but we'll be happy to send you some examples in the very near future.
We also need to continue developing highly skilled people, in order to meet the demands of Canada's job market. By working with the world's top researchers and attracting the best and brightest of young Ph.D. graduates to Canada, we are giving Canada a competitive edge in the years ahead.
In all our work, NSERC is committed to act as a good steward and wisely use the resources entrusted to us to build a strong and broad base of research capacity and advance the priorities of Canadians.
Over the last decade, Canada has built an excellent and powerful research engine. Whether in sports or R and D, however, excellence alone is not sufficient to be and remain competitive. Agility in seizing strategic, exceptional opportunities is also needed. At NSERC and in our sister agencies, we are taking action to ensure that excellence and agility are a part of all we do so that we can fully contribute to laying the groundwork for a robust, renewed economy driven by R and D.
Merci beaucoup.