Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, Dr. Hewitt and colleagues. Thank you for taking the time to be with us.
As an engineer and a businessman, I'm always interested in emerging technology as well as the applied side of that technology, with a special focus on creating jobs and the impact that it has on the economic growth.
Having said that, I had the opportunity to look at your presentation from last year, which I believe was on Thursday, May 7. As I'm a person who is interested in the emerging technology, one thing jumped out at me. I'll quote so I'm not misrepresenting what was said. You said:
...emerging technology and how best to take advantage of it is the subject of a knowledge synthesis grant opportunity that SSHRC will be launching this fall.
That was the fall of 2015. You said that this “funding opportunity will help our state of knowledge about”, one, “emerging technology”, two, identifying “gaps in our knowledge”, and three, “the most promising policies and practices related to” that. To that extent, I have five questions that I will bombard you with, and then you can answer them.
First, of the $340 million that you have in your budget, how much have you allocated to this grant program and what sector specifically is being focused on?
Second, what “emerging technology” has been identified so far?
Third, what are the “gaps in knowledge” that were identified?
Fourth, what are the related “policies and practices” identified that needed to be look at?
Lastly, as a businessman, for every dollar that was invested in this emerging technology, what do you anticipate or what does the research anticipate will help create jobs and have an impact on the GDP?
Take it on.