Each institution has a whole support ecosystem for innovation, knowledge transfer and knowledge mobilization.
There's obviously the whole issue of the patents and start-ups that come out of this research. Then there are social innovations, which often get less attention but are just as important. In fact, we are starting to improve the system used to evaluate these innovations.
Earlier, I talked about research being done with partners which, as a matter of principle, does not necessarily generate patents or other things, but rather creates relationships between industries or non-profit organizations and our researchers. Research partnerships are designed to have a concrete and direct impact on partners who have expressed a need. That research is done to answer specific questions.
The number of research partnerships can also be an indicator of the impact of investments made in research in terms of improving living conditions in Canadian communities.