We believe Canada needs to have a top-down approach to support commercial airlines. This would mean that support would flow to original equipment manufacturers, OEMs, and down the full supply chain, including those companies focused on aircraft maintenance. But, make no mistake, this is only part of the solution.
We also need a bottom-up aerospace framework to foster innovation and collaboration at the SME level. This would spur novel, sustainable technologies in green tech and advanced manufacturing.
Supporting a dynamic, collaborative aerospace innovation ecosystem such as the one we are developing at DAIR would be valuable to all stakeholders. For example, DAIR was able to rapidly respond to support COVID-19 research by working on a project to study how to reduce passenger exposure to the virus. By leveraging our access to an extensive expertise pool, as well as our established relationships with industry and academia, we were able to accelerate funding applications and reduce wait times to initiate and advance this key research. That's the power of collaboration.
Collaboration also helps SMEs to grow by mobilizing their talent and expertise through facilitating knowledge transfer between smaller enterprises and the larger stakeholders such as tier ones and OEMs. SMEs have so much untapped knowledge in key disruptive technologies such as eVTOL, hybrid-electric propulsion and UAVs.
We can seize this chance to differentiate ourselves as Canadians if we focus our energy on these novel technologies now. We can also leverage the similarities the Canadian aerospace sector has with other industries, such as the automotive industry, when it comes to artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of things, advanced manufacturing, and big data.
More incentives have to be created to encourage working together rather than in silos. This will benefit all of Canada. Strengthening investments in R and D now would not only offer long-term benefits, but it would also provide the ability to pivot out of the COVID pandemic to emerge a stronger, more resilient aerospace sector. This will have tangible results in all levels of our industry, from airlines to OEMs and SMEs across Canada.