Science and Innovation Policy

CSIP Innovation Forum ~ How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom

PRESENTED BY: Matt Ridley, Author and National Bestseller, The Rational Optimist

Innovation is the main event of the modern age, the reason we experience both dramatic improvements in our living standards and unsettling changes in our society. Forget short-term symptoms like Donald Trump and Brexit, it is innovation itself that explains them and that will itself shape the 21st century for good and ill. Yet innovation remains a mysterious process, poorly understood by policy makers and businessmen, hard to summon into existence to order, yet inevitable and inexorable when it does happen. In this presentation, Matt Ridley argues that we need to change the way we think about innovation, to see it as an incremental, bottom-up, fortuitous process that happens to society as a direct result of the human habit of exchange, rather than an orderly, top-down process developing according to a plan.

Matt Ridley is the author of the recently-released How Innovation Works, as well as The Rational Optimist and several other books related to science and human progress, which have sold over a million copies. He is also a biologist, newspaper columnist, and member of the House of Lords in the UK.

This event was co-hosted by the Centre for the Study of Science and Innovation Policy (CSIP) and SAIFood.

SAIFood, making information digestible. Because research isn’t written for the kitchen table, SAIFood breaks down what’s happening within agricultural policy and research, agri-food innovation, regulation and sustainability through weekly blogs. Our goal at SAIFood is to keep you up to date and curious to know more about sustainable agriculture, innovations and food.

Women in Science Speaker Series ~ Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Research

The Johnson Shoyama Centre for the Study of Science and Innovation Policy was pleased to host the inaugural Women in Science Speaker Series, featuring the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Sport, on Monday, January 14, 2019.

Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) related disciplines and professions are core to innovation-driven economies and growth. Nevertheless, persistent gender inequalities and biases in training, hiring and promotion processes have limited the benefits of STEM sectors for social prosperity and personal well-being. These factors combined with other social barriers have intensified effects for certain groups of women including Indigenous women, women with disabilities, and those of visible minority communities. 

This speaker series showcases leading female scientists in the STEM sectors and recognizes their contributions to policy development, national dialogue, economic growth and prosperity.

Innovation and Change: Forging the New Canada-Indonesia Partnership

Len Edwards - Few nations have advanced so rapidly and presented such scale of opportunity and challenge as Indonesia, which is projected to be the 7th largest economy in the world by 2030. Yet, in Canada, Indonesia has received only sporadic attention from senior policy makers and the business community. CIGI’s Special Report entitled “Innovation and Change: Forging the New Canada-Indonesia Partnership” sets out why Indonesia is relevant to Canada, highlights the challenges and opportunities we face in pursing our relationship and assesses the drivers underlying our bilateral ties and engagement. Above all, this report lays out a path forward and provides a series of recommendations for concrete steps that are needed if the gap between performance and potential is to be closed. Canada’s future prosperity depends on our capacity to tap into the growth of emerging economies such as Indonesia.

2014-15 Fall Featured Lecture Series - Five Trends Changing Our World: Are we ready for them?

Presented by the Honourable Kevin Lynch, Vice Chairman, BMO Financial Group, this lecture also featured a panel discussion with Deputy Minister Louise Greenberg, Ministry of Advanced Education, Government of Saskatchewan, Harold MacKay, Counsel, MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman LLP, and Ron Styles, President and CEO, SaskTel.

The world is in the midst of profound change, driven by the intersecting trends of globalization, information technology, energy, demographics, and education. What do these mean for continued success and prosperity in mid-sized western countries like Canada? What are the implications for governing in a hyperconnected global economy? These are not issues easily solved, but from a governing perspective, they must be publicly discussed and debated if we are to manage these forces of change well.