From left: Dr. Patrice Sawyer, Laurentian University, Mr. Marc Boudreau, BESTECH Inc.

Our panelists – Dr. Patrice Sawyer (VP of Research & Graduates Studies, Laurentian University), Mr. Marc Boudreau (President & CEO, BESTECH), Mr. Bill Mantel (MRI) and Dr. Tom Corr (OCE)- answered some tough questions head-on and listened intently to the suggestions made by our highly engaged audience, composed primarily of business, association and university representatives. By the end of the session, we had several positive messages to walk away with, and a stronger sense of commitment from all involved.

Here are some of the highlights from our Sudbury session:

• “As we’ve seen locally and provincially, the past year and a half has presented some serious challenges to Ontario’s economy. Businesses of all stripes have had to shift their perspective in order to sustain and grow…Those who expand their focus, maintain an awareness, and utilize strategic resources, are considerably stronger and better suited to wheather hardship… By being here, you’ve demonstrated awareness… I encourage you to speak freely.  We want the same goal: to build strong, realistic, effective, collaborations between our businesses and Laurentian University, and your input will assist us achieve that”, announced our moderator Debbi Nicholson (President & CEO, Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce).

The following questions drove the panel discussion and we received honest answers from Laurentian University and BESTECH:

• Approach: What is best way for business to approach Laurentian University? Who should your business approach?
• Timelines: What timelines can business expect for an answer of yes, the university can help or no, it cannot?
• IPR: How does Laurentian University work with business on IP issues? Who owns it?
• Financial Costs: What kind of fees can a company expect to pay for university research, how are the fees calculated, what about the costs for any legal services to support the partnership?
• Potential Long Term Benefits:  Can you provide examples of companies that have worked with your university, small to medium particularly important for these audiences, or large companies that were once small and have capitalized on some university research?
• A question for business: What could universities do to improve the entire process and environment that stimulates partnerships with business and the commercialization process?

Key comments/recommendations from business included:

• Coming from the university world means that you already know the people and understand what the university can do for you.  As a startup, or SME, not affiliated with a university, the best option is to use an association (e.g. SAMSSA, CEMI, OCE) as a conduit to have better access to funds. Business needs to recognize that Universities are experts at leveraging but still need to bring money to the table to leverage this relationship. This will be an advantage to the business and to the community as a whole.
• To move forward, it is crucial for all those involved to be aware of the timelines right from the “get-go”.
• Despite business and Universities having different objectives and timelines, and the process being difficult, it is a necessary one to get through, especially if the business is serious about the commitment, has a really good idea and wants to move forward with it.
• Ownership of IP should be shared, especially if Universities and business are partners.  At the moment, the default at Laurentian is for the faculty members to wholly-own the IP, or the business.  Universities and business need to look into this further and find viable solutions.
• Relationships with universities vary depending on a company’s size. SMEs have different needs and Universities need to look at what drives them. They need to reach out to them more, since they are the largest generators of wealth in the region.
• MRI and OCE are fully committed to building structures that will help them partner with strong regional organizations and make the environment less complicated. They want to bring the right resources to companies at the right time to help them be first on the market.

Join the debate. We look forward to continuing this debate at the upcoming London and York Region events, as well as at the Ontario Economic Summit (OES), and implementing viable solutions to enhancing the current innovation environment in Ontario.

There is so much opportunity out there for SMEs to work with academia to develop new products, think of inspiring ideas, target new markets etc., but not a lot of business owners know exactly where to start, or what is involved.

The OES is going to be lending a helping hand by bringing together the right people to…

1. Share information with each other to identify “best practices”
2. Network and develop partnerships
3. Identify government programs that can help!
4. Develop a “How to Guide”

So to do this right, tell us, what would help your business move forward with research, innovation and the commercialization of new products and services? What are your obstacles? Where are the opportunities? Share with us your stories of partnership and innovation!