Posts Tagged ‘innovation’

December 16th, 2011

The peasants of the digital era

I recently read an article in the French magazine Les Affaires whose title caught my eye. Roughly translated, it was “The media and Internet have turned us into peasants of the digital era.” I encourage you to read this very interesting piece, which interviews Marina Gorbis of the Institute for the Future, a think tank in Silicon Valley.

I was especially struck by her recommendation to people looking to open their minds to gain a better sense of what the future holds. Here’s what she says: “Find a friend whose life is completely different from yours, someone who was born abroad and has different values. Step into different worlds that have nothing to do with your company.”

This statement reminds me of a comment made not long ago by Genacol CEO Guy Michaud  at a conference. Michaud was trying to drive home the point that Quebec business owners absolutely have to go see what’s happening elsewhere in the world, especially in China, so they can truly understand what globalization means, just how incredibly fast some markets are changing, and above all, to come to terms with the fact that our society and companies have to go global to survive. This message was directed at entrepreneurs but also at all the professionals who work with them. (more…)

July 26th, 2010

Strategic summer reading

Here is some suggesting summer reading on Québec’s and Canada’s performance in the international marketplace.

1)      Adapting to a strong Canadian dollar

EDC has just published a white paper titled Adapting to a Strong Canadian Dollar aimed at suggesting strategies that exporters can use to increase their international competitiveness despite a strong dollar.

While the Canadian dollar fell after the U.S. financial crisis and stayed below US85 cents between fall 2008 and spring 2009, it has since risen sharply and EDC expects that it will stay at around US90 cents until 2012. Even if the dollar were to remain below parity, providing Canadian exporters with a slight edge, the loonie’s rise since 2003 has eroded their competitiveness in U.S. and foreign markets.

In this regard, EDC presents the key strategies adopted by Canadian exporters in order to thrive despite the high Canadian dollar, namely, market diversification and innovation.

2)      2010-2103 Que?bec Research and Innovation Strategy (QRIS)

In the same vein, the ministère du Développement économique, de l’Innovation et de l’Exportation has just published its 2010-2013 Québec Research and Innovation Strategy, which places innovation at the forefront of Québec’s economic development. The QRIS focuses on four key areas of intervention:

More competitive research recognized internationally;
A more creative, enterprising population;
Enhanced productivity and competitiveness through innovation;
Major developmental projects.

The “enhanced productivity and competitiveness through innovation” component is of particular interest to us because it focuses on international commercialization. In fact, two new measures are being implemented, one devoted to low-carbon footprint products and the other to commercialization plans for technological innovation. Over 30 innovation commercialization projects are planned between and 2013. It will be interesting to see how these measures are implemented. Please consult the directory of financial assistance sources to stay informed about the different programs available to Laval exporters.

What’s also interesting is that measures pertaining to technical validation and technology showcases will be relaxed.  The technology showcase component of the Business Assistance Program (BAP) is especially relevant for businesses seeking to export a technology as it will now be easier for these innovators to penetrate international markets.

3)      Québec in the world

If you like statistics, the Institut de la Statistique du Québec has just published Le Québec dans le monde, available free of charge. It compiles the most current economic indicators on 235 countries and territories, broken down into four main sections:

A summary placing Québec in the world;
Tables comparing the 235 countries and territories based on 95 economic indicators;
235 profiles of countries and territories, providing economic profiles using these same 95 indicators;
Maps of countries by continent.

We hope you enjoy the readings!

Bruno Séguin

May 25th, 2010

Innovation myths

The Association de la recherche industrielle du Québec (ADRIQ) published an interesting newsletter in April on business innovation in Quebec in which it dispels certain myths such as which companies are really innovative and how they do it.

ADRIQ made a key distinction, namely that an invention or improvement only becomes an innovation when it leads to a marketable product or service. So if it has no impact on your products or sales, it can’t really be called an innovation.

In a context of economic recovery and a strong dollar, innovation becomes an absolute must for Quebec businesses. We should therefore be hearing a lot more about this topic in the months ahead. In fact, Minister Clément Gignac will be announcing the MDEIE’s new innovation and research strategy any day now. On Les Affaires.com, you’ll find an interesting interview the Minister gave on the subject during the BIO conference.

In its newsletter, ADRIQ points out that more than 90% of innovation takes place in well-established companies and less than 10% occurs in tech start-ups. As well, 90% of innovative businesses sell to other businesses (B2B) and not to consumers even though we hear much more about novel consumer products.

In the U.S., an estimated 80% of innovations involve product or process improvements in response to customer or market imperatives, while 20% stem from technology breakthroughs, inventions or scientific discoveries. According to ADRIQ, the ratio in Quebec is more like 85-15 or 90-10 because we have more SMEs, which don’t always have the means to turn a technological breakthrough into a marketable product.

Rather than present a definitive point of view or position on the topic, the ADRIQ newsletter offers an objective picture of innovation in Quebec. That said, I think their goal was to show that innovation is market-driven and that it is mostly the domain of successful companies rather than tech start-ups. But the truth is everyone can and must be innovative, even companies in the most conservative industries. It will be interesting to see if Minister Gignac takes the same approach in his upcoming research and innovation strategy.

Bruno Séguin

February 16th, 2010

How to encourage innovation

Innovation plays a big role in a company’s future. The following article, prompted by Apple’s launch of the IPad, suggests three easy ways to encourage creativity:

  • Think small, i.e. look for small innovations;
  • Implement locally at the beginning;
  • Promote widely.

I think you’ll find this article interesting. Click this link: How to encourage Innovation

Samir Naoum