IRAP formulating funding requests to launch six new program thrusts

The Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) is seeking significant new funding to parlay its new objective of becoming a national facilitator of technological innovation for small business into reality. The details were presented to the National Research Council’s governing council in June. And while more work has been requested to flesh out the new programs requiring additional funds, IRAP and NRC managers are hopeful the plan will be recognized as a key component in Canada’s drive to develop a truly innovative economy.

IRAP has become the focus of increasing attention as the federal government examines ways in which to deliver on its pledge to dramatically boost the nation’s R&D spending. Government officials have long been cognizant of the necessity to stimulate R&D spending by smaller firms and IRAP is ideally positioned to exploit the need for a well-developed vehicle to deliver new stimulus.

The new strategic planning framework outlines six areas where IRAP wants to inject new money, including extending its reach into the international sphere and creating and supporting new technology-based clusters (see box).

“It’s not packaged yet and we have not decided, nor have we asked for any specific amounts of fund. We’re still working on it,” says IRAP DG Margo Montgomery. “It will likely be like our last strategic plan in which we provided options — so much money will get you these many programs, and so on ... The new strategic directions will boost collaborative activities as opposed to IRAPs traditional client relationships with SMEs.”

Montgomery notes that other organizations have also looked at IRAP as a crucial vehicle for boosting the contributions by smaller businesses (SMEs) to Canada emerging innovative economy. The Advisory Council on S&T has recommended that IRAP receive $20 million annually in new funding to launch a program in support of international S&T activities of SMEs (R$, June 30/00 & April 23/01).

More recently, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Industry S&T called for government to “immediately double its appropriations for an expansion of IRAP”. Current allocations to IRAP are approximately $135 million a year.

The six new areas where IRAP is seeking new funding “all build on and are rooted in who we are and what we know”, says Montgomery. “We are a field-based organization working with technology and working with SMEs. But there are gaps in the system, in financing, marketing and competitive intelligence. IRAP needs to get its resources appropriately allocated so the SMEs won’t fail when we let go.”

She acknowledges, however, that certain areas such as biotechnology and the international arena are becoming increasingly difficult to stay involved in without new resources.

Key to the realization of IRAP’s new strategic objective and six new program areas it the Canadian Technology Network (CTN), a growing alliance-based organization managed by the NRC. If funding is forthcoming, IRAP will work through CTN and other co-delivery partners (ie: Technology Partnerships Canada) to broaden its reach into the SME community.

IRAP is also working on a way to bring all of its 260 plus industrial technology advisors (ITAs) in-house. Montgomery says that currently about half of ITAs are employed directly by NRC and that the move to make the whole team IRAP employees has never been tried before.

“It’s complex and the approval process is taking time,” she says., adding that unless new funding is secured, the overall number of ITAs will remain relatively unchanged.

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