ISRN at the leading edge for research on regional innovation systems and clusters

As it heads into the last 18 months of its five-year mandate, the Innovation Systems Research Network (ISRN) is building an impressive body of knowledge on clusters and other aspects of regional innovation systems that is garnering international attention and a stellar reputation within Canadian policy circles. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), ISRN recently held its annual conference in Vancouver, bringing together more than 100 researchers and graduate students.

The conference was preceded by a one-day closed policy meeting in conjunction with Western Economic Diversification (WD) to examine the latest work on innovation and clusters in western Canada.

Delegates from ISRN’s five regional nodes outlined the results of their latest work, augmented with research conducted by graduate students from across the country. Foreign delegates from Australia, Norway and the UK also presented their work, providing an illuminating international context for the Canadian research. This year’s conference featured collections of papers on some of Canada’s most promising technology clusters, as well as several from more traditional industries.

“As researchers, the long time horizon (of the ISRN network) is incredibly valuable,” says Dr David Wolfe, a political science professor at the Univ of Toronto and ISRN co-director. “Our knowledge and understand of innovation systems evolves very clearly over time.”

Just one example of the research being conducted under ISRN’s auspices is a study of Toronto’s life sciences sector by Dr Meric Gertler, co-director of both the ISRN and the Program on Globalization and Regional Innovation Systems at the Univ of Toronto. In his presentation, Gertler’s study examined the various industries that comprise the sector, which he described as one of the largest clusters in North America.

From the innovation engines of the Univ of Toronto and its affiliated research hospitals and institutions to big pharma, the generic drug industry and organizations such as the Medical and Related Sciences discovery district (MaRS), Gertler outlined a diverse group of players that collectively employ nearly 25,0000 people. That compares to Montreal’s life sciences sector with 16,5000 and Ottawa with 3,200.

The wireless sector in Vancouver was examined by Dr Cooper Langford, coordinator of the Univ of Calgary’s science, technology and society program. Langford’s work revealed that wireless firms continue to thrive in the area despite the loss of the sector’s three original anchor firms. His research shows that a strong second generation of firms has emerged, spurred by some investment from first-generation firms and a ground-swell of entrepreneurial activity.

ISRN’s growing stature in innovation policy circles has helped to attract a cadre of graduate students that Wolfe says represent the future of innovation systems research in Canada. One student is Anne Swift, a fourth-year student at the Univ of Toronto and the youngest member of ISRN. She joined the research network for the opportunity to work with Wolfe, Gertler and others and says the experience to date has been invaluable.

“I really feel that what we’re doing is leading edge,” says Swift, who has started her own on-line firm, Young Inventors International. “I plan to continue on in innovation and I’m looking at various aspects, maybe intellectual property. I definitely want to stay and focus on innovation.”

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