Ontario Res earch
Com m ercializ ation Program
"W e d id an inte rnal
re vie w of th e innova-
tion infrastru ctu re in pl
ace in O ntario
and d iscove re d w e ne e d e d m ore of th e
righ t k ind s of m one y and m ore of th e
righ t k ind s of pe opl
e ."
Pre m ie r D al
ton M cGu inty
Lau nch e d in Ju ne 2005, th e O ntario Re -
se arch Com m e rcial
iz ation Program (O R -
CP) is a k e y e l
e m e nt in th e gove rnm e nt's
strate gy to h e l
p b u sine ss innovators tak e
th e ir produ cts to m ark e t. O RCP h e l
ps
O ntario's re se arch e rs and e ntre pre ne u rs
to com b ine th e ir e xpe rtise to h e l
p com -
m e rcial
iz e th e ir innovations and cre ate
h igh - val
u e job s.
Th e re are a nu m b e r of strate gie s w ith in
O RCP. Th e first one focu se s on facil
itat-
ing th e m ove m e nt of te ch nol
ogy or sci-
e ntific discove ry from pu b l
ic u nive rsitie s
and re se arch institu tions to th e private
se ctor. H e re b u sine ss k now l
e dge and
sk il
l
s can h e l
p ide ntify prom ising te ch no-
l
ogie s, de ve l
op th e te ch nol
ogy into a
produ ct or se rvice , and m ove th e m m ore
rapidl
y to m ark e t. In total
, O RCP su p-
ports 55 O ntario pu b l
ic re se arch and not-
for- profit organiz ations in th e ir col
l
ab or-
ation w ith nu m e rou s te ch nol
ogy- b ase d
com panie s. Th is initiative , th e first of its
k ind in Canada, is b e ing im pl
e m e nte d
th rou gh Com pone nt A (Te ch nol
ogy
Transfe r) and Com pone nt B (Proof of
Principl
e or PO P).
Th e se cond strate gy (Com pone nt C or
Bu il
ding Re ce ptor Capacity) su pports
w ork ing partne rsh ips b e tw e e n com pan-
ie s and O ntario re se arch e rs. Th at initiat-
ive h e l
ps to spe e d u p th e de ve l
opm e nt
proce ss and give e ach partne r a com pe t-
itive advantage . Th e se col
l
ab orations al
-
l
ow sm al
l
and m e diu m - siz e d com panie s
q u ick e r acce ss to inte l
l
e ctu al
prope rty,
and to O ntario's top re se arch e rs, th e
l
ate st soph isticate d e q u ipm e nt and re -
se arch tool
s w ith in institu tions.
Final
l
y, O RCP is giving th e ne xt ge ne ra-
tion of th ink e rs a h e ad start. H e re O RCP
su pports an inte rnsh ip program th at w il
l
give th e ne xt ge ne ration of O ntario
th ink e rs th e practical
b u sine ss sk il
l
s th e y
ne e d to h e l
p sh ape fu tu re discove rie s in-
to produ cts and se rvice s.
O R CP and th e Tal
e nt First Ne tw ork
Th e Tal
e nt First Ne tw ork (TFN) is one of
th e O RCP su cce ssfu l
propone nts. Th e
TFN e nab l
e s tal
e nte d stu de nts to l
e ve r-
age inte rnal
and e xte rnal
re sou rce s to
m ove te ch nol
ogie s and k now l
e dge to
private se ctor com panie s.
Th e TFN is b u il
ding a provincial
ne tw ork
w ith com panie s, ope n sou rce fou nda-
tions, ope n sou rce grou ps, u nive rsitie s
and col
l
e ge s. Th e TFN w ork s across al
l
th re e strate gie s of O RCP: k now l
e dge
transfe r, proof of principl
e fu nding, and
b u il
ding indu stry capacity to innovate .
Th e TFN offe rs a u niq u e and strate gic ap-
proach to k now l
e dge transfe r and com -
m e rcial
iz ation w ith a strong focu s on th e
ne e ds of cl
ie nts ranging from re se arch e rs
to e ntre pre ne u rs and start- u ps to m u l
-
tinational
corporations. Th is approach is
a gl
ob al
b e st practice m ode l
w h ich is
al
igne d w ith th e m ark e tpl
ace and th e
ne e ds of cl
ie nts w h ich b u il
d b u sine ss
pl
atform s from ope n sou rce .
Th e TFN w il
l
h e l
p O ntario com panie s ac-
q u ire and l
e ve r ope n sou rce te ch nol
ogie s
and k now l
e dge al
l
ow ing th e m to com -
pe te m ore e ffe ctive l
y in incre asingl
y ope n
e nvironm e nts. Tal
e nte d gradu ate s m ov-
ing into th e w ork force w il
l
b e th e focu s.
Th e TFN w il
l
provide stu de nts and com -
panie s w ith th e training, tool
s and m e th -
ods re q u ire d for th e transfe r of ope n
sou rce te ch nol
ogie s and th e ir u se for
com pe titive advantage .
14
