O ntario
indu stry
h as
b e com e
an
im porte r of ope n sou rce produ cts and
se rvice s as no m ajor ope n sou rce
com pany and onl
y one l
arge ope n sou rce
fou ndation is h e adq u arte re d in O ntario.
M any m ajor ope n sou rce com panie s and
ope n
sou rce
fou ndations
are
h e adq u arte re d in th e U nite d State s. In
2006, VCs (Ve ntu re Capital
ists) inve ste d
$500M in ope n sou rce com panie s in th e
U S, w ith $0 b e ing inve ste d in ope n
sou rce com panie s in Canada.
D oz e ns of ope n sou rce u se r grou p e xist
in O ntario. Provincial
and m u nicipal
gove rnm e nts h ave an inte re st in ope n
sou rce , b u t Canadian su ppl
ie rs cl
aim
th at th e y cannot se l
l
th e m ope n sou rce
produ cts and se rvice s. O pe n sou rce
asse ts are a cost- e ffe ctive al
te rnative to
proprie tary asse ts. Th e u se of ope n
sou rce asse ts is pe rvasive across produ ct
m ark e ts in w h ich O ntario com panie s
com pe te .
O pe n
sou rce
proje cts
re pre se nt
a
radical
l
y ne w m e th od to de ve l
op asse ts
and to pre se nt e conom ic opportu nity. By
re m oving th e m ark e t and m onopol
y
val
u e from a produ ct, ope n sou rce
e xpone ntial
l
y incre ase s th e e conom ic
val
u e by m ak ing th e produ ct m ore stab l
e
and rob u st. It al
so can provide first-
m ove r advantage . It h as a nu m b e r of
oth e r spe cific advantage s as com pare d to
th e m ore traditional
w ays of de ve l
oping
produ cts.
Th e TFN is coordinating and catal
yz ing
ope n sou rce activity across th e province
to de ve l
op O ntario as a gl
ob al
l
e ade r in
ope n sou rce b u sine ss de ve l
opm e nt.
O R CP and K now l
e dge Transfe r
M R I pl
ace s a l
ot of e m ph asis on
k now l
e dge transfe r. Th e re is a distinction
b e tw e e n traditional
te ch nol
ogy transfe r
and k now l
e dge transfe r.
Te ch nol
ogy transfe r is a te rm u se d to de -
scrib e a form al
transfe r of righ ts to u se
and com m e rcial
iz e ne w discove rie s and
innovations re su l
ting from scie ntific re -
se arch to anoth e r party. U nive rsitie s typ-
ical
l
y
transfe r
te ch nol
ogy
th rou gh
prote cting (u sing pate nts and copy-
righ ts), th e n l
ice nsing ne w innovations.
Th e m ajor ste ps in th is proce ss incl
u de
th e discl
osu re of innovations, pate nting
th e innovation concu rre nt w ith pu b l
ica-
tion of scie ntific re se arch and l
ice nsing
th e righ ts to innovations to indu stry for
com m e rcial
de ve l
opm e nt.
Know l
e dge transfe r is an e l
e m e nt of so-
cal
l
e d "inform al
" te ch nol
ogy transfe r"
and it incl
u de s stu de nt pl
ace m e nt, con-
su l
tancy, re se arch and training for in-
du stry, te ch nol
ogy l
ice nsing, and spin- off
com pany form ation. U nive rsitie s are
task e d w ith k now l
e dge cre ation and dis-
se m ination of th is k now l
e dge th rou gh an
e conom ic e ngine . Re se arch facu l
ty m e m -
b e rs are th e k e y age nts of k now l
e dge
transfe r as th e y b ring th e val
u e of innova-
tion in tacit k now l
e dge . Social
ne tw ork s
th rou gh acade m ic and indu stry scie nt-
ists, u nive rsity adm inistrators, TTO dir-
e ctors,
and
m anage rs/e ntre pre ne u rs
al
l
ow k now l
e dge transfe r to w ork in b oth
dire ctions.
It is vital
th at u nive rsity and oth e r stak e -
h ol
de rs are ve ry cl
e ar on th e u nive rsity's
ob je ctive s on k now l
e dge transfe r, m otiva-
tions and b e ne fits. Th e TFN proje ct,
b ack e d by Carl
e ton U nive rsity's l
e ade r-
sh ip as w e l
l
as by gre at nu m b e r of private
indu stry l
e ade rs, is a ve ry good e xam pl
e
of h ow e ffe ctive k now l
e dge transfe r can
b e ach ie ve d.
15
Ontario Res earch
Com m ercializ ation Program
Brad D e Foe is th e M anage r and D m itri
Prok opie v is a Se nior Pol
icy Ad visor of th e
Com m e rcial
iz ation Branch of th e O ntario
M inistry of Re se arch and Innovation.
