Canada has a long legacy of innovation and prosperity. We
have blazed technology trails in every aspect of life, from agriculture to
medicine and health care, communications to manufacturing, transportation to
space travel, finance to renewable energy.
I started my career as an electronics technician under the
Industrial Research Assistance Program at the Canadian National ResearchCouncil. My role was to go in to young startup
companies, and provide technical assistance getting their technology dreams
built, tested, and ready for market.
Today, this program actively helps Canadian entrepreneurs
innovate through grants, advisory services, networking, youth employment, staff
augmentation, while providing technical assistance in various fields.
Looking backwards to see forward, Canada has great
opportunity remain a global leader in innovation and technology. There is a wealth
of diverse companies, both entrenched and new, taking on the challenge of
automating, managing, and accommodating all aspects of our lives. I’ll outline just a few of those technologies
here.
Healthcare:
The Canadian Healthcare System is respected worldwide, both
for its ability to efficiently and effectively care for individuals as well as
its history of innovations. Leveraging
the rapid advances in “Internet of Things (IoT)” technology and infrastructure,
Canadian health research facilities have become world leaders in the innovation
of wearable devices to help track and monitor patient outcomes. With these devices monitoring vital aspects
of a patient’s health and recovery, a physician can both be better informed
upon arrival of the patient, reducing wait and visitation times, as well as
analyzing appropriate remediation strategies.
Canadian made wearable devices will become a normal part of our standard
healthcare regime.
As well as the wearable monitoring devices, IoT technology
has spurred a number of Canadian Innovators to launch “assistive device”
products. These range from smart
technology for wheelchairs, to adaptive prosthetics, to GPS tracking and
guidance for the blind. The Canadian
imagination is boundless, and as our population ages, these devices will become
more prevalent.
Finance:
Blockchain Technology may be new to most of us, but is revolutionizing
the way the banking industry works. In
fact ANY industry that relies on transactional integrity could find benefit in
Blockchain’s ledger based technology. Many
of us are familiar with, or at least have heard of “bitcoin”, which is the
grandfather of blockchain currencies. Ethereum is another blockchain
up-and-coming currency taking international interest. Recently, the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance included the National Bank
of Canada as one of 86 new members that will work together to develop business
applications on the Ethereum blockchain.
Renewable Energy:
There are more than a thousand Canadian companies currently
innovating in the Clean or Renewable Energy Market, employing more than 50,000
people across the country. From the
staples of Solar and Wind, to deep water stores of compressed air, geothermal
heating and electricity, and the manufacture of Lithium Ion batteries, we are
making our mark on the global stage.
Much of this is thanks to “Sustainable Technology Development Canada” , which is the largest
single clean-tech fund in the world. It has seeded more than 200 clean-tech
projects through grant funding of more than $600-million. Renewable Energy is a
cultural shift that is well under way within Canadian homes and businesses, and
we are going to continue to be at the forefront for decades to come.
Agriculture:
Over the past two decades, Canada has taken a strong lead in
Modernizing and Automating Agriculture. With the prevalence and low cost of
Industrial sensors for things like moisture level, sunlight, ph level, soil
nutrients, etc.. Canadian researchers have been able to greatly increase crop
yields across the industry. This technology has been transferred down to the
hands of local farmers who are able to automate aspects of their farm such that
they not only increase yield, but can direct and reduce water consumption and
cost. Crops are able to be grown in
areas previously unmanageable through monitoring and automation. Canada is also setting examples of how to use
industrial sensors to monitor and manage Livestock health and food consumption.
This is an area in which we will continue to be world leaders.
Smart Cities:
Continuing on the Industrial Internet of Things theme,
Canada is also a leader in Innovation in monitoring and managing all aspects of
transportation and buildings in today’s Smart Cities. Cities across Canada are
collaborating on means to provide cleaner more efficient home and work spaces
for their inhabitants. We are
researching ways to use Industrial sensors to monitor and more efficiently
manage heating and cooling within residential and commercial buildings. We are also developing ways to monitor and
reduce emissions from these buildings.
Through the use of sensors under the pavement, on lamp
posts, and cameras at intersections, we are researching ways to better identify
traffic patterns across the city, and adjust intersection lights for more
efficient travel times and greater safety for both vehicles and
pedestrians.
There are also Canadian innovations being developed in
street lighting to greatly reduce power consumption, and reduce environmental
impact on wildlife.
Space Exploration:
We are all too familiar with the Canada Arm that had
assisted the NASA space shuttle program for two decades, and now currently
works diligently on the International Space Station. Did you know that Canada
has a burgeoning Space program too? In
2016, the Canadian Government committed to extend Canada’s participation in the
ISS program, and provide opportunities to develop leading-edge space
technologies. Up to $379 million will be earmarked for this program over the
next eight years.
Six Canadian Astronauts have served eight missions aboard
the International Space Station, and in 2018, David Saint-Jacques will become
the next Canadian astronaut to take part in a long-duration mission aboard the
ISS.
The University of Guelph’s Mike Dixon and his team are
working on “biological life support” systems. Research that will help sustain
long-term human exploration to distant planets by finding ways to grow plants
inside greenhouses with techniques that could one day allow us to grow crops on
the moon or Mars.
Canada had long partnered with the US on development of
Satellite Communications technology. Our
first Canadian Satellite, Alouette 1,
was launched by Nasa on September 29 1962. Companies such as DeHavilland,
Spar Aerospace, and Telesat Canada spurred on the innovation across the past
several decades. Now, the torch has been picked up by several Canadian startups
that are developing very small format satellites for such purposes as
monitoring forestation and environmental changes, or providing imaging services
for commercial planning.
We Canadians are a country of dreamers, and we dream big. The
future of Canadian Innovation will not dull.
