The government has just announced a six person panel to lead a comprehensive review of all (Canadian) federal programs in support of business R&D (as promised in the 2010 budget). Our own Arvind Gupta (MITACS Director) is on the panel which consists of:

•             (Chair) Mr. Tom Jenkins, Open Text
•             Dr. Bev Dahlby, University of Alberta
•             Mme. Monique Leroux, Desjardins- Laurentian Financial Corp
•             Dr. David Naylor, University of Toronto
•             Mrs. Nobina Robinson, Polytechnics Canada
•             Dr. Arvind Gupta, University of British Columbia and MITACS

The panel has been asked to review three types of federal research and development (R&D) initiatives:

• Tax incentive programs such as the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program
• Programs that support business R&D through:
• general support (e.g., Industrial Research Assistance Program)
• sector-specific support (e.g., Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative)
• Programs that support business-focused R&D through federal granting councils (such as NSERC’s RPP) and other departments and agencies, including research at universities and colleges (e.g., Centres of Excellence for Commercialization and Research)

The panel will seek submissions from interested parties and conduct focused research to support its work. It will report back in one year to the Minister of State (Science and Technology) with concrete recommendations.

You can find further information regarding today’s announcement by clicking on the following link: http://rd-review.ca/eic/site/033.nsf/eng/h_00000.html