New York City, New York, Wednesday, May 29, 2013

 

I’m thrilled to be able to join you here in New York City.

I can think of no other place in the world in which business, media, finance, technology and entrepreneurship converge with such strength, creativity and influence. And I can think of no location within the city where this nexus of forces generates more energy than right here at NASDAQ in Times Square.

The historic junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue is the perfect location for us to talk about the intersection of scientific research and entrepreneurial zeal; or more precisely, about how we can spur research and bring the innovations we nurture to commercial markets.

I would like to thank David Wicks, Rob Phillips and NASDAQ for their kind hospitality this morning. We could not have a more fitting venue for this discussion, given NASDAQ’s leadership in revolutionizing trading, and the fact that the companies it trades are on the cutting edge of innovation, such as MDC Partners. I very much look forward to my discussion with David Doft in just a few moments.

Over the course of my mandate, I have been placing so much emphasis on learning, research and innovation because they are pillars of the country my fellow citizens in Canada want to build and the kind of world we want for all people—one that is smart and caring, one of keen minds and kind hearts, one in which men and women know true freedom, reach their full potential and enjoy lives that are rewarding, fulfilling and meaningful.

Learning, research and innovation have also been a passion and interest for me for 50 years. I’ve spent the whole of my adult life—most of it as a university professor, dean and president—consumed by thoughts that revolve around how men and women, boys and girls gain, develop and use knowledge.

The past two-and-a-half years in my current position in government have given me a special opportunity to share what I know. More importantly, they have enabled me to travel widely across my country and around the world—just returned from Africa—Ghana, Botswana and South Africa—to compare my understanding of learning, research and innovation with that of others.

This spirit of sharing individual knowledge to bring about greater collective wisdom brings us all here today. What we’re really doing is furthering something I call the diplomacy of knowledge. The diplomacy of knowledge is our willingness and ability to work across disciplinary boundaries and international borders to uncover, share and refine knowledge.

Students of history appreciate that civilization’s greatest advances often came not wholly from within certain disciplines but at the intersections of different disciplines. Two of the greatest innovation incubators of all time are very close by—vivid physical manifestations of the value of interdisciplinary collaboration.

At Bell Labs across the Hudson River in New Jersey, leaders are acutely conscious of the need to cultivate teams of specialists from a variety of fields. Some were obvious—physics, chemistry, engineering, mathematics, electronics and metallurgy.

Others weren’t so plain—physiology, psychology and meteorology—but were nonetheless necessary for success.

Right here in New York City, the process of interdisciplinary innovation in the start-up community has been more organic, as a critical mass of engineers, scientists, programmers, entrepreneurs and investors have gradually gravitated to the “Capital of Media, Advertising, Finance and Fashion” to create less an organization of innovation and more a geography of innovation—a modern-day, innovation-driven equivalent of Renaissance Florence, which was the cradle of Renaissance—which has propelled New York to the position of 2nd largest centre for technology start-ups in the world.

I know that New Yorkers and members of NASDAQ are also tuned to the requirements of innovation.

Later today, we will visit with the Center for Urban Science and Progress at NYU, a new initiative in this city, a unique public-private research centre that uses New York City as its laboratory and classroom to help cities around the world become more productive, liveable, equitable, and resilient.

And a Canadian university, the University of Toronto, is a partner with NYU in the CUSP endeavour.

Knowing that progress comes most rapidly and profoundly when people from different backgrounds and specialties work together, I’m delighted to know that men and women from an array of fields with vastly different experiences are here today—entrepreneurs, investors, communicators and academics.

Young people will know Steve Jobs. He was known as a “techie”. He said he was known as a techie but the humanities were so important to him.

The diplomacy of knowledge also requires us to operate across borders. While such actions can be conducted locally, regionally and nationally, they are most potent when we in Canada and the U.S. cross our shared border to cultivate interactions among researchers, scientists, students, investors and entrepreneurs. I call that ICE – International Capital Exchange.

We should not view ourselves as competitors in learning, research and innovation. We must always be collaborators.

I spoke earlier of Thomas Jefferson’s brilliant metaphor of a burning candle is still, I think, the best way to illustrate the concept of the diplomacy of knowledge and its incredible power.

The candle aflame symbolizes not only enlightenment, but also the transmission of learning from one person or group of people to another. When you light your candle from the flame of mine, my light is not diminished. Just the opposite. The light from both our candles shines brighter on all around us.

In physics, this is called candlepower—an interesting play on words. I think I can say without arrogance that Canadians frequently make excellent partners when it comes to increasing candlepower. We have three key qualities in our favour.

First, we believe deeply in the intrinsic value of learning from one another and sharing knowledge widely. We came by this belief early and of necessity; the very survival of the first European settlers to Canada was wholly dependent on their willingness to learn from the local Aboriginal populations.

Second, we’ve made quality education freely or affordably accessible to all. By doing so, generations of Canadians have been able to overcome barriers that exist in all countries—racism, poverty, class immobility—and achieve their true potential as individuals.

And third, we encourage new Canadians to retain and celebrate those aspects of their heritages that don’t conflict with the time-honoured values that have made our country such a success. This balanced approach enriches our country by incorporating the best that others bring.

Our penchant for practising the diplomacy of knowledge is perhaps most evident in communications. Again, we came by this talent early and of necessity. Our country’s vast land mass and sparse population have prompted generations of Canadian engineers, entrepreneurs and scholars to think deeply about and work closely to overcome the challenges of communicating information and knowledge across sweeping distances.

Let me mention a few of the heroes.

Sandford Fleming hit upon the idea of standard time to make communications of all kinds more consistent and reliable.

Alexander Graham Bell’s signature creation set the stage for twentieth-century telephony and the twenty-first century revolution in global communications.

I mentioned Mike Lazaridis who spearheaded the creation of the BlackBerry wireless mobile device, generations of which link ever-growing numbers of people throughout the world.

And Marshall McLuhan’s concept of the global village enabled all the planet’s citizens to appreciate the consequences of the new world we’re building through our development and use of information and communications technologies.

Today, many Canadian companies continue this heritage of innovation. BlackBerry, which I mentioned, OpenText and MDC Partners are prime examples of the innovation-focused Canadian-based firms that recognize that their futures depend on their ability to cultivate innovative practices and products, and then nurture expanding markets for them.

These companies rely on their partnerships with Americans—including the NASDAQ OMX exchange—to equip them with the capital and visibility they need to spur technological advances and make inroads for these innovations into U.S. and global markets. 

I’ve used the word innovation quite a bit so far. It’s a word that gets bandied about often these days. We all use it frequently and in many different ways. So much so that I find it’s no longer anchored in any universal meaning. So what exactly is innovation?

One of my favourite books from 2012 is The Idea Factory by Jon Gertner. In it, he tells the story of Bell Labs. As I said earlier, this organization is one of history’s greatest innovation incubators, spawning some of the twentieth century’s most influential communications technologies—the transistor, the integrated circuit, the cellular telephone and the satellite.

Jack Morton was a hard-charging engineer who played a key role in the success of its large development department. One of his more famous tasks was creating a plan to take the transistor from laboratory to market. Morton was one of the first people to see innovation as it truly is: not a simple action, but a total process of interrelated parts.

Morton wrote that innovation is not just the discovery of new phenomena, nor the development of new products or manufacturing techniques, nor the creation of new markets. Rather, it’s the integration of all these things to achieve a common industrial goal.

He would later add a corollary to his insight. He maintained that innovation had not occurred unless you manufactured the new thing in substantial quantities and found a market to sell large numbers of it.

I agree. At the core of innovation lies not just the value of pure science but also a fundamental economic imperative. True innovation isn’t merely discovering and understanding. It must also trigger advanced manufacturing and culminate in selling.

Some people look on selling as a four-letter word. It’s actually seven.

But seriously, creating a deep culture of innovation is a responsibility shared by all levels of government, our schools—from primary to post-graduate—philanthropic foundations and all elements of the private sector—from the smallest businesses to big industry associations to the largest multinational corporations.

I’m happy to report that we in Canada have a newfound grasp on this essential meaning of innovation. We understand that productivity, competitiveness, economic growth and lasting prosperity in our country will be driven in large measure by science, by research and development, and by speeding innovations from laboratories to people, households, workplaces and cities across our country and around the world.

We don’t just understand it; we in Canada are doing something about it.

We’re increasing our investments in early-stage risk capital.

We’re helping create large-scale venture capital funds.

We’re changing visa requirements to attract more foreign workers with high-tech skills.

And we’re supporting incubator and accelerator organizations to expand the services of these organizations to businesses and entrepreneurs.

A prime example is Business Development Bank of Canada Venture Capital, a multi-billion-dollar fund that now partners with Canada’s department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade to extend the Canadian Technology Accelerator program to Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco and right here in New York City.

This program hosts selected technology SMEs (small and medium enterprises) in prime global markets for several months, providing them with office space, mentoring, networking opportunities and access to key players in local business and high-tech communities. Canada’s Consulate General in New York works with approximately 300 technology companies, 24 of which participate in the Accelerator.

It’s been quite successful in several key international centres, and I expect many of you here today will be in touch with Canadian firms through the program in the very near future. CTA alumni are instrumental in further sparking the diplomacy of knowledge between our two countries.

The founders of companies such as Elevate and Datacratic have contributed in creating a network for expatriate Canadian entrepreneurs in New York City called the N100. I salute the men and women of these organizations for their essential efforts to share and refine knowledge across borders.

Starting in 1996, research investments increased drastically. In fact, there were 11 years where investments increased by 11 percent per year, and those investments have continued to grow.  

This ongoing financial commitment has enabled Canada to emerge as a world leader in basic research. A 2011 study conducted by the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation in Washington, DC, praised Canada’s performance.

It noted that government-funded university research accounted for 0.39 percent of GDP compared to 0.24 percent in the United States.

I mention these figures to compare Canada’s performance with that of the U.S.—a world leader in innovation—and not as an expression of competition between our two countries. To repeat what I said earlier, Canadians and Americans must be partners in learning, research and innovation.

We must work together across disciplines, organizations, boundaries and borders to spur research and development, and speed innovations from laboratories to people.

Working closely together has always been the secret to success on our shared continent. We’ve become so good at it that even our big achievements garner little acclaim. An example of our successful yet quiet collaboration is the Nexus Program.

It accelerates travel and trade between our nations and promotes safety and security, proving that openness and security is not a zero-sum game. We can and must have both.

The Canada-U.S. bilateral relationship is a model for the world. It is founded on values of democracy, respect, rule of law and free markets. No two other nations have ties as close. Canada is the United States’ largest trading partner and its largest foreign energy supplier.

Speaking before a joint session of Canada’s parliament more than 50 years ago, President Kennedy described impeccably the enduring ties that bind our two countries.

He said, “Geography has made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies.”

Back then, we defined necessity as our shared need to safeguard ourselves, our friends and our way of life at the height of the Cold War. Today, our definition of necessity is different but no less daunting.

We must contain healthcare costs before they cripple our ability to take action on other pressing priorities.

We must rejuvenate our physical infrastructure—especially the roads, bridges, sewers, transit systems and electrical grids in our cities—after decades of neglect.

And we must regenerate our manufacturing industries and the urban industrial communities that relied on the jobs and high standards of living that these industries created for generations of workers and their families.

Unprecedented opportunities await American scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs and businesses to invest, conduct research and build partnerships with Canadians so that together we can bring about and use innovations to overcome the challenges we share.

I’m here today at Times Square, one of America’s most dynamic hubs of innovation, to urge you to work with Canadians as allies in innovation to take advantage of these opportunities.

Thank you.