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Based on a methodology with benchmark statistics from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and other sources, the Conference Board of Canada (CBoC) gave Alberta a D grade in terms of Innovation and placed Canada 14th out of 15 countries in their recent innovation report card.

We discuss how Alberta and Canada traditionally do well in terms of creating startups, but we struggle as a province and a nation at turning these into globally successful products/services with sustainable growth.  According to an article Harry wrote for the CBoC's website, "while we produce almost 4% of the world’s research output and rank relatively high on creation of start-ups, Canada has had a mixed record on sustaining successful innovative companies."

Join us for an enlightening conversation with Harry Sharma as we talk about the grading, what we can do to improve as a province and a nation, and the Capabilities-Centred Innovation Framework for Canada that he's put forward.


Bio

Harry Sharma, Director, Innovation and Technology 

Harry Sharma joined the Conference Board of Canada in May 2019 and brings with him over 15 years of experience in innovation, science and technology related areas. Harry has worked in multitude of roles in small and large organizations and dealt with impact analysis, strategy development, program evaluations and development. As a leader, Harry has worked with government, private and non-for-profits sectors to initiate new funding programs in support of Canadian technology start-ups as well as to address skills development challenges internationally.Harry earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering with Honours from the Rochester Institute of Technology and Master of Engineering in Engineering management from the University of Ottawa.

Harry is leading the efforts to develop and implement the new Capabilities-Centred Innovation Framework for Canada. Alberta Innovates is one of the four partners in this endeavour and represents a West Canadian provincial perspective. 

Shift by Alberta Innovates focuses on the people, businesses and organizations that are contributing to Alberta's strong tech ecosystem.