To leap forward in the global marketplace, firms must attract diverse talents capable of engineering “what’s next” and disrupting “business as usual,” a leading Canadian computer scientist said. 

“The key to innovation is access to a pool of technical, creative and entrepreneurial talents that allows companies to target the global market from the get-go,” Paul Salvini, chief executive officer of Accelerator Centre, told The Korea Herald last week.

“The city of Waterloo, Canada, where I work, has merely 500,000 people, but it has two universities and a college and over 100 research institutes and 1,000 technology companies -- the highest start-up density in the world.”

Waterloo was ranked as the world’s top emerging start-up ecosystem by Inc. Magazine, which tracks successful entrepreneurship worldwide.

His company, nestled in the high-tech cluster of Waterloo in Ontario province, has world-renowned facilities dedicated to developing and commercializing startups. The center provides mentorship, education, office space, networking and links to funding for entrepreneurs, accelerating their market entry, investment and revenue.

Since 2006, Accelerator Centre has nurtured over 130 early-stage ventures, added 1,200 new jobs and generated $350 million in revenue and funding. Forty-three companies have graduated from the center and more than 85 percent of them have remained in the region.

Nationwide “centers of excellence” in innovation feed a virtuous cycle of “education, inspiration, experience, discovery, incubation and partnership,” according to Salvini.

“Our healthy ecosystem starts with education, which provides foundation for innovation,” he said at a conference titled “Canada Investment and Innovation Forum” at the Four Seasons Seoul on April 21.

“The next phase is inspiration, which connects our students to real world problems that matter. At the University of Waterloo, where I have taught, we have a co-op program that allows students to alternate between work and study for four months each. They come back to the classroom with experiences and best practices of how the real world works today.” 


At his former company SideFX, Salvini developed software for 18 of the last 19 Hollywood films that won the Oscars for best visual effects, including “Avatar,” “Inception,” “Lord of the Ring,” “Pirates of the Caribbean,” “Matrix,” “Titanic” and “Independence Day.”

“Students break conventions and discover new pathways in the research labs,” Salvini pointed out. “They turn their ideas into tangible businesses through incubation and acceleration. Finally, they make connections and partnerships around the world.”

Business incubators across Canada are concentrated in regions with strong research capacities. According to the Consider Canada City Alliance -- a union of 11 cities that promotes the country to international investors -- Canada offers political stability; the safest and more stable banking system in the world; the highest educated workforce in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; unparalleled access to the North American market; highly competitive cost structures; superior quality of life; and sustainable incentives for foreign investment.

In terms of geographical concentration, the following cities are competitive in various innovation sectors: Halifax in marine, transport and optics industries; Quebec City in life sciences and optics; Montreal in aerospace and creative sectors; Ottawa in information communications technology and life sciences; Toronto in comprehensive technologies and life sciences; and Waterloo in advanced manufacturing and ICT. 

Salvini highlighted the following industries as having groundbreaking potentials: the Internet of Things, data science, quantum computing, cybersecurity, nanotechnology, health care, smart cities, robotics, wearables, green technology, autonomous vehicle and advanced manufacturing.

“Innovation is beyond technology. It’s also about business and user experience,” he stressed, adding that “the truly innovative companies” coalesce technological, managerial and customer-oriented approaches.

“You have to get everything right these days to be innovative on a global scale. Many great technology companies failed because they didn’t pay enough attention to the right business model or user experience.”

The new business world would “completely redefine who pays, who benefits and how you monetize these transactions,” the adjunct professor at the University of Toronto emphasized. “The value now lies in information. Information is disrupting, redefining and recreating industries.”

Canada’s strength is its socially diverse population that “reflects the demands and sensitivities” of global consumers, he argued, encouraging Korean firms to invest in Canada with the world in mind.

Regarding concerns over the unfettered technological advances unleashed by the “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” the engineer-entrepreneur noted that Canada’s public schools would ensure a “level-playing field,” equalizing access to information and technology.

“In Canada, a lot of attention is paid to equal access to technology and information,” he said. “We have a very strong public school system that allows children from all family and economic backgrounds to receive quality education. That is why socioeconomic disparities are much narrower in Canada than the rest of the world.”

Canadian Ambassador Eric Walsh underlined in a speech the bilateral free trade agreement that went into effect since January last year, which allows enhanced investment protections and simpler processes for intra-company transfers of employees. In July last year, negotiations were completed for a Science, Technology and Innovation Agreement.

“There are many natural synergies between the two countries’ innovation priorities and the potential to work together is immense,” Walsh said. Once the agreement is signed and ratified in the near future “it will inject increased dynamism into our already growing and active relationship,” he added.

According to Forbes and Bloomberg, Canada is the best country in the G20 to do business. The country offers the lowest business costs for research and development-intensive sectors in the G7, KPMG analyzed. It also has the most competitive corporate tax at the federal level at 15 percent within the G7.

Between 2010 and 2014, Canada received the highest foreign direct investment inflow per capita within the G7. Its growing population speaks over 200 languages. Canada enjoys the highest economic freedom in the G7, according to the Heritage Foundation.

By Joel Lee (joel@heraldcorp.com)