Supporting clean technology is essential to the Government of Canada’s goals for promoting clean economic growth. The diverse nature of clean technologies across all sectors of the economy makes it difficult to define the sector as a whole and to coordinate all federal supports, but the Government of Canada is addressing these challenges.

Clean Growth Hub

The Clean Growth Hub is a whole-of-government focal point for clean technology, which helps clean tech stakeholders navigate Government of Canada programs and services, while ensuring a coordinated federal approach to clean growth.

The Hub understands that finding relevant funding and support for clean tech projects can be challenging due to the variety of programs, including funding, loans, wage subsidies, collaboration opportunities, tax credits and more. The Hub’s advisors from 16 federal departments and agencies help connect clean tech innovators, developers and adopters with government programs to advance their initiatives. Small and medium-sized enterprises make up the majority of the Hub’s clients, although large firms have also benefited from the Hub’s advisory services.

To help drive Canada’s transition to a more inclusive and resilient clean growth economy, the Hub has also launched an inclusion strategy and action plan, as well as a toolkit to help stakeholders apply for federal funding. The Hub is working to integrate reconciliation, equity, diversity and inclusion priorities to better understand and meet the needs of Indigenous peoples, women, and other groups under-represented in the clean tech sector. Applying for federal clean tech funding: a toolkit is a valuable resource that includes information about federal grants and contributions, as well as tips and links to help clean tech innovators and adopters apply for federal funding.

Clean Technology Data Strategy

The Clean Technology Data Strategy measures the economic, environmental, and social contributions of Canada’s clean technology sector. The strategy informs policy and program design, supports sector growth, and enables private sector decision-making. The clean tech data produced is also essential for understanding how aspects of the government’s environment and climate change agenda contribute to clean growth.

The strategy’s website provides an overview of contributions from environmental and clean tech sectors to Canada’s GDP, exports, and jobs by province. It also summarizes employment diversity data on the workforce profile in categories such as gender, age, wage, immigration status, education, occupation, and Indigenous participation. To facilitate greater dissemination of the data produced by this initiative, the website is updated with interactive dashboards, detailed analysis, and dates for upcoming and previous data releases.

The post Government of Canada Measures to Enable the Clean Tech Sector appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Canadian startups need to think internationally in order to succeed. Learn how the DMZ can help mitigate the risk involved in expanding to new global markets.

Despite Canada’s small market, many Canadian startups are not exploring the potential that global expansion may bring to their company.

While every founder wants their company to access new customer bases and capital, only about 12 percent of small businesses in Canada currently export their goods and services. However, for companies who want to look into expanding, it might be time to start looking global from the get-go.

“The majority of tech startups don’t realize it, but they are in a business that can be global from day one,” says Abdullah Snobar, the Executive Director of the DMZ. “We need to help tech startups and early entrepreneurs see themselves as exporters, even if they don’t have a physical product.”

The DMZ has helped to raise over $1.5 billion in seed funding for startups and has provided mentorship and support, utilizing its worldwide network, to turn Canadian startups into world-class, global tech businesses.

Looking beyond Canadian borders

According to Snobar, for Canadian startups in a small domestic market, considering global expansion is a necessity, not a nice to have. This was the case for Softdrive, a DMZ incubator company, where only 3 percent of their total addressable market was in Canada.

“The US has about 24x the amount of organizations than Canada, making it critical for Softdrive to expand internationally,” says Leonard Ivey, Founder of Softdrive. “If we don’t, we’d be stunting our growth significantly and mitigating our chances of success.”

However, there are a few barriers that make global expansion difficult for Canadian startups. For pet-tech company Charmy Pet, navigating the regulations to comply with federal agencies like the CFIA and U.S. FDA was one of them—but the support of the DMZ and their connections made the process much easier.

“We were fortunate to have the support of the DMZ and their in-house supply chain experts to help us expand,” says Zach Sheng, Co-Founder and CEO of Charmy Pet.

Building a reputation in a new market, while trying to find support, trustworthy global partners, and dealing with cultural differences, can be difficult. “It can take a few years for a startup to build a solid reputation in their local market and transferring that trust to a global market is challenging,” says Mohsen Omrani, Co-Founder and CEO of OPTT. “A good way to bridge local trust to a new market is being associated with reputable organizations, like incubators and VCs, with proven track records.” It helps to have a team like DMZ in your corner where these past experiences can be used as leverage.

How the DMZ’s network can help

But Snobar says one of the biggest barriers to expansion is the founder’s own mindset. “If they don’t want to go global, then they’ll find every excuse not to go. But there’s always risk anywhere you operate,” says Snobar. “If you don’t look to expand into a new market, someone else will.”

For those who do want to expand globally, the DMZ offers founders a deep understanding of different local ecosystems, countries, and economies through their network of global offices and incubators in over 10 countries. For example, if a Canadian startup wanted to expand into India, the DMZ could connect them to other founders and partners in their field who are already involved in the Indian market. This is due to the DMZ being an enabler to global expansion—they can help founders access peers who’ll understand their journey and their struggles.

“There’s never been a more important time than today to think about how to take your business and expand to your full potential,” says Snobar. “The whole team is glad we’re helping in that journey with creating opportunities for founders entering these new markets.”

The post Why Canadian Startups Need to Look Beyond Borders appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Since the very first modern computer appeared in office, we’ve all been asking, “Do we still need all this paper?” It’s a harder question than it seems. If we want to limit the waste, the ecological impact, and the productivity drain of paper, we need to step back and ask ourselves what it is that keeps drawing people to the printout. We need solutions that ease the transition to an enhanced digital workflow while understanding real-world business needs.

The reality of paper

The invention of paper ushered in a never-before-seen age of literacy and education. It’s a cheap, portable, accessible, and lasting vessel for information. Those qualities still drive its use today. But, in an era where workers are spread across the globe, handing a sheet of paper to a colleague is rarely convenient. This is a world where information may as well not exist if it can’t be accessed from your phone. This is a moment when costs are measured not only in dollars, but in time and tons of carbon.

The advantages of going paperless are clear. The Association for Intelligent Information Management has reported that 84 percent of organizations that undertook paper-free projects achieved payback in less than 18 months. But that value is only realized when the undeniable power of print is preserved through this transition.

Canon has spent decades perfecting the philosophy and the practical reality of how people and businesses create, preserve, use, and share information. They’ve leveraged this experience and insight into the creation of new suites of tools that aren’t just paper replacements, but reinventions of the business information ecosystem. And, critically, these systems are informed by a deep understanding of what businesses and employees want and need.

A complete digital transformation

According to Gartner, every time an employee touches a piece of paper, it costs the company $20. Gartner further estimates that the average employee loses almost four weeks of productivity every year searching for lost and misfiled documents. There’s real money and time to be saved here.

But, when the office is a maze of filing cabinets, and home work spaces are chaotic mountains of paperwork organized only by memory and hope, the gap to a structured digital solution may seem unbridgeable. Going paperless is a process, not an event.

Canon’s flagship information management solutions provide an answer to this problem. And cutting-edge OCR, intelligent document fingerprinting, and high-accuracy indexing provide a seamless on-ramp for any document into the digital workflow the moment it’s needed.

These solutions provide workers with the ability to capture, archive, retrieve, edit, and process data at any point in the workflow quickly and securely. They turn every document into a transactable work space with a memory of its own, providing every bit of the power and flexibility of a paper and a pen while maintaining the accessibility and security of cloud-based collaboration.

And, just as importantly, the new digital paradigm to which these documents are transitioned, to has been crafted from the ground up for efficiency. After all, little is gained by replacing a stack of marked-up paper with a tangled email inbox housing dozens of threads with hundreds of versioned documents. A comprehensive solution gently and seamlessly tames this mess into a cohesively streamlined whole.

So, do we still need all this paper? Not necessarily, but we do need a knowledgeable and thoughtful guide to lead us away from it. We need a voice that is intimately familiar with the way businesses work and is unafraid to imagine ways they could work better. Reaping the benefits of the paperless transition requires not a leap, but a series of well-informed steps along a carefully crafted path, a path paved by companies like Canon.

The post Helping Companies Upscale As They Outgrow their Paper Workflow appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Let’s face it — innovation was not a topic during the 2021 federal election. Neither was agri-food. Agri-food in Canada has strong innovative potential and is essential for solid economic recovery and growth.

The lack of focus on agri-food research and innovation is concerning. Canada has been a leader in the sector but the ship now seems rudderless. There’s no national strategy, no direction, and no sense of where we’re going beyond “let’s export more.”

We’re now 19th in agricultural production globally. Public investments in agri-food research and innovation steadily declined in Canada-based on an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report (and other reports as well).

We need to export more. In order for Canada’s agri-food sector to continue to meet the world market’s growing demand, innovation must be supported through science-based policy work and needs-specific funding.

Canada is well-positioned in the sector but is facing competition from other countries with cheaper production costs, fewer regulatory obstacles, and/or more adoption of innovation.

But to export more we need to innovate more and better facilitate the adoption of innovation.

The oft-quoted Barton report (2017) described agriculture and food as a sector that can lead in growth. It also mentions that “the government, in concert with the private sector, can take a targeted approach that would unleash the sector’s full potential.” We agreed and still do.

However, since then, some of the key suggestions from the report were not or not thoroughly implemented. The recommendation to have the government and the private sector work together toward bold growth objectives was not taken.

Another key recommendation, to have the government put in place an inter-governmental task force to “remove obstacles”, was also not put in place.

The Agri-Food Innovation Council is recommending the creation of a national strategy on agri-food research and innovation. Such a strategy would streamline our efforts, and provide a direction, a framework, coordination, and set goals for research and innovation in the sector.

It would need to be co-led by the federal government and industry and provide a key role to the provincial governments and academia. It would also be essential to ask representatives of Indigenous Peoples to participate fully and help lead the development of such a strategy.

The process to develop the national strategy shouldn’t be needlessly complicated. No one wants to see another major consultation effort. The consultation needs to happen but it can be innovative and nimble.

Care must be taken to ensure the strategy doesn’t become so convoluted that it becomes another forgotten effort to provide leadership to the sector. It can and should be a living document that supports the sector’s growth, enables cooperation, and delivers on results.

While politicians settle back in Ottawa following this last election and while the public service reopens its outreach to the sector, we must reawaken the conversation around the importance of the agri-food sector and the need for a national strategy should be a key priority for our sector.

The post Agri-food and Innovation: The Need for a National Strategy appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Robert DiDiodato

VP of Business Development at anessa

Turning manure into green energy is better than lead into gold. And, with the right software platforms, it’s a lot easier too.

Biogas is the great unsung hero of the green energy revolution. When done right, a biogas plant can turn waste by-products once considered a burden into a high potency energy source that integrates seamlessly with our existing electricity or natural gas infrastructure. Whether it’s agricultural waste, food waste, or even municipal source-separated solid or wastewater, it all becomes fuel for the biogas plant. And, not only is biogas clean and interoperable, it’s also a rich economic opportunity. It’s a triple win.

So why do we hear about it so rarely compared to technologies like wind and solar? Because biogas is relatively new in the North American context and, to be fair, a very complicated and hands on process.  “There is no cookie-cutter solution here,” says Amir Akbari, President and CEO of anessa, a firm based in Canada that provides the industry’s leading Biogas Software platform. “Each project is different from the other project, so you cannot simply duplicate a project that worked before. Each feedstock or waste material has its own characteristics, and those characteristics can change daily, so you need to be able to adapt.”

The time for biogas is now

A process with that many variables can seem intimidatingly opaque to the smaller operators, often farmers and rural municipalities, best positioned to take advantage of the technology. But today’s Canadian farmers are tech-savvy, ambitious, and resourceful. If the tools exist to make a complex task approachable, they will find a way, especially if it lets them transform a regulatory headache into an income stream.

“Provinces in Canada are putting what they call diversion legislation in place, which means that you’re no longer allowed to put those organic materials into landfill sites, because the methane that gets emitted from those landfills is approximately 30 times more harmful than CO2 to the atmosphere” explains anessa VP of Business Development, Robert DiDiodato. “If you can instead convert that organic waste into energy, you turn what could be a legislative hurdle into a financial opportunity. It’s a no-brainer.”

The secret to unlocking each opportunity and taming the complexity of biogas is achieving clarity on the business case by leveraging computational intelligence. The informational storm of variables that determine the feasibility of new biogas projects–and the operational parameters of existing ones–is the natural habitat of AI-enabled software like that offered by anessa.

Feed biomass to the digester, feed data to the software

Modern analytic software can take the endless series of what-ifs that go into the planning and assessment of a biogas project and narrow them down to an easily digestible slate of reports modeling the technical and financial aspects of each project opportunity.  And, once the plant is up and running, the AI can quickly simulate the twisting of all the different knobs, modeling the impact of changes before implementing them. It’s an invaluable planning tool. “A common mistake found in the industry by biogas plant operators is upsetting the bugs in the process either by not feeding the digester properly with the right ratios, or not considering the biological process conditions,” offered Mr. Akbari.  “Our AI equipped technology provides peace of mind for biogas plant operators in their goal to achieve optimal performance without failing the biological processes. The industry has typically settled on stability at the expense of optimization, leaving money on the table.”

What will happen if you change from one feedstock to another? It could be fine, or it could be disastrous to the organic processes inside the biogas plant. Machine learning takes the guesswork away and confidently projects operational results across the entire spectrum of possibilities.

“Our software platform can run millions of scenarios to find the optimal solution in the planning stage of a project, and the optimal conditions at operational biogas facilities,” says Akbari. “The software has machine learning and AI algorithms built into it. It captures data from each plant and models future performance across all variables. This lets the operator make data-driven decisions to optimize for profitability.”

And that’s the heart of it. It is easy to see green energy projects as a greater good in and of themselves. But they take resources to build, they cost money to operate, and they should provide measurable benefit, both environmentally and economically.

“At the end of the day, a biogas plant is a business,” says DiDiodato. “It’s green energy, so it’s warm and fuzzy, but it’s also important to ask how much money you’re going to make, how long it will take to earn back your investment, and what level of carbon savings you can expect. You need to ask if it’s something you can do on your own or if you need neighbouring farms to join in. Those are exactly the kinds of questions our software can answer.”

The post The Digital Brains Behind Biogas Project Feasibility and Profitability appeared first on HiveInnovates.

In Canada, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) professions are still heavily male-dominated. In fact, women make up less than one-quarter of people employed in STEM careers. Building the next generation of female STEM talent is critical for solving the complex problems of today and the future.

Despite the societal barriers, the opportunity to guide young girls to develop a passion for STEM and global sciences is more important than ever. Fortunately, the foundation exists. According to a 2019 survey by Microsoft, 52 per cent of girls aged 12 to 17 said they would consider a job in a technology or science-related field. There are endless opportunities for women to not only break barriers but to thrive in the STEM industry.

There are a growing number of Canadian companies championing this cause by recruiting and retaining more female talent. As a leading biopharma in Canada and with a mission to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases, Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) is inspiring a new generation of women within the pharma industry. With 184 women in STEM roles, 68 per cent of women in Senior Manager positions and 66 per cent of women in Manager positions, BMS is committed to embracing gender representation and diversity by advancing the careers of women in biopharma.

Here are the stories of some of the women at BMS who are making a difference.

Filippa Pettersson

Senior Scientific Advisor, Medical Lead, CAR T

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What made you decide on a STEM career?

My passion for STEM started in high school. I found the science program very interesting and was already curious about the medical field. I was fascinated by the immune system, a topic very relevant to the work I do today.

Tell me about your career path.

I have a PhD in molecular and cellular sciences. I worked in academic research in oncology before joining medical affairs at BMS six years ago. As a Senior Scientific Advisor, I’m responsible for portions of the company’s medical strategy to bring new personalized therapies to Canadian cancer patients. I also advise different divisions, specifically cancer immunotherapy – working closely with the clinical research and commercial teams as a link between research, development, and the real world. Being able to explain the science to others is an important part of my role.

How has BMS provided you with opportunities as a woman in STEM?

I have always felt extremely supported by BMS. I’m part of an employee resource group at BMS that supports the development of women. We focus on career development, work-life balance and host events, for example networking events, specifically aimed at women. I have also had the opportunity to take part in a global mentorship program.

What do you love about working at BMS?

We all have the same mission, which is to improve the lives of patients. It’s a mission that’s close to everybody’s heart and we can all unite around it.

Lisa Willoughby

Senior Manager, Clinical Operations, Site Monitoring

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What made you decide on a STEM career?

From a young age, I had a love for science. I wanted to understand the way things worked – our bodies, the world around us. My mom was a nurse. She instilled my passion for science and inspired me to pursue nursing.

Tell me about your career path.

For the first 10 years of my career, I was a critical care nurse. There, I was exposed to pharma and wanted to better understand the research side of patient care. I then worked as a research nurse in cardiology before joining BMS. I first worked in the field as a Clinical Trial Monitor, and now I’m a Clinical Operations Manager.

How has BMS provided you with opportunities as a woman in STEM?

BMS is incredibly supportive of all development opportunities. We are encouraged to grow and develop.

What advice would you give to a young girl considering a role in STEM?

Follow your passion, and don’t limit yourself. Women are still underrepresented in STEM, but by supporting one another we can create more opportunities. With a science degree, the opportunities out there are huge. I would also encourage women to have a female mentor.

Vanessa Berkling

Senior Manager, Medical Education MS, UC, Psoriasis and Rheumatology

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What made you decide on a STEM career?

My background is in communications and commerce, but I moved to pharma in 2002. I was given an exciting opportunity when someone took a chance and offered me a contract sales role which turned into the career I have today.

Tell me about your career path.

I started in sales, where I had the opportunity to connect with physicians. Seeing healthcare providers solve serious health issues and address challenges inspired my passion for science. Today, as a Senior Medical Education Manager at BMS, I help identify innovative, high-quality medical education opportunities that close gaps in healthcare provider knowledge; strengthening their professional competence and ultimately improving patient outcomes.

How has BMS provided you with opportunities as a woman in STEM?

One of BMS’ biggest strengths is its people. Everyone is dedicated to making an impact on patients’ lives. BMS reinforces a culture of diversity and inclusion. There are mentorship programs and courses that provide endless opportunities to feel empowered.

What advice would you give to a young girl considering a role in STEM?

It’s never too early and it’s never too late. I didn’t have a traditional path into STEM and was able to pivot. It’s okay to try something new and fail, but it’s not okay to not try.

Nadia Turchetta

Head, Oncology

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What made you decide on a STEM career?

Instead of putting pressure on myself to immediately commit to one specific career path, I decided to approach my career by looking at different industries. Having the privilege to work for an industry that has revolutionized the way we treat certain diseases and improves the lives of patients is a great reason to get up and go to work every day.

Tell me about your career path.

I had a traditional commercial pharmaceutical career path. I started as a medical representative and took on roles of increased responsibility across multiple areas of business.

How has BMS provided you with opportunities as a woman in STEM?

BMS offered me this position when I was eight months pregnant. I don’t know many companies that would do this. This gave me a glimpse of how female talent is supported at BMS.

What advice would you give to a young girl considering a role in STEM?

The advice I have goes for anyone considering a career in STEM or another field. Don’t feel like you need to figure out the career you will do for the rest of your life right out of high school. Be curious, flexible and follow your interests. Your career can evolve and change. And finally, don’t assume you need a science degree for a career in STEM.

This article was sponsored by Bristol Myers Squibb Canada.

The post How Women Are Driving Meaningful Change in the Biopharma Industry appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Meet Lexie

Lexie knew she wanted to be a scientist from an early age, and by grade 11, she had her career path completely mapped out. A university degree and a post-graduate certificate later, Lexie was living her dream as a research and development chemist. She was proud of her achievements but wondered about girls who hadn’t had the same opportunities and encouragement in STEM. “I wanted to help young girls get into higher education,” she says. “I wanted to bridge that gap and be a role model.” Was there an organization where she could do that?

Making a difference

Lexie did some research and discovered CAGIS, a national STEM club for girls. Now she helps members aged 7 to 16 get a glimpse of science in the lab and workplace. She works with other volunteers to organize monthly events, like taking a trip to a bird banding station, doing a coding workshop, or visiting a university genetics lab. She’s even led events in her field of expertise. At one, she took girls through the process of making their own bath bombs, teaching them about pH and chemical reactions along the way. They had a blast, and so did all the volunteers.

“I saw I could make an impact,” says Lexie. “By showing the things I was interested in, I could inspire someone else to be interested, too.”

Going virtual during COVID

Throughout the pandemic, Lexie has continued to stay involved and come up with ways for kids to explore real science at home. She spoke to a national audience of participants at two recent virtual events. At one session focused on soaps and shampoos, girls performed three simple experiments using ordinary household materials, while Lexie modelled how to think like a chemist. During another event, she talked about the properties of fluids and showed how to stack liquids of different densities to make a colourful rainbow. She was struck by how absorbed the members were. “They were so hungry to learn more,” she says.

Being part of CAGIS gives Lexie the chance to inspire and be a role model. Most importantly, it lets her spread the message she wants to share: “If there’s a career you can dream of, you can be it.”

Follow CAGIS for science activities, inspiring STEM stories, and more!

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram

The post How Women in STEM Can Inspire the Next Generation appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Taylor Jamieson-Datzkiw

Intern, Mitacs

Diversity brings different perspectives, interpretations, and thinking to a challenge and, in STEM fields, this translates to greater innovation.

The importance of gender diversity in the workplace is a well-known topic backed by research, statistics, and social observation. Studies have shown that a diverse team, for example, is likely to outperform a team lacking diversity, even if members of the less-diverse group are individually more highly skilled. Diversity brings different perspectives, creativity, and thinking to a challenge and, especially in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, this translates to greater innovation.

According to a report published in September 2019 by the Government of Canada, A Gender Analysis of the Occupational Pathways of STEM Graduates in Canada, women now account for the majority of overall university graduates. And yet, this same report states “Over one-third of men (37.5 percent) with a bachelor’s degree had studied in a STEM field, compared to 15 percent of women with a bachelor’s degree.”

What, then, can companies do to attract more women to these fields, which offer lucrative careers in high-demand sectors?

Mitacs works with STEM businesses and universities to fill the gap between business innovation and skilled talent. Students are able to apply what they’ve learned to a work setting during their studies. Not only is this an effective way to give women the experience of what it would be like to work in their industry, but we found that these interns tend to stay in the field once they enter the workforce.

Knowing what’s out there

One of the ways organizations are drawing women to STEM is ensuring that they’re aware of the opportunities and supports that are available to them while they pursue their education.

Sherry Zhao is a Senior Account Manager and BC Business Development Team Lead with Mitacs, a national not-for-profit organization that designs and delivers research and training programs focused on innovation with the support of governments, academic institutions, and industry.

“Mitacs works with STEM businesses and universities to fill the gap between business innovation and skilled talent,” said Zhao. “Students are able to apply what they’ve learned to a work setting during their studies. Not only is this an effective way to give women the experience of what it would be like to work in their industry, but we found that these interns tend to stay in the field once they enter the workforce.”

Mitacs’ flagship internship program is called Accelerate. Through the program, businesses are connected with post-secondary institutions and students to develop a research project and apply for the grant. “Students work with a company or community organization to help solve challenges the organization faces,” says Zhao.

Taylor Jamieson-Datzkiw is a Mitacs intern and MD-PhD candidate at the University of Ottawa. She believes that it’s important to receive the kind of on-the-job learning that Mitacs offers. “The internship takes you out of academia,” she says. “As a grad student, you learn through your courses or seminars and through meeting other scientists. But, as an intern, you get to see people in different roles — working full-time jobs in the manufacturing facility — and it shows you where your career could go.”

“The program supports female students by creating alternative pathways to show how and where women can apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to a real-life situation, on a real-life problem. Not only that, but it also demonstrates to potential employers how STEM can be applied in their business,” explains Zhao. “When we work with a company, we translate a business need into an R&D project and, when a woman is on the team, it brings a different perspective to solving that challenge.”

The program supports female students by creating alternative pathways to show how and where women can apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to a real-life situation, on a real-life problem.

Career advice included

Aside from her research project, Jamieson-Datzkiw engaged in workshops offered through Mitacs. “One of the talks I attended was given by a woman who started in the lab and took us through her career trajectory. It was really nice to get tips and tricks from another woman in the field, from networking advice to issues surrounding intellectual property,” she says.

Besides the Accelerate initiative, Mitacs offers additional programming for women in STEM. Elevate, for instance, is an annual competitive initiative that includes a research management training program and a postdoctoral fellowship. The organization also offers a Business Strategy Internship program, a Canadian Science Policy Fellowship, and international opportunities.

The post How Mitacs is Helping Businesses Connect with Women in STEM appeared first on HiveInnovates.

The announcement of CRISPR-Cas9 created quite a buzz in the science world. CRISPR is a faster, cheaper, and more precise method of genome editing, with an incredible list of potential applications in medicine and agriculture.

Short for clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, CRISPR was first discovered in nature (used by bacteria to fight off viruses). Years of research led to the understanding of CRISPR — leading to the creation of a technology that enables scientists to change DNA — the code of life — with precision once only dreamed of.

Two researchers, Jennifer Doudna at the University of California, Berkeley in the US, and French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier were jointly awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for their breakthrough work in the development of CRISPR-Cas9.

A fireside chat with Nobel Laureate Dr. Jennifer Doudna

Dr. Doudna will join Dr. Karen Churchill (president and CEO of Ag-West Bio) on September 21st at 7 pm CST (Saskatchewan time) for a virtual ‘fireside chat’. The two will discuss the potential that CRISPR holds for agriculture. The event is part of the new Agricultural Bioscience Innovation Centre (ABIC) Speaker Series, managed by Ag-West Bio, Saskatchewan’s bioscience industry association.

Doudna is a leader in the public discussion of the ethical implications of genome editing, and advocates for thoughtful approaches to the development of policies around the safe use of CRISPR technology.

During a recent lecture, Doudna said, “The potential of the technology is so huge and it’s so important that we don’t want to slow it down, but I think the global scientific community needs to be making a strong stand about how we want to see the technology proceed — and I think that’s been happening.”

The ABIC Speaker Series seeks out thought leaders with a passion for solving global challenges through science and technology. ABIC presentations teach, inspire, and drive innovative thinking. The events are hybrid (in-person as well as live-streamed), and topics are wide-ranging — from advice for bioscience start-ups to dealing with controversial issues in science communications to exploring futuristic concepts.

The upcoming conversation with Dr. Jennifer Doudna will be the third in the ABIC Speaker Series. Past speakers included Brent Zettl, a pioneer in medical cannabis, and Curtis Frank, president and COO at Maple Leaf Foods. To learn more and to register, visit abic.ca.

The post Meet the Women Scientists behind CRISPR: A Powerful Tool for Genome Editing appeared first on HiveInnovates.

Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) skills have long been associated with innovation and a resilient economy, but women, particularly those who are newcomers to Canada, are often underrepresented in STEM fields.

According to the National Sciences and Research Council of Canada, “Canada’s greatest potential can only be realized when all people are welcomed into the laboratory, the classroom, and the field. We all benefit from the wide range of perspectives and talent that make our research and our society better. In a competitive global economy, Canada can’t afford to leave talent on the sidelines.”

“Now more than ever is a time to come together and focus on leveraging our collective expertise and identifying creative solutions that will support the employment and training needs of our province’s workforce,” says Minister Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development. “Our job is to connect the dots and ensure newcomers have the support they need to pursue the in-demand and fulfilling careers available in their new home and to provide for their families. These training investments will go a long way to strengthening our economy and local communities.”

OWN it: take tech training

Lighthouse Labs is a national organization that was created in 2013 by a team of software developers who have a love of code, a belief in the power of mentorship and education, and a drive to contribute to the development of Canada’s tech talent.

One of the company’s programs is the Ontario WebDevelopers Network (OWN) initiative, funded in part by Skills Advance Ontario. Originally developed to address labour market access barriers for both newcomer women and the employers who hire them, Lighthouse Labs partnered with Achēv, the Ottawa Chinese Community Service Centre, the YMCA of Greater Toronto and the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance, amongst others, to deliver a pioneering program that funds and trains unemployed, underemployed, and underrepresented Ontarians in the skills needed to work in the digital economy.

“The pandemic has accelerated the future of work, and now more than ever, having technical skills is essential to entering the workforce,” says Jeremy Shaki, CEO and co-founder of Lighthouse Labs. “Ontario is home to some of the world’s most prominent tech hubs. Opportunities like the OWN initiative will not only give participants the skills required to be part of this booming industry, it will help strengthen and rebuild our economy.”

A bootcamp for the brain, not the body

Eligible participants are enrolled in Lighthouse Labs’ highly successful, 12-week immersive Web Development Bootcamp to learn everything from JavaScript to software architecture. Additional resources, such as career coaching and interview prep, are offered to ensure that each student is ready to make their leap into a career in tech.

And the success rate speaks for itself: in its 2020 Student Outcomes Report, Lighthouse Labs reports that out of 478 total Web Development Bootcamp graduates, 97 percent of the job-seeking grads found employment and 87 percent were hired within 180 days.

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