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Wealth through Technological Entrepreneurship

The Canadian Academy of Engineering, recognizing the significant impact of technological entrepreneurship on new business creation and global competitiveness, has undertaken a review of the status of technological entrepreneurship in Canada and issued a challenge to engineers to expand this activity for the benefit of the Canadian economy.

In Brief

This report of the Canadian Academy of Engineering recognizes technological entrepreneurship as a highly valuable but underdeveloped contributor to economic growth in Canada. It also emphasizes the role engineers can and indeed must accept if Canada is to continue as a prosperous nation in the global economy. For such activities to flourish, however, a major cultural shift is necessary. Public attitudes about technology, innovation and achievement have to be changed.

Technological entrepreneurship is the innovative application of scientific and technical knowledge by one or several persons who start and operate a business and assume financial risks to achieve their vision and goals. Technically, engineers are well-qualified in many respects for this activity, but often lack the necessary business skills and entrepreneurial mentality.

To encourage more engineers to prepare for and seek out technological entrepreneurship as a career opportunity, the Academy recommends the creation of a National Steering Committee for Technological Entrepreneurship (NASCENT). Composed of one representative from each of Canada's leading engineering and business organizations, NASCENT would develop and implement programs based on recommendations of the Academy and others that foster technological entrepreneurship growth in Canada.

The key recommendations of the Academy are to:

• empower every student in Canadian schools with literacy in maths and science, including more effective programs that prepare teachers to teach these subjects successfully and motivate students to learn them.
• ensure that every engineering student is provided with effective orientation in entrepreneurship skills related to commercial applications of technology.
• establish a Canada-wide Internet-based network to motivate and assist emerging engineer-entrepreneurs.
• encourage Canadian universities to establish campus-wide entrepreneurship centres and ask engineering and business schools to establish joint programs in technological entrepreneurship.
• find ways to set up one or more innovation and technological entrepreneurship centres (ITECs) in each province to stimulate technological entrepreneurship startups.
• improve productive communication between technological entrepreneurs and sources of financing.
• establish and support a broadly-based cooperative effort essential for success; engineers can be effective in expanding technological entrepreneurship in Canada only if the engineering profession, business leaders, governments and the general public accept and promote its importance.

Wealth through Technological Entrepreneurship