On May 18-19, 2011, I had the pleasure of attending the Ontario Centre of Excellence’s (OCE) annual conference, (you can read about the conference as a whole on Andrea Dias’ blog post ). The conference focused on the importance of innovative and entrepreneurial development in the province to sustain a stronger economy.

The conference also showcased the many talented entrepreneurs and academic researchers that are in the midst of developing breakthrough technologies that are more efficient, economic, and environmentally friendly than what is used today; it is evident that Ontario is not short on innovation and some of these developments have global potential in their use.

The conference kicked off with a keynote address by the Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty. As Ontario’s first ever, he understands the importance of innovation in Ontario and the benefits it can provide to not only Ontarians, but nationally and internationally as well. Given his technical background, he possesses a deeper understanding of some of the technologies out there, and thus, has a greater appreciation for the intellect that goes into innovation, and has always been a large advocator of these developments being at the forefront of our economy.

He went on to say that innovation is a ‘reserve of none,’ as it belongs to all of us and each one of us can contribute to it. Although, in some regards, a certain expertise or background may be required, innovation and technological development is not an exclusive opportunity, but rather one that is available to everyone. Furthermore, innovation provides an avenue that contributes to the benefit of humanity and, as a result, although one or a few people directly contribute to the innovation, the successes of it are shared by all.

The Premier went on to discuss a new initiative of the Government of Ontario known as the “.” The objective of the project is create a wiki-environment, where anybody can contribute to the topics and areas of concern.  Topics focused on social problems faced by the government today, such as unemployment, poverty, and pollution. The use of a wiki allows for public response to the proposed initiatives, as the online contributors play a direct role in the strategies developed to achieve positive results. The Premier stressed how his father used to say that “no one of us is stronger than all of us together, and no one of us is smarter than all of us together,” and how this approach helps dissipate the greatest of problems within society today.

This initiative benefits all parties involved. It is beneficial to Ontarians because it creates an environment where they can openly commend or criticize initiatives being taken on the Government, and actually have a say in what they feel is the best plan of action. Likewise, it yields positive outcomes for the Government because they have a chance to hear what the people want, and use this to make an informed decision, thereby avoiding the use of extensive resources (i.e. taxpayers’ money) in a manner that is not well-received by the community in Ontario. However, an underlying motivation exists here: the government wants to foster innovation of Ontarians towards social issues, thereby promoting the need for innovation and technological development in the province to sustain growth, as well as tackle the areas of concern that are closest to the hearts of society. It is virtually a win-win, and a huge stride towards a better Ontario.

Throughout the Premier’s address, I could not help but think of the importance of IP in all of this. With innovation occurring at a rapid rate within Ontario, the need for protection of these inventions, ideas, designs, and works of art, is integral to further foster Ontario’s growth as a technological haven. Thus, the area of IP plays an exciting role in fostering a more innovative Ontario.  With all the advancements in technology occurring in the province, the practice area will only grow in demand and importance.  It appears that the future holds an exciting time for all those in the area.

One of the quotes that stood out from Premier McGuinty’s address was when he was discussing his background in chemistry and stated “I used to spend a lot of time looking into a microscope. Now, I am often under it.” The world of politics is one where you cannot make everyone happy, but I am sure that the 2,500 attendees of Discovery 11 were applauding the Premier’s efforts towards a more innovative Ontario, which makes me look forward to what the future has in store for the province not only with regards to innovation, but the role intellectual property law plays in it.

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The (OCE) hosted the conference and tradeshow on May 18-19m 2011. Named Canada's Best Trade Show in 2010, Discovery hopes to promote innovation in Ontario by facilitating the exchange of ideas and encouraging collaboration between industry, academia, government, entrepreneurs, students, and potential investors.

The event gathered together over 2,000 attendees from all over the globe and more than 300 exhibitions. Discovery showcases leading research, new technologies, best practices in a variety of industries, clean energy, and more.

Kicking off the event was keynote speaker Premier Dalton McGuinty, who addressed the key role of innovation in the provincial economy and the importance of supporting small business innovation. Also including in the opening address was Sean Conway, Chair of the OCE Board and Public Policy Adviser at , as well as Dr. Tom Corr, President and Chief Executive Officer of OCE.

The Metro Toronto Convention Centre was live with possibility. Inventors, entrepreneurs and researchers were all more than happy to present their ideas and findings during the exhibition. The province's universities  and colleges were present to display the fruits of their research. For example, the University of Guelph has undertaken a , which hopes to use the complete bean genome to improve the bean crop so to be able to become resistant to bacterial pathogens. In addition they are finding ways to replace plastics with bean-based products.

The conference included panel discussions on some of today’s most popular innovations. Plug-in electrical vehicles, stereo 3D applications, mobile apps, solar energy, and innovative public transit (a topic of great interest to all Torontonians!), were some of the topics presented. One panel discussed the commercialization initiatives in medical diagnostic technology in Ontario. The speakers highlighted the barriers that exist to bringing imaging research to commercialization - a struggle that is not unique to this field. The question was how do we increase the engagement of enterprise to help bring the advances in research to those patients in need? How do we attempt to improve communication between the traditionally sharply distinct worlds of academia and industry to improve the rate of commercialization of innovative technologies?

Hopeful entrepreneurs also had the chance to compete for prizes, including capital funds and consulting services in some of the event's competitions. My personal favourite of these was the competition. Here the contestants had 5 minutes to pitch their ideas to the panel of expert judges. The ideas ranged from new social networking apps to post-surgical scar reduction creams. The winning idea was from the creators of Patient Way - inventors of a self-service check-in system for hospitals.

Also in attendance were representatives from the (CIPO), to help the up and coming entrepreneurs make wise decisions when choosing their commercialization strategy. CIPO has two initiatives to increase IP education. The first is the Bank of Speakers initiative, where IP presentations are available to public and private organizations across Canada for free. For the post-secondary audience, CIPO offers IP Case Studies, which are reflective of real IP situations, and serve as a teaching tool to demonstrate the value of IP.

Aside from being exciting and informative, Discovery 11 opened my eyes to all the innovation happening right here in Ontario. The immense advances in technology can only be an indication of the intriguing future ahead for IP!

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