In Fall 2006 University of Calgary experts facilitated the First Banff Innovation Summit. Leading figures from business, government, universities and the not-for-profit sector in the four Western provinces contributed to a dialogue around the growing social and political consensus that in order to sustain our high quality of life, Western Canada needs to encourage innovation and create new types of knowledge-based industries. Jennifer Myers recently spoke with Dr. Richard Hawkins, Canada Research Chair in Science, Technology and Innovation about the objectives and outcomes of this event.

What does innovation mean?

Innovation is about economic diversification and it means living in a different way in the world.  It doesn't have to be a technology. A pizza delivery company can be an example of innovation if it develops a new method for doing business and creating added value. Innovation is more than an idea. It is an idea which is developed, put into action and which creates a positive change in how we do things.

Why is innovation important to Western Canada?

On a basic level, innovation is an evolutionary strategy. Either we diversify or we die. The Western provinces need to extract value from innovative ideas and use them to benefit and diversify our economy. We do this by developing ideas into actionable ways to do better business and build a more effective means of functioning in the world.

What happens if we do not develop innovation?

That is what is happening right now. For example, Alberta is half as wealthy as it could be because we have a culture of exceptionalism - the idea that we have one unique advantage in our natural resources. The result has been that we are organized as a boom and bust society because we are reliant on our natural resources to drive the economy and so we are subject to enormous threat.

What is the Banff Consensus?

The Banff Consensus is a document and a living initiative that is the outcome of the Banff Innovation Summit. Our objective was to bring together a significant group of individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to economic diversification in Western Canada. It included people from government and industry who have a track record in promoting the concept that Western Canada has a modern world to participate in outside of wheat and oil. The consensus document is an agenda of 12 principles generated by the group that say the Western provinces are serious about encouraging innovation and creating a more prosperous and stable economy through diversification of our industries.

What does the Banff Consensus hope to accomplish?

The goal of the Banff Consensus is to create a cultural shift in how we approach innovation in Western Canada. Right now there is a gap between coming up with an idea and developing that idea. Knowledge has no real value on its own. It's what we do with that knowledge that counts. The Banff Consensus wants to encourage Western Canadians to develop their good ideas right here in our own communities. This is the way to create economic diversification and move the West from being reliant on Natural Resources and from being a boom culture, to a region that has the potential and wealth to become a political, economic and a knowledge centre on the global landscape.

How will the Banff Consensus begin to produce such a cultural shift?

We will do research and produce knowledge to find out where the opportunities and challenges are. Canada has a deficit in the area of innovation. Most developed countries assess their progress on a yearly or bi-yearly basis. Canada needs to begin to understand where we are progressing and where we are not progressing and why. Most importantly, we will engage in activities that generate discussion and dialogue. We need to get people talking about the issues around innovation openly to put the issue on the provincial agendas.  We need to build a culture that says we're not afraid of change and we are capable of adapting and adding value through diversifying our economy.