national research council of canada industrial research assistance program supporting sme growth...
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NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF CANADAINDUSTRIAL RESEARCH ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
Supporting SME growth through innovation and technology
Industrial Research Assistance Program2
NRC-IRAP Programs ()
IRAPIncludes financial support for innovation projects with SMEs and contributions to organizations assisting SMEs
Business Innovation Access Program (BIAP)Helps Canadian SMEs access technical and business services at universities, colleges and other public research institutions.
Youth Employment Program (YEP)Helps SMEs hire highly skilled post-secondary graduates
Canada Accelerator and Incubator Program (CAIP)Provides funding to best-in-class accelerators and incubators enabling them to support more early-stage SMEs that are investment ready and poised for growth.
Digital Technology Adoption Pilot Program (DTAPP) has been discontinued
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Federal Budget 2013
“Economic Action Plan 2013 proposes to provide $20 million over three years to help small and medium-sized enterprises access research and business development services at universities, colleges and other non-profit research institutions of their choice through a new pilot program to be delivered through National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP).”
Industrial Research Assistance Program4
Business Innovation Access Program
What is BIAP?Pilot program that provides funding to SMEs to help them access technical or business services at Canadian universities, colleges and publicly-funded research organizations to bring bigger and better innovations to market faster.
What types of projects are eligible?Projects with a short timeframe for which technical or business services would clearly demonstrate the potential to contribute to quicker commercialization of products or academic research.
Eligible technical services:• product optimization• process development, analysis or
optimization• specialized testing
Eligible business services:• Market research• Marketing or business strategy
development• Competitive analysis
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BIAP Goals
• Enhance the innovation capacity of firms to develop and commercialize new and improved products, technologies or services;
• Increase near-term engagement primarily between Canadian SMEs and universities, colleges, and non-profit research institutions, and where appropriate, publicly funded research facilities with unique abilities or due to proximity challenges;
• Leverage publicly funded research.
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Typical example of a BIAP project
• Situation Bread Co. Manufacturing, an innovative Canadian producer of a unique gluten-free, high-protein line of crackers, has just signed a Pilot Agreement with Costco for a new line of products. As they start development, they are required to conduct an allergen control audit before the first shipment in 24 weeks.
• Possible Solution Bread Co. has contacted the University of Guelph
Department of Food Science, which has provided them with a quote for advice (*) to conduct a needs assessment to understand what is needed to be certified by accredited food audit certification associations. The university can complete the work within the next 6 weeks for a total amount of $14,568 before taxes, with payment due at the end of the project. The quote indicates that it is a ‘fee-for-service’ contract and no IP is involved.
(*): Not to do the certification.
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Key Program Parameters: similar to ARP but…
Parameter ARP BIAP Practical BIAP Total IRAP Contribution
Up to $50K Up to $50K Range from $10k to $40k with emphasis on well defined problems.
Project duration Shorter than IRAP projects (typically less than 1 year)
Up to 1 year Targeting 3 to 6 months, year long projects would be exceptional.
Support of SME internal costs
Normally up to 80% of Salary Costs
n/a
Support of SME external costs
Normally up to 50% of contractor costs
Up to 75% of contractor costs
75% is to encourage SMEs to use BIAP
Service Standard Project to be approved by Director within 20 business days of receipt of complete client proposal
Project to be approved by Director within 15 business days of receipt of complete client proposal.
Objective is to address immediate SME needs.
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BIAP Program Specifics: similar to ARP but….
ARP BIAP Practical BIAP Contractors SME can use
any capable private or public contractor.
Limited to primarily universities, colleges, and non-profit research institutions, and where appropriate, publicly funded research facilities with unique abilities or due to proximity challenges.
Contractor must operate in Canada.
Emphasis is given to universities and colleges and non-profit research institutions. Also includes not for profit incubators and accelerators with permanent staff.
Publicly funded research facilities are government labs (i.e. NRC).
Contractor Capacity
Contractor can subcontract if required.
BIAP principles:
- No flow-through
- Contractor cannot sub-contract
- No third party arrangements
BIAP to ensure knowledge and competencies are retained and remain available to SMEs.
Intent is to grow the ability of the public service providers to engage and work with SMEs.
Full time employees, registered students of the institution under contract and professors are allowed.
Rely on ITA judgement and Director approval.
Number of contractors per project
No limit (Total Contribution must be under $50K).
Only one Contractor per project.
Page 2 Why is there a need for Concierge Service?
Why is there a need for
Concierge Service?
• No clear place to start – finding relevant information on innovation resources available in Canada can be challenging to SMEs.
• Confusing – when an SME identifies a program or service suited to their needs it is difficult to establish eligibility criteria having access to vague or often outdated materials to go by.
• Going through the submission process and understanding key acceptance criteria can also be confusing/challenging. Many don’t have a dedicated resource for this process.
• ROI is not there – there is a perception by many SMEs that many programs do not offer enough incentive to warrant the application process.
What is Concierge Service?
Page 3What is Concierge Service?
• Customized service to help SMEs leverage available programs and services to expand their markets
• Up-to-date, easily accessed information under a single umbrella
• Guidance on the most appropriate business innovation assistance that aligns with where the business is in their development.
• Soft Hand-offs and referrals to the right partners or service providers that can provide timely support
Target Audience for Concierge Service
Page 4Who will benefit from Concierge Service?
• Canadian SMEs seeking to innovate with new products, services or markets
• Firms looking to adopt/adapt their innovation to grow their companies
• Concierge supports all industry sectors
• Any phase of product and service development
Page 5How Concierge Service Works
How Concierge Service Works
• Helps innovation-based SMEs define specific business needs for where they are in the business development cycle
• Identifies most stage appropriate support for the development of new products, services or markets
• Identifies programs/services that the SME might not have otherwise identified themselves
• Helps SMEs understand what they need to have in place to successfully access the available programs/services (who they need to be)
One Simple Access Point
Phone line Website
Concierge Advisor
Concierge Service
Innovative SMEs
Sources of funding
Innovation services
Expert information
R&D Equipment
Innovation Infrastructure
International linkages
EUREKA: A tool for Bilateral Industrial Innovation Collaboration
EUREKA is a Network
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
European Union
Finland
France
FYR Macedonia
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Monaco
Montenegro
The Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russian Federation
San Marino
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Transitional status:
Albania
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Associate countries:
South Korea
Canada
EUREKA has 41 full members; two countries with transitional status and Canada and South Korea as two associated countries
• All technological areas. Civilian in nature.
• Projects are bottom-up: the partners are totally free in their choice of topic, partner(s) and timeframe, provided there is market potential for their idea.
• Project participants retain IP ownership.
• EUREKA projects can be of any size. Must involve a minimum of 2 independent partners from 2 different EUREKA Members.
• EUREKA is very flexible: projects are approved four times per year and the EUREKA label (EUREKA’s seal of approval) is awarded annually.
• Limited reporting obligations - as non-bureaucratic as possible.
• For Canada: full access - mechanism allows bilateral projects. Projects can be generated via calls for proposals.
Individual Projects – Main Advantages
EUREKA Mechanisms
Individual Projects
• Small, shorter-term projects proposed, defined and managed by partners
• Involve participants from at least two EUREKA member and/or associate countries
• Mostly industry-led to result in a product, process or service with a significant advance in their sector
• Projects selected quarterly at EUREKA meetings, funded nationally, receive EUREKA label, may be organized under a thematic umbrella
Cluster Projects
• Public/private, medium term, strategically-significant initiatives (ICT, energy, biotech, water)
• Many participants, includes Europe’s major companies
• Develop generic technologies/technology platforms of key importance to European competitiveness
• Projects selected by clusters according to a tech roadmap, via calls for proposals in targeted areas, funded nationally
Eurostars Projects
• Small, short-term projects, involving partners from at least two participating Eurostars countries
• Consortium leader is an R&D-performing SME
• Industry-led to result in a product, process or service with a significant advance in their sector
• Programmed jointly with the European Commission, projects selected by the EUREKA secretariat, funded nationally
Individual Projects in 2013
• 8 Canadian SMEs in 8 Individual Projects valued at 5.7 Million Euros (8.3M C$)• Varied funding models. • In Canada: Alberta Innovates, NRC-IRAP, Self-funding
• Canadian Partner Portfolio• 11 SMES: France (3), Romania (2), UK (2), Korea, Germany, Israel,
Finland• 2 Research Institutes: Romania, Korea• 1 University: Turkey• 1 Large Firm: Turkey
Recent Projects - 2013
• Participants: Recon Instruments (Canadian SME) and MicroOled (French SME)
• Objective: to incorporate MicroOLED's upcoming OLED microdisplay technology into a new advanced consumer Head-mounted display
• 15 months; 400K Euros
E! 8751- RECON-MICROOLED
• Participants: EPHYLA SAS (French SME), LIMATB UBS (French SME), and Arclay Natural Technologies Inc.(Canadian SME)
• Objective: to develop 100% natural cationic bio-charges for industrial applications in the field of cosmetics as an alternative to conventional petrochemical surfactants.
• 30 months; 1.51M Euros
E! 8806- CATIOMERC
