Changes in academy/industry/state relations in Canada: The creation and development of the Networks of Centres of Excellence

Minerva

Volumn 39, Issue 3, 2001, Pages 299-325

  Fisher, Donald ^a   Atkinson Grosjean, Janet ^a   House, Dawn ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA   (Canada)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0141476234     PISSN: 00264695     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1023/A:1017924027522     Document Type: Article

References (133)

1. David H. Guston and Kenneth Keniston, 'Introduction: The Social Contract for Science', in David H. Guston and Kenneth Keniston (eds.), The Fragile Contract: University Science and the Federal Government (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1994), 1-41.
2. Michael Polanyi, 'The Republic of Science: Its Political and Economic Theory' (reprinted from Minerva 1 (1962), 54-73)
3. Minerva, 38 (1), (2000), 1-21.
4. The first networks came onstream in 1990.
5. At the time of writing, eighteen networks were pursuing research on arthritis, aquaculture, stroke, bacterial diseases, genetic diseases, protein engineering, vaccines, telecommunications, geomatics, health evidence systems, robotics, structural sensing systems, mathematics of complex systems, wood-pulps, microelectronics, sustainable forest management, distance learning, and photonics. In March 2001, after a year-long targeted competition, four new networks were announced - in stem cell genomics, childhood literacy, 'clean water', and advanced automotive engineering. Earlier networks, which lost funding at some stage of the renewal cycle, studied neuroscience, respiratory disease, concrete, ageing, molecular facial dynamics, fisheries, space science, and pest control in agriculture. The ageing network chose not to apply for renewal for reasons related to the status of the social sciences in the early years of the NCE programme.
6. Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, Networks of Centres of Excellence: Powerful Partnerships (Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services, Canada, 1992).
7. Donald Fisher, 'Boundary Work and Science: The Relation Between Power and Knowledge', in Susan Cozzens and Thomas Gieryn (eds.), Theories of Science in Society (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990), 98-119;
8. Donald Fisher, The Social Sciences in Canada: Fifty Years of National Activity by the Social Science Federation of Canada (Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1991);
9. Donald Fisher, Fundamental Development of the Social Sciences: Rockefeller Philanthropy and the United States Social Science Research Council (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1993);
10. Donald Fisher, 'A Matter of Trust: Rockefeller Philanthropy and the Creation of the Social Science Research Councils in the United States and Canada', in Theresa Richardson and Donald Fisher (eds.), The Development of the Social Sciences in the United States and Canada: The Role of Philanthropy (Stamford, Conn.: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1999), 75-93;
11. Thomas F. Gieryn, 'Boundaries of Science', in Sheila Jasanoff, Gerald E. Markle, James C. Petersen and Trevor Pinch (eds.), Handbook of Science and Technology Studies (Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi: Sage, 1995), 393-443;
12. Thomas F. Gieryn, Cultural Boundaries of Science: Credibility on the Line (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999).
13. Michel Callon, 'Is Science a Public Good?', Science, Technology, and Human Values, 19 (4), (Autumn 1994), 395-424.
14. This discussion is extended in Janet Atkinson-Grosjean, 'Adventures in the Nature of Trade: Network Science, Russian Dolls, and a Grand Dichotomy', conference paper presented at Demarcation Socialized: Or, How Can We Recognize Science When We See It? (Cardiff University, Wales, August, 2000).
15. Callon, 'Is Science a Public Good?', op. cit. note 7, 401.
16. Toby E. Huff, 'Science and the Public Sphere: Comparative Institutional Development in Islam and the West', Social Epistemology, 11(1), (1997), 25-37.
17. Ronald Kline, 'Construing "Technology" as "Applied Science": Public Rhetoric of Scientists and Engineers in the United States, 1880-1945', Isis, 86 (1995), 194-221.
18. Donald E. Stokes, Pasteur's Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press, 1997).
19. Derek de Solla Price, Little Science, Big Science (New York: Columbia University Press, 1963);
20. Diana Crane, Invisible Colleges: Diffusion of Knowledge in Scientific Communities (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1972);
21. Philip E. Agre, 'Visible Colleges: Infrastructure and Institutional Change', in The Networked University (posted at , Los Angeles: Department of Information Studies, UCLA, draft paper dated 12 May 1999).
22. Jean Lave and Etienne Wenger, Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991).
23. Thaddeus J. Trenn and Robert K. Merton (eds.), Ludwik Fleck, Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact, Thomas S. Kuhn (Foreword), Fred Bradley and Thaddeus J. Trenn (trans.), (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1979), 39.
24. Walter W. Powell, 'Inter-organizational Collaboration in the Biotechnology Industry', Journal of Institutional and Theoretical Economics, 152, (1996), 197-215;
25. Walter W. Powell, Kenneth W. Koput and Laurel Smith-Doerr, 'Interorganizational Collaboration and the Locus of Innovation: Networks of Learning in Biotechnology', Administrative Science Quarterly, 41 (March 1996), 116-145;
26. Jane E. Fountain, 'Social Capital: A Key Enabler of Innovation', in Lewis M. Branscomb and James H. Keller (eds.), Investing in Innovation: Creating a Research and Innovation Policy That Works (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1998), 85-111.
27. Fountain summarizes network attributes as: (1) trustful relations founded on experience; (2) limited numbers of players to facilitate information sharing; (3) the network is valued more highly than immediate self-interest; (4) clearly defined boundaries and objectives; (6) clearly defined rules of operation; (7) established sanctions graduated so as not to destroy the network; and (8) established conflict resolution mechanisms (Branscomb and Keller, Investing in Innovation, op. cit. this note, 90-91).
28. Powell et al., 'Interorganizational Collaboration and the Locus of Innovation: Networks of Learning in Biotechnology', op. cit., note 15, 197.
29. Parts of this section draw upon Janet Atkinson-Grosjean, 'Science and Technology Policy and University Research: Comparing Canada and the United States, 1979 to 1999', International Journal of Technology Policy and Management (forthcoming, Spring 2001).
30. John Britton and James Gilmour, The Weakest Link. A Technological Perspective on Canadian Industrial Underdevelopment (Ottawa: Science Council of Canada, 1978);
31. Meric Gertler, 'Capital, Technological Change and Regional Growth', in John Britton (ed.), Canada and the Global Economy (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1996).
32. A Science Policy for Canada. Report of the Senate Special Committee on Science Policy. Chair: Maurice Lamontagne, P.C., three vols., vol. 1: A Critical Review: Past and Present (Ottawa: Queen's Printer for Canada, 1970), 147. See also Table II in this article.
33. A comparative study of Australia, Britain, Canada and the USA argued that Canada's academic researchers had the most freedom to set their agendas and were the least involved in activities targeted toward commercial or industrial applications. See Sheila Slaughter and Larry Leslie, Academic Capitalism. Politics, Policies and the Entrepreneurial University (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997), 12-13.
34. These goals were part of the ideologically driven reform ('new public management') of public sector institutions observed in OECD countries generally at this time.
35. InnovAction: The Canadian Strategy for Science and Technology, Government of Canada, 1987.
36. Invitations were sent to representatives from universities and colleges (30 per cent); employers and users of research (25 per cent); labour and employee organizations (10 per cent); Federal and provincial governments (15 per cent); non-government organizations and special interest groups (first nations groups, visible minorities, student groups, etc.) (15 per cent); and the general public (5 per cent). Proceedings. National Forun on Post-Secondary Education, Saskatoon, 25-28 October, 1987 (Halifax: Institute for Research on Public Policy, 1987), 5.
37. Science Council of Canada, Winning in a World Economy: University-Industry Interaction and Economic Renewal in Canada (Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services, 1988). The Science Council of Canada, established in 1966 to provide independent advice on the formulation and implementation of Federal science policy, was abolished in 1992 as part of a massive restructuring of the country's R&D system.
38. National Advisory Board on Science and Technology, Report by the University Committee (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1988), 76. Established in 1987 by the Mulroney administration to advise the prime minister on national science and technology goals, the NABST consisted of 20 members representing university, industry, labour and government interests. Under the Liberal government of Jean Chretien the NABST was replaced with the Advisory Council on Science and Technology, a body of twelve experts representing industry and the scientific community.
39. Industry Canada, Science and Technology for the New Century: A Federal Strategy (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1996).
40. Richard Nelson, The Sources of Economic Growth (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1996).
41. Corporate-Higher Education Forum, From Patrons to Partners: Corporate Support for Universities (Montreal: Corporate-Higher Education Forum, 1987), 45-46.
42. Jorge Niosi, Flexible Innovation: Technological Alliances in Canadian Industry (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1995), 34-35.
43. At the provincial level, Quebec's Programmme d'actions structurantes started in 1984-1985 with forty networks of university and government laboratories. Ontario's eight Centres of Excellence were established in 1986. In 1987, Quebec pioneered the Centre d'initiative technologique de Montréal (CITEC) at McGill University. At the Federal level, the Department of Regional Industrial Expansion merged with the Department of Science and Technology in 1984 to form Industry, Science, and Technology Canada (ISTC; subsequently Industry Canada). The new department emphasized industrial partnerships and collaborations. Both NSERC and MRC have actively supported collaborative targeted research, carried out through academy - industry - state partnerships. The opportunities for SSHRC have been less pronounced. NSERC started to fund 'big science' networks in the early 1980s - in the earth sciences (Lithoprobe) and in integrated circuit design (Canadian Microelectronics Corporation). During 1987/88, the budget year prior to the establishment of the NCE, 15 per cent of NSERC's total budget went to targeted research. For further discussion see Robert S. Friedman and Renée C. Friedman, 'The Canadian Universities and the Promotion of Economic Development', Minerva 28 (3), (1990), 272-293.
44. CIAR was created in 1982 by Fraser Mustard, a distinguished medical scientist and policy actor. Prior to the NCE, this model was utilized by the Ontario Centres of Excellence programme.
45. Policy Adviser, First Interview, 10 October 1999, 1.
46. Policy Adviser, First Interview, 10 October 1999, 2.
47. Civil Servant, Third Interview, 4 October 1999, 4.
48. Brian Mulroney, cited in ARA Consulting Group Inc., Evaluation of the Networks of Centres of Excellence Program, Final Report, prepared for the NCE Program Evaluation Committee (n.p., January 1997), 9.
49. Program Officer, 2 October 1999, 2.
50. J.W. Pullen, Centres of Excellence, report prepared by the Canadian Centre for Management Development. Government catalogue no. SC93-2/2-1990E (Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services Canada, 1990).
51. J.W. Pullen, Centres of Excellence, 1990). Ibid.
52. Programme Officer, First Interview, 4 October 1999, 3.
53. Programme Officer, First Interview, 4 October 1999, 4.
54. Information on the councils' strategies is based on a synthesis of interviewee comments. See also Pullen, Centres of Excellence, op. cit., note 37.
55. As an interviewee noted, Industry Canada 'holds the pen' when writing memoranda to cabinet or making submissions to the Treasury Board and is also 'closer to the centre' than the arm's-length granting councils (Program Officer, First interview, 5 October 1999, 18). Further, NSERC and SSHRC fall within the Industry Canada portfolio and the Minister of Industry's sphere of responsibility.
56. Programme Officer, First interview, 5 October 1999, 18.
57. Policy Adviser, First Interview, 1 October 1999, 2-3.
58. Policy Adviser, First Interview, 1 October 1999, 1.
59. Civil Servant, Third Interview, 4 October 1999, 8.
60. Programme Officer, 18 October 1999, 22.
61. Michael Gibbons, Camille Limoges, Helga Nowotny, Simon Schwartzman, Peter Scott, and Martin Trow, The New Production of Knowledge. The Dynamics of Science and Research in Contemporary Societies (London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi: Sage, 1994);
62. Michael Gibbons, Higher Education Relevance in the 21st Century (Paris: The World Bank/UNESCO, 1998).
63. Programme Officer, 18 October 1999, 13.
64. Programme Officer, 5 October 1999, 27.
65. Inter-Council Program Directorate, Networks of Centres of Excellence, List of Applications (Ottawa: Government of Canada, 1988), 1.
66. From some 240 letters of intent.
67. As previously stipulated by the research councils, the report was made public. Public disclosure gave some assurance that the decisions were made in accordance with established scientific criteria and were not politically influenced.
68. Policy Adviser, First Interview, 1 October 1999.
69. Programme Officer, 2 October 1999.
70. Programme Officer, First Interview, 4 October 1999, 6.
71. Programme Officer, 15 October 1999, 1-2.
72. Policy Adviser, 1 October 1999, 3.
73. Programme Officer, First Interview, 4 October 1999, 6.
74. An eminent scientist and former professor with the Department of Psychiatry, McMaster University Medical School, Stuart Smith was chair of the Science Council of Canada in the early 1980s, and later, the founder of a private sector research corporation.
75. Stuart Smith, 'Address to NCE Participants', Liaison 1 (1), (January 1990), (Internal Newsletter, NCE Program, Ottawa: NCE Program Directorate).
76. Policy Adviser, 9 November 1999, 24.
77. Ibid.
78. Programme Officer, Fifth Interview, 4 October 1999, 6.
79. Programme Officer, First Interview, 5 October 1999, 10.
80. Programme Officer, Fifth Interview, 4 October 1999, 23.
81. NCE, Report to the Minister (Ottawa: Steering Committee, November 1993), 5.
82. Report to the Minister (Ibid. 3.
83. Programme Officer, Fifth Interview, 4 October 1999, 12.
84. Civil Servant, Third Interview, 4 October 1999, 6.
85. Programme Officer, Fifth Interview, 4 October 1999, 17.
86. Programme Officer, 18 October 1999, 9.
87. Programme Officer, First Interview, 5 October 1999, 9.
88. Policy Adviser, Second Interview, 1 October 1999, 1.
89. Programme Officer, Fifth Interview, 4 October 1999, 14.
90. Programme Officer, First Interview, 5 October 1999, 10.
91. Ibid.
92. Programme Officer, First Interview, 4 October 1999, 13.
93. Programme Officer, 1 November 1999.
94. Programme Officer, Second Interview, 6 October 1999, 3.
95. Georg Meyer-Thurow, 'The Industrialization of Invention: A Case Study from the German Chemical Industry', Isis 73 (1982), 363-381.
96. Georg Meyer-Thurow, Isis Ibid., 377.
97. Information on organizational patterns is based on a synthesis of interviewee comments and NCE documents: NCE, Program Evaluation Assessment, Final Report (Ottawa: Program Evaluation Steering Committee, June 1992);
98. NCE, Report to the Minister (Ottawa: Steering Committee, November 1993), 14;
99. ARA Consulting Group Inc., Evaluation of the Networks of Centres of Excellence Program, Final Report, Prepared for the NCE Program Evaluation Committee (n.p., January 1997), 19-48;
100. NCE, Report of the Selection Committee, Phase II (Ottawa: Selection Committee, January 1994), appendix 6;
101. NCE, Selection Committee Report (Ottawa: Selection Committee, September 1997), 23.
102. Programme Officer, First Interview, 6 October 1999, 10.
103. Programme Officer, First Interview, 4 October 1999, 9.
104. Ibid.
105. Civil Servant, Third Interview, 4 October 1999, 14.
106. Ibid.
107. Programme Officer, Second Interview, 6 October 1999, 5.
108. Programme Officer, Fifth Interview, 4 October 1999, 19-20.
109. Programme Officer, Third Interview, 6 October 1999, 10.
110. Programme Officer, Fifth Interview, 4 October 1999, 19-20.
111. Ibid.
112. Programme Officer, First Interview, 4 October 1999, 8.
113. Policy Adviser, 9 November 1999, 4.
114. ARA Consulting Group Inc., Evaluation of the Networks of Centres of Excellence Program, report prepared for the NCE Program Evaluation Committee (Ottawa: NCE Program Directorate, 1997).
115. Programme Officer, First Interview, 6 October 1999, 6.
116. Policy Adviser, 9 November 1999, 24.
117. In some fields, however, patenting and licensing are not the normal routes for technology transfer; dissemination occurs instead through traditional routes, such as training and conference presentations.
118. Programme Officer, 15 October 1999, 11.
119. Programme Officer, Fifth Interview, 4 October 1999, 29.
120. Ibid., 30.
121. NCE, Report of the Selection Committee (Ottawa: NCE Program Directorate, September 1997).
122. Ibid.
123. Programme Officer, First Interview, 5 October 1999, 11.
124. Programme Officer, 15 October 1999, 11-12.
125. Stokes, Pasteur's Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation, op. cit., note 11.
126. Gibbons, et al. The New Production of Knowledge, op. cit., note 48;
127. Gibbons, Higher Education Relevance in the 21st Century, op. cit., note 48.
128. NCE Program, Annual Report, 1996-1997.
129. Programme Officer, First Interview, 4 October 1999, 3.
130. Nominally 10 per cent of a researcher's time is spent on network activities, but it is often considerably more, owing to board, committee, and leadership commitments.
131. Programme Officer, 15 October 1999, 19.
132. For an examination of the relative proportions of public and private funding in the NCE programme, see Janet Atkinson-Grosjean, 'Excellence, Networks, and the Pursuit of Profit: Academic Science and Public Policy in Canada', conference paper presented at the Society for the Social Studies of Science (San Diego, Calif., 1999).
133. Programme Officer, 15 October 1999, 20.