Deanne Pittman, Centretown News
A group of web developers work in Invest Ottawa offices located at 80 Aberdeen St. Roll up your sleeves: Ottawa is about to get a whole lot more innovative.
Centretown-based Invest Ottawa and the city both have their own plans for programs to foster innovation in Ottawa.
Invest Ottawa is holding half-day clinics where companies can come into the Centretown office and get graded on their level of innovation.
David Ritonja, chair of the Invest Ottawa board of directors, says the capacity to innovate now is greater than ever.
“The ability to come up with ideas and start a software startup is easier than it has ever been,” Ritonja says.
“It’s allowing for a level of creativity and the ability to turn that creativity into an actual solution, at a rate that 10 years ago was impossible.”
Ritonja says supporting companies during the innovation phase is important.
“A lot of innovation comes from the startup community, so that continues to be a big focus of Invest Ottawa,” he says.
Invest Ottawa helps companies by providing the tools and support to get them going. The clinic is just one example of that.
The city also has plans to help entrepreneurs innovate.
Kanata South Coun. Allan Hubley proposed an Innovation Pilot Program for companies to test their technologies at city hall. The initiative will run out of the economic development and innovation department.
Mayor Jim Watson mentioned the program in the state of the city speech, saying, “after all, with a significant number of employees and many lines of business . . . The City of Ottawa would be a perfect laboratory to test new products, technologies and ideas.”
Hubley says he saw the need for the program because companies were looking for credible references for their products.
“Wouldn’t it work well for the taxpayer if we can work with these companies, give them a letter afterwards saying ‘We, the City of Ottawa, have tried this product, it works really well, we recommend it?’” he says.
So far, almost 50 applications for the program have been submitted and the city plans to select about five of them.
It’s not just technology companies that can benefit from this program. Video game companies, and medical and mobility devices are just some of the sectors the city has received applications from.
While the names and products of participating companies are yet to be disclosed, the city anticipates being able to publicly release the list in March.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until all of the spots for the program are filled.
“I think you will be very impressed by the quality of the innovation and ideas of our local entrepreneurs,” Watson said in the speech.
Hubley says there will be a chance for the public to get a flavour of how much innovation is going on in the city by hosting a showcase for the companies in the program. If the program is popular and there is a demand, the city will open up more spots for the next round and it could become an annual program.
All that innovation is great, but that’s not the only thing companies will have to be good at to succeed.
Tony Bailetti, director of Carleton University’s Technology Innovation Management program and coordinator for all the entrepreneurship programs at Carleton, says effective innovation has two parts: the new innovative idea and entrepreneurship.
“You can innovate and make something that doesn’t sell. You need to follow by entrepreneurship because you have to commercialize what you innovate.”
Bailetti says talking about innovation without also talking about entrepreneurship is a big mistake.
“Entrepreneurship is what takes those innovative ideas and really makes them work,” he says. “Innovative companies can be measured based on one thing: who dominates the global market? That’s how you find innovation.”