The Next London: Innovative Economy, Resilient

Community

Neil BradfordHuron University College, UWO

CPRN Research Associate

Five Themes

1. Context: The World We’re In2. Getting our Bearings: The Big Thinkers3. Where Does London Fit? A City at the

Crossroads4. Learning from Others: K-W and Ottawa5. Building from Within: Assets and

Opportunities

The World We’re In …

  Crisis: Global economic downturn

Challenge: Knowledge-driven competition  Change: Canada’s branch plant legacies  Community: The Roots of Innovation

“In a world of global competition, sources of competitive advantage are becoming increasingly localized” (Michael Porter)

Getting our Bearings: The Big Thinkers

 

On Global Dynamics …  Tom Friedman and the Flat World  The global economic playing field has been levelled: anyone,

anywhere can innovate and compete (connectivity in space) yet  Richard Florida and the Spiky World The global economy remains driven by urban mega regions:

‘talent-rich, high metabolism places' 'collaboration in place) 

Getting our Bearings: The Big Thinkers 

On Local Responses …  Thomas Homer-Dixon and the Ingenuity Gap The world is too complex and too fast-paced to manage: the

supply of good ideas is lagging yet  Robert Putnam and the Networked Society Social networks for ‘bonding and bridging’ create resilient

communities that continuously adapt to change

The Takeaway? Five Game-changing Ideas  Innovation Matters: New Ideas and their Successful

Application are key to success in global economy

Place Matters: People, Capital, Ideas clustering in certain city-regions

Community Matters: Innovation through social networking

Successful Places: Innovative Economies and Resilient Communities

Choice Matters: Local places succeed not by accident or luck but by purposeful collective action

  

The Ideas in Action …

Innovation, Place, Community: At Different Scales

City: MaRS Centre for Business Incubation and Social Innovation in Toronto’s Discovery District

Province: Ontario Commercialization Network for taking leading edge ideas to market

Region: Southwest Ontario Angel Group for supporting start-ups and investor best practices

What About London? A City at the Crossroads

 

It has been said (in the past!) about London …  A complacent, conservative culture

A fractious polity  A business community in search of an identity or brand  A citizenry disengaged from civic life  A university detached from the local community and economy 

 

A City at the Crossroads: Choosing Success 

A new collective purpose: London is one of North America’s most dynamic mid-sized cities

 How to move from ‘good to great’? No ‘magic bullet or secret sauce’

but research identifies certain key steps and ingredients  1. Learn from others(history/culture; academic institutions; collaborative networks; civic

leadership; capitalization and commercialization)  2. Build from within(tap existing assets, leverage emerging opportunities)

Innovation and Resilience in Waterloo Region: Learning from Others (1)

 

Canada’s Technology Triangle  

 A Dynamic Cluster 455 companies in high tech sector Employs 26,000 people 10% of employment in the region 45% of the region’s recent job growth Anchor firms: RIM, Open Text

 

Waterloo Region: Success Factors?

Role of History/Culture: advanced manufacturing tradition and distinctive regional entrepreneurial culture of ‘quality and connectivity’

Role of Universities/Colleges: University of Waterloo a 50 year track record in creating talent pool, technology transfer, collaborative research, spin-offs, and combining engineering with business education/training (Wilfred Laurier and Conestoga College)

Waterloo Region: Success Factors…

  Role of Supporting Institutions: vibrant social networks

and sense of community through business networking that transfers knowledge and creates opportunity (skills, information, contacts, promotion); eg. Communitech

  Role of Civic Entrepreneurs: local champions with visions

beyond single firm success who ‘give back’ to their sector (mentoring, philanthropy, representation) and who build bridges across private, public, civic sectors; eg. Prosperity Council

Role of Capitalization and Commercialization: Venture capital and angel investors, eg. TechCapital Partners Inc.

 

Innovation and Resilience in Ottawa-Carleton: Learning from Others (2)

Silicon Valley North 

A Dynamic Cluster 1,800 companies in high tech sector Employs 82,000 people Second largest concentration of science and technology

employment in North American cities $4.7 billion Venture Capital invested in sector over last

decade Anchor firms: Mitel, Nortel 

Ottawa: Success Factors?

Role of History/Culture: early postwar research and development for federal government (Defence, NRC, Telecommunications) provided foundation for international technology hub in 1980s

  Role of Supporting Institutions: OCRI formed in

1984 to promote interaction among academic institutions and technology industry; evolved over time to full service economic development agency with an innovative focus on a continuum of technology learning (eg. K12; Science Camps; Industrial Research Chairs; OCRInet)

 

Ottawa: Success Factors…

  Role of Universities/Colleges: three founding members of

OCRI (Algonquin College Professor second OCRI President), ran the Industrial Research Chair Program, participated in OCRI Commercialization Task Force and moderated Executive Forums

Role of Civic Entrepreneurs: OCRI has leveraged other economic partnerships to ensure the resilience of the technology cluster: Ottawa Talent Initiative to meet needs of 20,000 laid off high tech workers in 2004; 3P Ottawa Innovation Hub “to go global” focused on VC investment, commercialization and export

Role of Capitalization and Commercialization: Venture capital and angel investors, eg. Ottawa Angel Alliance

 

Innovation and Resilience: Building from Within

London’s Assets and Opportunities: Some Ideas

  History/Culture: Economic diversity, entrepreneurial track

record, institutional innovation in technology transfer   Universities and Colleges: UWO/Ivey/Fanshawe nexus of

knowledge production and dissemination   Supporting Institutions: TechAlliance, LEDC, UWO Research

Park/Stiller/Robarts/ World Discoveries, Small Business Centre  Civic Entrepreneurship: Within Business: TechAlliance,

SWOAG; Inter-sectoral: Creative City Task Force, Emerging Leaders Initiative, Pillar Network

London: Many Promising Developments Entrepreneurial history: Labbatts, Trojan, Ellis Don, London Life

Diversity of industry: IT, Manufacturing, Life Sciences, Finance IT Sector: 260 companies, 5000 employed/2000 in corporate IT

Clustering: Digital Gaming Cluster; Business-led Medical Device Consortium; Ivey Centre for Health Innovation and Leadership

Globally branded companies: IBM, 3M, General Dynamics, Bell Canada

Support institutions: LEDC, TechAlliance, Stiller Centre, Research Park, National Research Council, Small Business Centre, World Discoveriies, SWOAG

Service Infrastructure: data centres, telecommunications, international airport

London: Many Promising Developments

Growing investment/engagement of London’s tech community

TechAlliance membership base: 31 (2002) to 150 (2009)

TechAlliance: Leveraged $500,000 in in-kind contributions by local business community for next generation entrepreneurs and SME’s

Establishment of business-led Technology Leadership Council (TLC)

Digital gaming cluster – one of the largest in Ontario

DIG London digital game conference (2008/2009) Significant players: Autodata, TV Works, StarTech.com, Phoenix

Interactive, PFW Systems, ActivPlant, iLookabout, Conversys, EK3 technologies, Digital Extremes, Big Blue Bubble

Challenges Remain …

The various pieces are here, but not yet fully ‘assembled, aligned, and announced’

  An Emerging London Narrative: Think Global, Act

Local, Lead Regional (SWEA-SODA opportunity)  Getting on the Global Map: Know Your Story and

Tell Your Story

Growing/Recognizing/Supporting our own Civic Entrepreneurs: Leadership

Making it Work: Three Key Sources to Learn From

Not the ‘ big thinkers’ but stories from the economic and community front lines … 

Grass Roots Leaders for the New Economy: How Civic Entrepreneurs are Building Prosperous Communities (Henton, Melville and Walelsh, 1997)

  MegaCommunities: How Leaders of Government, Business

and Non-Profits Can Tackle Today’s Global Challenges Together (Gerencser, Van Lee, Napolitano, and Kelly, 2008)

  Civic Revolutionaries: Igniting the Passion for Change in

America’s Communities (Henton, Melville, Walesh, 2004)