The New Brunswick government has announced it’s investing $53.5 million in the province’s new innovation agenda aimed at boosting research and development in the province.
“This investment and the new innovation agenda support our multi-year economic growth plan to grow the economy and create job opportunities for New Brunswickers by building on the strength of our highly skilled workforce, world-class education system, and internationally recognized research community,” said Treasury Board President Roger Melanson.
The agenda falls into six pillars: boosting R&D capacity, boosting innovators, commercializing and scaling enterprises, fostering innovation spaces, leading the cybersecurity agenda in Canada, and becoming a ‘smart’ province. To achieve its agenda, the provincial government will also undertake initiatives to increase the number of STEM students and scale-ups, as well as building broadband infrastructure.
“As an owner of a technology company and co-founder of a co-working and innovation space we see firsthand the effects of these initiatives,” said Doug Jenkins, president of iSpire and ConnexionWorks. “Our province has a history of innovation, brilliant people and exceptional skills. Support in fostering innovation with our people has a major impact on growth for both new and mature businesses in New Brunswick. At ConnexionWorks and iSpire, we have an impact on many of these pillars and we look forward to seeing how further partnership with the government can help improve our ability to grow innovation in the province.”
To download the innovation agenda, see this link.
Photo via Twitter.