Transcript Technology and Business Advice: Their role in Stimulating

Presentation to Technical Research Committee
Canadian Home Builders’ Association
in Banff, Alberta
February 23, 2011
Walter Cool
Industrial Research Assistance Program
National Research Council Canada
1
NRC-IRAP
Overview
• Who we are
• What services we provide
• Who our clients are
• What we do in Construction and Housing
2
NRC-IRAP
Our Purpose
We support small and medium-sized, for
profit, enterprises (SMEs) grow
through technological innovation.
3
NRC-IRAP
What we do
We assist firms to develop, adopt and
adapt technologies and incorporate
them into competitive products and
services to be commercialized in the
global marketplace
4
Who Are Our Clients?
NRC-IRAP worked with
8,693 SMEs* in 2009-2010,
of which 2,871 received
some form of funding.
3037
1936
• 84% have less than
50 employees
1201
954
• 65% have fewer than
20 employees
188
BC
* small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) –
Firms with 500 employees or less
AB
SK
377
352
352
222
74
MB
ON
QC
NB
NS
PE
NL
5
The ITA Advantage
LEGEND
NRC-IRAP Industrial Technology
Advisor (ITA)
NRC-IRAP Regional Office
NRC Institute
NRC Cluster
*ITA – Industrial Technology Advisor
6
The IRAP Model
7
Financial Contributions
• Innovation projects with SMEs (for profit and less then
500 employees)
• Graduates (younger then 31) working with SMEs (for
profit and less then 500 employees)
• Organizations that support innovation with SMEs
8
Helping Our Clients Grow
Stronger, Faster, Bigger
Recent client surveys show
• 91% have increased technical
knowledge and/or capabilities
• 68% increased business knowledge
and/or capabilities
• 62% enhanced their ability to
conduct R&D
• 61% consider that NRC-IRAP helped
develop/improve the firm’s internal
business/ marketing/ management
• 63% of clients have indicated that
NRC-IRAP helped identify other
sources of financing
Quantiam Technologies, Edmonton, AB
9
NRC-IRAP in Construction
• NRC-IRAP supports a large number of construction projects
with manufacturers of building products
• NRC-IRAP supports a number of software and communication
technologies projects for the construction sector
• NRC-IRAP more recently is supporting projects related to
making buildings more sustainable by incorporating a range of
innovative technologies and green design principles
• NRC-IRAP has supported a few project with home builders
related to automation of manufacturing of building systems
• NRC-IRAP has funded an Industrial Technology Advisor who
worked out of the CHBA office in Ottawa
10
Innovation Opportunities for Home Builders
• Digital Show Homes
• Computerization of Business Process Management
• Implementation of Building Information Modeling
• Modeling Tools for Net Zero Homes
• Development of Innovative Building Products
• Automation of Production of Building Panels in Plants
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