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$1.4 Million Contribution Will Help Narrow the Gap From the Lab to the Marketplace

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Backgrounder

Technology Transfer and Commercialization

Technology Transfer and Commercialization in Alberta

• The demand for technology transfer and commercialization services in Alberta is expected to increase in the near future due to recent major investments in university-based research.

• Investments have come through federal government programs, including: the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI), the Canada Research Chairs program and the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), and Government of Alberta programs including the Alberta Ingenuity Fund and Alberta Informatics Circle of Research Excellence (iCORE).

• The University of Alberta's Industry Liaison Office (ILO) and the University of Calgary's University Technologies International Inc. (UTI) are among Canada's most effective university technology transfer offices. Together, they account for over 50 per cent of Western Canada's total technology transfer output. Combined, they were issued 74 patents last year and 110 new spin-off companies were created. To date, 114 spin-off companies have been created. Current spin-offs employ over 1,500 knowledge-based workers, generate more than $50 million in annual revenues and have a market capitalization of more than $1 billion.

• Inno-centre Alberta (ICA) provides mentoring programs for new high-technology companies using the successful model of Inno-centre Canada (ICC). ICA's main goal is to sign business development agreements with 10 to 15 of the most promising new high-tech Alberta companies each year.

• ICA, ILO and UTI activities support the growth of knowledge-based businesses and the commercialization and adoption of innovative processes. Ultimately they contribute to the diversification of the economy in Alberta and Western Canada.

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Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD)

• Western Economic Diversification Canada is announcing its non-repayable contribution of $1,000,000 to Inno-Centre in Alberta. Funding will be used to support licensing fees and capital equipment requirements, including computers and office furnishings.

• The Department is also providing $200,000 to ILO and $200,000 to UTI through the Western Diversification Program. Funding will be used to assist ILO and UTI in implementing technology transfer initiatives that will include patenting, marketing research and planning for spin-off company development, as well as some prototype development. WD previously provided $500,000 to each organization in 1999 through the Canada-Alberta Western Economic Partnership Agreement (WEPA).

• WD's investment in these initiatives supports one of the main priorities of the Government of Canada's Innovation Strategy, which is to increase and speed up technology transfer and commercialization across the country.

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Inno-centre Alberta Business Development Services Inc. (ICA)

• ICA is a non-profit company established in March 2001 with a mandate to accelerate the growth of the new high-technology companies in Alberta. ICA operates under a license agreement with Inno-centre Canada (ICC), which has a proven track record in financing new high-technology start-ups. Since its inception in 1987, ICC has coached 122 start-up firms, of which 115 are still operating.
  ICA provides mentoring services to investment-caliber companies participating in a two-year business development program and offers specialized support for business plan development, pre-capitalization financing and development of successful proposals.

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Industry Liaison Office (ILO)

• The Industry Liaison Office is a unit within the Office of the Vice-President (Research) at the University of Alberta that helps share researcher's innovations, inventions and ingenuity with society through the marketplace.

• The ILO works with university researchers to identify technology and know-how with commercial potential. The ILO helps protect intellectual property through means such as patent filing, and assists in the processes that can lead to commercialization, which includes marketing technology to industry for licensing opportunities and helping researchers form spin-off companies.

• The ILO also assists in managing research contracts, industrial grants and other collaborative initiatives between the university and industry, research organizations and government departments and agencies.

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University Technology International (UTI)

• University Technology International Inc. is a private company wholly owned by the University of Calgary.

• UTI helps bring the results of research, performed at the University of Calgary and other research institutions, to industry.

• UTI is backed by a volunteer Board of Directors and supported by an Advisory Council drawn from the business and technology community.

• The company serves research clients in post-secondary institutions, government research laboratories, industrial research and development installations and in private facilities. Its customer base includes corporations, start-up companies, research and development facilities, and other research institutions.

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