$15M competition will accelerate industry innovation

Fredericton, NB – The New Brunswick Research and Innovation Council is launching the Industry Innovation Challenge, a $15 million competition to identify three to six large-scale industry research and development initiatives.

“As part of our government’s $80-million investment in innovation as well as research and development, we are looking to mobilize industry leadership in support of big ideas that have the potential to transform our economy and create new jobs in our communities,” said David Alward, New Brunswick’s premier, in making the announcement.

The challenge will provide up to $5 million per initiative which will be matched with industry support and further augmented through partnerships with other provincial and federal industrial research and development programs. The initiatives will be led and implemented by industry over a period of up to five years, either through an individual company or an industry consortium, and will mobilize public research capacity in the province in support of its objectives.

“The council is determined to capture and reinforce the energy of private-sector led innovation,” said Geoff Flood, president of T4G. “This competition is the cornerstone of the recent $80 million investment and will amplify the collaboration between  industry and researchers in the years to come.”

Successful initiatives will be chosen by the New Brunswick Research and Innovation Council over the coming year through a competitive process. Letters of intent for the first round of selection are due on Dec. 13, 2013 and for the second round on May 30, 2014. Additional detail on the challenge can be found on the province’s Department of Economic Development website.