Podcasts about innovation agenda

  In this week's episode, we tackle the complexities of innovation in a rapidly shifting global landscape. Understanding how today's economic indicators are impacted by innovation and state competition is no small feat, and we delve into these intricate dynamics. Along with insights into the latest innovation trends, challenges, and strategies, we unveil findings from the annual Innovation Agenda, a comprehensive examination of corporate innovation practices around the globe.   Chris is the Chief Marketing Officer at Wellspring, the leading provider of R&D and innovation software and services for corporate, academic, and government clients. Chris has worked for nearly twenty years in the innovation management space, first as a thought leader at Forrester Research and then as a senior executive at solution providers in both North America and Europe. Chris holds an undergraduate degree in biology from Harvard University. More recently, he has cultivated an interest in dad jokes.   "The definition of innovation has evolved—it's about the evolution of a company's value creation engine driven by science and technological advancements." - Chris Townsend   Today on Innovation Talks: •     The annual Innovation Agenda is a key resource for understanding corporate innovation trends. •     While some companies establish chief innovation officers and special units, these roles often lack permanence. •     Global integration and cultural adoption of innovation metrics are rising to the CEO level. •     Long-term, transformative innovation is garnering significant strategic investment focus. •     Economic uncertainty is causing a cautious approach toward significant new innovation investments. •     AI is a prominent topic of interest, yet corporate strategies in this area remain underdeveloped. •     There is an increasing need for companies to define and assess disruptions accurately for effective strategizing. •     The maturation of innovation as a business discipline is evidenced by companies centralizing and coordinating innovation efforts more thoughtfully.   Connect with Chris Townsend: •     LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-townsend-9917653/) •     chris.townsend@wellspring.com   Resources Mentioned: •     The Innovation Agenda: An annual study offering insights into corporate innovation trends and strategies. •   2021 and 2022 Survey Themes: Focused on COVID recovery, economic uncertainty, and the role of AI in innovation.       Ready to Transform Your Innovation Strategy? If you're a product manager or innovator looking to streamline your processes and turn chaos into control, you won't want to miss this opportunity.   Dive into our exclusive, free eBook on Innovation Ops strategies designed just for you.   Learn the secrets to revolutionizing your approach and achieving success with clarity and precision.   Download your copy today (https://info.sopheon.com/innovationops-ebook) .   Start your journey to becoming an innovation powerhouse now!   This Podcast is brought to you by Sopheon   Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Innovation Talks. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.   Apple Podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/innovation-talks/id1555857396) | TuneIn (https://tunein.com/podcasts/Technology-Podcasts/Innovation-Talks-p1412337/) | Google Play (https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9pbm5vdmF0aW9udGFsa3MubGlic3luLmNvbS9yc3M%3D) | Stitcher (https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=614195) | Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/1dX5b8tWI29YbgeMwZF5Uh) | iHeart (https://www.iheart.com/podcast/263-innovation-talks-82985745/)   Be sure to connect with us on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/SopheonCorp/) , Twitter (https://twitter.com/sopheon) , and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sopheon/) , and share your favorite episodes on social media to help us reach more listeners, like you.   For additional information around new product development or corporate innovation, sign up for Sopheon's newsletter where we share news and industry best practices monthly! The fastest way to do this is to go to sopheon.com (https://www.sopheon.com/) and click here (https://info.sopheon.com/subscribe) .

 In this week's episode, we tackle the complexities of innovation in a rapidly shifting global landscape. Understanding how today's economic indicators are impacted by innovation and state competition is no small feat, and we delve into these intricate dynamics. Along with insights into the latest innovation trends, challenges, and strategies, we unveil findings from the annual Innovation Agenda, a comprehensive examination of corporate innovation practices around the globe. Chris is the Chief Marketing Officer at Wellspring, the leading provider of R&D and innovation software and services for corporate, academic, and government clients. Chris has worked for nearly twenty years in the innovation management space, first as a thought leader at Forrester Research and then as a senior executive at solution providers in both North America and Europe. Chris holds an undergraduate degree in biology from Harvard University. More recently, he has cultivated an interest in dad jokes. "The definition of innovation has evolved—it's about the evolution of a company's value creation engine driven by science and technological advancements." - Chris Townsend Today on Innovation Talks:•     The annual Innovation Agenda is a key resource for understanding corporate innovation trends.•     While some companies establish chief innovation officers and special units, these roles often lack permanence.•     Global integration and cultural adoption of innovation metrics are rising to the CEO level.•     Long-term, transformative innovation is garnering significant strategic investment focus.•     Economic uncertainty is causing a cautious approach toward significant new innovation investments. •     AI is a prominent topic of interest, yet corporate strategies in this area remain underdeveloped.•     There is an increasing need for companies to define and assess disruptions accurately for effective strategizing.•     The maturation of innovation as a business discipline is evidenced by companies centralizing and coordinating innovation efforts more thoughtfully. Connect with Chris Townsend:•     LinkedIn•     chris.townsend@wellspring.com Resources Mentioned:•     The Innovation Agenda: An annual study offering insights into corporate innovation trends and strategies.•   2021 and 2022 Survey Themes: Focused on COVID recovery, economic uncertainty, and the role of AI in innovation.   Ready to Transform Your Innovation Strategy? If you're a product manager or innovator looking to streamline your processes and turn chaos into control, you won't want to miss this opportunity.  Dive into our exclusive, free eBook on Innovation Ops strategies designed just for you.  Learn the secrets to revolutionizing your approach and achieving success with clarity and precision.  Download your copy today.  Start your journey to becoming an innovation powerhouse now! This Podcast is brought to you by Sopheon Thanks for tuning into this week's episode of Innovation Talks. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts. Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | Google Play | Stitcher | Spotify | iHeart Be sure to connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and share your favorite episodes on social media to help us reach more listeners, like you. For additional information around new product development or corporate innovation, sign up for Sopheon's newsletter where we share news and industry best practices monthly! The fastest way to do this is to go to sopheon.com and click here.

Tectonic movement is reshaping blue chip marketing with remits expanding by the day. Coles and IAG replaced the CMO role with Chief Customer officers. ANZ CMO Sweta Mehra was last month promoted to Managing Director of ANZ's Everyday Banking business. But Lion's latest move tops the lot for adventure. Anubha Sahasrabuddhe in February became Chief Growth Officer at the $3bn drinks firm. The former Mars global marketing chief has responsibility for marketing, M&A plus enterprise-wide transformational innovation beyond new product development. Just to make things more interesting she's also been handed responsibility for IT and technology. Which means the CMO is now effectively CTO, CIO and CDO to boot. Lion CEO Sam Fischer, former APAC chief at Diageo, is backing Sahasrabuddhe to deliver. She's given herself and her team 500 days to move the needle and reengineer the company's culture, including IT, entirely around the customer. “If we can't demonstrate sufficient progress, then we can't justify our existence,” says Sahasrabuddhe. “The days are ticking.” This podcast is as wide-ranging as the remit. Tuck in.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Moderator: Tom Reuner, Executive Research Leader, HFS Panelists: Angela Johnson, Partner - Head of Capital Formation, Fifth Wall Armen R. Kherlopian, Ph.D., Chief Science and Innovation Officer, Covenant Venture Capital Rajesh Rajappan, Senior Vice President - Global Markets, Hitachi Vantara Nitin Rakesh, CEO & MD, Mphasis Ted Shelton, Expert Partner, Bain & Company Session Description: HFS has outlined the vision, but how do we operationalize the autonomous enterprise? Many organizations still struggle to scale their low-level automation projects. Is it realistic to expect machines will make decisions without human interaction? How should we adapt the innovation agenda to finally get data and workflows out of silos? We'll hear from leaders driving the innovation agenda discuss and debate these questions: How do you design the innovation agenda to enable the autonomous enterprise? How do we need to think about the operating model? What will the most important change agents be: next-gen AI and industry cloud or culture and governance? How do you safeguard the necessary skills amid the war for talent?

How Workday Applies AI and ML Technologies to Healthcare IndustryThe Big Themes:Patient-centered care: Workday applies AI and ML technologies to deliver on its promise of delivering patient-centered care, by looking closely at past patient records. "Already, we have seen that AI and ML apply to help our diagnosis, to help with automation, to help guide our care recommendations, and so much more," notes Kravitz.Industry-specific capabilities benefiting patients and providers: Workday's industry-specific capabilities are being utilized by over 375 healthcare systems. The same notion can be applied to other industries, too. Workday releases two major system upgrades a year to its industry-specific software.Driving digital innovation agenda: To drive the digital innovation path forward, Workday offers a true enterprise management cloud for healthcare. "And it's the same cloud for all systems, all environments, and all industries," explains Kravitz. "But the Workday platform is built on an intelligent data core that takes security, privacy, compliance, organizational hierarchy and analytics, and business policies into account as the foundation for the dynamic platform." The Big Quote: "The difference from Workday and other companies that have moved to the cloud, is we didn't have an application that was developed for your data center, and then migrate that to the cloud. Ours was built in 2005, and, the idea behind it was to start moving to the cloud, you know, 18 years ago, we decided we're gonna build it in the cloud. So all the intelligent data core and the frameworks were all built-in with the cloud in mind from day one. So I think that's an important factor."

In this episode #119 w Wyatt Roy, learn about:Sunrise in regional Queensland and working on the family strawberry farmInfluence of high school teacher to enter politics at age 20specifics of how he become a member of parliamentSimilarities between politicians and startup founders (yep stick with us and hear the answer)Overcoming age bias, and why it exists not just in politics but in areas like Military, Sport etcGenesis for the National Innovation and Science AgendaTransitioning the Australian economy towards innovation and entrepreneurshipCreating the first renewable billionaire, from renewables and sustainability, rather than miningWhy can “innovation” be a divisive word in government“Don't worry, a bigger idiot than you has gone before you and done it”It's now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy!***Follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn or TwitterContact us via our website or email Vidit directly at vidit@curiositycenter.xyz to discuss sponsorship opportunities, recommend future guests or share feedback, we love hearing how to improve! Thank you for rating / reviewing this podcast on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, it helps others find us and convince guests to come on the show! 

Tomás O'Leary and Hari Candadai talk about the latest moves made by software mega vendors, including Oracle, Microsoft, and IBM, and the signals to watch regarding job cuts and economic trends in 2023. Plus, they'll discuss the idea of being a “healthy skeptic” when driving your innovation agenda, and how this mindset can steer your IT roadmap decisions based on what you need, rather than on what software vendors demand.

Rilla Delorier, who sits on multiple bank and fintech boards, joins Dan Marks on this episode to discuss how banks can ensure innovation gets the proper attention at the board and management level.  Innovation from the perspective of a bank executive vs a bank board member  How Rilla filters and prioritizes key information Understanding the customer perspective to inform strategy  The importance of having people from different perspectives to spark inspiration  Key innovation areas of opportunity for community banks Avoiding the ‘twin traps' of being too aggressive and too massive on a transformation program as opposed to not doing enough  3 key lessons learned by Rilla that would be helpful for bank management 

Überblick: Entlastungspaket, Energie Preise, Erdgasbezahlungen in Rubel, Atomausstieg in Belgien um zehn Jahre verschoben, Partnerschaften mit Katar und VAE, Russische Gaslieferungen nur mit großen Anstrengungen zu ersetzen (BDEW), Infrastrukturumrüstung bei Lieferstop (TransHyDE-Paper), Maßnahmen für Öleinsparung (IEA), Auswirkungen auf die Wasserstoff Importstrategie (HyPat), Zusätzliches Ammoniak-Terminal in Brunsbüttel, Förderaufrufe innerhalb Deutsch-Namibische Wasserstoffpartnerschaft, Neue Strategische Agenda für eine Europäische Wasserstoffwirtschaft veröffentlicht, EU-Rat einigen sich auf CO2-Grenzausgleich (CBAM), Regierung für Verbrenner-Aus 2035, UBA: Verkehr und Gebäudesektor reißen Emissionsvorgaben, EEG2023 Diskussion, Tennet Beschleunigter Netzausbau, Netto will 100 Millionen Euro in Wärmepumpen und Photovoltaik investieren, Steag wird Wasserstoff produzieren, Antarktis außergewöhnlich warm, Ankündigung- IPCC: Bericht zur Minderung (3. Teil) der Erderwärmung kommt Kontakt: Twitter (redispatch_pod), LinkedIn (Redispatch), Instagram (Redispatch_Podcast), TikTok (redispatch) agenda process - green hydrogen (2022): Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda. https://www.bmbf.de/bmbf/shareddocs/downloads/files/SRIA_green_hydrogen.pdf;jsessionid=5CDAD28BDA45D96801FFADE21AFFA9B6.live472?__blob=publicationFile&v=3 bdew (2022): Entwurf eines Gesetzes zu Sofortmaßnahmen für einen beschleunigten Ausbau der Erneuerbaren Energien und weiteren Maßnahmen im Stromsektor. https://www.bdew.de/media/documents/2022-03-17_BDEW_Stn_EEG_RefE_2023.pdf bdew (2022): Neue BDEW-Analyse: Wie viel Erdgas aus Russland kann kurzfristig ersetzt werden?. https://www.bdew.de/presse/presseinformationen/neue-bdew-analyse-wie-viel-erdgas-aus-russland-kann-kurzfristig-ersetzt-werden/ bee (2022): Auswirkungen einer möglichen Einführung von Contracts for Difference (CfD) auf Erneuerbare Energien im Strommarkt. https://www.bdew.de/media/documents/2022-03-17_BDEW_Stn_EEG_RefE_2023.pdf bne (2022): Sofortmaßnahmen für einen beschleunigten Ausbau erneuerbarer Energien - "EEG 2023". https://www.bne-online.de/fileadmin/user_upload/22-03-17_bne_Stellungnahme_EEG_2023_Referentenentwurf.pdf Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (2022): So soll die deutsch-namibische Wasserstoff-Partnerschaft umgesetzt werden. https://www.fona.de/de/so-soll-die-deutsch-namibische-wasserstoff-partnerschaft-umgesetzt-werden HyPat (2022): Krieg in der Ukraine: Auswirkungen auf die europäische und deutsche Importstrategie von Wasserstoff und Syntheseprodukten. https://www.isi.fraunhofer.de/content/dam/isi/dokumente/cce/2022/2022-03-21_HyPAT_Impulspapier_Ukraine.pdf IEA (2022): A 10-Point Plan to Cut Oil Use. https://www.iea.org/reports/a-10-point-plan-to-cut-oil-use TransHyDE (2022): Hintergrundpapier zu Gasinfrastukturen im Lichte des Russland-Ukaine-Kriegs. https://www.dvgw-ebi.de/medien/dvgw-ebi/1_dvgw-ebi/aktuelles/Hintergrundpapier_zu_Gasinfrastrukturen_TransHyDE.pdf Umwelt Bundesamt (2022): Treibhausgasemissionen stiegen um 2021 um 4,5 Prozent. https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/treibhausgasemissionen-stiegen-2021-um-45-prozent  

Our latest episode of the Leader's Agenda features Kenneth Burhop, a lifetime innovator within Life Sciences. Ken recently retired from his position as the Chief Scientific Officer at Integra LifeSciences! Before Integra, Ken worked at Baxter International Inc. as their Global Scientific Lead and VP of R&D cumulatively for 25 years! Tarja Huuskonen had a chance to sit down with Ken and ask him how he has built innovation agendas in companies both large and small and what advice he has for others trying to develop not just one breakthrough but a pipeline of innovation.

For some time, insurance and innovation were not seen as two concepts that go hand-in-hand. COVID-19 showed that insurers can undertake large-scale change at a pace industry veterans might have thought possible. In its “2022 Global Insurance Outlook: Growing with people, purpose and tech”, EY predicts insurance poised for a period of purposeful growth, despite daunting macroeconomic and structural challenges, fierce competition and ongoing tech-driven disruptions.Just how insurance is redefining itself in a period where uncertainty is the norm, is the subject of our dialogue with Sourabh Chitrachar, Regional Vice President/ Director- Asia Technology Strategy & Operations, Liberty Mutual Insurance.He joins us on this episode of PodChats for FutureCIO to give his insights on how the insurance industry is moving ahead with its resilience and innovation agenda in the new normal.1.       If you look back, how would you describe the security landscape within the insurance sector in ASEAN between 2020-2021?2.       In your view, what are the challenges ahead for CISOs and CIOs in the insurance sector in 2022?3.       Among the many emerging technologies, which technologies do you think are (a) overhyped; (b) under-used/underappreciated by the insurance industry?4.       Can you cite 3 trends that will be most impactful for CIO-CISOs in Asia's insurance sector in 2022?5.       What is your advice for CIOs and CISOs in the insurance sector in advancing resilience and innovation in 2022?

Niosha Kayhani is the Director of Innovation at Cubic Corporation, and he currently holds nine patents. So not only is he an innovation leader, but he's a Certified Innovation Practitioner. Cubic is a technology driven, market leading provider of integrated solutions that increase situational understanding for transportation, defence, C4ISR and training.What Is Covered:- How Cubic innovates in collaboration with external partners like Apple, Google, Visa, MasterCard or Moovit.- The challenges of tying innovation into the company’s overall business strategy, operations and purpose.- How Cubic’s Innovation Social System works to bring better products and results for the company.Key Learnings and Takeaways:- Cubic’s innovation strategy focuses on three key priorities: developing rapid pursuits, new business incubation, and developing integrators - the people that help power Cubic’s Innovation Social System.- Innovation Social System is an efficient, closed loop system that enables Cubic to rapidly transform big ideas into differentiated, user centric solutions that solve the customer's most difficult problems, and generates new revenue streams.- It can be challenging for organisations to measure the success of innovation because of the lack of tangible data to prove the value of the investment, but even a failure provides return in itself.  

Innovation is central to addressing global climate change while increasing economic growth, boosting international competitiveness, and strengthening energy security. Yet out of a $4 trillion budget, the United States only invests about $8 billion a year—or 0.04 percent of GDP—on clean energy research and development. Rob and Jackie discuss the urgent need for innovation in the clean energy sector—and “must pass” legislation that will accelerate progress—with Colin Cunliff, senior analyst at ITIF’s Clean Energy Innovation Program.Related:Colin Cunliff, “An Innovation Agenda for Deep Decarbonization: Bridging Gaps in the Federal Energy RD&D Portfolio” (ITIF, November 2018). Colin Cunliff, “Omission Innovation 2.0: Diagnosing the Global Clean Energy Innovation System” (ITIF, September 2019).Colin Cunliff, “An Innovation Agenda for Hard-to-Decarbonize Energy Sectors,” Issues in Science and Technology, Vol. XXXVI, no. 1, Fall 2019.Colin Cunliff, “Accelerating Energy Innovation in the 116th Congress: 10 Priorities for 2020” (ITIF, January 2020).

Ag Innovation Agenda

The OCC is planning to unveil what Acting Comptroller Brian Brooks called “payments charter 1.0” as soon as this fall, Brooks said on the latest episode of the ABA Banking Journal Podcast, sponsored by Jack Henry. Version 1.0 would be a “national version of a state money transmission license” offering nonbank payment providers a “national platform with preemption,” but not access to the Federal Reserve’s payments system. After about 18 months of operating under version 1.0, Brooks said, the agency would roll out version 2.0, which he anticipates would include direct Fed access. In recent interviews, Brooks has touted the idea of using the OCC’s authority to grant special-purpose national bank charters to charter payments companies. In the ABA Banking Journal podcast, Brooks provided more details about the financial inclusion requirements these charters would entail to provide consistency across depository and non-depository institutions. “What we have to do is be creative about the way that we measure the benefit created by our charter, and what is the rational, intelligent, but not overly burdensome concomitant benefit we’d expect them to plow back into their communities,” Brooks said. “Rest assured, these charters will have some kind of financial inclusion expectation.” Noting that banks have faced challenges adopting artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies in part because “regulators have been slow to provide guidance,” Brooks also said the OCC is working to evaluate advanced technologies that can improve financial inclusion such as AI-based underwriting. As part of the agency’s financial inclusion efforts, the OCC’s Office of Innovation is “in the process of standing up an evaluation unit, where for the first time the OCC will analyze specific technologies, look at risk frameworks, engage in model validation and give banks guidance about what we think is good and what we think is risky. We’ve never done that before.” The goal is to be “very specific,” Brooks added. “I’m not talking about generic guidance about managing safety and soundness and reputational risk. I’m talking about ‘What do we think about AI for credit underwriting?’ or ‘What are the fair lending and legal implications of AI in underwriting under various conditions?’ It won’t be useful if we’re not that specific.” In addition to the topics mentioned above, Brooks described several other elements of his OCC innovation agenda: Changing credit bid rules for real estate owned to incentivize homeownership and renovation in distressed neighborhoods. The need to update vendor risk management rules to support innovation. The role of core processors in supporting bank innovation in a time of technological unbundling in the fintech marketplace. Beyond appearing on the podcast, Brooks will be a keynote speaker at ABA’s Risk and Compliance Virtual Conference, July 28-30.

IBM’s new CEO has an opportunity to reset the direction of the company. Outgoing CEO Ginni Rommety inherited a strategy put in place over two decades, which became fossilized in a lower margin services-led model that she helped architect. Ginni spent a large portion of her tenure shrinking the company so it could grow...but she ran out of time. It’s now up to Arvind Krishna to carry the ball over the goal line. For decades, IBM has missed opportunities to aggressively invest in the key waves that are powering the current tech economy. Instead, it tried to balance investing in innovation with placating Wall Street. We believe IBM has an opportunity to return to the Big Blue status that set the standard for the tech industry. But several things must change, some dramatically, for IBM to succeed in this endeavor.

A glance at what the pre-coronavirus world looked like for federal agencies quickly brings technology modernization back to the forefront, and that is where we pick up for this second of a two-part interview with ICF CEO John Wasson.

How Will Canada's Innovation Economy Fare?

How Will Canada’s Innovation Economy Fare?

In this episode, Dan is joined by Patrick Awuah, the founder and president of Ashesi University in Ghana. Dan and Patrick discuss Patrick’s recently published chapter in a book entitled Practicing Development: Upending Assumptions for Positive Change. They also discuss Africa’s youth employment challenge, how education and economic development are complementary, and the changing attitudes around the role of higher education institutions in international development. Patrick describes how Ashesi University has a unique higher education model and is an incubator for African youth entrepreneurship. Additionally, they analyze domestic resource mobilization and democracy trends in sub-Saharan Africa, and the new African free trade agreement.

Join host Ellen Gardner for a one-on-one conversation with David Diamond – President and CEO of Eastern Health in Newfoundland and Labrador. David’s healthcare career started in Human Resources and has taken him across the country with positions in eastern and western Canada. His time in Albert before the creation of Alberta Health Services taught him some important lessons around bringing an organization together and developing commitment to strategic goals. Today through Eastern Health’s Living Lab innovation centre, David and his team are developing strong partners around the world to influence projects, enhance safety, and cut costs in the region.  Key Takeaways: [4:34] How David’s time in Alberta, during the early transformation of Alberta Health Services, has influenced his work at Eastern Health [6:50] How David and his team have aligned the organization around a strategic plan [9:51] Finding significant savings within the health system to respond to financial and population health challenges [12:39] Pushing an innovation agenda in the province to benefit patient care and cost savings [13:29] Eastern Health’s Living Lab leverages partnerships nationally and internationally to match expertise from the private sector to clinical leaders in healthcare [17:40] Looking toward best practices in other sectors around the world – how connecting with Ireland, Spain and Israel is helping to drive Eastern Health projects [21:13] Why value-based procurement is a major focus for David and his team [28:16] How high-reliability industries can be used to model change in healthcare, especially around quality and patient safety [28:47] Population health is a critical focus in Atlantic Canada – how to move the dial Mentioned in this Episode: Alberta Health Services Central Health Deloitte IBM Mobia Medtronic Vision33 Memorial University Newfoundland & Labrador Centre for Health Information Enterprise Ireland University of Tennessee

Fredrik Hacklin, Professor of Entrepreneurship at Vlerick Business School and Managing Director of the Corporate Innovation Lab, discusses the advantages and disadvantages of digitalization. Hacklin further discusses the challenges and opportunities of turning business into a platform and stresses the importance of having a strategic identity.

Rocky is joined by Chris Bennetts, Executive Director of Digital Products Delivery and Innovation at Transport for NSW. Government is often seen as a laggard in technology terms, but Chris dispels this perception by taking us through the innovation process within Transport for NSW and how that’s helped bring new products and services to the commuters within the NSW region.

Cushman & Wakefield – “Tomorrow there will be no such thing as a company that isn’t digital,” says Adam Stanley. […]

Juan Cabrera, superintendent of El Paso Independent School District, shares more with Tom on what he feels the trustees' role is in implementing the innovation agenda in a school district.

In this episode of 'The Innovation Agenda,' CTC speaks with Liz Hyman of our national affiliate CompTIA about the initial indications for skilled workforce immigration in the Trump Administration, including the potential for changes in the H-1B Visa program which has been important to both technology industry and to the funding of training programs.

Show Notes: In the news this week, the 2017 federal budget is out and we go one-on-one with BIOTECanada’s Andrew Casey to find out if it delivers on the promise of an Innovation Agenda, the NRC and the Centre for the Commercialization of Antibodies and Biologics (CCAB) colloborate on an antibody development initiative, and Bellus Health divests itself of Thallion Pharmaceuticals. We have all this and more coming up on Biotechnology Focus Radio. Welcome to another episode of Biotechnology Focus Radio. I’m your host Shawn Lawrence, here to give you a rundown of the week’s top stories on the Canadian biotech scene. Story 1 Our first story this week takes us to Vancouver, where Qu Biologics Inc. reports it has identified immune factors (cytokines and growth factors) in the blood of patients with Crohn’s disease that may predict response to its Site Specific Immunomodulators (SSIs) therapy. According to the company, SSIs are a unique platform of immunotherapies designed to restore the body’s innate immune system. Their discovery was made following further analysis of Qu Biologics recently completed Phase 2 Study in Crohn’s disease. The company says that when combined with patients’ clinical profiles, these biomarkers seemed to coorelate with identifying patients likely to respond to SSI treatment. Dr. Hal Gunn, CEO of Qu Biologics, explained these findings could  mean that patients with Crohn’s disease may now be closer to having precision treatment for their condition for the first time.  In addition, Qu Biologics’ Phase 2 randomized placebo-controlled Crohn’s disease trial results demonstrated that specific blood immune markers associated with immune activation and mucosal healing increased with SSI treatment and SSI response/remission. The company says it plans to initiate a follow-on clinical trial in Crohn’s disease later in 2017 to confirm the value of these blood immune biomarkers in predicting and monitoring response to SSI therapy. Story 2 The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and Toronto-based Centre for the Commercialization of Antibodies and Biologics (CCAB) are teaming up to advance new innovative therapies discovered out of the University of Toronto. Through this innovative collaboration between government, industry, and academia,  the NRC and the (CCAB) have over the past year already put in place over $1M in collaborative agreements to produce and test therapeutic antibodies discovered at the University. CCAB is a business development and commercialization engine whose mission is to translate UofT’s large portfolio of early stage biologics into high-value assets and products. To this purpose, CCAB has partnered with NRC to biomanufacture and test hundreds of antibodies. With this announcement, the collaboration continues to grow and now leverages NRC’s three programs in Human Health Therapeutics: 1. Biologics and Biomanufacturing: producing biologics, testing their ability to fight solid tumours, and determining their biomanufacturability; 2.  Therapeutics Beyond Brain Barriers: determining if specific antibodies are able to cross the blood-brain barrier, target and fight brain cancer; And 3. Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics: determining if specific antibodies are able to modulate the immune system so that it finds and destroys cancer cells.  As cancer treatment evolves rapidly toward more effective molecules, including single-domain and bi-specific antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, and immunotherapies, these types of medicines, also called biologics, are able to specifically target cancer cells and in some cases, recruit the body’s immune system to help destroy them. The goal of the collaboration is to identify the most promising antibodies, and increase their value by generating data that effectively de-risks each asset. CCAB says its objective is to then licence lead antibody candidates to seed newly formed Canadian biotechnology companies.  These new Canadian start-ups will, in turn, advance these molecules toward clinical trials in patients.  With several biotechnology companies already participating and benefitting from these programs, the collaboration between CCAB and NRC is clearly set to catalyze the country’s biotech sector and generate promising new cancer treatments for Canadians. Alexion licenses Arbutus’ LNP delivery technology In business news, Alexion Pharmaceuticals has negotiated a license to use Vancouver-based Arbutus Biopharma’s lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery technology for one of its rare disease messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutic candidates. As part of the deal, Arbutus will earn $7.5 million upfront from Alexion and potentially another $75 million in development, regulatory, and commercial milestones, plus single-digit sales royalties. Arbutus will also carry out technology development and provide manufacturing and regulatory support for the Alexion mRNA candidate. Arbutus Biopharma itself is currently focused on developing a cure for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Dr. Mark J. Murray, Arbutus’ President and CEO said this transaction with Alexion illustrates the value of his company’s LNP platform, which he believes has broad potential to deliver mRNA and gene editing therapeutics. He adds that Arbutus is receiving significant interest from companies that require access to the LNP platform to enable their own development programs BELLUS Health sells Thallion Pharmaceuticals subsidiary to Taro Pharmaceuticals BELLUS Health Inc. reports it has entered into a share purchase agreement with Taro Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Taro) for the sale of its wholly-owned subsidiary Thallion Pharmaceuticals Inc. as well as the rights to the drug candidate Shigamab™. According to Bellus, the asset, Shigamab™, is a monoclonal antibody therapy being developed for the treatment of Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome caused by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) (sHUS), a rare disease which principally affects the kidneys and often leads to acute dialysis, and in certain cases chronic kidney disease and death, primarily in children. Pursuant to the sale, Taro is acquiring all issued and outstanding shares of Thallion for a potential total consideration of CA$2.7 million, consisting of an upfront payment of CA$2.3 million and a potential future payment of CA$0.4 million contingent upon the completion of a pre-established milestone event, expected to occur within 24 months of the closing of the transaction. Additionally, BELLUS Health will receive a portion of certain post-approval revenues related to the Shigamab™ program. Story 5 In our feature story this week, on March 21st, the federal Liberal government officially presented their second budget since coming to power. In our feature story this week, on March 21st, the federal Liberal government officially presented their second budget since coming to power. In the months leading up to its release, this budget was of course billed by the Feds as the Innovation Budget, and certainly at first glance there are a few initiatives where spurring innovation or forming an Innovation Agenda for Canada is its goal.  But has this Budget measured up to its promise? Has the government truly delivered with Budget 2017 an Innovation Agenda to hitch our wagons to? We have with us today, Andrew Casey, CEO and president of BIOTECanada, the national organization that represents health care, agricultural, food, and research groups involved in biotechnology to find out if government has hit the mark or missed it in terms of delivering on its innovation mandate. Hello Andrew and welcome to the show. 1. Going into Budget 2017, there were many surveys, consultations and open dialogue between Government and industry, on what we wanted to see from this Innovation Agenda budget. Straight to point, did Budget 2017 live up to its hype? For BIOTECanada, what was on your wishlist- what were you hoping to see in the budget? What were the asks on the wish list that were answered, and which asks weren’t? Let’s look deeper, in our analysis of the investment summary, the biggest program of interest seems to be the $950 million “super clusters” fund, that will be an open competition in 2017 across six innovation industries, with biotech of course being one these industries. Like with most such initiatives there is of course some worry that biotech as one of the six, may not get it proverbial portion of the pie, does BIOTECanada see it this way, or do they feel that our industry can benefit from this fund? 5. In terms of strengthening science in government, Budget 2017 proposes to establish a new chief science advisor for Canada, what should we expect to see from the creation of this new role? There was also $6 million earmarked for stem cell research, and organizations in that field like the Stem Cell Foundation and other stakeholders seemed satisfied in that commitment, but on a grander scale, does that really compare with other leading jurisdictions in the field? Are those funds enough to capitalize on Canada’s strengths in this field? What we found interesting as well in Budget 2017 was the proposal of a new procurement program, called Innovative Solutions Canada, modeled on the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research Program) in the U.S. with $50 million to go into this program. For comparison sake, in Fiscal Year 2016, the NIH’s SBIR and STTR programs south of the border will invest over $870 million into health and life science companies, so how does our commitment stack up? Is it a good first step into this arena? Glancing at the investment summary, we also noticed that basic research programs, such as the Tri-Councils, were not mentioned. Why do you think that was? Finally, another industry ask is always around supporting venture capital and Budget 2017 proposes $400 million over the next three years for a new Venture Capital Catalyst Initiative. Is this separate from the $400 million Venture Capital Action Plan from year’s past? Were there any other examples where existing funding and credits were maintained or even expanded upon in Budget 2017. Well Andrew, thank you for joining us today on our show and for your breakdown of #BUDGET2017, it’s always a pleasure for us to talk with you and get your insights on key industry topics.  

Filmmakers Darren Mann and Christian Johnston joined us for a conversation about their documentary, "State of Control." In our wide-ranging discussion, we explored the ways technology enables and simplifies undercover journalism, cybersecurity, and risks of the trade of filmmaking.

Welcome to Biotechnology Focus Podcast. I’m your host Shawn Lawrence. We kick things off this week with the release of our latest issue of Biotechnology Focus and as such we thought we should give you our listeners a rundown or sneak peak of all the stories you’d see. As most or our listeners know, there are comprehensive changes to the way the Federal Government supports science and innovation in Canada coming with consultations on Canada’s Innovation Agenda drawing to a close and this issue reaches your desk with this Call to Action in mind, beginning with our cover story on the results from our latest Hot Button Issue Survey. The survey was open to everyone in both the private and public sectors and at all organizational levels, from the c-level right on down. In all, 163 of you got back to us with what you’d like to see from the Innovation Agenda. Under the microscope for many of you was one of the biggest sources of government cash for private sector research and innovation in Canada, the Scientific Research and Experimental Development program or SR&ED’s as they are more commonly known. It was interesting to see how many of you rely on this program, and why many of you feel this program needs not only to be maintained but expanded upon. Be sure to check out this and what other priorities were included in our special report. And for further reading on the SR&ED program, Elizabeth Pringle, the National Life Sciences Industry Lead for Ernst & Young LLP’s Business Tax Incentives Practices, discusses recent changes to the program itself while suggesting more alternatives to strengthening the overall tax credit regime for life science companies in Canada, including looking south of the border for some inspiration. Moreover, she highlights some of the recent CRA programs added to help increase tax claim certainty and reduce the administrative burden of applying for SR&EDs including the Pre-Claim Consultation program which launched on June 29 and the Pre-Claim Review (PCR) pilot project which launched August 2. In addition to underlining your priorities that you’d like to get before As most or our listeners know, there are comprehensive changes to the way the Federal Government supports science and innovation in Canada coming with consultations on Canada’s Innovation Agenda drawing to a close and this issue reaches your desk with this Call to Action in mind, beginning with our cover story on the results from our latest Hot Button Issue Survey. The survey was open to everyone in both the private and public sectors and at all organizational levels, from the c-level right on down. In all, 163 of you got back to us with what you’d like to see from the Innovation Agenda. Under the microscope for many of you was one of the biggest sources of government cash for private sector research and innovation in Canada, the Scientific Research and Experimental Development program or SR&ED’s as they are more commonly known. It was interesting to see how many of you rely on this program, and why many of you feel this program needs not only to be maintained but expanded upon. Be sure to check out this and what other priorities were included in our special report. And for further reading on the SR&ED program, Elizabeth Pringle, the National Life Sciences Industry Lead for Ernst & Young LLP’s Business Tax Incentives Practices, discusses recent changes to the program itself while suggesting more alternatives to strengthening the overall tax credit regime for life science companies in Canada, including looking south of the border for some inspiration. Moreover, she highlights some of the recent CRA programs added to help increase tax claim certainty and reduce the administrative burden of applying for SR&EDs including the Pre-Claim Consultation program which launched on June 29 and the Pre-Claim Review (PCR) pilot project which launched August 2. In addition to underlining your priorities that you’d like to get before government, this issue also spotlights what makes Canadian biotech great, and highlights some of the areas we can become stronger. It starts with Wayne Schnarr’s roundup piece, “Looking for success stories in Canadian Healthcare.” As he explains, measuring success in Canada’s health technology sector is no easy task, and varies depending on one’s perspective. His article looks at the Canadian biotech landscape from the viewpoint of an investor and reminds us that they judge successful companies differently than government, economic development offices and the companies themselves. With the investors wish list in mind, he highlights some Canadian companies to keep an eye on, including one who is featured later in this podcast Cynapsus. Unfortunately, investors may have missed the boat on that company, but we’ll get to that later. Next in our editorial lineup TO Health’s Ella Korets-Smith, Montreal In Vivo’s Frank Beraud and Teralys Capital’s Cedric Bisson cowritten piece “Canada Poised to be best in the World in Life Sciences Sector” recognizes Canada as a world class biotech hub whose greatest strength is working together to promote our successes in this arena. However, they add that there is still room to grow, and we must begin by looking to other jurisdictions for best practices especially in areas such as venture capital investment. Next, Zymeworks lead man Ali Tehrani, no stranger to success, and perhaps the type of entrepreneur we need to hear more ideas from on how to improve the industry, asks the question why isn’t Canadian biotech with all its great science, visionary entrepreneurs and angel investors, ranked among the best in the world. In addition to posing the question, he endevors to answer it, offering three near and long-term solutions. We have all this and more packed into this issue, so be sure to sign up for our digital edition service to see this issue and past issues as well. Story 2 Our first news story this week is a science story, and features a breast cancer research breakthrough. Specifically, a team of researchers in Canada have discovered that mutations found outside of genes that accumulate in estrogen receptor positive breast tumours throughout their development act as the dominant culprits that drive the disease. The multi-institutional research team collaborated with the Princess Margaret Genomics Centre and Bioinformatics group to analyze changes in the DNA sequence that accumulate in patients’ tumours with respect to the epigenetic identity of estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer cells.. The research, published online in Nature Genetics, focuses on the most common type of breast cancer, estrogen receptor positive, and was led by principal investigator Dr. Mathieu Lupien, senior scientist, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network and associate professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto. His team investigated acquired mutations found outside of genes through the power of epigenetics, and identified that functional regulatory components can be altered to impact the expression of genes to promote breast cancer development. Dr. Lupien discusses the study in the following audio provided by UHN Toronto Dr.Lupien’s research builds on a previous study that identified why 44 known genetic variations increased breast cancer risk (Nature Genetics, Sept. 23, 2012). He adds that the convergence of more knowledge about inherited risk variants and the role of acquired mutations should readily enable translating the science into more precise clinical tests to diagnose and monitor patients. His work was funded by The National Cancer Institute at the National Institute of Health, The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation, Canadian Cancer Society, Susan G. Komen Foundation, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, the Canadian Institute of Health Research and a Movember Rising Star award from Prostate Cancer Canada. Story 3 Enerkem Inc., a Canadian headquartered waste-to- biofuels and chemicals producer, has obtained certification from the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) system and will now be able to begin biomethanol production at its Biofuels full-scale facility in Edmonton,AB. According to the company the third-party certification confirms that Enerkem meets high ecological and social sustainability requirements. Enerkem makes biofuels and renewable chemicals from non-recyclable municipal solid waste. The company owns a full-scale commercial facility in Alberta as well as a demonstration plant and a pilot facility in Quebec. The company is also developing additional biorefineries in North America and globally, based on its modular manufacturing approach. With the certification, the Edmonton biorefinery is now the first ISCC certified plant in the world to convert municipal solid waste into biomethanol. Story 4 In business news, Laval’s ProMetic Life Sciences has entered into a binding agreement to acquire Belleville, Ontario’s Telesta Therapeutics in an all share transaction. By way of a plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act, ProMetic will acquire all of the share capital of Telesta at a share price of $0.14 payable in ProMetic common shares. The number of common shares to be issued by ProMetic will be based on the volume-weighted average closing price (VWAP) of ProMetic’s common shares for the five (5) trading days prior to the closing date of the acquisition. According to ProMetic, the deal gives the company the opportunity for further integration of its manufacturing capabilities and longer term capacity expansion in a 150,000 sq. ft. facility in Belleville, ON. At the same time it gives  ProMetic  a significant foothold in Ontario, consolidating its presence as a major player in the Canadian market. Completion of the deal is subject to the approval of Telesta’s shareholders and a number of customary closing conditions including court and regulatory approvals (such as the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange). The acquisition is expected to close in early November, 2016. Story 5 Rapid infectious disease test developer bioLytical Laboratories has filed two patent applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office relating to its multiple colour rapid detection assay systems for the detection of antibodies to pathogens including Zika and other flaviviruses. The two new patent applications are based on the company’s INSTI platform and describe methods and kits allowing either simultaneous or sequential detection of different antibody classes to multiple pathogens using a single sample of blood or blood product. The first patent application describes a method for detecting active or past infection using Zika as an example. The second patent application describes a method for differentiating early from later stages of infection. According to the company, these technology breakthroughs could revolutionize point-of- care rapid assays for detection of acute infections including Zika. The Flaviviridae family has become a major concern in many areas of South America and more recently in the continental U.S.  As of early February 2016, the Brazil Ministry of Health has estimated that 500,000 to 1,500,000 cases of Zika virus disease have occurred since the beginning of the outbreak. The company says that with the high degree of cross-reactivity within the flaviviridae family, a diagnostic assay that can rapidly detect and differentiate between them, and determine new vs old infection, is of upmost importance. Story 6 Our final, and perhaps biggest story this week is a Canadian biotech business news story with Marlbourough, MA based-Sunovion Pharmaceuticals announcing that it is buying Toronto’s Cynapsus Therapeutics Inc. for approximately CDN$820 million. The transaction is the biggest the industry has seen in awhile for sure and has already received unanimous approval by the board of directors of both companies and The acquisition will be funded with cash on hand and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2016 (third quarter of Sunovion’s fiscal year). Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, and upon closing of the proposed transaction, shareholders of Cynapsus will receive US$40.50 per common share in cash, and holders of warrants and stock options will receive a cash payment equal to the difference between US$40.50 and the exercise price of such warrant or stock option. The offer of US$40.50 per common share in cash represents a premium of 123 per cent based on the volume weighted average closing price of Cynapsus’ common shares on the NASDAQ Global Market for the last twenty trading days. As part of the acquisition, Sunovion is getting Cynapsus’ lead product candidate, APL-130277, a sublingual thin film formulation of apomorphine designed to be an easy-to- use on-demand treatment option for managing OFF episodes associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD), a chronic, progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects more than four million worldwide. One of the biggest benefits of the sublingual thin film delivery of apomorphine is that avoids the normal gastrointestinal route of delivery used by most PD medications. Prior to the deal, Cynapsus had just announced that the Phase 3 clinical program for APL-130277 was nearing completion and that the company had plans to submit a new drug application (NDA) to the FDA in the first half of 2017.Nobuhiko Tamura, chairman and CEO, Sunovion said that his company sees APL-130277 as a novel late-stage candidate with the potential to make a real difference for patients and their families. He adds that Sunovian has high regard for the Cynapsus team led by Anthony Giovinazzo, president and CEO of Cynapsus and the work they have done with the APL-130277 program. For Cynapsus, the deal culminates years of dedicated work, and Anthony J. Giovinazzo, president and CEO, Cynapsus believes Sunovian is the ideal company to take APL-130277 forward. values Cynapsus at approximately CDN$820 million. The transaction will be completed by way of a plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act. The arrangement will require approval of at least two-thirds of the votes cast by Cynapsus shareholders and warrantholders voting together as a single class at a special meeting of such securityholders of Cynapsus. This meeting will be held in October. With that we’ve come to the end of this week’s program. We hope you enjoyed it. A big thanks to our production manager Laskey Hart and the rest of the Biotechnology Focus team. You can find past episodes online at www.biotechnologyfocus.ca and we’re always looking for your feedback, story ideas and suggestions so we’d love to hear from you. Simply reach out to us on twitter: @BiotechFocus or by email biotechnology_focus@promotive.net.

Genome Canada names its latest GAPP Recipients, DelMar Pharma lists on NASDAQ, and OPKO health acquires Toronto’s Transition Therapeutics. We have this and more on this week’s Biotechnology Focus Podcast! Welcome to Biotechnology Focus Podcast. I’m your host Shawn Lawrence. Story 1 We start this week’s show in the biotech business world with a longtime player on the Toronto Life Science scene being acquired. Miami based OPKO Health says it is buying clinical stage Toronto-based biotechnology company Transition Therapeutics, in an all-stock transaction valued at about $60 million. Through the acquisition of Transition, OPKO will take over the full clinical portfolio of the company including a treatment for type 2 diabetes and obesity, a treatment for low testosterone and a third neuropsychiatric drug candidate that targets patients with Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome. The first product, Transition’s lead metabolic drug candidate TT401, is a once- or twice-weekly oxyntomodulin for type 2 diabetes and obesity that the company calls the most advanced candidate among glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1)/glucagon receptor dual agonists. In a recently completed Phase 2 study of 420 patients with type 2 diabetes, subjects receiving the highest dose of TT401 peptide once weekly demonstrated significantly superior weight loss compared with currently approved extended release exenatide and placebo after 12 and 24 weeks of treatment. TT401 also provided a reduction in HbA1c, a marker of sugar metabolism, similar to exenatide at weeks 12 and 24. Transition had regained full development and commercialization rights to TT401 in April of this year after Eli Lilly and Co pulled out of an existing development partnership that had the two companies working together on what they called at the time a next generation diabetes drug. In doing, Lilly opted to not advance the compound into Phase 3. The assets is a fit for Opko as it already has a couple of development stage oxyntomodulin in its pipeline – including MOD-6031, a long lasting version, and TT401 fits nicely as a complimentary shorter term treatment. The second product included in the deal is Transition’s TT701, a once-daily oral selective androgen receptor modulator for patients with androgen deficiency. In terms of its clinical showing, In a 12-week study of 350 male subjects, TT701 showed significantly decreased fat mass and increased lean body mass and muscle strength without significantly changing prostate specific antigen levels. The third product is ELND005, a neuropsychiatric drug candidate that is an orally administered small molecule. It has completed Phase 2 clinical studies in Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome patients, however it failed in this trial. This is probably why many news outlets reported that only two products were being acquired in this deal. It will be interesting to see what Opko Health has in mind for its future clinical development. Both companies expect the transaction to close during the second half of 2016, subject to approval of Transition Therapeutics stockholders and other customary conditions. Story 2 Our next business story involves DelMar Pharmaceuticals, a BC-based company developing and commercializing cancer therapies in new orphan drug indications. The company commenced trading on July 12 on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the trade symbol DMPI.In honor of the listing, the company also got to ring the Opening Bell at the NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square, New York City, on July 14, 2016. Jeffrey Bacha, chairman and CEO of DelMar Pharmaceuticals commented that listing on NASDAQ will better position the company in broadening its shareholder base, increase its appeal to institutional investors, and provide improved liquidity. The company’s lead drug in development, VAL-083, is currently undergoing clinical trials in the U.S. as a potential treatment for refractory glioblastoma multiforme. It has been extensively studied by the U.S. National Cancer Institute, and is currently approved for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia and lung cancer in China. Published pre-clinical and clinical data suggest that VAL-083 may be active against a range of tumour types via a novel mechanism of action that could provide improved treatment options for patients. And now for a quick break, and when we return, and when we come back we’ll talk about Health Canada’s plan to protect Canadians against the increasing risk of antimicrobial resistance. If you could have a face-to-face conversation with government to discuss the life science industry, what would you say? Biotechnology Focus would like to give you the chance to engage with government and have your voices heard via our special “Hot Button Issues survey”. We kicked off the survey June 24, and response thus far has been terrific, so much so that we’ve decided to extend its run time through to Friday July 22. We want to hear from you on such hot topics as reimbursement of new technologies, funding challenges like access to capital, intellectual property, procurement, the state of the industry and more. This survey is open to everyone in the industry, including the business sector, academics, research institutions, service providers and more. It’s also open to individuals at all levels, from the C-level to support staff. The timing for this survey couldn’t be more right as the Federal government has just launched a call to help shape Canada’s “Innovation Agenda”, and, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains has asked us all to step up and voice our opinions, to help further shape the future of Canada’s knowledge based economy. This survey is your chance to get involved! Your answers will be featured in a special high profile issue that will be sent to Deputy Ministers, Assistant Deputy Ministers, Cabinet, Directors and Generals, working in Health Canada, Industry Canada, Agriculture & Agri-Food, Foreign Affairs & Internationals trade, the Privy Council, as well as other public sector executives in federal and most provincial departments. So, don’t miss this opportunity to participate and have your voices heard. Simply visit www.surveymonkey.com/r/biotechfocus. Remember, Friday July 22, the survey closes. And welcome back to the Biotechnology Focus Podcast, and to get us started on the second half our show we have some exciting funding news related to a partnership between a major charitable organization and an Ontario clinical stage company. Story 3 The funding partnership involves Sernova Corp., a company based in London Ontario that is developing disruptive regenerative medicine technologies for the long-term treatment of chronic diseases including diabetes and hemophilia. They have entered into a research funding agreement with JDRF, a leading global organization that provides funds to type 1 diabetes research and is an advocate of such research. JDRF is providing Sernova up to $2.45 million and these funds will be used to advance human clinical trials of Sernova’s CPS technologies for treatment of hypoglycemia unawareness patients with severe type 1 diabetes at a major transplantation center in the U.S. Type 1 Diabetes is a life-threatening disease in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks and kills the pancreatic cells that produce insulin—a hormone that is essential for life because of its role to help the body use glucose. The goal of the study is to provide patients with hypoglycemia unawareness a novel cell therapy treatment utilizing Sernova’s proprietary Cell Pouch System™, a highly vascularized, cell macro-encapsulated implantable and scalable device to reduce or eliminate the need for injections of exogenous insulin. JDRF has previously provided funding to advance the development of Sernova’s technologies through a preclinical collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital and according to Derek Rapp, JDRF president and CEO, JDRF is excited about this collaboration as well. Initiation of the clinical trial is scheduled for the second half of 2016. Story 4 In an effort to protect Canadians against the increasing risk of antimicrobial resistance, Health Canada is taking the first steps towards implementing a new Federal Action Plan on Anti-Microbial Resistance. Antimicrobial resistance occurs when an antimicrobial drug – an antibiotic, antifungal or antiviral drug – is no longer effective at controlling an infection it was once used to treat. This can cause an increased risk of infection, longer infection times, and a greater risk of death. The decreasing effectiveness of antimicrobial drugs is having a significant impact on our ability to protect Canadians from infectious diseases. It also has profound impacts on our healthcare system, global trade, agriculture, environment and health sectors. As part of Health Canada’s action plan, the department is seeking feedback on a regulatory proposal that it hopes will strengthen rules governing the importation, sale and use of antimicrobial drugs in livestock. This covers Surveillance – Detecting and monitoring trends and threats to inform strategies to reduce the risks and impacts of antimicrobial resistance, Stewardship – Conserving the effectiveness of existing treatments through infection prevention and control guidelines, education and awareness, regulations, and oversight, and finally Innovation – Finding new solutions to counteract loss in antimicrobial effectiveness through research and development. According Canada’s Ministry of Health the proposed changes to the Food and Drug Regulations would restrict the importation of certain veterinary drugs, require drug manufacturers to follow stricter rules, require provision of sales information to regulators to allow for improved monitoring of antimicrobial use, and introduce an easier way for manufacturers to sell low-risk veterinary health products. Consultations on the proposed regulatory changes are already underway, running for a 75 day period, ending on September 8, 2016. The proposal was published in the Canada Gazette, Part I, on July 2, 2016. Story 5 Our final story of the week features Genome Canada announcing the recipients of Round 5 funding under its Genomic Applications Partnership Program. GAPP partners academic researchers with users in the private and public sectors to promote genomics-derived solutions to address challenges or opportunities facing users. The projects are expected to have considerable economic and social impacts in the near term, spurring innovation, commercialization and growth in Canada. Further, through a Genome Canada and Mitacs partnership, GAPP supports training the next generation of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. Several of the projects announced in this funding round involve research internships, which will prepare Canada’s next entrepreneurs through hands-on experience. As part of the round, a total of $5.3 million in federal funding through Genome Canada will go to five projects, with an additional $11.6 million invested through partners including provinces, private and public sector organizations. The five projects in this round are: Dr. Casey Hubert, University of Calgary, who is working with the Nova Scotia Department of Energy to derisk offshore oil and gas exploration in the province using innovative genomic approaches. Dr. Christoph Borchers, University of Victoria and Dr. Gerald Batist, McGill University, who are working with the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to validate new technology that will help healthcare professionals match the right cancer treatment to the right patient. Dr. Charles Goulet, Université Laval, who is working with Vineland Research and Innovation Centre to use variation in aroma-related genes to develop more flavourful tomatoes. Dr. Elizabeth Edwards, University of Toronto, who is working with SiREM to use specific microbes to accelerate the rate of biodegradation and enable less expensive cleanup of contaminated industrial sites. And Dr. Xiao-Yan Wen, St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, who is working with Edge Therapeutics Inc. to develop drugs for preventing intracerebral hemorrhage – a form of brain hemorrhage responsible for 10 per cent of all strokes. You can find out all the details of these GAPP Round 5 projects via a backgrounder on the Genome Canada website. We’re always looking for your feedback, story ideas and suggestions so we’d love to hear from you. Simply reach out to us on twitter: @BiotechFocus

Bellus Health is left reeling as its lead drug Kiacta fails its Phase 3 clinical study, Vancouver based QLT inks a merger deal with Aegerion Pharmaceuticals and looks to a fresh new start, and Biotechnology Focus relaunches its Hot Button Issue Survey. We have this and more on this weeks show! Show Notes: We kick things off this week with some bad news on both the business and the clinical trial front with BELLUS Health the rare disease drug development firm reporting top line results from its Phase 3 study of KIACTA™ (eprodisate) as a treatment of AA amyloidosis. The disease is characterized by secondary to severe chronic inflammation or infection leading to the formation and deposition of amyloid fibrils in organs, often resulting in end-stage renal disease and death. Currently there are no therapies available that target the disease directly. According to company CEO Roberto Bellini, KIACTA™ failed to meet its primary efficacy endpoint in slowing renal function decline. The news, announced on June 20, was somewhat surprising to both the company and its investors. Shares for the company on the TSE under the trade symbol BLU plummeted, going from $2.42 on June 17, to around $0.39 on the day of the announcement, holding at .40 cents today. Many investors had rallied to the company over the past year due to the drug being in later stages of clinical trial development. Moreover, the science seemed sound as in earlier studies, KIACTA™ was shown to significantly delay the disease.  In both earlier studies and even in the failed trial, it was found to be safe and well tolerated over treatment periods of greater than four years. The confirmatory Phase 3 study of KIACTA™ was a global study across more than 70 sites in more than 25 countries that randomized 261 patients to receive either 800mg dose of KIACTA™ twice daily or placebo. The  study was an event driven study that lasted five years meeting its completion target of 120 patient events linked to the deterioration of kidney function in January 2016. The company added that further analysis of the data is ongoing, and a more detailed data set of the KIACTA™ Phase 3 study will be presented July 6 at the XV International Symposium . Roberto Bellini, president and CEO of the company adds that while Bellus is disappointed that the Phase 3 study did not meet the primary efficacy endpoint, the full data set will be assessed to determine the best path forward. The company says in the aftermath of the failed trial, it will continue working on a number of other projects in its portfolio,  including its study of KIACTA™ as a treatment for sarcoidosis (set to enter Phase 2 trials), clinical development of Shigamab™ as a treatment for STEC-related Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (sHUS), and the company’s research-stage project for AL amyloidosis. We go from negative news to the more positive, as QLT Inc., once upon a time Canada’s hottest biotech company, and a company long-entrenched as a in the BC- biotech community inking a strategic merger agreement with Cambridge-based Aegerion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The proposed deal has been approved by the board of directors of both companies, and is expected to close late in the third quarter or during the fourth quarter of 2016. Upon closing, QLT says it plans to change its name to Novelion Therapeutics Inc. adding that its common shares will trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market and the Toronto Stock Exchange. QLT’s current market cap is approximately $110 million (CDN) and Aegerion has a market cap of approximately $70 million (CDN) giving the new combined company a market value of approximately $180 million. This isn’t QLT’s first attempt to merge with another company, having been thwarted in the past in prior merger arrangements with Endo International, Auxilium Pharmaceuticals and InSite Vision. The planned merger with Endo International was terminated in October 2014, and likewise, Auxilium had also been carrying out plans to merge with QLT but chose instead to be bought by the aforementioned Endo International in a separate deal valued at $2.6 billion. Likewise, last year, QLT and InSite announced a merger, but that deal fell through after InSite changed its mind and accepted a higher merger offer from Sun Pharmaceutical Industries. This time QLT won’t be left at the alter so to speak, and likewise both companies under the Novelion Therapeutics Inc. banner will get a much needed rebrand and fresh start. The new company will also have quite a diversified portfolio consisting of Aegerion’s two commercially branded products, Juxtapid® (lomitapide) capsules and Myalept® (metreleptin), and QLT’s QLT091001 (Zuretinol Acetate or Zuretinol), a Phase 3-ready Ultra-Orphan Fast Track and Orphan Drug designated asset being developed for the treatment of Inherited Retinal Disease caused by underlying mutations in RPE65 or LRAT genes (IRD), which indication comprises Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA) and Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). Aegerion’s CEO, Mary Szela, will serve as CEO of Novelion following the close of the transaction. Additionally, an investor syndicate comprised of both new investors and existing shareholders of both companies has  committed to invest via a private placement approximately $22 million in QLT. The investment will be funded prior to the transaction close and is expected to provide Novelion with additional capital to support future operations and the potential opportunity for targeted business development initiatives. In futher business news, TVM Life Science Ventures VII a venture capital fund domiciled in Montréal, Québec, has closed the fund’s eleventh investment, establishing Mediti Pharma Inc., a company based in Montréal, Québec. The new company is developing a Phase 2 ready compound, MP-101, originally discovered by Eli Lilly and Company for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) psychosis. The behavioral symptoms associated with AD psychosis, include hallucinations, delusions and aggression. The company is managed by CEO Dr. Ivan Shaw, formerly with Merck Frosst, Aptalis and Actavis and neurobiologist and experienced drug developer and CFO Mark Cipriano, a Boston-based highly experienced and networked executive. As for the fund itself, and its initial association with the drug, it comes about as part of a unique arrangement between TVM Capital Life Science and numerous limited partners, which includes Eli Lilly and Company.  The goal of the fund is to finance and access innovation while managing risk and sharing reward. Staying in Montreal, on the clinical trial front Montreal InVivo , the city’s economic development organization with a focus on life sciences and health technologies (LSHT) sector. is partnering with Canadian Clinical Trails Coordinating Centre(CCTCC) to enhance Canada's clinical research capabilities. The partnership will result in the addition of Quebec clinical trial investigators "data from Montreal Goes Clinic to the Canadian ClinicalTrials Asset Map (CCTAM) and real-time updates down the line. The Montreal Goes Clinic itself is an initiative by Greater Montreal's life sciences"; cluster that aims to make the region a world-class centre of expertise in early stage clinical trials.  The goal of this initiative is to improve Greater Montreal's business environment by helping pharmaceutical, biotech, contract research organizations (CRO's) and medical device companies perform high quality clinical trials and run clinical proofs-of- concept, thus  increasing patient access to new treatments and improving medical practices by allowing clinicians to work with technologies of tomorrow and the best equipment. Frank Béraud, CEO of Montréal InVivo adds that the portal will create more visibility for Quebec's researchers and investigators throughout Canada, and will also showcase the province's capabilities in clinical research. Dr. Shurjeel Choudhri, senior vice president and head, Medical and Scientific Affairs Bayer Inc. and the current Chair of the CCTCC Executive Committee adds that the CCTAM is a great example of the collaboration of multiple stakeholders from across Canada, including representatives from the Federal and Provincial governments, industry, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and HealthCareCAN. He calls the addition of clinical investigator data from Montreal Goes Clinic an important step towards making the CCTAM a truly comprehensive inventory of Canada's clinical research assets. If you could have a face-to- face conversation with government to discuss the life science industry, both the good and the bad what would you say? A number of years ago Biotechnology Focus used to run a special Hot Button Issue survey which gave our readers the opportunity to engage with government to get their concerns before the right people and have their voices heard. Well, with the Justin Trudeau government coming up to its ninth month in office, we thought the timing was right to do it all again. The survey kicked off yesterday and will run to July 15, 2016. Similar to our past “Hot Button” issue surveys, we want your feedback on such things as regulatory policy including reimbursement of new technologies, funding challenges, intellectual property protection, the state of the industry and much more. This survey is open to everyone in the industry, from the business sector, to research institutions, and at all levels, essentially, if your field is biotech, bioscience or life science in general we want to hear from you. This already is vibrant industry, with strong representation at major research and knowledge translation institutions, a large base of Canadian biotech SMEs and MMEs, and we’re home to many of the world's largest and leading pharmaceutical companies. Moreover, the timing for this survey couldn’t be better as the Federal government as mentioned in last week’s podcast has just launched the “Innovation Agenda”, an action plan to both redesign and redefine how we as a nation support innovation and growth. They have embarked on this Innovation Agenda in partnership and coordination with the private sector; provinces, territories and municipalities; universities and colleges; and the not for-profit sector and they have also already taken the first steps in this plan already with Budget 2016, providing support for health research, genomics, regenerative medicine, brain research and drug development and committed $800 million to support innovation networks and clusters. So there’s obviously lots that government is doing right to make Canada a friendly environment for our industry, but can we do more? Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains has asked us all to step up and voice our opinions, to help further shape the future of Canada’s knowledge based economy. And our Hot Button Issue survey is your chance to do that! Your answers will be featured in a special high profile issue that will be poly-bagged with our sister publication Canadian Government Executive magazine and sent to Deputy Ministers, Assistant Deputy Ministers, Cabinet, Directors and Generals, working in Health Canada, Industry Canada, Agriculture & Agri-Food, Foreign Affairs & Internationals trade, the Privy Council as well as other public sector executives in federal and provincial departments. So here is your chance to help influence the Innovation Agenda. And remember, by taking only a couple of minutes to complete our survey, you’re helping us grow Canada’s knowledge-based economy, one answer at a time. You can access the survey by clicking the link below this podcast. That wraps up this weeks show, you can find us online at www.biotechnologyfocus.ca. Likewise, we’re always looking for feedback, story ideas and suggestions so we’d love to hear from you. Simply reach out to us on twitter: @BiotechFocus , email at biotechnology_focus@promotive.net For all of us here at Biotechnology Focus, thank you for listening.

Our first story takes us to Southwestern Ontario, where the government of Ontario and Bioindustrial Innovation Canada have partnered to launch a new commercialization hub in Sarnia-Lambton As part of the partnership, the Government of Ontario says it will invest $3 million over four years through the Business Growth Initiative to help build the Centre of Excellence for the Commercialization of Sustainable Chemistry Innovations at the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park, Canada’s largest clean-tech incubator. The new centre will focus on bridging critical gaps and addressing commercialization challenges facing the industrial biotechnology and manufacturing sectors, including developing expertise, forging commercial partnerships, and accessing risk-capital to help bring discoveries and technologies from the lab to the marketplace. The good news goes further as its expected that 400 high-value jobs will be created at the new site. The region is known for its Biomanufacturing prowess, turning sustainable feedstock — renewable resources such as agricultural and forestry by-products and wastes — into energy, value-added chemicals and materials for use in a variety of everyday products such as plastics, personal care products, automotive parts and food additives. The use of plant-derived chemicals and bio-manufacturing processes can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions when compared to conventional petroleum based production methods. One example of a successful company in this space is BioAmber, a sustainable chemical company in Sarnia that produces plant-derived succinic acid and is able to achieve a 100 per cent reduction in GHGs over conventional methods. Similarly, EcoSynthetix, a Burlington-based renewable chemicals company produces paper coatings while cutting GHG emissions by 63 per cent compared to the norm. The funding for the new centre was previously announced as part of this year’s provincial budget. In regulatory news coming out of Quebec, the Government there, through its Ministry of Health has denied Theratechnologies bid to have EGRIFTA®, an injectable prescription medicine to reduce the excess abdominal fat in HIV-infected patients with lipodystrophy, added to a list of reimbursed medications. Company CEO and president Luc Tanguay called the decision by the province, which also happens to be the province where EGRIFTA® was discovered, regretful. “The government is sending a message that supporting research is not a priority,” he said via a release adding that it is quite paradoxical that, after supporting the development of EGRIFTA® through tax credits, the Quebec government will not accept to reimburse it.” The decision, made by the Quebec Minister of Health, Gaétan Barrette, was based on a recommendation by the Institut National d’Excellence en Santé et Services Sociaux(INESSS). Theratechnologies submitted to INESSS a comprehensive dossier which included data that led to public and private reimbursement by a large number of governmental agencies and insurers in Canada and in the United States. INESSS concluded that the decrease of visceral adipose tissue in HIV patients does not constitute a therapeutic advantage. Nevertheless, INESSS did recognize the efficacy EGRIFTA® and the quality of its clinical studies. In response, Theratechnologies did say that despite the decision, they will continue to work with the Ministry and INESSS, and that they will submit to INESSS, within the prescribed timelines, a request for a revision of their decision. In Cancer Research News, the Movember Foundation, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and Prostate Cancer Canada are providing $3 million in funding for a new Phase 3 clinical trial to evaluate if magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can replace the current standard of care to diagnose prostate cancer. The trial, called PRECISE, will be led by Dr. Laurence Klotz of the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, a world leader in the field of prostate cancer research and in the global adoption of active surveillance, a standard practice to monitor patients with low risk prostate cancer. The primary objective of the multi-centre trial is to determine whether MRI imaging can spare some men from undergoing a biopsy and avoid the possible associated side effects. Dr. Klotz discusses the PRECISE TRIAL in the following audio... Data management and analysis for the trial will be conducted by the Ontario Clinical Oncology Group (OCOG) in the Escarpment Cancer Research Institute, a Hamilton Health Sciences and McMaster University institute. Earlier this month, five contenders of the third AmorChem KNOCK OUT™ competition climbed into the ring at a special Lumira-AmorChem hosted event to duke it out against a panel of Heavyweight Champions, or judges for a chance to win a coveted $500,000 financing from AmorChem. All the contenders displayed remarkable courage and agility in the ring, yet only one could stand victorious. In the end, Dr. Anne-Marie Mes-Masson, CRCHUM scientific director at the Institut du cancer de Montréal, for her project focused on the development of small molecule inhibitors of the Ran GTPase, was named the champion. The panel of “champion” judges included: Richard Lesniewski, a pharmaceutical industry veteran formerly from Abbott (AbbVie), GlaxoSmithKline and Madison Vaccines; John Gillard, science entrepreneur formerly from Merck Canada, BioChem Pharma and Aegera Therapeutics; John Bell, scientist-entrepreneur from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa; and Lloyd Segal, best known as a serial biotech entrepreneur and investor at Persistence Capital Partners and Trimera Capital. Christopher Hall, a renowned radio and newspaper columnist and comedian, was the master of ceremony. Both Elizabeth Douvile and Ines Holzbaur,, general partners at AmorChem which we’ve highlighted in past podacast shows called the competition a success, achieving its goal of increasing the Quebec and Canadian research communities’ awareness of AmorChem and in reaching out to researchers who may not have been aware of the possibility of commercializing aspects of their work. Among the other competitors were: Dr. John Coles, University of Toronto & Dr. Jason Maynes, The Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto; Dr. Julie Forman Kay, The Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto & Dr. Nahum Sonenberg, McGill University; Dr. Réjean Lapointe, Université de Montréal and CRCHUM & Dr. Sophie Lerouge, École de technologie supérieure and CRCHUM; and Dr. Moutih Rafei, Université de Montréal. The Lumira-AmorChem conference also highlighted the respective roles of the two venture capital groups in the financing of the life sciences sector, and included presentations from Lumira Capital portfolio companies and from AmorChem’s first spin-off company, Mperia. Our final stories this week come out of Ottawa where the Government of Canada had two announcements related to supporting Canada’s science community. The first saw Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science, launch an independent review of federal funding for fundamental science, to assess the program machinery that is currently in place to support science and scientists in Canada. The scope of the review includes the three granting councils along with certain federally funded organizations such as the Canada Foundation for Innovation. The review will be led by an independent panel of distinguished research leaders and innovators including Dr. David Naylor, former president of the University of Toronto and chair of the panel. Other panelists include: Dr. Robert Birgeneau, former chancellor, University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Martha Crago, Vice-President, Research, Dalhousie University, Mike Lazaridis, co-founder, Quantum Valley Investments, Dr. Claudia Malacrida, Associate Vice-President, Research, University of Lethbridge, Dr. Art McDonald, former director of the Sudbury Neutrino Laboratory, Nobel Laureate, Dr. Martha Piper, interim president, University of British Columbia, Dr. Rémi Quirion, Chief Scientist, Quebec, Dr. Anne Wilson, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Successful Societies Fellow and professor of psychology, Wilfrid Laurier University The panel will spend the next six months seeking input from the research community and Canadians on how to optimize support for fundamental science in Canada. The panel will also survey international best practices for funding science and examine whether emerging researchers face barriers that prevent them from achieving career goals. In addition to collecting input from the research community, the panel will also invite Canadians to participate in the review through an online consultation. In further Canadian Science Policy news Navdeep Bains, Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, has put forward a new Innovation Agenda . Jointly with Minister of Science Kirsty Duncan, and, Minister of Small Business and Tourism Bardish Chagger, the initiative or Agenda will aim at building an inclusive and innovative Canada focused on six areas for action: including promoting an entrepreneurial and creative society, supporting global science excellence, building world-leading clusters and partnerships, growing companies and accelerating clean growth, competing in a digital world and improving ease of doing business. These six action areas, which form the Innovation Agenda, will be the focus of a summer-longperiod of public engagement that will result in an action plan. Central to this plan will be a call to action to all sectors of society. Minister Bains invited all Canadians to share their ideas on the Agenda, and should watch for the launch of an interactive website that will allow them to offer their suggestions on positioning Canada as a global leader in innovation. In addition, round-table discussions will take place across the country. That wraps up this weeks show, be sure to You can find us online at www.biotechnologyfocus.ca and follow us on twitter @BiotechFocus check out our latest issue on our website!

While the FCC contemplates new rules on privacy for Internet Service Providers, we spoke with Peter Swire of the Institute for Information Security and Privacy at Georgia Tech on this episode of the Innovation Agenda about what's at stake.

On this episode of the Innovation Agenda, we get into the second part of our interview with Matthew LeMerle. We talk through privacy, millennials, and emerging markets, all related to the survey his firm, Fifth Era, conducted among investors worldwide regarding their attitudes toward Internet regulation.

In this episode of the Innovation Agenda, we hear part one of our conversation with Matthew LeMerle. Matthew dives deep into the results of his firm's annual survey of investor attitudes toward internet regulation.

California has a new Technology and Innovation Caucus in the State Assembly and Senate. Assemblymember Evan Low of San Jose, co-chair of the new Caucus, visits with CTC on this episode of the Innovation Agenda to discuss its origins, priorities, and hopes for improving the climate for technology growth.

The gap between the number of job openings in cybersecurity and the number of people available to fill those jobs is stirring a conversation in technology, academia and government around the world. Michael Kaiser of the National Cyber Security Alliance visits with CTC on this episode of the Innovation Agenda to discuss their survey (with Raytheon) of millennials and opportunities to explore cybersecurity careers.

What happens when you put a startup founder in a leadership role in Congressional staff? In this special episode of CTC's Inside the Founder's Studio, a hybrid with our Innovation Agenda series, we speak to Roger Dean Huffstetler, co-founder and president of Zillabyte, about his decision to take on a role with Congressman Seth Moulton from Massachusetts, and how he's tackling the job with influences from his startup perspective.

In celebration of Startup Day Across America, CTC speaks with economist Ian Hathaway of the Brookings Institution in this episode of The Innovation Agenda. Hathaway, also a member of the CTC Economic Advisory Board, discusses the importance of startups to the overall economy, the impact of startups on jobs and growth, implications for wide-ranging policy topics from regulation to immigration, and the overall declining rate of startup formation in the U.S. over 30 years. Speaking to that decline, we discuss with Ian whether we should be concerned that the American entrepreneur is an endangered species.

Hamad Buamim is the President & CEO of the Dubai Chamber. He spoke with The Prospect Group about the importance of innovation, Dubai Chamber’s leadership in advancing the innovation agenda, why it’s time for Dubai to export its service model.