NCE Evaluations: Our commitment to research that works is as strong as ever

Leading the way

No man is an island and no organization – regardless of how well it functions – can afford to operate in isolation. To continually improve, the NCE program seeks out objective assessments of its approaches, programs and policies.

In 2007, two independent, arm's-length organizations completed separate reviews of the NCE program. Both praised it for leading the way in translating research knowledge into solutions to improve Canada's economy and quality of life.

In its Recommendations on the Future Direction of the NCE Program, the NCE International Advisory Committee (IAC) declared that “not only has the NCE program helped to reshape how collaborative research is carried out in Canada and across the globe, the NCEs have also made contributions to S&T discoveries and commercialization that have improved the quality of life of Canadians.”

The IAC, made up of global leaders from a variety of sectors and disciplines,  recommended that the NCE program “build on its prior successes and help secure Canada's place on the world S&T stage.” It anticipated a future “in which the research undertaken by the NCE networks will remain critical to helping Canada meet the priorities and answer the problems, new and old, that will challenge the nation.”

Authors R.A. Malatest and Associates Ltd. and Circum Network Inc. were equally laudatory in their Networks of Centres of Excellence Evaluation Report, prepared for the Interagency Evaluation Steering Committee.

The report singled out the NCE program for assembling three characteristics that other granting council programs do not share or bring together to the same degree:

• The multi-disciplinary nature of networks;
• The strong emphasis placed on the training of highly qualified personnel in a multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral, networked environment; and
• The objective of solving real-world problems via research and knowledge transfer.

Recommending continued support, the authors noted that “informed stakeholders consider that the NCE program ranks among the top vehicles of S&T commercialization and translation support for Canadian research and technological application.”

The report praised the NCE program for distinguishing itself “with a long-term funding commitment, a clearly national scope woven right into its fundamental network requirements and an emphasis on multidisciplinarity that cuts across the granting councils' mandates.” It also recognized the central role the NCE program plays in Government of Canada's S&T strategy and said it “ranks among the top vehicles of S&T commercialization and translation support for Canadian research and technological application.”

It is gratifying to be acknowledged for championing S&T commercialization and translation – especially when that praise comes as the NCE program prepares to mark its 20^th anniversary. Clearly, two decades in, our commitment to research that works has never been stronger.

NETWORK LIFECYCLES 2007-08

 

 

University 34%

 

 

Industry 23%

 

 

Outside Canada 23%

 

 

Unemployed/unknown 13%

 

 

Other 4%

 

 

Government 3%

Canadian

Foreign

Date Modified: 2009-06-01

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