Technology and the Canadian Forest-Product Industries ... - ArtSites

Promoting In-House R&D in the Forest-Product IndustriesIf the Canadian forest-product industries are to promote in-houseR&D, then significant changes in attitudes toward innovation will berequired. Such changes can only occur if appropriate signals aregenerated by business and government leaders. The key to suchchanges, however, rests with business. Innovation involves bothR&D and non-R&D components and is as much a managerialproblem as an intellectual one. Moreover, product and processdevelopment and the transfer of technology is generally best left toindustry. Business leaders should establish a commitment to flexibility,value maximization, quality, and innovation in all operations andcreate a production system in which R&D is more important. Such acommitment also needs to be made publicly in speeches, seminars,and the media. As a practical and symbolic expression of this commitment,business leaders should create a steering committee ontechnology, comprising leading scientists and engineers, to identifythe present and future technological needs of the industry. The firsttask of this committee could be to produce a detailed study of"innovation needs and the forest-product industries to the year 2000."If business demonstrates its desire for more in-house R&D thengovernment initiatives may be possible. In particular, federal andprovincial governments need to see the forest-product industrieswithin the framework of innovation policy and not as part of a sunsetsector as is sometimes the case.'? At the provincial level, the Quebecgovernment recognizes the forest-product industries as an economicplanning priority; it has shown a greater appreciation than have otherprovinces for the importance of local control and for research,development, and innovation. Within Quebec there is an elaboratetechnological infrastructure upon which to build.At the federal level several initiatives may be suggested insupport of the commitment of business to in-house R&D.In particular, this author recommends that a review be made ofthe policies and programs of the Office of the Minister of State(Forestry and Mines) and of the activities of the Department ofIndustry, Science and Technology (DIST) that relate to the forestproductindustries and the equipment suppliers, chemical suppliers,and engineering consultants.The Minister of State (Forestry and Mines) needs to raise the publicprofile of forestry in Canada and to encourage a stonger commitmentto forestry management.w In this regard sound proposals for improvingthe management and innovativeness of Canadian forestry have118