The Socio-Economic Importance of Scientific Research To Canada

The Socio-Economic Importance of Scientific Research to Canada Page 27© David A. Wolfe and Ammon Salterthrough, the Ontario Centres of Excellence have been useful in helping firms and students codefineresearch that deals with industrial concerns. At the same time, it allows the students todevelop expertise and skills which will be valuable over the long period. It is necessary tostrike a balance between the need for an understanding of industrial practice on one side, andthe requirement for student education to be lifelong and portable, on the other.New Instrumentation and Methodologies:The development of new instrumentation and methodologies is one of the key benefits ofgovernment–funded basic research. As yet, few attempts have been made to measure thebenefits of instrumentation and methodologies. 20 Innovation surveys rarely reflect the benefitof instrumentation because of the limited ability of R&D managers to recognize thecontribution made by earlier government–funded research. Yet, historical research has shownthat instrumentation is a key economic output that results from government funding. “Theeventual economic impact of basic research is commonly expressed through the medium ofnew instrumentation technologies and the life histories of these new technologies” (Rosenberg1992, p. 381)Problems in basic research have forced researchers to invest and design new kinds ofequipment. Scientists often create new instrumentation, lab techniques and analytical methodsthat eventually are adopted and used in industrial process controls. Although initiallydeveloped for a specific research problem, these pieces of equipment often become useful inother areas. Numerous examples of this process abound — electron diffraction, the scanningelectron microscope, ion implantation, synchrotron radiation sources, phase–shiftedlithography, and superconducting magnets (US Office of Technology Assessment, 1995, p.38). Another prominent example, the computer, was largely a product of scientificinstrumentation needs. The early pioneers of the computer “were confronted by extremelytedious and time-consuming computational requirements in their research work, typicallyinvolving solutions to large systems of differential questions” (Rosenberg 1992, p. 382).Scientific instruments have become almost indistinguishable from industrial capital goods inmany industries, such as semiconductors. “Indeed much, perhaps most, of the equipment thatone sees today in an up–to–date electronics manufacturing plant had its origin in the universityresearch laboratory” (Rosenberg 1992, p. 384).20 There is almost no systematic evidence on the percentage of research funding accounted for by instrumentation or the diffusion of thiof science.27