Mediating Innovation Policy Delivery: The Regional Innovation Centres of Ontario

By: Charles Conteh

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Synopsis: Report cards and academic scholarship have been critical of innovation policy in Canada. But what if these reports have done a profound injustice to the story of knowledge-driven economic reinvention and the actual transformation taking place in the country? Spotlighting what is happening in cities and regions across Ontario, Mediating Innovation Policy Delivery argues that it is far more nuanced and exciting than what has been captured in scorecards and report cards. The book explores the intermediary institutions, the organizational brokers at the frontline of Canada’s innovation race, that are shepherding the process of economic reinvention in regions large and small. The book draws on case studies to explore three central themes. The first is about innovation, innovation policy, and their delivery systems. The second is that of regions as the frontlines of technological and socioeconomic change in the Canadian federation. The third covers the role of intermediary institutions as innovation platforms, highlighting their triumphs and tribulations as they strategically navigate through the shifting currents of change. The book’s main lessons apply not just to Ontario and Canada but also to other industrialized democracies worldwide. Ultimately, the book advances our knowledge of organizational instruments of innovation policy delivery that operate at the strategic interface between the state, market, and society.