Panel A: Swiss and Canadian Innovation Ecosystems

March 16, 2022 / 10.10 - 11.30 EDT (Ottawa), 15.10 - 16.30 CET (Bern)

 

Discover key features of the innovation eco-systems in Canada and Switzerland. This high-level panel examines similarities and differences of framework conditions for innovative sectors and evaluates the current state of Swiss-Canadian cooperation in the Cleantech sector and how it can be enhanced. Canadian and Swiss innovation experts will explain their respective innovation promotion systems and instruments by looking at questions such as:

 

  • What is the role of governments in innovation?
  • How do innovation agencies, such as Innosuisse, or the Canadian Innovation Superclusters support the innovation sector and foster international cooperation?
  • What are the best practices for scaling innovation?

 

The panel will highlight success stories of Swiss and Canadian business and science collaboration in the Cleantech sector and discuss challenges of scaling up innovation in the respective countries.

Simon Kennedy

Panelists

Simon Kennedy

Simon Kennedy

Deputy Minister, Innovation, Science and Economic Development, Canada

Simon Kennedy has become Deputy Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) in September 2019, following his role as Deputy Minister of Health. His public service career included the Privy Council Office, Industry Canada, Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. He holds a MSc in Communications Management from Syracuse University and has served on the boards of various organizations. 

Martina Hirayama

Martina Hirayama

H.E. Martina Hirayama

State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation, Switzerland

Since 2019, Ms Hirayama is Switzerland’s State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation. Prior to this role, she was Director of the ZHAW School of Engineering, a member of the university’s executive board and Head of International Affairs. Her Swiss and European board membership activities include the Federal Institute of Metrology METAS, Innosuisse, or SNSF to name a few. She studied Chemistry at the ETH Zurich (Dr. Sc. Techn)., the University of Fribourg and Imperial College London. 

André Kudelski

André Kudelski

André Kudelski

President, Innosuisse

Mr. Kudelski is Chairman and CEO of Kudelski Group and President of Innosuisse, the Swiss Federal Agency for Innovation. He is Vice-Chairman of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce and sits on the Supervisory Board of Publicis Groupe and the Strategic Advisory Board of the EPFL, and previously served on various boards, e.g. Nestlé, Aéroport de Genève, and Dassault Systèmes. He has an MSc in Applied Physics from EPFL.

David Lisk

David Lisk

David Lisk

Vice President, IRAP at National Research Council Canada

Prior to his current position as Vice-President, Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), at the National Research Council Canada, Mr. Lisk was the Executive Director for IRAP Ontario and served as an Industrial Technology Advisor from 2009 to 2012. He draws on 35 years of experience in the ICT industry. He holds an MBA from the Univ. of Ottawa and a Bachelor in Electrical Engineering from the Univ. of Waterloo.

Robert Itschner

Robert Itschner

Robert Itschner

Country Manager, ABB Switzerland

Mr. Itschner started at ABB in 1993 as a software engineer and took on many managerial roles, e.g. for the global Business Unit Power, or Head of Marketing and Sales of the global Robotics & Motion Division. He holds a Master’s Degree (El. Eng. and Comp. Sci) from Northwestern University and a Bachelor’s Degree (El. Eng.) from the HSR Rapperswil.

Jayson Myers

Jayson Myers

Jayson Myers

CEO, Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen)

Mr. Myers is CEO of Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGEN), which leads Canada’s Advanced Manufacturing Supercluster. Between 2007 and 2016, he served as President and CEO of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters. As an award-winning business economist, he is recognized as one of the most influential economic policy advocates in Canada. He completed his studies at Queen’s University, UBC, LSE, and Oxford University.

Nick Beglinger

Moderator

Nick Beglinger

Nick Beglinger

CEO, Cleantech21 Foundation

Nick is a Swiss economist/activist with the mission to accelerate technological and regulatory innovation that addresses the climate and biodiversity crisis. Since 2008 he runs the Cleantech21 foundation (C21) and acted as president of swisscleantech (2009-2016), Switzerland’s first green business association. C21 initiated many international projects, such as the Climate Policy Exchange or the Climate Ledger Initiative.

This is a Third Party Event. The Swiss-Canadian Cleantech innovation Summit is jointly organized by the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), the Swiss State Secretariat of Economic Affairs (SECO), the Embassy of Switzerland in Canada, Global Affairs Canada (GAC), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED), and the Embassy of Canada in Switzerland, with the invaluable support of Innosuisse, Switzerland Global Enterprise, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the National Research Council Canada.

PARTNERS OF SWITZERLAND GLOBAL ENTERPRISE AND WITH NO RELATION TO THE EVENT ABOVE:

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