Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development
May 10, 2016
The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Christopher Mitchelmore, Minister of Business, Tourism, Culture and Rural Development:
Province Celebrates Innovation Week
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in this House today to recognize Innovation Week in our province. With the theme being "Accelerating Innovation", Innovation Week brings together startups, youth, business and public partners in a creative forum to connect and exchange ideas to contribute to the growth of the provincial economy.
Over five days this week, a total of 16 partner organizations will roll out 17 events to kick-start creative thinking and collaboration in key sectors. Yesterday I had the pleasure of kicking-off Innovation week along with key innovation stakeholders in our province at the launch event at Common Ground. The complete event schedule is available at www.innovationweek.ca .
Innovation has a remarkable influence on our province's social and economic development and there is unlimited potential we have yet to develop. That's why our government is excited to work with various levels of government, industry and our academic partners, to align our efforts in support of a new Provincial Innovation Strategy - all with the goal of making our economy more competitive.
Mr. Speaker, according to statistics from the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Technology Industries (Nati), the province's technology sector alone includes over 170 companies, over 4,000 employees and over $1.6 billion in annual revenues
Working with innovation stakeholders, our Innovation Plan will focus on ways in which we can measurably advance firm-level innovation, productivity and competitiveness, and maximize benefits associated with private and public research and technology investments in all sectors of the economy.
Thank you.
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2016 05 10 1:50 p.m.