Smarter governance will make Canada’s innovation economy stronger

By Benjamin Bergen, CCI Executive Director

So much of modern technology is about networks.

The internet is essentially one big network. Artificial intelligence technology is built upon a different sort of network.

Innovative companies in the knowledge economy are a network of another sort, organizing the minds of skilled professionals to build new products and services to transform the world.

Networks are powerful.

In early November, I watched another network come into existence.

If you didn’t know the whole backstory, it would’ve looked just like any other Zoom call, with a bunch of executives in their little boxes for a lunchtime meeting. For me and the team at CCI, though, the first session of the Innovation Governance Program (iGP) was something special — something that will hopefully build a stronger, deeper innovation network in Canada.

Throughout much of 2021, the labour market for skilled talent has been something of an obsession for CCI, because it’s the #1 challenge facing scale-up technology companies in Canada.

When you hear about a talent shortage in the tech sector, often your mind first goes to the programmers, the data scientists, the product managers, and other technical professionals that technology companies always seem to be hiring for.

These professionals are important, but the truth is that the talent shortage exists at every level of the tech sector. CCI member companies tell us that it’s often just as hard to recruit executive talent — for example, a chief financial officer or marketing director with the experience and skills needed to help scale a company from millions to billions.

And even farther up the line, there’s another demand for skilled talent that Canadian technology companies need, right at the very top. Once a startup finds its product-market fit and gains some traction, the company enters a growth phase, and the founders need to build out a serious corporate structure, including a board of directors.

The oversight and strategic guidance of an insightful set of directors can be one of the defining factors for whether a founder can navigate the path to growth without seeing their company picked off by competitors or acquired before they can truly realize their vision.

One of the features of a healthy business ecosystem is a rich network of investors, directors, and senior executives with a diversity of experience. Ideally, in innovation hotspots, you see cross-pollination from one company to another, bringing a range of perspectives and expertise to guide founders and cover their blind spots.

To help address this gap, CCI developed iGP to give executives the training they need to sit on a scale-up board.

The details of how it came together don’t really matter, but the striking thing was just how much enthusiasm we found — from the wave of executives eager to take the course, to various partner organizations that came on board to help us develop iGP.

Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), CPA Ontario, and Export Development Canada (EDC) sponsored our first cohort, and an impressive group of domain experts stepped up to develop the curriculum.

The Innovation Asset Collective (IAC) offered training on issues relating to intellectual property, data and governance to help provide future directors with the knowledge and tools they need to navigate the intangible economy. Cycura stepped up with expertise on cybersecurity and governance, to help corporate leaders understand the modern threat landscape, and how to mitigate cyber risk. Deloitte handled risk, compliance, finance and controls, examining the specific pathway from venture capital fundraising through to IPO.

Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) is helping ensure iGP develops critical missing capacity in Canada’s innovation ecosystem, enabling future growth and more strategic guidance for Canada’s most innovative entrepreneurs.

Throughout the iGP sessions this fall, it’s been striking how many sharp, talented individuals Canada has with knowledge of the innovation economy. In sessions on data strategy, cybersecurity, intellectual property and risk, we’ve had intelligent conversations about the leadership roles of directors in helping a company grow.

As the inaugural session of iGP winds down, I’m feeling like the best is yet to come. The executives who complete iGP will be added to our Board Member Advisory Program roster, where CCI works to connect qualified candidates with our member companies searching to fill board vacancies.

In 2022, as we start making these connections, we see a future Canadian innovation ecosystem with a stronger network of board executives sharing wisdom and strategy.

This idea of a stronger innovation network has always been at the core of CCI’s vision. In the 21st century, Canadian prosperity will depend on homegrown technology companies headquartered here, generating economic value for Canadians.

Please join me in congratulating our 2021 cohort of iGP, and apply today at www.innovationgovernance.ca to be part of our Winter 2022 program starting in February: