Our recent publications & appearances
Harmonizing Canadian Tech Transfer
This session explored the history of tech transfer in the US, Canada, and elsewhere, focusing on adapting successfully policies such as the Bayh-Dole Act to the Canadian context in the interest of hamonizing post-secondary IP policy. It concluded with a review of the Simple Agreement for Innovation Licensing (SAIL), a proposed express license template designed for Canadian tech transfer.
National Angel Capital Organization Summit 2026
"Investing In Deeptech at the Earliest Stage: Opportunities, Risks, and What's Coming"
This panel explored the challenges of investing in deep tech and examined recent trends in Canada’s early-stage investment ecosystem. You can read about the discussion here via Betakit.
Association of University Technology Managers Canada 2026
"Structuring University Equity and IP Rights: Balancing Assignment Clauses, Valuation, and Long-Term Risk"
This panel debated the extent to which universities should share in the proceeds of innovation arising from the research they produce, and the means through which that reward should be secured. You can read our thoughts on this topic here. Dr. Briggs also presented simulation results on venture philanthropy.
Lab2Market Summit 2025
"Harmonizing Canadian Tech Transfer"
This session explored the history of tech transfer in the US, Canada, and elsewhere, focusing on adapting successfully policies such as the Bayh-Dole Act to the Canadian context in the interest of hamonizing post-secondary IP policy. It concluded with a review of the Simple Agreement for Innovation Licensing (SAIL), a proposed express license template designed for Canadian tech transfer.
Canadian Science Policy Conference 2025
"Toward a resilient future for Canada: Mobilizing science, knowledge and innovation"
Governing Innovation: Designing Institutions for Canada’s Long-Term Prosperity
This panel explored issues related to governance of innovation, and discussed how Canadian innovation policy frameworks will need to change in response to an accelerating pace of technological change. Read more here.
From Research to Commercialization
This panel, hosted by Universities Canada, discussed challenges getting innovation out of the lab, including tech transfer and early-stage funding.
FORPIQ 2025
"Strengthening Canada's Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy: The Role of IP in the Defence Sector"
University Affairs
Discusses the urgent need for streamlined pathways to get research out of the lab and into the hands of startups. Presents the Simple Agreement for Innovation Licensing as a practical tool through which universities can accelerate their research toward social and economic impact for Canadians.
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University Affairs
Discusses the urgent need for streamlined pathways to get research out of the lab and into the hands of startups. Presents the Simple Agreement for Innovation Licensing as a practical tool through which universities can accelerate their research toward social and economic impact for Canadians.
TheFutureEconomy.ca
Puts Canada’s fragmented innovation policy into its international context and suggests a two-pillar approach to emerging and disruptive technology management based on risk-tolerant, patient capital combined with unified federal IP management.
SSRN
We simulate the performance of several strategies for investing in early-stage startups. We show that venture philanthropy, where returns from dilutive investment are recycled to support the subsequent innovations, can be an effective source of capital for bringing emerging technologies to market in ecosystems that are presently limited by risk aversion.
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Economic and national security depends on how the country manages its IP. This paper looks at economic security through an IP lens, examining how attacks against IP can put security and sovereignty at risk. The authors make five recommendations to address these concerns: create an open-source intelligence agency, protect the outputs of Canadian research, strengthen foreign investment controls, invest in sovereign cloud compute and storage, and coordinate federal legal frameworks.
Institute for Research on Public Policy: Policy Options Magazine
Canada’s lack of a universal policy for governance of federally funded intellectual property (IP) makes tech transfer difficult and blocks good ideas from getting to market. There is enormous value to be unlocked from Canada’s world-class research, if only we commit to bridging the gap between labs and markets. Our country’s future economic security requires bold action now more than ever.
Council for Canadian Academies
Practical solutions to challenges to translating research into disruptive technological innovation beyond the lab, focused on risk-tolerant public funding to bridge the “valley of death” for deep tech. The report concludes with an overview of Canadian deep tech in three sectors: artificial intelligence (AI), cleantech, and quantum technologies, and makes recommendations for next steps to secure value for Canada in each of these sectors that are readily generalizable to other deep tech sectors.
