OTTAWA –Industry Canada has created a new Science and Technology and Innovation Council and named Dr. Howard Alper as its chair.
The non-governmental advisory board will provide the government with evidence-based policy advice on science and technology issues, and produce regular national reports that measure the country’s science and technology performance against international standards of excellence.
“I am pleased that Dr. Alper has agreed to take on the task of chairing and assisting us in building this new council. Under his leadership, the council will develop integrated advice to government to help make Canada one of the world’s innovation leaders,” Industry Minister Maxime Bernier said Monday in a statement.
The establishment of the council was outlined in the government’s national science and technology strategy, which was unveiled May 17 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Bernier, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Rona Ambrose.
At the time, Harper said the new strategy would strengthen Canada’s economy by “tapping our deep well of entrepreneurial energy to fuel our technological progress.”
The strategy pledges federal support for research and development in four key areas: information technology, natural resources, the environment and health. The strategy also committed the government to consolidate external advisory bodies into one to create a stronger voice under the new council.
Alper has served as chair of the board of governors of the Council of Canadian Academies and on private-sector boards. He’s an Officer of the Order of Canada and has received a number of prestigious fellowships and major awards, including being the first recipient of the Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal for Science and Engineering.
