John de la Mothe Memorial Lecture Series

The first Annual John de la Mothe Memorial Lecture was inaugurated in 2008 in the honour of John de la Mothe, a faculty member at the Telfer School for 15 years until his passing in August 2007. An internationally renowned scholar and Canada Research Chair in Innovation Strategy, John made numerous and significant contributions to both research and policy development in the area of innovation.

2012

Does the Apple Always Fall Close to the Tree? Innovation and Regional Development

Invited Speaker: Richard Shearmur, Ph.D.
Professor and Researcher
Centre Urbanisation Culture et Société
Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS)

Monday, November 5, 2012
15:30 to 17:30
Telfer School of Management
Desmarais Building
DMS 4101

Over the last two or three decade two ideas have strongly influenced thinking on local and regional development: first, it has been emphasised that a locality’s economic development depends essentially on local factors (firms, labour, institutions, etc.). Second, a local economy’s dynamism depends on the capacity of local firms to innovate.

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2011

Conditions for an Evidence-Based Science Policy

Invited Speaker: Yves Gingras, Ph.D.
Canada Research Chair in History and Sociology of Science
Professor in the History Department at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM)
Scientific Director of the Observatory of Science and Technology (OST)

Monday, October 31, 2011

Everyone seems to agree that we live in a “knowledge society” with a “knowledge economy” engine. Over the last 50 years, we have moved from ‘science policies’ to ‘technology policies’ and then to ‘innovation policies’. The tendency nevertheless remains to construct science and innovation policy discourses based on the latest fads and buzzwords. In other words, policies for science rarely use evidence-based conclusions from empirical analysis of the current dynamics of the Canadian research system.

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2009

Africa in the Age of Technological Interdependence: New Opportunities and Challenges for International Cooperation

Invited Speaker: Dr. Calestous Juma, Ph.D.
Professor of the Practice of International Development
Harvard Kennedy School
Harvard University, Cambridge, USA

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Post-war development cooperation models that focus on the magnitude of flows of financial resources and technology to from industrialized nations to developing countries are rapidly breaking down.

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2008

Promoting Innovation in the Private Sector: The U.S. Experience

Invited Speaker: Albert H. Teich, Ph.D.
Director of Science & Policy Programs
American Association for the Advancement of Science

“Promoting Innovation in the Private Sector: The U.S. Experience” addresses a key aspect of science and technology policy in the US; the lecture will discuss the political context of government innovation policies and the impacts of those policies on industrial R&D and innovation in the U.S.

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