Challenges of Coordination: Automotive Innovation in the Ontario Supply Chain in Comparative Context

Abstract

Dans le sud de l'Ontario, où se trouve un pô le industriel automobile, des politiques permettent de soutenir de nombreux projets de recherche portant sur l'application de technologies habilitantes. Toutefois, ces projets ne répondent aux besoins que d'un faible pourcentage d'entreprises, les fournisseurs très novateurs, et ne touchent pas la base manufacturière traditionnelle. La situation est pourtant très différente dans d'autres pô les industriels automobiles, comme Detroit, au Michigan, les West Midlands, au Royaume-Uni, et le Bade-Wurtemberg, en Allemagne, où les projets de recherche appliquée concernent l'ensemble des entreprises de la chaîne d'approvisionnement. Dans cet article, nous avançons que l'Ontario doit tirer d'importantes leçons de ces nouvelles formes de coordination industrielle afin d'empêcher l'érosion des capacités d'innovation des entreprises de sa base manufacturière automobile traditionnelle.Mots clés : pô les industriels automobiles, recherche appliquée, coordination industrielle, politiques en matière d'automobiles Policies for the southern Ontario automotive cluster support multiple collaborative research projects designed for the application of enabling technologies. However, these initiatives cater to a small percentage of highly innovative automotive suppliers and exclude much of the traditional manufacturing base. This stands in contrast to automotive clusters in Detroit, MI; the West Midlands, United Kingdom; and Baden-Wü rttemberg, Germany, where applied research collaborations target the entire supply chain. With respect to policy implications, we argue that new forms of industrial coordination emerging in competitor regions may offer critical policy lessons for Ontario on how to stem the erosion of innovation capabilities in its automotive supply base.

'Innovation policy is a team sport' - insights from non-governmental intermediaries in Canadian innovation ecosystem

“…Canadian science policy, as well as innovation policy, has been characterized by limited coordination across stakeholder groups (Tamtik 2016; Goracinova et al 2017). A unique non-government stakeholder that has made a significant mark in promoting science, connecting scientists and policy makers, and advocating for a greater presence of science policy among the federal and provincial governments is the Canadian Science Policy Centre (CSPC).…”