CASR

Budget  for
Research  &
Development

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 Aerospace
 & Defence
Industry
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Strategic Aerospace & Defence Industry – SADI  Backgrounder – Sept 2009 Strategic  Aerospace  and  Defence  Initiative  –  ( SADI ) A  Backgrounder  from  the  Government's  ' Action  Plan ' Industry  Canada's  Strategic Aerospace and  Defence Initiative  is a loan plan for research and development for aerospace, defence, space, and security industries in Canada. Industry Canada notes that private investment in  R&D  for these Canadian industries "lags behind" when compared with other OECD member states. The point of  SADI is to provide repayable 'seed'  funding towards such R&D to ensure "... that additional private sector ... funds are leveraged". Starting in 2010, the commited funding for SADI will be spread over four years.  SADI publications refer to industrial research  and  "pre-competitive development projects". The latter are usually defined as activities aimed at commercializing the results of  that industrial research process. Most importantly, pre-competitive development generally includes the creation of  a first prototype or some form of  ' technology demonstrator '. Industry Canada (IC) defines an advanced  technology demonstrator as an evaluation of  "technologies  in a realistic operating environment  to assess  [ their ]  performance potential or technical feasibility". IC accepts that investors aren't attracted to research stages in advance of commercialization and  SADI is intended to redress that  balance. Government loans for R&D are seen as being strategic rather than product specific. IC (and SADI) have encouraged "Advanced Industrial Methods and Practices" to ensure the competiveness of Canadian aerospace parts makers. This has boosted export sales numbers but did little to foster development of wholly Canadian-produced aircraft. But IC's approach to Technology Demonstrators has the potential to shift the emphasis of Canada's aerospace industry from parts for foreign designs to made-in-Canada aircraft. The text of  an  IC  Strategic Aerospace and  Defence Initiative backgrounder  follows: The Strategic Aerospace and  Defence Initiative supports strategic  industrial research and pre-competitive development (R&D) projects in the aerospace, defence, space and security industries. This initiative was developed with three (3) key objectives in mind:       1)   to encourage strategic research and development that will result in innovation            and  excellence in  new products and services,       2)   to  enhance  the  competitiveness  of   Canadian  aerospace  companies,       3)   to  foster collaboration among universities, colleges, research institutes, and             the  private  sector. This new funding  will ensure that  the program has enough money to meet its current obligations and an anticipated increase in demand in the future. By investing in strate- gic R&D projects, SADI contributes to the development of technologies that focus on next-generation products or services,  build on Canadian strengths, and  enable Cana- dian companies to participate in major platforms. SADI  is administered  by the  Industrial  Technologies  Office. [1]  All  SADI  project applications  undergo  extensive  evaluation,   using  a  clear  and   rigorous   process with  published  assessment  criteria  –  including:  the  company's  ability  to achieve the  stated  objectives,  the  project's  [ technological  advances ],  and   the  expected social  and economic  benefits. All  Canadians  receive  value from  SADI's  contributions  through  the technological and  economic  benefits  that  result  from  supported  R&D  projects.  These  benefits include spinoffs  in diverse  sectors of  the  economy,  such  as  nanotechnology and information  technology, as  well  as  the  development  of  collaborative  partnerships with  universities,  colleges,  and  research  institutions. Domestically,  these  industries  are  important  drivers  in  all  regions of  the country's economic  development.  Collectively,  they  are  significant  players  in  the growth of Canada's  knowledge - based economy.  Canada's  aerospace  and  defence  industries offer competitive and  innovative solutions  –  backed  by a highly skilled workforce. [1]     The  Industrial  Technologies  Office  [ ITO ]  is  a  special  operating  agency           [ SOA ]  of  Industry  Canada,  with  a  mandate  to  advance  leading-edge           research  and  development  ( R&D )  by  Canadian  industries.