Innovation ecosystem expanding in Calgary
It’s not long before 2017 will be in the books, the third year since oil prices crashed.
But when it comes to oil prices and the promise of new pipelines, there is reason for optimism in 2018.
And even with the outlook in the energy world the most positive it’s been in three years, momentum in the innovation space is not slowing down.
Instead, a mind shift has happened in Calgary.
It’s a mix of developing technologies and processes that ensures the Canadian energy sector is competitive on both cost and carbon, and the growing number of organizations aiming to catalyze new businesses that push the boundaries on innovation.
The fact three of the four recipients of the recent Manning Awards for Innovation are from Alberta is one sign of how things are changing.
In recent weeks, three events have offered clear signals of the recognition that there is more to Calgary and Alberta than oil and natural gas.
The first was the first cohort of the Creative Destruction Labs of the Rockies (CDL), which saw 25 companies pitch their ideas to a group of seasoned business types from many areas, including the energy, medical and financial services sectors.
CDL-Rockies, which is affiliated with the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, is one of five CDL locations across the country — the others being Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax and Montreal. Each location has a different mandate in terms of where the efforts are directed and Calgary, not surprisingly, will have a focus on energy-related technologies, along with medicine and health care.
More recently, the temporary residence of the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking opened at the University of Calgary. This follows on the $40-million gift made by the Hunter family earlier this year, aimed at encouraging creative, multi-disciplinary interactions involving all faculties.
This is where the silos will disappear, where disciplines and ideas from all over the U of C collide and, ultimately, create new business ventures that go on to be commercialized.
But students haven’t been letting any grass grow under their feet when it comes to integrating business, health care and technology outside the classroom.
At the end of November, a 72-hour hackathon was held by Innovation 4 Health (I4H), with 30 challenges to be solved by 20 multi-disciplinary teams from across the U of C campus. The idea was to bring medical professionals, engineers, clinicians and business types together to solve some very real problems.
Innovation 4 Health was established by five graduate students to address issues faced by medical and veterinary professionals.
The third piece took place Dec. 11 at the new Nucleus space in downtown Calgary, in space that was once occupied by the Calgary Chamber of Commerce and now owned by Cenovus.
The sold-out program caught the attention of many Calgary business leaders, from investment bankers and private equity players, to service and exploration company execs. The event was the brainchild of Mark Blackwell, a driving force in the local innovation ecosystem, and involved a discussion between Ian MacGregor of Northwest Upgrading and Peter Tertzakian, who leads the ARC Energy Research Institute.
That discussion, which coincidentally occurred the night before the first diesel production from Northwest Upgrading — the first refinery built in Canada since Shell’s Scotford Refinery opened in 1984 — took an optimistic tone, with both MacGregor and Tertzakian believing the four ingredients for new technology development are in ample supply in Calgary.
That view was certainly backed up for the audience when four companies — Ambyint, Seeq, Dark Visions and Intelligent Wellhead Systems — showcased their products and business plans following the discussion.
These ranged from the use of artificial intelligence to reduce costs and increase production, ultrasound imaging for well bores that can see through opaque fluids, data analytics platforms that combine machine learning with real-time experience and a patented system to prevent catastrophic mistakes at the wellhead.
It wasn’t the hype of Bitcoin — the cryptocurrency that continues to reach new, inexplicably high valuations — but it was about artificial intelligence, big data, machine learning and smart, process-oriented innovation. There is no magic bullet to any of this but, as Tertzakian pointed out, with energy commodities in a deflationary state due to technological developments there is little choice but to climb up the innovation curve to reduce both costs and environmental impact while boosting productivity to be competitive.
Judging from what has been going on the past few weeks — not to mention the impending arrival of RocketSpace in 2018 — there is momentum within Calgary’s innovation ecosystem.
Places like the Hunter Hub and Nucleus, and undertakings that include CDL-Rockies and The Rainforest, suggest what’s going on isn’t a passing fad but a new chapter in the evolution of both Calgary and Alberta’s economic development that includes — but goes beyond — the oilpatch.