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Section II: Analysis of Program Activities by Strategic Outcome

Strategic Outcome 1 – Advancements in innovative technologies and increased innovation capacity in targeted Canadian industries and national priority areas

The federal S&T Strategy commits to translating discovery into innovative, technology-driven products and services in national priority areas as well as improving the innovation capacity of industry. NRC delivered on these commitments by developing technological solutions to national challenges in health and wellness, sustainable energy and the environment. NRC also helped SMEs increase their innovation capacity and compete more effectively in world markets, and strengthened Canada's innovation system by increasing technology transfer and commercialization.

NRC's study, NRC's S&T Economic Impacts and Return on Investments, sheds light on the extent to which NRC programs, projects and expenditures impact its clients and the Canadian economy at large. The study looked at the benefits and impacts of NRC's annual expenditures on its clients' performance, and those generated through knowledge spillovers to the economy. It estimated the total value of NRC's economic impact at between $4.0B and $5.5B annually and that the average annual economic return on investment (EROI) to taxpayers is between 6.5 and 7.5 times NRC's total expenditures. The study also addressed specific issues about NRC's role in new wealth creation through private sector innovation as well as building innovation capacity. NRC was found to have a positive and statistically significant impact on private sector client sales and productivity. For every $1 spent by NRC on private sector client-related activities, some $9 of new wealth creation, measured in terms of total client sales, was induced.

Program Activity 1.1: Manufacturing Technologies

Program Activity Description

This program performs multi-disciplinary research and development in consultation with industry, universities, government departments and other key innovation players to improve the global competitiveness of Canadian industry by transforming knowledge and innovation into real economic value and by transferring technologies into industrial solutions for the marketplace. Companies have coordinated access to NRC's multidisciplinary research expertise and state-of-the art facilities to ensure they are at the leading edge of innovation. This includes a facility that transforms concepts into custom precision mechanical prototypes for research applications.

^* The current methodology for planning Full Time Equivalent (FTE) utilization does not necessarily permit comparison with actual utilization. This will be corrected in the 2012-13 reporting cycle.↑

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

NRC consulted a sample of clients⁷ to determine the extent to which NRC's manufacturing technologies research and facilities helped advance their innovation capacity. The aggregate of all responses where respondents agreed that NRC helped advance their innovation capacity was 73%, indicating progress toward the achievement of the 75% target by March 2012. Eighty-one percent (81%) of those consulted in the sample client survey reported that NRC's products and services increased their overall innovation capacity; 91% reported that NRC helped develop or significantly improve one or more products and/or technologies (i.e., product innovations); and 71% reported that NRC helped develop or significantly improved one or more methods of manufacturing or producing goods or services (i.e., process innovations).

The Manufacturing Technologies Program Activity provided targeted support and services to high-impact industry sectors such as automotive, aerospace, and construction.

Over the last few years, Canada's automotive sector has faced severe economic challenges. Working through the federal "Automotive Partnership Canada" initiative, which supports Canadian auto and parts makers in addressing their R&D needs, NRC undertook 34 projects with automotive industrial partners, worth a total value of $32.8M including industrial, university/other government departments/international and NRC contributions of $9.1M, $3.5M and $20.2M respectively. NRC's automotive sector research collaborations, focused on developing innovative technologies to create lightweight vehicles, alternative propulsion and cognitive cars, helped SMEs understand the technology demands of automakers and assisted them in developing the solutions to meet these needs.

NRC's Aerospace Research focused on improving the design, manufacture, performance and safety of aerospace vehicles, while reducing environmental impacts. In 2010-11, NRC developed a new helicopter control system that allows pilots to operate their aircraft to their maximum capabilities more safely, representing a major breakthrough in the development of advanced aircraft control systems. NRC also advanced alternative fuels testing with successful qualification testing of semi-synthetic jet fuel. NRC completed a successful Department of National Defence-funded collaborative project to understand the physics of helicopter ice accretion and shedding, and another phase of a $40M collaboration with partners Bombardier, Bell Helicopter and Canadian SME Composites Atlantic, conducting an elevated-temperature full-scale fatigue and residual strength test to certify Canada's first all-composite helicopter tail boom. NRC's total number of aerospace sector partners/collaborators/clients in 2010-11 was 293, with a total of $32.6M in revenue. NRC had 50 Canadian lower-tier partners/collaborators/clients in 2010-11, with a total of $5.6M in revenue.

As Canada's largest employer, the construction industry sector accounts for 12% of Canada's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with annual investments of more than $146B in capital expenditures.⁸ The substantive challenge for this industry is to transition into the knowledge-based economy. To enable this transition and advance sector competitiveness and value creation, NRC Construction Research and Support developed the knowledge and technologies needed to create a quality and cost-effective built environment; provided integrated, decision-making tools that enable the construction sector to respond to changing performance expectations; and developed construction process technologies critical to improved productivity. In 2010-11, NRC worked on the performance assessment of building envelope systems focusing on energy and moisture management; innovative sensors and sensor networks linked to decision-support tools to manage indoor air quality and increase energy efficiency; and prefabrication, modularization and preassembly of building systems and components to increase construction productivity and efficiency.

More information on Manufacturing Technologies can be found on the supplementary information page for NRC's DPR 2010-11.

Lessons Learned

In 2010-11, an evaluation of NRC Aerospace noted NRC's alignment with the needs of the aerospace sector and NRC's unique expertise and facilities. The evaluation provided insight into opportunities to strengthen the program. It identified the need to increase strategic research to support ongoing development and to further develop the capacity of lower-tier suppliers to connect to global supply chains. It also resulted in information allowing NRC to reflect on its role in the area of data flight recording. As a result, NRC management committed to examining the alignment of these activities.

In addition, NRC learned the importance of promoting the existence and benefits of research framework agreements that have been put in place with leading aerospace companies over the past several years. In several instances, individual collaborators/clients were not aware of these agreements, and therefore did not take full advantage of their time- and cost-saving potential at the project definition and contract negotiation stages. NRC has resolved to work with its strategic partners to address these communication issues through the launch of a new client management approach and Key Account Management System at NRC. These efforts are expected to result in streamlined negotiations with key clients and an increased ability to identify collaborative research opportunities between NRC and the private sector.

Program Activity 1.2: Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) and Emerging Technologies

Program Activity Description

In support of the federal S&T Strategy, this program mobilizes and partners with key university, government and private sector players and forms major research collaborations to develop integrated research solutions in the areas of information and communications technologies and emerging technologies for the economic benefit of industrial sectors and Canadians generally. Areas of research focus include photonics, molecular science, information technology and enabling sustainable development.

^* Actual spending may exceed 'Total Authorities' at the PA level due to changes to the individual PA main estimates amounts. However Parliamentary Authorities at the NRC level cannot be exceeded.↑

^* The current methodology for planning Full Time Equivalent (FTE) utilization does not necessarily permit comparison with actual utilization. This will be corrected in the 2012-13 reporting cycle.↑

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

The relevance of this program activity is demonstrated by a 26% increase in revenue from service contracts and successful intellectual property transfered to industries. NRC exceeded its $1.5M target by $4.6M.

NRC consulted clients to assess the impact of NRC's ICT and emerging technologies research and facilities in their organizations. Of the industrial respondents⁹ spoken to, all (100%) reported that NRC's products and services increased their competitive advantage. They additionally reported: increased product sales (87.5%); increased number of employees (78%); the development of or significant improvement to one or more products and/or technologies (92%); and the development of or significant improvement to one or more processes or methods of producing goods or services (80%). The aggregate of all responses who reported positive growth due to NRC R&D was 88%.

The ICT and Emerging Technologies Program Activity worked to strengthen Canadian leadership in ICT, molecular and nanotechnology enablers that are pervasive in today's society, underpinning everything from research applications to "smart" consumer products.

NRC nanotechnology research is carried out in 13 research institutes across Canada, including the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT), which spearheads efforts in this emerging area. NRC focused its efforts in ICT, the environment and metrology to enable the manufacturing of nano-based products. NRC partnered with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) to foster early results in biosensors, photovoltaics, polymer nanocomposites and quantum computing. The NRC-NSERC-BDC program funded six projects, each of which had NRC, university and industry participation. Overall, the program led to the hiring and training of 145 students, over 200 refereed publications, 360 conference presentations, nine patents and one licence.

NRC's IT & e-Business Cluster in Fredericton and Moncton focused on ICT solutions in health and advanced learning technologies. This past year, NRC's collaboration with Red Ball Internet on the TRAX software system won the KIRA Award (Knowledge Industry Recognition and Achievement). TRAX is a powerful tool designed to help municipalities manage large fleets of vehicles in real time, including snow removal vehicles, heavy equipment and city buses.

The NRC Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre (NRC-CPFC), a partnership among NRC, the Province of Ontario and Carleton University, provided commercial grade photonic device prototypes to industrial and university clients. A member of the Ottawa photonics cluster, NRC-CPFC provides design, foundry and pilot production services to help clients close the gap between innovation and commercialization of optical devices in silicon and III-V semiconductors. In 2010-11, NRC-CPFC expanded its suite of fabrication services and added new-generation fabrication tools to keep its clients at the leading edge of nanofabrication. NRC-CPFC also provided training for highly qualified personnel in the latest processes. NRC-CPFC doubled its shift to keep up with client demand, as it saw its number of clients increase by 40% since 2008 to reach 25 unique clients who often engage in multiple transactions.

Research conducted by NRC in the area of semiconductor nanostructures advanced the process of bringing clean solar energy to an affordable level for Canadian homes. The Semiconductors Using Nanostructures for Record Increases in Solar Cell Efficiency (SUNRISE) project saw the installation of a solar tracker at the Canadian Centre for Housing Technology in Ottawa. The solar tracker uses a new class of solar cells that can generate over two kilowatts of electricity, representing a large fraction of the electricity needed to power a typical home.

More information on ICT and Emerging Technologies can be found on the supplementary information page for NRC's DPR 2010-11.

Lessons Learned

A series of technology demonstrations to industry and other government departments (OGDs) during the course of an ICT project provided excellent feedback on research orientations as well as created collaborative opportunities. For example, a demonstration to OGDs initiated ongoing discussions with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) on sensors for building security and resulted in a $273K collaboration between NRC and Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) on Smart Buildings. This approach of periodic demonstration workshops will be carried forth to future projects.

Program Activity 1.3: Industrial Research Assistance

Program Activity Description

This program provides a range of technical and business-oriented advisory services, as well as financial support for small and medium-sized (SME) Canadian businesses engaged in research and development of technological innovations. The program is important for enabling enterprises to generate significant economic activity for Canadian industry by augmenting the capacity and capability of enterprises to innovate and commercialize. Financial support is provided through a transfer payment program delivered by a cross-Canada network of more than 250 professionals, including over 230 Industrial Technology Advisors (ITAs), and located in approximately 100 communities. The field staff of professionals, recognized for their scientific, technical, engineering, business expertise, and knowledge of SMEs, provides clients with customized value-added advice, information, referrals and financial assistance. They work with clients at all stages of the innovation – commercialization continuum, including: project development; access to technical assistance, financial, business, marketing or management advice; access to competitive technical information; patent searches; and access to local, regional, national or international linkages. NRC-IRAP Innovation Network Advisors (INAs) represent and promote NRC-IRAP in the community innovation system and build effective regional innovation system relationships for the benefit of SMEs. This includes working with organizations that receive NRC-IRAP contributions as well as with other organizations to facilitate the implementation of multi-sector, multi-partner initiatives that are relevant to SMEs regionally and nationally. As well, the program supports the placement of graduates in SMEs through its participation in the delivery of Human Resources and Social Development Canada's Youth Employment Strategy (YES).

^* The current methodology for planning Full Time Equivalent (FTE) utilization does not necessarily permit comparison with actual utilization. This will be corrected in the 2012-13 reporting cycle.↑

NRC-IRAP also received funding from the Community Adjustment Fund and from the new Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario). With these resources, in 2010-11, NRC-IRAP funded 666 innovation projects that supported 2,624 jobs in 560 firms and 34 organizations.

Note: The values shown reflect grants and contributions to SMEs. The 2010-11 planned value includes $26.6M from the Community Adjustment Fund (CAF) that has been added to NRC's reference levels under FedDev Ontario.

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

Based on the NRC's S&T Economic Impacts and Return on Investment Study, which used Statistics Canada General Business Panel Survey (GBPS) data¹⁰, NRC-IRAP's economic return on investment was estimated to be 9:1, for a total of $1.1B. The study also found that NRC-IRAP has had a positive and statistically significant impact on private sector client performance in a number of areas including firm productivity, sales, employment, exports as well as R&D expenditures and R&D employment. It is estimated that for every $1 the program spends there is an overall increase in private sector sales of over $11, with approximately 20% of that exported, as well as between $1.5 and $2 of private sector R&D being conducted.

With over 60 years of experience, NRC customized its offerings to meet the immediate and emerging needs of SMEs in 2010-11 and help them prepare for the future:

• NRC improved SME access to needed services and built effective regional/community relationships and services that benefited all SMEs. For example, in 2010-11, NRC-IRAP sector teams contributed to increased linkages with industry players in the formation of a new bioproducts community and facilitated a nascent aerospace industry to access markets. In collaboration with industry players, NRC defined industry needs and developed new integrated approaches to improve SME innovation in priority areas.
• NRC collaborated with industry to reduce or manage the risk in developing new products and processes by providing firms with access to highly-skilled personnel and tailored market intelligence before they embarked on the adoption, adaptation or development of new technologies or processes. To increase SME access to needed expertise, 190 unique organizations that provided additional support to SMEs were funded in 2010-11. Of these 190, 28 were community-based cluster organizations, 19 were funded through the Community Adjustment Fund (CAF) and 14 were funded through FedDev Ontario's Southern Ontario Development Program.
• As a result of the additional $200M of contributions allocated in Budget 2009, NRC was able to financially support 2,422 more clients over the two years of this temporary funding.

More information on Industrial Research Assistance can be found on the supplementary information page for NRC's DPR 2010-11.

Lessons Learned

With the greatly increased reporting required to track stimulus funding, as well as an increasing need to report on the impact of NRC-IRAP, it was determined that components of the program's performance management system could be enhanced. Through dialogue with stakeholders and its management team, NRC learned that consistency in the collection of output and early impact information could be furthered across regions. As a result, a new Performance Management System was created, designed to support the collection, analysis and reporting of program impacts. The new system, which will collect information directly from clients, will help NRC-IRAP understand and assess the program's relevance and impact, provide input to decisions and provide the organization with information that could assist with overall program performance.

Program Activity 1.4: Health and Life Science Technologies

Program Activity Description

In support of the federal S&T Strategy, this program mobilizes and partners with key university, government and private sector players, and forms major research collaborations to develop integrated research solutions for complex health and related life science issues for the benefit of Canadians. Areas of research focus include age-related and infectious diseases, human health and wellness, and the prevention, early diagnosis and improved treatment of diseases such as cancer.

^* Actual spending may exceed 'Total Authorities' at the PA level due to changes to the individual PA main estimates amounts. However Parliamentary Authorities at the NRC level cannot be exceeded.↑

^* The current methodology for planning Full Time Equivalent (FTE) utilization does not necessarily permit comparison with actual utilization. This will be corrected in the 2012-13 reporting cycle.↑

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

The relevance of the Program Activity is indicated by a 14% increase in revenue from IP transferred to industries. NRC exceeded its target IP revenue of $5M by $1.4M. This increase was dominated by advances in immunology.

An assessment of the extent to which NRC's health and life science research and facilities provided value to its clients was conducted by NRC. Of industrial respondents¹¹ consulted, 96% indicated that NRC's products and services increased their understanding of complex scientific problems related to the fields of health and life sciences; 90% said that NRC contributed to the development or significant improvement of one or more products and/or technologies related to health and life sciences; and 87% confirmed that development of or significant improvement to one or more methods or processes (e.g., diagnosis, etc.) related to health and life sciences resulted from NRC products and services. The aggregate of all responses where clients responded positively on the value of NRC innovative contributions was 91%.

Increased emphasis was placed in 2010-11 on the development of integrated technological solutions for medical conditions facing Canada's aging population. NRC developed a technology to address a key challenge for aging people – getting therapeutics to cross the blood-brain barrier – and licensed it to MedImmune / Astra, a major pharmaceutical company, for development into novel products.

Working with the Canada Food Inspection Agency, NRC developed a new method (liquid chromatographic post-column oxidation) that provides an earlier warning (i.e., earlier than the standard methods currently used) of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning contamination, thus improving the safety of shellfish for human consumption.

NRC worked on a virtual reality system for surgical oncology to develop a training process to help physicians prepare for complex surgeries and tumour resection. There are now 23 Canadian teaching hospitals engaged in the research activity, and seven of these hospitals taking in prototypes. The NeuroTouch technology was demonstrated at the Montreal Neurological Institute's (MNI) Neurosurgical Simulation Centre, to coincide with the opening of this new MNI-NRC lab. Commenting on the NeuroTouch system, Dr. A. Porter, the CEO of the McGill University Hospital Centre said, "Clinical adoption of NRC's virtual-reality simulation will not only revolutionize how the next generation of neurosurgeons is trained, but will also accelerate the adoption of innovative surgical techniques and reduce brain surgery risks...".

NRC developed new instrumental techniques and associated software for minimally invasive medical diagnosis. Some examples include: the NRC-developed phased array coil design software Musaik^TM, licensed to Schmid & Partner Engineering AG (Switzerland) and incorporated into its existing electromagnetic field simulations software; an engineering technique (Cartesian Feedback) developed by NRC to address the issue of shadows in ultra-high magnetic field MRI imaging; and an NRC patented point-of-care lipid analyser undergoing clinical trial by Cardiogenic, a Canadian SME.

In Halifax, NRC partnered with other technology clusters in translational neuroscience to develop R&D collaborations and attract medical device companies to the area. As a direct result of its collaboration with NRC and other members of the Halifax cluster, Elekta (Sweden), a multinational company specializing in innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders, officially launched "Elekta AtlanTIC: Translational Imaging Centre" in Halifax, which will serve as its R&D arm in Canada.

NRC, the Crop Development Centre at the University of Saskatchewan, and Saskatchewan Pulse Growers entered into a partnership, valued at $3.8M over three years, to improve commercial pulse yield through genomics research that will contribute to decreased production costs, reduced risks, increased crop value, and enhanced processing quality. Pulse represents the fastest growing Canadian crop sector with exports of $1.92B in 2008.

NRC helped five of the six companies currently incubating at its industry partnership facility in Charlottetown to move from complex R&D towards commercialization. Chemaphor, Nautilus Biosciences Canada, Neurodyn, Phyterra Bio and Phyterra Yeast have sold two new products in Canada and internationally, created two subsidiary companies and acquired another, filed one additional patent, entered into five licensing agreements, received a Michael J. Fox Foundation award to assess progranulin as an agent against neurological disease, and created 18 more Canadian jobs.

More information on Health and Life Science Technologies can be found on the supplementary information page for NRC's DPR 2010-11.

Lessons Learned

In the past, NRC Plant Biotechnology Institute maintained a large and costly IP portfolio, often filing too early and without an industrial partner to guide the commercial opportunity. It has now implemented a team approach to critically evaluate technology market relevance and commercial potential before filing. This process has led to a decrease in IP costs (a decrease of approximately $100K in the last few years) and an increase in royalty revenue. This type of approach, and increasing consideration of the commercial applicability of IP, are leading to new IP management practices across NRC program activities.

Program Activity 1.5: Energy and Environmental Technologies

Program Activity Description

This program is carried out in partnership with other government departments, universities and industry and brings together the knowledge and expertise needed to make an impact on areas of critical importance to Canada in environmental and sustainable energy. The challenge is to reduce energy consumption while developing clean, sustainable energy alternatives. NRC is working to help alleviate the environmental impacts of activity in the energy, resources, transportation, construction and agri-food industry sectors. NRC performs R&D to develop processes and technologies for environmentally responsible manufacturing.

^* The current methodology for planning Full Time Equivalent (FTE) utilization does not necessarily permit comparison with actual utilization. This will be corrected in the 2012-13 reporting cycle.↑

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

To measure the extent that research collaboration with NRC's energy and environmental technologies helped advance sustainability and environmental protection innovations, NRC consulted a sample of its clients¹². With regard to benefits attributable to collaborations with NRC, 91% of industrial clients consulted reported an increase to their competitive advantage; 94% reported the development or significant improvement of one or more products and/or technologies; and 88% reported on development or significant improvement to one or more methods of producing goods or services. The aggregate of all responses where clients agreed that NRC collaborations advanced sustainability and environmental protection innovations was 86%, reaching the desired performance target a year sooner than planned.

The Energy and Environmental Technologies Program Activity focused on advancing technologies that address clean air and water, healthy soil and oceans, sustainable energy and environmentally friendly technologies. These activities support the pursuit of solutions for preventing pollution, water use strategies and testing of groundwater, a major source of drinking water for Canadians. For example, together with Environment Canada and Health Canada in support of the federal Clean Air Agenda, NRC developed and validated a protocol that enables industry to reliably assess the performance of commercial air duct cleaning. Also, NRC completed the intervention phase of a collaborative project with the Québec National Public Health Institute focused on indoor air quality and its effects on asthmatic children.

NRC collaborated with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC), Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and others in delivering the National Bioproducts Program (NBP), which develops environmentally friendly products for the automotive, aerospace, construction, and plastics industries. As an example, the NBP was able to replace up to 20% of petroleum-based polylols with lingo-polyols in insulating panels for the construction industry. This should translate into 13,600 tons of lignin, or 50,000 tons of wood biomass for the spray foam market in North America. To produce biofuels from marine algae, NRC established an algal cultivation pilot facility that produced approximately 30 kg of high quality biomass per month. This established NRC as a world leader in the controlled cultivation of photosynthetic microalgae for the production of algal-based biofuels.

NRC led the Hydrogen and Fuel Cells national initiative to improve cost and performance of fuel cells, to open new markets, and to integrate fuel cells into clean energy systems. During 2010-11, NRC increased fuel cell performance threefold and durability by 20% to 3,000 hours. The latter brings NRC closer to its target of 5,000 hour durability needed for general market adoption. To help promote the adoption of fuel cells, NRC demonstrated the technology to 2,238 visitors, representing 75% of the target of 3,000 visitors. NRC also demonstrated, with the firm Boeing, how fuel cells can improve efficiency and decrease aircraft emissions.

More information on Energy and Environmental Technologies can be found on the supplementary information page for NRC's DPR 2010-11.

Lessons Learned

The resource constraints of SMEs posed a challenge to the revenue generation goals and industry leverage ratios of the Fuel Cells Technology Research. Several corrective measures were taken to address this challenge, including improved billing practices and margins, and a broadened market focus to other government departments (OGDs), original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and system integrators. These lessons are being applied across the Program Activity as there is now increased focus on ensuring target markets for research activities and a strong value proposition for the activities being undertaken.

Strategic Outcome 2 – Canadians have access to research and development information and infrastructure

Through NRC, Canadian firms accessed national facilities and information infrastructure to help them conduct fundamental research and take new products and technology innovations to market. This infrastructure includes the TRIUMF sub-atomic research facility, a suite of neutron-scattering spectrometers at Chalk River Laboratories, and, as mandated by the National Research Council Act, a national science library together with astronomical observatories, in addition to a system of measurement standards that facilitate domestic and international trade.

Progress made toward Strategic Outcome 2 is measured through the performance indicator: proportion of surveyed S&T infrastructure users who report positively on the value of the NRC infrastructure used. In 2010-11, 93% of S&T infrastructure users surveyed, reported positively on the value of the NRC infrastructure used, exceeding the target by 11%. This speaks well to the services and facilities offered by NRC. Users of astronomical observatories are not included here but will be surveyed separately in an evaluation slated for completion in FY 2011-12.

Program Activity 2.1: National Science and Technology Infrastructure

Program Activity Description

This program manages national science and engineering facilities for Canadian scientific and technological communities. Facilities include astronomical observatories, the laboratory for national measurement standards, the TRIUMF sub-atomic research facility, and a suite of neutron-scattering spectrometers at Chalk River Laboratories.

^* The current methodology for planning Full Time Equivalent (FTE) utilization does not necessarily permit comparison with actual utilization. This will be corrected in the 2012-13 reporting cycle.↑

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

In a consultation with a sample of NRC clients¹³, 93% reported positively (either "Agree" or "Strongly Agree") when asked about the perceived value of NRC R&D information and infrastructure used. This exceeds the target by 8% and speaks positively to the services and facilities offered by NRC. In addition, 100% of those consulted reported that the infrastructure meets the needs of their organization.

During 2010-11, NRC achieved 86% of the target 600 paying users for the year. Multiple users from the same company or organization are counted as one. The number of paying users of NRC science infrastructure fell by 5.8% during 2010-11 from 549 to 517. This can be explained by the shutdown of the National Research Universal (NRU) Reactor at Chalk River for over a year, until August 2010.

Fulfilling NRC's mandate "to operate and administer any astronomical observatories established or maintained by the Government of Canada", NRC's Canadian Astronomical Observatories program provided 484 Canadian scientists with access to primary international state-of-the-art telescopes. As well, NRC attracted an estimated 2,000 users of NRC astronomical data who downloaded 170 terabytes (TB) of information. This represents an increase of 50 TB over last year's count.

In support of Canada's Long Range Plan (LRP) for Astronomy of 2000, NRC participated in the full deployment of the new Atacama Large Millimetre Array (ALMA) telescope. NRC oversaw the production of receiver cartridges for the telescope, developed in collaboration with Canadian industrial partners. Two Canadian firms also gained expertise through their involvement in building parts for the Gemini Planet Imager, the main component of which was designed and assembled by NRC and shipped for integration in the Gemini Observatory in December 2010.

NRC delivered 7,998 calibration and measurement services to companies needing reliable measurement references to enable international trade of their goods. To verify the reliability of its measurements, NRC participated in five Key Comparisons in 2010-11. All results were consistent with NRC published uncertainties. In the last four years, NRC has successfully participated in 60 "round robin" intercomparisons of its measurement capabilities with those other national measurement systems around the world. This provides international confidence in the reliability of Canada's system of measurement for meeting evolving national and global trade interests.

In 2010-11, NRC progressed in establishing measurement standards for emerging technologies such as nanotechnology. A total of 12 ISO standards were published; several in the area of carbon nanotubes. A further 28 are under development. These have had an impact on the OECD coordination of nano standards as well as on the regulation of nanotechnologies.

NRC took new research directions in the areas of water and energy use efficiency, joining forces with NRCan to update the Model National Energy Code for Buildings (MNECB). The MNECB has been used, among other things, to establish a baseline for new energy-efficient building design. Programs that have benefited include Power Smart of BC Hydro and Manitoba Hydro, the Design Assistance Program of Enbridge, Ontario, MIEUX CONSOMMER of Hydro-Québec and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design of LEED-Canada.

The Model National Energy Code for Houses was also updated, providing for the design of housing that minimizes energy use in relation to overall building costs. The Canadian Commission on Building and Fire Codes approved the content of the National Energy Codes for Buildings 2011 (NECB), which included both technical provisions and a sub-objective addressing energy efficiency.

The NRC Canadian Neutron Beam Centre (NRC-CNBC) provided neutron beams to researchers seeking to obtain new understandings of materials, improve products and strengthen their businesses. Each year over 200 scientists, engineers, and students from universities, government laboratories, and industry participated in research depending on access to NRC's six neutron beam lines. NRC-CNBC enables industrial research in sectors such as nuclear energy, aerospace, automotive, oil and gas, defence, and primary metal production. During 2010-11, 92% of the available beam time was occupied by clients. There were 229 research participants in 2010 (compared with 235 in 2009 and 258 in 2008). These research participants included 87 users who were granted access to the beamlines in 2010 after the Chalk River reactor was restarted in August. This compares with 161 and 88% in 2008 respectively, when the reactor operated for a full year.

More information on National Science and Technology Infrastructure can be found on the supplementary information page for NRC's DPR 2010-11.

Lessons Learned

NRC's science facilities are used to deliver services to clients and, in the context of certain programs, are accessed by collaborators from industry, academia and other government departments. Like other departments, NRC has experienced challenges in updating aging equipment and laboratories that require upgrading in order to provide optimal service. Infrastructure funding for the modernization of federal labs was used in order to enhance the NRC building holding the Watt Balance Instrument. The funding was also used to build two new labs with very stable and independent climate control to house the atomic clocks for the Canadian Time Standard. All principal mechanical systems and motor control centres in an adjacent building were also replaced and now offer improved temperature and humidity control. These upgrades ensure both the highest standard of service offering and the health and safety of employees.

Program Activity 2.2: Scientific, Technical and Medical Information

Program Activity Description

This program operates and maintains the national science library, specifically holding the national collection of Scientific, Technical and Medical (STM) information. The program provides Canada's research and innovation communities with access to global STM information, to facilitate knowledge discovery, cross discipline research, innovation and commercialization.

^* The current methodology for planning Full Time Equivalent (FTE) utilization does not necessarily permit comparison with actual utilization. This will be corrected in the 2012-13 reporting cycle.↑

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

In response to the 2008 Strategic Review, this Program Activity underwent significant changes in 2010-11, including the introduction of the following three major alternate service delivery mechanisms that enabled NRC to experience cost savings in 2010-11, and are expected to reach an estimated $11M per year starting in 2011-12.

• NRC completed the privatization of the NRC Research Press publication activities to Canadian Science Publishing, a not-for-profit corporation.
• Access to the national STM collection was made available through an agreement with Infotrieve Canada, a private content delivery provider (NRC-CISTI/Infotrieve Service). In the first year of operations, over 53,000 documents were supplied from the collection to the Canadian research and innovation community. Access to global STM information was also improved since the arrangement allows Canadians to use the extensive document delivery infrastructure world-wide. The agreement was extended to the Canadian Agriculture Library, allowing its collection to be easily accessed by all Canadians.
• Cataloguing activities were outsourced to OCLC for an estimated savings of $350K per year. This service has also been extended to Health Canada under a shared library services agreement.

NRC undertook a number of partnership initiatives this year. The STM information infrastructure and services were extended to two other government departments, with six shared library services being implemented with Health Canada and one with the Public Health Agency of Canada¹⁴. NRC also negotiated access to content from Canadian Science Publishing and the American Chemical Society on behalf of the Federal Science eLibrary (FSeL) consortium. Joint licensing resulted in more value for content expenditures and a streamlined process that ensured uninterrupted access to content for NRC and other federal workers.

The PubMed Central Canada (PMC Canada) archive of published health and life sciences research, launched in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), completed its first year of operations. In 2010-11, over 750 manuscripts resulting from research funded by CIHR were submitted and over one million items were downloaded. Through PMC Canada, Canadian researchers can now contribute to a growing, searchable digital archive of published Canadian health research.

NRC also made progress on the national research data initiative by establishing DataCite Canada, and becoming the digital object identifier (DOI) allocation agent for Canadian research data sets. This first step in implementing the broader initiative provides the Canadian research community with a mechanism for registering data sets to make them more accessible for others to build upon.

More information on STM Information can be found on the supplementary information page for NRC's DPR 2010-11.

Lessons Learned

The implementation of the alternate service delivery mechanisms, requiring collaborations with other organizations, presented several challenges. At times, collaborators lacked clear objectives and a full understanding of the benefits of the collaboration. Open discussion of issues as they arose, and flexibility in adapting to the capabilities and needs of the partner organizations resolved many of these problems. Attention to these issues will be more rigorously applied to future collaborations whether within government or with industry. As well, evaluations of successful initiatives such as the pathfinder for shared library services will be performed, to discover success and issue areas which can positively impact how other shared services agreements are implemented in the future.

Internal Services

Description

Internal Services are groups of related activities and resources that are administered to support the needs of programs and other corporate obligations of an organization. These groups are: Management and Oversight Services; Communications Services; Legal Services; Human Resources Management Services; Financial Management Services; Information Management Services; Information Technology Services; Real Property Services; Materiel Services; Acquisition Services; and Travel and Other Administrative Services. Internal Services include only those activities and resources that apply across an organization and not to those provided specifically to a program.

Note: Figures includes EAP resources (Modernizing Federal Laboratories (MFL) and Accelerated Federal Contaminated Site Action Plan (FCSAP)).

^* The current methodology for planning Full Time Equivalent (FTE) utilization does not necessarily permit comparison with actual utilization. This will be corrected in the 2012-13 reporting cycle.↑

Performance Summary and Analysis of Program Activity

Governance and Management Support

Integrated Business and Client Services: With the objective of further strengthening its business and client management practices, NRC launched an innovative online business training and orientation program with 15 seminars, bi-weekly business information sharing sessions, and a three-day training course to orient new NRC business practitioners.

Integrated Communications, Marketing, and Branding: To increase awareness of NRC with key industry and business sectors, NRC strengthened its focus on traditional and social media, which increased and enhanced Canadians' ability to connect with NRC. Furthermore, NRC raised awareness of its products and services among potential business partners and increased brand recognition by developing an external advertising campaign with the intent of positioning NRC as the 'go-to' place for customized, complex R&D solutions and support from dedicated technical specialists.

Integrated Planning and Performance Management: NRC revised its new integrated planning, performance management and reporting process to accommodate its new 2010-11 PAA. Through NRC's automated Business Intelligence (BI) information management system, both financial and performance data were collected and reported using a common data structure that linked resources to results.

Resource Management Services

Integrated Human Resource Management: In 2010-11, NRC Human Resources Branch (NRC-HRB) completed a comprehensive review and renewal of its organizational design. This included examination of NRC-HRB's structure, services, policies, processes, and skills required to increase NRC-HRB's capacity to deliver and effectively support the strategic direction of NRC, and to ensure the branch is best positioned to deal with emerging HR challenges. Following this review, a new organizational design was implemented, effective November 1, 2010, which achieved budgetary targets and resulted in more cost-effective delivery of HR services while attending to the development of NRC-HRB's capacity to respond to emerging requirements.

In order to enable NRC's workforce to respond effectively to NRC's new strategic directions, NRC HRB developed the Commitment to Excellence (CTE) program for launch, effective April 1, 2011, replacing the Performance Planning and Review (PPR) process. The CTE program was designed to enable and recognize superior performance and support the achievement of individual and organizational excellence. Following from the 2009-10 Executive Talent Review, which resulted in the Report on Executive Bench Strength, the annual Talent Review activities were placed on hold for 2010-11 to allow for review and modification of the process in order to align fully with CTE.

Financial Management: NRC enhanced its Business Intelligence financial reports, including a real-time financial dashboard, to support a more rigorous performance and sustainable planning cycle, as well as strategic decision making, accountability and transparency.

Investment Planning: NRC's first five-year Investment Plan and Organization Project Management Capacity (OPMCA) Class 2 "Tactical" was approved by Treasury Board in March 2011. Accordingly, NRC's governance and supporting planning processes associated with identifying and prioritizing investments in support of the Federal S&T and innovation goals have also been approved.

Information Management and Information Technology (IM/IT): NRC developed an enterprise information security architecture to comply with TBS policies on the management of IT. In addition, NRC began to consolidate physical and IT security to improve efficiency and effectiveness. As well, a videoconferencing service was deployed to over 60 sites. This is part of NRC's effort towards the greening of government operations, by offering staff a practical substitute to travel.

Asset Management Services

Real Property: NRC expanded its capacity to monitor and manage its real property portfolio through continued investment in property management software, which was deployed throughout its facilities in the National Capital Region. This enabled NRC to manage, monitor and report on this real property portfolio in an accurate, consistent and timely manner.

Acquisition and Materiel Management: NRC implemented a Contract Review Committee and updated its Procurement and Material Management Policy Manual and its Material Management Manual. Targets were set for Green Procurement. In addition, procurement planning was entrenched in NRC's enterprise investment planning process to ensure that capital projects meet established targets.

More information on Internal Services can be found on the supplementary information page for NRC's DPR 2010-11.

Lessons Learned

NRC's non-financial performance measurement data is generally accumulated manually from the diverse information management systems maintained by different institutes across NRC. This inefficient process does not meet NRC's needs for dynamic performance management. Towards remedying the problem, NRC conducted a review of its information systems to identify opportunities for making better use of existing and new systems. For information on publishing, NRC's automated business intelligence information management system captured data from the NRC Publications Archive, NRC's online data archive, improving reporting efficiency. Plans were also made for accessing other existing and emerging common information systems including one that will improve the ability to report on NRC engagement with clients and to respond to queries on NRC performance.

Canada's Economic Action Plan (EAP)

Program Activity: Industrial Research Assistance
This was the second and final year of the $200M allocated in Budget 2009, Canada's Economic Action Plan, to NRC-IRAP to increase assistance provided to Canadian SMEs. This more than doubled NRC-IRAP's contribution funding to firms in each year and helped companies expand their R&D activities by stimulating their innovation capacity, increasing the commercialization of technology-based products, services and processes, and hiring post-secondary graduates. This included $170M to double the Program's contribution to firms, and $30M to help companies hire new post-secondary graduates under its Youth Employment Program. For 2010-11, this amounted to $78.6M in contributions to firms and $19.4M for youth projects.

NRC-IRAP Expected Result through Canada's Economic Action Plan: SMEs in Canada have merit-based access to effective and efficient innovation support resulting in increased wealth.

^* These targets are the totals for 2009-10 and 2010-11.↑
^** These performance figures are the totals for 2009-10 and 2010-11.↑

Canada's Economic Action Plan Risk Management

For NRC, the major risk to achieving expected results was the capacity of the field delivery staff to ensure effective and efficient movement of the stimulus funding, which doubled NRC-IRAP's national budget and quadrupled NRC-IRAP Ontario's budget. NRC-IRAP was able to deliver by readjusting resources to expand staff capacity, implementing program delivery improvements, and reducing the amount of advisory services provided.

Program Activity: Internal Services
NRC also received infrastructure stimulus under the Modernizing Federal Laboratories initiative ($19.07M) to address deferred maintenance issues and to modernize facilities that support research in areas of national importance. Finally, under the Accelerated Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan, NRC received $4.84M to remediate contaminated areas in an effort to rehabilitate the environment and improve safety.

Modernizing Federal Laboratories (MFL) – Under this initiative, NRC received a total of $19.07M ($8.7M in 2009-10 and $10.36M in 2010-11) to address deferred maintenance issues and modernize NRC facilities across Canada that support research in areas of national importance such as health and wellness, sustainable energy, manufacturing, and metrology. For example, heating and ventilation systems were renovated to improve the climate-sensitive stability of the atomic clocks used for Canada's Time Standard. Additional renovations were carried out to accommodate a novel "Watt Balance" instrument that has established NRC as a world leader in accurate mass measurement upon which innovation and international trade depend.

^* The shortfall in 2010-11 spending is due to a failed tender call because of a contractual (insurance) issue with the successful vendor that could not be resolved.↑

Accelerated Federal Contaminated Site Action Plan (FCSAP) – Under this initiative, NRC received $4.8M of infrastructure stimulus funding over the past two years to assess and/or remediate contaminated areas in an effort to remove risk to human health and/or the environment while reducing contaminated site liability. The majority of this funding was allocated to soil remediation projects at sites in Montréal, Penticton and Ottawa. The balance of the funds were used along with $0.3M of operational resources to conduct contaminated site assessments and risk management work at the site in Montréal, five sites in Ottawa, and at sites in Penticton, Victoria, St. John's and Boucherville.

^* Actual FCSAP expenditures exceeded planned expenditures because NRC secured additional FCSAP funding by means of an interdepartmental transfer of FCSAP funds with the RCMP in 2010-11.↑

Canada's Economic Action Plan Risk Management
A comprehensive risk mitigation strategy was developed for this two-year program in May 2009, and updated on a regular basis. A major risk identified was the capacity to manage the additional workload. This risk was successfully mitigated with the use of in-house resources, supplemented by private sector resources from the consulting engineering/environmental community when required.

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