“The government of Canada buys everything,” Christopher Baird, senior director of Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP) from Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) told the 180 plus attendees that were in attendance at 3rd Made in Canada event that was held on March 31 in London, Ontario.
The one-day event that was hosted by the Southern Ontario Defence Association (SODA), an organization for defence and security-related companies in Ontario brought together government, SMEs, and Primes for the sole purpose to connect and forge key relationships to a better foster growth of its members.
With the government such a big spender, the BCIP offers a significant step for SMEs and other interested parties to get their innovative pre-commercial goods and services tested in government departments and other partners to reach the next stage of selling their innovation in the marketplace.
One key fact to point out is that for companies that are looking to take advantage of this program their prototype must be ready for demonstration in an operational environment and not just in the simulation stage. On the other hand, if a technology is already available in commercial markets it is not eligible for this program.
Since the launch of this program in 2010 over 170 contracts valued at over $61 million dollars were awarded to SMEs and large businesses. Of the total contracts awarded, over 97 per cent were granted to small businesses. For more information on the Build in Canada Innovation Program, please go to buyandsell.gc.ca.
Another avenue that SMEs are using to get to the market is by selling directly to large companies. This was highlighted by a presentation made by Gary Biermann who is the regional technology manager, Canada for International Science and Technology at Lockheed Martin. This global company has over 124,000 employees and as Biermann pointed out, more than half are scientists and engineers. With this substantial investment in staff resources and working with private innovators Lockheed Martin is driving the advancement of scientific discovery to provide innovative solutions.
Other presentations from the day included a roadmap of Canadian security materials from the National Research Council and an advanced manufacturing workshop on opportunities and challenges.
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With a great deal of time dedicated to networking and B2B meetings, many were able to visit the 34 display tables that were used by companies to display their products, services, and solutions. Among those that were on display were DCNS Technologies, Davie, IMT Defence and Colt Canada to name a few.
The Southern Ontario Defence Association’s primary goal is to serve as the advocate of small and medium-sized enterprises to government and primes and that was exactly what transpired at this event.