Why it's important to invest in our research base

Q: Almost everyone in Canada knows that RIM and its BlackBerry are the best modern examples of research becoming successful technology, but what's your personal relationship to technology?

I was an early adopter. In 1984, I put my email address on my business cards - at a time when almost no one in the business world knew what email was. Email then was a research project that only a few universities and the U.S. military seemed to care about. I got quite interested in the computer networks that carried email as well. Again, at the time, they were mainly seen as a research curiosity

And what is the lesson to be learned of what RIM has made out of these things?

Innovation often starts as research. People in industry - like us at RIM - give it a commercial shape. And when we do, our notion of the original discovery can be quite different. At RIM, we don't concentrate on who we were five years ago or who we are today. We concentrate on the impact that today's research is going to make in five years or more.

And what does this tell us about the need for research?

Clearly, investment in our research base is continually required. Research leads to application, which leads to the need for more research. But there is also another benefit. The act of performing research in universities trains people who not only perform research but also commercialize their knowledge in industry into the products and services of tomorrow.

So do we support all forms of research in all fields?

Some might say that, but I am a proponent of the school that says that a country like Canada, with its relatively modest population, cannot afford to be the very best in every field. And that's where leadership comes in. We - the government; industry; the universities - must decide where our greatest chances at being best are and aggressively pursue leadership positions in these areas.

And that's why you supported and helped fund the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and the Institute for Quantum Computing at your alma mater, the University of Waterloo?

It is. I am particularly hopeful that quantum informatics will help us break through what many have called the Moore's Law wall. That is the moment in time a decade or so from now when the number of transistors that can be placed on an integrated circuit no longer doubles every two years. This doubling has been the engine by which computer-based technology has transformed modern life.

You know, some people say that in this time of high oil and commodities prices, this country should exploit its natural resources and leave industrial or technological development to others.

I see it differently. Oil and commodities are not renewable resources. What we need is a renewable economy. Great research, leading to great application, leading to great research renews itself over and over for as far into the future as we can see. So, as Canadians, we need to invest some of the money that flows into Canada from the natural resource sector and create one virtuous cycle after another. We have to see that oil and gas can only carry the economy for a few decades and even that will require tremendous investment and R&D. But, ultimately, we have to base our wealth on our intellect. We have to think our way to a better future, where our children and their children may continue to lead sustainable, healthy and prosperous lives.