A new provincial technology agency is being formed to target economic development.
The Innovation and Science Council of British Columbia (ISCBC) and the Advanced Systems Institute of B.C. are being merged into a new Crown agency, the B.C. Innovation Council, to centralize the government’s technology development and commercialization programs.
Cindy Lum, former CEO of ISCBC, has been appointed the new Crown agency’s chief operating officer.
The innovation council will provide provincewide economic development and enhance B.C.’s ability to compete globally by providing one-stop point of access and support to high-technology companies, educational institutions, technology industry awareness groups, federal science and technology agencies, and university research labs.
The centralized agency is intended to complement the province’s Leading Edge BC initiative, a marketing organization that promotes B.C.’s technology enterprises.
The council will take over the administration of the province’s Science and Technology Fund from the Ministry of Small Business and Economic Development.
The merger is expected to be completed by September.
