Reinventing Innovation: How Canada Can Prosper in Turbulent Times

Innovation is key to lasting prosperity and meaningful improvements to our quality of life. But what does innovation really mean? Is it enough to just “invent things”—or should we be aiming higher, and seeking out ways to improve all corners of the economy? And how do we actually achieve innovation—in a world where people are working remotely, and global forces are challenging the notion of specialization and collaboration?

In this episode of Disruptors, an RBC podcast, co-hosts John Stackhouse and Trinh Theresa Do tackle innovation—and explore how Canada can play a leading role in the innovation economy. Their guests include innovation guru Dan Breznitz, Munk Chair of Innovation Studies at the University of Toronto and author of the 2021 book, Innovation in Real Places: Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World; and Karen Nutarak and Tessa Lochhead, co-founders of Pirurvik—a groundbreaking preschool in the remote arctic community of Pond Inlet, Nunavut.

Whether it’s product or service innovation, process innovation or a wholesale business model innovation, bold risks are what’s needed for Canada to prosper in “an unforgiving world”—and to build a more sustainable future for all.

SHOW NOTES:

To learn more about Dan Breznitz, click here. His latest book, Innovation in Real Places: Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World, is available through Oxford University Press or from your favourite book retailer.

Pirurvik Preschool combines traditional Inuit knowledge and ways and traditional Inuit child-rearing with Montessori methods; to learn more about it, follow this link. Pirurvik was one of six winning teams at the 2022 Governor General’s Innovation Awards; to read about all the winners, click here.

Finally, RBC Economics and Thought Leadership recently launched a new series of reports, with timely economic insights, called Proof Point. To read recent Proof Point reports on how demand for cash is at its highest level in 60 years, or why Atlantic Canada has become a magnet for new residents, visit RBC.com/thoughtleadership.

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