2016 Conference Report
In April 2016, The Agricultural Institute of Canada (AIC) hosted a conference that brought agricultural research stakeholders together to discuss the need for the agricultural sector to better disseminate research results to producers, farmers, industry, academia, consumers and among the research community. A number of findings and recommendations are included in the 2016 Conference Report.
One key finding is that research dissemination has often been neglected in past policy development or is left until the end of the project cycle, which needs to change in order to increase stakeholder engagement and allow for greater impact of results. Another is that the sector needs to find new ways to incent and support knowledge transfer activities.
The Report also discusses the role that Intellectual Property (IP) has to play in the dissemination of research outcomes. Although the commercialization of research results can certainly lead to a positive rate of return on investment, IP management is often debated or misunderstood and not recognized as a potential dissemination route for Canadian innovations.
The Report focuses on three key themes:
- Dissemination Strategies and Participation Channels for Agricultural Research
- Knowledge Transfer (KT) and Extension
- IP Protection, Cooperation and Collaboration
The Report is a summary of the input gathered in policy discussions with researchers, government officials and other industry stakeholders at the annual AIC Conference that took place in April 2016.
A subsequent, in-depth Best Practices Report for Research Dissemination that highlights a number of best practices from across the sector will be released by AIC in late Summer 2016.