Commercialization Centres: A Valuable Resource for Alberta’s Oil and Gas Sector

Economic growth and stability can be achieved through innovation in the energy sector. Research and development initiatives accelerate and facilitate the sector.

Alberta’s oil and gas sector is the lifeblood of the province’s economy and contributes significantly to national economic growth. The industry faces the twin challenges of achieving core business objectives while complying with evolving regulatory and environmental standards, which are very much in the public eye. The deployment of new energy technologies can be a key enabler of successfully meeting these challenges.

These new energy technologies are derived from inventions resulting from research and development (R&D) conducted in both public (e.g., academic) and private environments. “Invention is just the beginning of the journey though,” explains Peter Garrett, president of Innovate Calgary. “New inventions must address market needs better than competing technologies and in a manner that allows for the creation of a viable business venture.” These business challenges often prove to be more daunting than the challenges associated with the invention.

Regardless of whether a researcher, inventor, or entrepreneur is attempting to create a new business or simply license new technology to third parties, challenges of time, money, and market access can be difficult to overcome. Being highly capital intensive and thus risk adverse, the energy industry has historically been slow to adopt new technologies. “But this is changing quickly—the industry is gaining a greater understanding of both the opportunity and threat of new technologies and intellectual property rights,” states Garrett. “There are numerous recent examples of new technologies disrupting the conventional wisdom underlying corporate business plans.”

Commercialization as a process must be coupled to R&D to realize the economic and societal value being created through R&D. Commercialization centres, such as Innovate Calgary, bring this technology licensing and business-building commercialization expertise to the table. As the energy industry globally becomes more dependent on new technology, great opportunity lies in energy technology businesses as well as the production of local energy resources. This represents one of the greatest opportunities for economic diversification within Alberta’s economy.

Innovate Calgary is a full-service organization, offering technology transfer and business incubator services to researchers, entrepreneurs, and businesses within the advanced technology sector. With 30 years in experience supporting the technology community, they continue to build relationships within the oil and gas and energy sector through a focus on commercialization.