Technology Priorities, Economic Development and the Emerson Aerospace Review

Held on January 16th and 17th, 2013 at Winnipeg Manitoba

Background
The aerospace sector in Manitoba is a critical and thriving component of Manitoba’s and Western Canada’s economy, supporting over 5,000 jobs and for producing more than $1.6B worth of goods and services annually, of which 80% are exported. The sector includes more than 40 business establishments, anchored by three global companies: Boeing Operations Canada; StandardAero; and Bristol, a Magellan Company. The industry’s primary focus is on complex components design and manufacturing (composites, metallic, and thermoplastics), precision machining, maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), and environmental testing.

Manitoba has a vibrant and successful aerospace industry that has been built on entrepreneurship, effort and productivity. Technology and competitiveness are the basis for continuing success.

Working Reports
Our entire process and supporting documents are identified and are linked from this webpage. For purposes of quick identification and access, the following reports were the final outputs from our road-mapping process.

  1. TRM Executive Summary
  2. TRM Final Report
  3. Appendix D – TRM-Environmental Scan-Final
  4. Appendix E – TRM – Final TAWG Reports

Situation
Competitiveness is emphasized in an article in the Globe and Mail (3 Oct 2012) which states that Canada’s aerospace sector is under increasing threat from a competitive global aerospace market. The main point of the article is as follows: ‘To meet the new global challenge, more Canadian aerospace companies need to move up the value chain, stay ahead of the innovation curve and pour more resources into research and development to foster the growth needed to take on bigger rivals over the long term’. To react to the global competitiveness challenge and to take full advantage of arising opportunities, this Workshop provides the Manitoba Aerospace Community the opportunity to discuss the benefits of developing a Technology Strategy Document that could provide prioritization and direction to Manitoba’s technology initiatives based on economic development considerations.

One major opportunity is related to the Government of Canada’s Aerospace Review launched in February 2012 and released in November 2012. The mandate of this review was ‘to produce concrete, fiscally-neutral recommendations on how federal policies and programs can help maximize the competitiveness of Canada’s aerospace industry’ and the final report Beyond the Horizon: Canada’s Interests and Future in AEROSPACE has delivered these recommendations.

The recommendations of this report will affect the Government of Canada’s aerospace program support and it is understood that the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada will be formulating a general response to the government regarding implementation. It is anticipated that regional/provincial aerospace associations will formulate their own response that will be used to ensure that their more local needs are reflected in any response to government by the AIAC and by any implementation plans by the government. In this competitive process, it is imperative that Manitoba should be prepared to ensure its needs and priorities are properly documented and marketed. At this workshop, industrial, academic and government aerospace leaders from Manitoba have an opportunity in an open forum to consider the recommendations from the aerospace review report, particularly those related to technology development, technology funding, collaborations and workforce development, and develop and from this consideration, develop a response strategy that is Manitoba centric.

Anticipated Outcomes
Broad understanding of the technology challenges facing the Manitoba aerospace community from an economic development viewpoint, including timelines.

Identification of technology themes and collaborative mechanisms for the Manitoba aerospace industry.
Consensus on Manitoba aerospace community perspective on whether to generate a Strategic Technology Document for Manitoba, potentially through an industry led roadmap type process that has wide involvement from all members of the aerospace community.
Broad understanding of opportunities and challenges for Manitoba arising from the Emerson Report recommendations including discussion of developing a coordinated Manitoba response to the Emerson Report recommendations.

Workshop Format
The Workshop Steering Committee has produced the Workshop Overview and the “as presented” Workshop Program. Please refer to these for a complete description of the workshop format and processes.

Conference Overview, Panels and Supporting Materials
Conference Overview

PANEL 1: Manitoba Priority Technologies for Economic Development

PANEL 2: Manitoba Priorities Related to Technology Funding

PANEL 3: Manitoba Priorities Related to Workforce Development

PANEL 4: Manitoba Priorities related to Technology Development Partnerships

Resource Materials
The following materials were used during the preparation for this workshop:

Aerospace Review Volume 1 – Executive Summary (Aerospace)
Aerospace Review Volume 2 – Executive Summary (Space)
Volume 1: Beyond the Horizon: Canada’s Interests and Future in Aerospace
Volume 2: Reaching Higher: Canada’s Interests and Future in space

Workshop Final Report
The Workshop Final Report can be downloaded from the following link:
Manitoba Aerospace Workshop Summary Report