Thank you for this question.
Through you, Mr. Chair, what could be done in this case, I would suggest, is a greater emphasis on developing funding programs that support intellectual property development and commercialization. Allow the colleges to develop expertise in supporting our business partners to navigate the complex IP and commercialization pathways and then push innovation up the technology readiness scale.
Right now, colleges are limited to supporting our businesses in terms of technology validation in labs, in relevant environments, and how it is demonstrated in specific environments as well, but we don't go behind this process. What would help is if we were able to build commercial IP and commercialization capacity and if federal funding could support us in this. Then we could support companies with the filings of patents and with the further development of their products so that they could become commercialized and reach markets.