Organizational restructuring to support commercialization and entrepreneurship
Addresses objectives: R2B Increase infrastructure for research commercialization and policy application R2E Foster an environment that stimulates entrepreneurial pursuits
Building on the advice from the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Task Force, Waterloo brought together Waterloo Commercialization Office (WatCo) and Velocity under the new position of associate vice-president, commercialization and entrepreneurship. This has consolidated responsibility for this vital area, and centralized thought leadership for new activities related to innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialization. The anticipated outcomes include a “low-friction” user experience for innovators and entrepreneurs, from invention, to protecting intellectual property (IP), to startup and scaleup of companies.
Jump to: AR Goal R2 | Advancing Research Goals
Moving forward: Important work in the next year will be to develop an expanded definition of social impact within the university context to account for contributions by both for-profit and not-for-profit enterprises. Once this is defined, the University will be able to support and invest in students, faculty, and staff who are committed to creating social impact through their teaching, research, and / or entrepreneurship activities.