The Alberta government has made it easier to take a brilliant idea and turn it into a commercialized product.
When it launched Alberta Innovates in 2008, the government made a commitment to helping businesses, entrepreneurs and your average Joe access the services needed to commercialize products.
Rollie Dykstra, portfolio manager for regional innovation with Alberta Innovates, attended a Rotary Club of Athabasca meeting to discuss the Alberta Innovates program last Wednesday at the Athabasca Legion.
“I really want people, especially small businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, to know that there is help out there for them,” he explained. “They can actually access people who can help them commercialize technology.”
Dykstra said he is travelling the province raising awareness about the services available.
“Technology development in this province is tough, and has been tough for a long time. It is getting better,” he said. “We are trying to establish different locations where you can get help.”
The Alberta Innovates office that is closest to the Athabasca/Westlock area is in Edmonton.
Dykstra explained your idea could be taken to the next level and could even have a pilot program designed around it.
He said the ideas the program has gotten off the ground are too numerous to name; they include turning Albertan flax pulp into book-grade paper, as well as making parts for an electric car out of Alberta-grown flax and hemp.
“We are trying to give entrepreneurs a leg up,” he said. “We built a program where you apply to us, and we’ll pay probably 75 per cent of the salary of someone who is accredited to provide commercialization support.”
Dykstra said the government, academia and businesses are working together to bring ideas to life.
“We are all about the SME (the small, medium enterprises), and we are there to try and help them become successful,” he explained.
Dykstra said in the past, people had to struggle through red tape and were usually lost in a web of contacts to bring their idea to market.
He spoke from firsthand experience about creating a dandelion removal device: he gave up trying to patent the technology after several years.
Dykstra explained the government has simplified the process.
For more information, visit http://albertatechfutures.ca
