Genome Alberta Welcomes Alberta Minister of Enterprise and Advanced Education, Stephen Khan and Federal Minister of State for Science and Technology Gary Goodyear to Calgary this November

CALGARY, Oct. 2, 2012 /CNW/ - Genome Alberta is pleased to be one of the sponsors of the Canadian Science Policy Conference 2012 which is coming to the West for the first time this November 5^th - 7^th. In particular we want to be the first to thank the Hon. Gary Goodyear, Minister of State for Science and Technology who will give the opening keynote address on Monday, November 5^th at 8:45a, and the Hon. Stephen Khan, Alberta Minister of Enterprise and Advanced Education who will give the keynote luncheon speech on Tuesday, November 6^th.

CSPC 2012 has lined up an impressive program with more than 90 speakers from industry, academia, the media and government. These include:

• Bob Fessenden, Premier's Council for Economic Strategy, Government of Alberta
• Dan Wicklum, CEO, Canada Oil Sands Innovation Alliance, (COSIA)
• Antonia Maioni, Incoming President, Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences
• Jeffrey Simpson, National Affairs Columnist, The Globe and Mail,
• Jay Ingram, Founder, Beakerhead, Science Journalist
• Rory McAlpine, Vice President, Maple Leaf Foods
• Mike Herrington, Executive Director, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)
• Richard Hawkins, Canada Research Chair, Science, Technology and Innovation Policy, University of Calgary

The keynote session: "Pulling Together: What is the appropriate division of labour between business, government, and the academy in advancing science-based innovation in Canada?" will feature a panel discussion with 3 leading Albertans who are also Honourary Co-Chairs of the National Science Policy Conference:

• The Hon. Preston Manning C.C., President & CEO, Manning Centre for Building Democracy,
• Dr. Eric Newell, Chancellor Emeritus, University of Alberta, Former Chair and CEO, Syncrude Canada Ltd.
• M. Elizabeth Cannon, PhD, FCAE, FRSC, President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Calgary

There will be 21 sessions during the conference, reflecting the four conference themes, submitted from across the country and internationally, including:

• Innovation, R&D, and Productivity in the Oil and Gas Sector
• Dissecting Canada's Science & Technology Landscape
• Innovation and Agriculture and the Role of Policy
• Next Generation e-Health: Integrating Research, Policy, Industry
• Entrepreneurship as a vehicle for innovation
• "Science Policy 101" workshop

For the complete agenda please go to http://www.cspc2012.ca/glance.php and for descriptions of all the panel discussions see http://www.cspc2012.ca/paneldescriptions.php .

Genome Alberta is a strong supporter of the Canadian Science Policy Conference and of a strong provincial and national science policy that can produce the best in basic and applied research for the benefit of everyone.
Canada was in the top 10 of the Scientific American Global Science Scorecard published this month, and a healthy discussion of science policy will ensure we maintain our strong ranking and be competitive on a global scale.

About Genome Alberta

Genome Alberta is a publicly funded organization that initiates, funds, and manages genomics research and partnerships. We are based in Calgary but lead projects around the province and participate in a variety of projects across the country. We are one of Canada's six Genome Centres and work closely with these centres to advance the science and application of genomics, metabolomics, and many other related 'omics'

You can find out more about Genome Alberta at http://genomealberta.ca , learn more about genomics on our blog pages at http://genomealberta.ca/blogs, follow us on Twitter as @GenomeAlberta, and check out our unique made-in-Alberta Genomics News site at http://GenOmicsNews.ca

SOURCE: Genome Alberta

For further information:

For more information about the Canadian Science Policy Conference, to arrange an interview with the Conference Chair, or to book media interviews at the event, please contact Mike Spear at Genome Alberta:

Director of Corporate Communications
#115, 3553 - 31st N.W.,
Calgary, Alberta
T2L 2K7

office:    403-503-5220 ext 22
fax:       [phone]
cell:      403-813-5843
e-mail: [e-mail]