Toronto, Ontario, Friday, July 10, 2015

Good morning, everyone!

Thank you for inviting me to speak to such a wonderful audience. And a special welcome to all of you who have come from across Latin America to attend this conference.

I have such a strong, personal connection to Latin America, and I’m very pleased that Canadians and Latin Americans have found so many avenues to forge partnerships.

As governor general, I’ve visited Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Guatemala and Chile. With every visit, I’ve seen another piece of the collaboration puzzle that’s being assembled by Canadians and Latin Americans. And on a more personal note, our first two grandchildren were adopted from an orphanage in Colombia.

Let me give you just one example. Last year, I was in Colombia, in the City of Medellín, visiting Ruta Ñ. In fact, I understand that a representative from Ruta Ñ will speak later today.

While there, I saw how Pipeline Studios, a Canadian production company, was partnering with Ruta Ñ to offer training to Colombian students. I spoke with some of those students and heard how beneficial it was to have access to both Colombian and Canadian innovation and ingenuity.

This is but one way that Canada is collaborating throughout Latin America. But we’re doing more than just working together. As I’ve said, we’re also innovating together.

You’ve heard and will hear a lot about innovation during this conference. It’s why you’ve come to Toronto from across Latin America and Canada.

But let me ask you two questions:

1. What is innovation?

2. How do we build startups in such a way that they are not only profitable, but also sustainable?

Innovation, as we all know, is developing new and better ways of doing things and creating value that have a meaningful and positive impact on our quality of life.

It is an economic and social process, a means by which productivity is improved and new systems of organizing and operating are achieved as a society.

So what we must strive for is not simply innovation.

We must strive for a shared innovation culture.

I hope to contribute to this culture here in Canada with the recently created Governor General’s Innovation Awards, a new national award that will celebrate the very best in Canadian innovation.

Of course, there are so many ways to build an innovation culture. This leads me to my second question concerning profitable and sustainable startups.

For any new business to thrive, you must have capital, ingenuity, a good idea and the right people.

But there’s one more thing you need: knowledge.

And therein lies the challenge.

I think we can all agree that knowledge is essential to innovation. But knowledge in the 21st century is tricky to define.

After all, we live in an age where information—and contradictory information, at that—is everywhere. How can we achieve knowledge when information is so ubiquitous?

In his book Too Big To Know, David Weinberger argues that the rise of the Internet, specifically, is redefining how we know. 

He wrote: “The Age of the Net is bringing about a redefinition [of knowledge]…[it is] taking on properties of its new medium, becoming like the network in which it lives.”

Scientific knowledge, Social knowledge, economic knowledge, technological knowledge, cultural knowledge—everything that we know and how we know everything are being tested.

And that impacts how you will grow your business and how we innovate.

We live in an age of information where knowledge is simply everywhere. How, then, do we make sense of it all?

We collaborate.

When I travel to Latin America, I have three innovation goals.

First, I’m there to promote Canadian creativity.

Second, I’m there to discover the host country’s innovation ecosystem and to see what Canada can learn.

And third, I make sure, every time I go abroad, to connect people from Canada with those around the world.

Why? So we can share. In fact, I’ve named this type of co-operation the diplomacy of knowledge, the sharing of ideas across borders and disciplines.

Knowledge shared is knowledge doubled and tripled and quadrupled. And the more we share knowledge, the greater chance we have for understanding.

It’s through these people-to-people connections that we will build a true innovation culture that will cultivate growth.

Canada is one of the best markets in the world in which to do business. And Latin America has so many diverse strengths in which we can invest.

As you listen to the presenters here today, take note of the many ways each country has built their innovation ecosystems. We can and should learn from each other.

When we open our minds to the possibilities inherent in working together, we can arrive at new and exciting solutions to our individual challenges.

So to those of you from Latin America, I encourage you to think of Canada when starting your businesses. And to Canadians, I urge you to turn your attention to Latin America, as there are so many untapped, potential partnerships to be found.

Let me leave you with my vision for Canada in the north and Latin American countries of Central and South America.

I hope that we can unlock our full capacity for invention, creativity and discovery that are the hallmarks of successful societies. And I hope that we do so by learning and working together.

Imagine a hemisphere of innovation!

This conference comes at an important time in our history, particularly as we try to adapt to changing times and shifting economies.

If change is the new constant, then innovation is the new imperative.

I wish all of you an enlightening conference.

Thank you.