Brazil, Canada strike innovation deal

The Meridian Institute reports that Brazil’s Minister of Science and Technology and Canada’s Minister of International Trade have signed the Canada-Brazil Framework Agreement for Cooperation on Science, Technology, and Innovation. This agreement seeks to increase bilateral research and development (R&D) in several science and technology areas -- these include nanotechnology, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, information and communications technology. Canada is to contribute US$1.5 million to the agreement over the next two years, funding up to half the R&D arrangement costs between Canadian and Brazilian governments, academic, research institutes, and industry.

What will be interesting to see is how much of this money actually ends up in R&D rather than in paying for infrastructures and establishment costs, and what happens to the IP rights in any results of the innovation in question.