The Mauricie Knowledge Economy (ESM) regional innovation conference brought together more than 140 participants last Thursday.

The event aimed to raise awareness among companies of the importance of innovating and to promote networking between entrepreneurs and ecosystem partners. For the occasion, ESM had the chance to welcome Luc Sirois, Chief Innovator of Quebec. The latter, among other things, shared the findings of innovation in Quebec, more particularly the strengths and issues identified which demonstrate the urgency for our companies to act in terms of innovation.

“The ESM team took advantage of the event to connect entrepreneurs and partners. The various networks carried out during the event will be very beneficial in promoting the innovation of our Mauritian companies. Moreover, at the end of the day, several entrepreneurs told us about new projects that they would like to implement.

The support and financing of ESM will be valuable assets in achieving these,” mentions Claude Bourassa, general director of Économie du savoir Mauricie and the Espace d’acceleration et degrowth de la Mauricie.

Steeve Carpentier, entrepreneur and Ironman well known in the region, kicked off the day's activities. Research and development (R&D) then took pride of place. An interactive panel composed of Signalisation Kalitec, Nouveau monde graphite and Theron, as well as research partners from Mauricie, highlighted the importance of collaborating with them.

During a second panel, the companies Avivia, Ingenext and Solucan were able to demonstrate that innovation applies to all sectors of activity, whether it is a new company or a company that wishes to renew itself.

As for the workshops offered in the afternoon, they covered different themes related to innovation. They allowed participants to equip themselves, meet experts and learn more about existing solutions that could be adopted in their business.