NRC shutting down software, info security and acoustic sensing groups

The National Research Council will phase out three of its Ottawa-based telecommunications research groups over the next year, and consider privatizing its national science library, according to a memo sent to staff this morning from NRC president Dr. Pierre Coulombe. The cost-cutting measures, which include the elimination of about 16 positions at the three research groups, is expected to save the NRC $27.7 million over the next three years. The belt-tightening is part of Ottawa's strategic review process which selects different government departments and agencies each year to come up with proposals to trim spending by 5%. In some cases, the savings are redirected back to the department or agency for new initiatives. In 2008, 21 departments and agencies undertook such reviews, which identified annually savings totaling $586 million. The NRC projects saving $17.4 over three years through "increasing efficiency and effectiveness." This primarily includes shutting down three of its Ottawa research groups: the Software Engineering and Information Security groups at the Institute for Information Technology, and the Institute for Microstructural Sciences' Acoustics and Signal Processing Group. The job losses are expected to be through attrition and other measures, rather than direct layoffs. The Software Engineering group focuses primarily on integration and interoperability issues and software development practices, while the Information Security group works on information security for distributed systems. The Acoustics group performs R&D on acoustics for telecommunications and multimedia. Resources from these activities will be reinvested in priority areas of the NRC, including the Industrial Research Assistance Program, which received an additional $200 million over the next two years in the January federal budget. Coulombe also told staff today that the NRC will be developing new models to deliver the programs and services of its national science library, the Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI), which is Canada's leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information. In the memo, Coulombe said these new models "may include the spin-off of some activities, alternative service delivery arrangements, or public-private partnerships between NRC and private organisations. Rest assured that CISTI remains a key part of NRC's S&T infrastructure. It will continue to deliver STM information under these new delivery models, but it will be operating on a smaller scale." Savings from changes at CISTI are expected to result in $10.3 million in 2011-12. Further details on the changes were not available from NRC by press deadline.

NRC shutting down software, info security and acoustic sensing groups

News | 02/19/2009 6:38 pm EST

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