01952nas a2200121   4500008004100000022001400041245007400055210006800129260004200197520153500239100002001774856003601794       2008                        eng d  a1913-610200aThe CUE Factor: Community-University Engagement for Social Innovation0 aCUE Factor CommunityUniversity Engagement for Social Innovation  aOttawabTalent First Networkc09/20083 aThe Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada informs us that our universities produce one-third of the roughly $10 billion in research and development generated in Canada. Our post-secondary institutions house some of Canada's most talented inventors and analysts as well as some of the best laboratories and think-tanks. The full value of this innovation is achieved when a university is able to successfully engage with the local geographic community in which it is based, including specific communities of interest that reside in the locality.

Such meaningful and continuous community-university engagement (CUE) at the local level is a crucial pre-condition before a university can successfully execute partnerships with open source communities, which by their nature are dispersed across the globe, to create social value. By effectively engaging both the local and open source communities, Canadian universities can play a pivotal role in social innovation that addresses challenges in our own country as well as overseas. Accordingly, universities across Canada should increase their CUE factors by deepening and broadening their teaching, research and volunteering activities with the external constituencies that have the greatest need for sustainable solutions to the challenges they face every day. If social innovations are to make a real difference, Canadian universities must step forward in a major way. This article sets out a dynamic model for CUE and provides examples of creative local initiatives.1 aJackson, Edward  uhttp://timreview.ca/article/189