Donner Prize

June 1, 2022

Dan Breznitz’s book, Innovation in Real Places: Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World (Oxford University Press), has won the 2021 Donner Prize.

Awarded annually by the Donner Canadian Foundation, the prestigious $50,000 prize is given to a book that showcases excellence and innovation in public policy writing by Canadians. The prize was awarded at a gala dinner in Toronto on May 31, 2022.

Innovation in Real Places differentiates between innovation and invention, focusing on the diverse types of innovation and the role of government to facilitate, and not impede, the process.

The jury declared the book “essential reading for anyone interested in policy for industry, science, finance, competition, and regional development. There is little doubt that innovation is the key driver of economic progress, and Breznitz provides the most interesting and innovative take on the process of innovation in promoting community-wide development. He goes well beyond the current fetish of focusing on the highest end of technology in an attempt to emulate the admired, but inequitable, features of Silicon Valley. He urges communities to focus on the stage of the production process that allows them to realize their own advantages and build an ecosystem that fosters surprising forms of specialized innovation.”

For more information, visit the Donner Prize website.