Curriculum Vitae
Travis Southin
University of Toronto Department of Political Science Sidney Smith Hall, 100 St. George Street Toronto, ON M5S 3G3
Email : travis.southin@mail.utoronto.ca
CURRENT POSITION
PhD Candidate (ABD), Department of Political Science, University of Toronto
EDUCATION
PhD Candidate – 2016 – Present
Department of Political Science, University of Toronto
Field specializations in Canadian Politics and Public Policy Dissertation: Overcoming Barriers to Policy Change: The Politics of Canada’s Shifting Innovation Policy Committee: David A. Wolfe (chair), Linda White & Darius Ornston
Master of Global Affairs – 2014 – 2016
Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
Graduation Date: Summer 2016
Honours B.A. Major: Business Law, Minor: Political Science – 2009 – 2013
Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario CGPA: 10.05 out of 12 Awards: Dean’s List 2010, 2011, 2013, Aiming for the Top Scholarship
AWARDS
Royal Bank Graduate Fellowship in Public and Economic Policy – 2019
Best Poster Award at Policies, Processes and Practices for Performance of Innovation Ecosystems (P4-IE) International Conference 2021
PUBLICATIONS
Refereed Journal Articles
Denney, S., Southin, T., & Wolfe, D. A. (2021). Entrepreneurs and cluster evolution: the transformation of Toronto’s ICT cluster. Regional Studies, 55(2), 196-207.
Works in Progress
Denney, S., Southin, T., & Wolfe, D. A. ‘Picking Winners’: How Growth Stage and National Context Shape Scale-up Entrepreneurs’ Assessments of Innovation Policy Mixes (under review)
Southin, T. Regionalism as a Barrier to Large, Strategically Targeted Innovation Investments in Canada
Southin, T. Assessing Policymakers’ Scope of Agency Vis-a-vis Institutional, Ideological and Political Economy Constraints: Drivers of Policy Change and Stability in Canadian Innovation Policy
Southin, T. Multi-level Governance of Innovation Policy Mixes
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Southin, T. ‘Assessing Policymakers’ Scope of Agency Vis-a-vis Institutional, Ideological and Political Economy Constraints: Drivers of Policy Change and Stability in Canadian Innovation Policy.’ 5th International Conference on Public Policy. July 5-9, 2021.
Southin, T. ‘Regionalism as a Barrier to Large, Strategically Targeted Innovation Investments in Canada.’ Canadian Political Science Association. June 7-10, 2021.
Southin, T. ‘Assessing Policymakers’ Scope of Agency Vis-a-vis Institutional, Ideological and Political Economy Constraints: Drivers of Policy Change and Stability in Canadian Innovation Policy.’ Policies, Processes and Practices for Performance of Innovation Ecosystems (P4-IE) International Conference. May 10-13, 2021.
Southin, T. ‘Mapping the Innovation Preferences of Canadian ICT Firms.’ Canadian Political Science Association. Vancouver, British Columbia. June 4-6, 2019.
Denney, S. & Southin, T. ‘Entrepreneurs and the Evolution of Toronto’s ICT Cluster: Insights and lessons learned.’ Creating Digital Opportunity: 6th Annual CDO Partnership Network Conference. Toronto, Ontario. April 29-May 1, 2019.
Southin, T. ‘Canada’s Inclusive Innovation Agenda in the Face of the Employment Threat of Automation.’ Creating Digital Opportunity. 4th Annual CDO Partnership Network Conference. Montreal, Quebec. May 1-3, 2017.
Southin, T., Denney, S. & Wolfe, D. A. ‘Examining the Local Factors Driving the Global Competitiveness of Toronto’s ICT Sector.’ Creating Digital Opportunity. 4th Annual CDO Partnership Network Conference. Montreal, Quebec. May 1-3, 2017.
Southin, T. & Wolfe, D. A. ‘Toronto’s ICT/Fintech Firms in Global Context.’ Creating Digital Opportunity. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. April 25-27, 2016.
REPORTS
Tech Toronto. (2016). ‘How Technology is Changing Toronto Employment.’
(Policy Section authored by Travis Southin).
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Course Instructor Sept. 2021 – Dec. 2021 POL 438H5F Topics in Comparative Politics – Canada in the Global Innovation Race: Economic Development Policy in Comparative Perspective University of Toronto Mississauga
• Travis designed the syllabus for this seminar course. The course examines Canadian economic development policy in comparative perspective. There is particular focus on exploring the role of the Canadian state in fostering innovation-based economic growth via innovation policy, as well as comparing this to the approaches employed by other countries. Comparative research on the ‘rebirth of industrial policy’ has highlighted the central role played by the state in fostering innovation-based economic development. The growing importance of the state in facilitating economic development is highlighted by the unprecedented innovation investments forming the basis of many countries’ COVID-19 recovery packages, such as the United State’s $250 billion Innovation and Competition Act. This course focuses on situating Canadian economic development and innovation policy within this larger global innovation race. The course is structured in four sections: I) Comparing Innovation-based Economic Development Policy Across Countries; II) Comparing Canada Over Time; III) Comparing Within Canada; and IV) Future Directions.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Contract Researcher December 2020 – April 2021 Government of Canada, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED)
• Contracted by ISED to write a case study of Next Generation Manufacturing Canada, the non-profit operating the supercluster in Ontario under the Innovation Superclusters Initiative
• Worked with a team of researchers each analyzing one of the 5 superclusters as part of the research partnership 4POINT0, led by Professor Catherine Beaudry (Polytechnique Montreal).
• Interviewed industry and academic NGen members to gauge stakeholder satisfaction regarding NGen’s operation and impact
Editor May 2019 – Present Innovation Policy Lab Newsletter Innovation Policy Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Toronto, Ontario
• Create the bi-weekly Innovation Policy Lab Newsletter summarizing the latest research at the IPL as well as in the field of innovation policy more broadly
Student Policy Consultant Jan 2016 – May 2016
Master of global Affairs at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Toronto, Ontario
• Part of a team of students chosen through a competitive process to research and present to the Israel Innovation Authority on policy recommendations to encourage start-ups to continue growing rather than taking early financial exits through acquisition.
Analyst May 2015 – Sept. 2015
Ontario’s Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure: Advanced Manufacturing Branch, Toronto, Ontario
• Initiated and presented research on Industry 4.0 and digital manufacturing
• Researched and presented a sector competitiveness study on Ontario’s packaging sector
• Led a 40-minute session on behalf of my branch with multiple ministry branches
• Initiated and orchestrated a stakeholder engagement meeting with a mid-size manufacturing firm and a municipal economic development agency
RESEARCH ASSISTANCE
The Scale-Up Challenge for Canadian Technology Firms June 2018 – Present
Research support for Professor David A. Wolfe, Innovation Policy Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.
• Conducted and analyzed over 70 interviews with CEOs of scale-up technology firms for Mitacs-funded research grant under the project using the qualitative data analysis software NVivo.
• Presented at academic conferences and co-authored a referred journal publication.
Creating Digital Opportunity Research Partnership Sept. 2015 – May 2019
Research support for Professor David A. Wolfe, Innovation Policy Lab, Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy.
• Conducted and analyzed over 30 interviews with firms in Toronto’s ICT cluster using the qualitative data analysis software NVivo.
• Presented at 4 annual Research Partnership conferences and co-authored a referred journal publication