Late in 1995, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), and the North-South Institute (NSI) asked Maurice F. Strong if he would bring together a small group of eminent Canadians from the academic, business, and nongovernmental sectors in order to reflect on Canada's role and position in the world of the 21st century and, more specifically, to consider Canadian strengths and capabilities with regard to the global development challenges ahead.

On 18 November 1996, the taskforce presented Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy with their report "Connecting with the World: Priorities for Canadian Internationalism in the 21^st Century". One of its main recommendations was that the Canadian government should dedicate, by 1999, 15% of its official development assistance to activities that improve the gathering, use and sharing of knowledge.

Since the report's release, many institutions have responded to the call to refine their knowledge networks and to place Canada at the forefront of knowledge-based overseas development assistance. Specific follow-up activities included:

A presentation of evidence before the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade in February 1997.

Background papers were prepared for a search conference in May 1997 on Canadian public attitudes to development cooperation (126 kb) and approaches to knowledge brokering (125 kb) .

The search conference report (173 kb) identified strategies and actions to follow up the recommendations of the taskforce.

The development of an initial matrix of activities (84 kb) in June 1997 identifying what IISD, IDRC, and NSI were doing to implement the taskforce's recommendations.

The commissioning by IDRC and IISD of the report on Formal Knowledge Networks: A Study of Canadian Experiences (468 kb) .