Dan Breznitz has won the 2021 Donner Prize for his book Innovation in Real Places: Strategies for Prosperity in an Unforgiving World.

Breznitz was awarded the prize at a gala in Toronto on Tuesday night. Gregory Belton, chair of the Donner Canadian Foundation, announced the winner.

In Innovation in Real Places, published by Oxford University Press, Breznitz examines different types of innovation and proposes that communities focus on their own position within the global production process instead of following the Silicon Valley model of growth that is only relevant to a small number of places.

In their citation, the jury called the book “essential reading for anyone interested in policy for industry, science, finance, competition, and regional development.”

“[Breznitz] 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,” the jury wrote.

The Donner Prize is awarded annually, and honours the best book about public policy by a Canadian. Breznitz’s book was one of five shortlisted titles. The other finalists each receive $7,500.

The finalists and winner were chosen by a jury comprised of jury chair David A. Dodge, Jean-Marie Dufour, Brenda Eaton, Louise Fréchette, Karen Restoule, and Frederic Wien.