PROGRIS is also part of an emerging national network of researchers investigating aspects of the regional innovation system across Canada. In June, 1998, it responded to a call from three federal agencies, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the National Research Council to participate in the proposed Innovation Systems Research Network. The ISRN is a three year program funded jointly by the three federal councils, all members of the Industry Canada Portfolio. The federal agencies selected five subnetworks across the country to collaborate in studying the relationship between innovation and economic development at the local and regional level.

The network is intended to encourage multi-disciplinary research on the role of innovation and technological change in the new economy and provide a forum for researchers and partners to meet and share ideas and research findings. The Innovation Systems Research Network will investigate how the interaction of firms and regional institutions in Canada facilitate, or impede, the process of innovation and social learning that is critical for success in the new global economy. The three-year pilot project will support university-based research on technological change, economic development, and the innovation systems that affect how innovations such as new or improved services, products, management methods, or production techniques are applied in society. It is hoped that government, private sector and other partner organizations will benefit from a better understanding of how science, technology and economic policy can enhance economic development.

PROGRIS serves as the node for one of the five subnetworks, the Ontario Network on the Regional Innovation System (ONRIS), a subnetwork that includes researchers in political science, geography, planning, industrial relations and international studies at the University of Toronto, Waterloo, Western, Queen's and Carleton. As well, its partners include representatives from two provincial ministries, private not-for-profit organizations at the provincial and municipal level, and private sector firms. The primary goal of ONRIS is to study how the interaction of firms and regional institutions in south central and southwestern Ontario contributes to the process of innovation and social learning critical for success in the new global economy. In addition, PROGRIS serves as the national secretariat for the Innovation Systems Research Network.