Communitech Blog

We kicked off our “official” (not counting our date with The Woz) 2009-2010 event season last week with a Connect event at the Food Bank of Waterloo Region. Why the Food Bank? It gave us an opportunity to showcase a much-needed not-for-profit.

Carol Leaman from the Food Bank’s BOD was kind enough to give the tech folks gathered last week some information on how vital the Food Bank is, and how you (or your firm) can help. Here’s a summary for those of you who missed the event:

• over 25,000 people in Waterloo Region use emergency food services
• 3 million pounds of food is distributed each year
• half of all emergency food recipients are children
• the Food Bank ALWAYS needs food - not just at Christmas or Thanksgiving
• donations of food or cash have a direct, day-to-day impact on our community
• every $1 donated to the Food Bank generated $8 of food. (Really good ROI.)
• the Food Bank’s Fall Food Drive is September 28th - October 16th this year.
• you (yes, you) can volunteer - sort food, organize a drive, be a driver. There are lots of ways to get involved.
• your firm can organize a team building event at The Food Bank. It’s a great way to support your culture while doing some good. (How about a Team Sort n’ BBQ event?)

I encourage you to visit the Food Bank Web site, call 519.743.5576 or email info@thefoodbank.ca to find out how you can give back to the people of Waterloo Region.

- Iain

We’ve identified the need to continue to support talent acquisition and retention within the community. There remain a significant number of hard-to-fill positions, so we’re exploring ways we can support our members’ efforts to get the right people into the Region. We’ve also been thinking about how we can build our support capacity, so we’re helping firms at all stages and as they move through the different stages of company development from start-up, to second-stage, to enterprise.

Some of the events you won’t want to miss include:

• Our first Techworking Breakfast on September 16th. Our speaker is John Baker, CEO and Founder of Desire2Learn. It’s our first of the year and we expect a great turnout, so register ASAP. A list of our other Techworking events is here.
• Entrepreneur Week - a week to celebrate the innovators that have built this region into a world-class tech centre!! Save this date:  November 16 - 22 and stay tuned to the Communitech Blog and our Web site for more information on speakers and sessions.
• Business & Technology Lunch Forum provide opportunity to make new business contacts and learn from high-profile guest speakers with topics focused on ways to strengthen and grow your business. Our 2009-2010 is online at the above link.

Looking forward to a great 2009-2010 season and hope to see many of you out at our events this year!

- Iain

Yet another Star article – this one focused on the global financial and economic implications of technology penetration in new markets. It’s a positive message, citing technology as a dominant force in driving economic recovery.

The new markets are not entirely as surprise (save, one: Brazil) and they are importing ICT at a tremendous rate. The OECD Technology Outlook 2008 (highlights report) notes “Non-OECD economies make up over 20% of the global ICT market, with ICT spending in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and Russia all growing in 2003-07 at more than 20% annually in current terms.” Government efforts to increase Internet and wireless connectivity in these countries are driving this trend. And that’s good news for goods-producing high tech firms.

I only see one looming caveat: “Around 50% of ICT goods production now comes from non-OECD countries, and these countries, notably China and India, are increasingly the home of top ICT firms.” (ibid.) Once the recession is over and consumer demand for inexpensive goods from China and India increases again… . Let’s just say NOW is a good time to work on customer relationship, new deals and retention.

As with most things, however, I’m inclined to look at the whole thing as positive. The opportunity for service-delivering high tech firms will increase as world markets grow. Goods-producers like RIM will have new markets to tap. Talent from overseas will be available to local companies. It’s all very exciting and good news. If, as the author predicts, a “technology boom” is expected through 2020, I think we – as a tech-focused Region who has not felt the impact of the recession to the extent other sectors and geographic areas have – will have a head start in capitalizing on the next tech markets.

- Iain

An article in Saturday’s Toronto Star caught my eye. It talks about the rising numbers of self-employed Canadians in the last 12 months. 

Whether by necessity or desire, self-employment is becoming more popular.  This is good news; Canada needs more entrepreneurs. And if you read Avvey’s post titled “Buck the Trend”, many agree recession or no, it’s a good time to start a business.  Maybe it’s because we’re hungry. Or we’re developing our talent to recognize and capitalize on opportunity. Or because Canada has made it easy to start a business. (We tie for first with Australia and New Zealand according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009). All of these are reasons why Communitech is obsessed with entrepreneurship — we host a huge celebration of entrepreneurship every fall with Entrepreneur Week.

Whatever the case, the statistics and the how-to-succeed tips in the article give a much-deserved nod to the entrepreneurs who play and will play such a key role in our economy. These firms may start small, but over 1.3 million of the start-ups cited in the article employ other people. Jobs are good. Economic momentum is good. So instead of looking at your neighbour, friend or daughter with horror when she tells you she’s going to start a business during a recession… read the article, pass it on, then applaud. 

- Iain