The business day begins in New Brunswick an hour before our colleagues in Montreal and Toronto get started. I think that’s appropriate, because from the age of sail to today’s AI revolution, our entrepreneurs have been working at the forefront of innovation, international trade and technological change.
New Brunswick has embraced the early adoption of technology as a source of opportunity that enables our entrepreneurs to be on the leading edge of developing solutions.
This is embedded in our DNA, because we’re controllers of our own destiny, and the scale and connectedness of our community has given us a first-mover advantage. New Brunswick’s position at the leading edge of developments in energy, agriculture, aquaculture and digital ICT has unlocked opportunities to sell our innovation around the globe.
As CEO of the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, I lead a team that supports the development and commercialization of innovative ideas in various industries, including life sciences, ICT, clean tech, and ocean tech. We have a mandate from the Government of New Brunswick to be the province’s leading venture capital and tech-sector innovation champion and to oversee and strengthen the work of business incubators and accelerators.
We’ve proven that we can build globally relevant and scalable technology companies that drive incredible value for investors and customers. This translates into a stronger economy.
Our overarching goal is to be the driving force for technology and innovation investment in New Brunswick and to continue to position our province as a leading tech hub. But we know we aren’t in this alone.
One of the great strengths of the innovation community in Atlantic Canada is the high degree to which it functions as a community. On the research side, we all benefit from the close ties between Atlantic Canada’s universities. We have one regional labour force. From basic infrastructure to back-office support services, to support for early-stage entrepreneurs, innovators in our region share a common ecosystem and an unflagging determination to bring their ideas to market. No wonder tech businesses in our region deliver returns for investors that are better than market rate.
In New Brunswick, we know entrepreneurs are changemakers. We are passionate about fostering a culture of innovation and collaboration and we believe in giving back to the communities in which we live and work.
As a senior financial executive with more than 25 years of experience in the technology sector, I have seen the inspiring talent and drive of our entrepreneurs and the challenges of attracting capital to businesses in this region. Those challenges are diminishing as globalism flattens markets and the world’s industries search for transformative new technologies.
I’ve had the privilege of working with homegrown businesses, such as Radian6 Technologies and Q1 Labs, that have broken through to global markets and attracted international investors. I’ve seen provincial rivalries in tech development give way to collaboration that harnesses the full economic potential of Atlantic Canada’s 2.4 million people.
Across Atlantic Canada, the wind of change is blowing, and it is inspiring people to choose lives of innovation. Atlantic Canadians are pivoting from being consumers of marketed products to being the creators of globally marketable solutions. This is a new era for tech business development, and the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation is rising to meet it.
This is a call to action for all who believe in the transformative power of ideas translated into technology and services that are embraced around the world. Together, we can create a thriving ecosystem that propels economic growth and prosperity for New Brunswick and our Atlantic region.
