As we celebrate BC Tech’s 30th anniversary, it is a time to reflect on the origins of the tech industry in B.C. and how much tech has grown not just as a sector but as a strategic priority for every business.
Today, every company is a tech company.
Earlier this year, BC Tech established the BC Innovators Hall of Fame in partnership with the Province of B.C. It serves as a reminder that the achievements of today are built on the shoulders of giants. The 51 inspirational leaders inducted to the Hall of Fame span the full history of B.C.’s tech sector from its early beginnings through its growth into the major economic force it is today.
What might the next 30 years bring as B.C. builds its clean industrial future?
The first part of the transition is already behind us. In the last three decades a massive shift occurred as B.C. rapidly became a knowledge and service-driven economy. Today the province’s service sector (which includes tech) accounts for 80 per cent of B.C.’s jobs, 75 per cent of its GDP and more than 50 per cent of its exports.
The next shift lies ahead. Who are the innovators who will match the vision of our 51 Hall of Famers and seize the opportunities of the future?
Technology is key to B.C.’s future
We already know that technology will be the main source of private-sector job growth in the next decade, according to the B.C. government’s Labour Market Outlook. With 220,000 British Columbians currently employed in tech, the sector will continue to create more than 15,000 new jobs a year.
We can’t afford to under-invest or take for granted the opportunity at hand. B.C.’s talent pipeline is critical infrastructure, as important to the services economy as roads, rail and ports are to the goods economy. If we don’t have the talent, the jobs will simply be created elsewhere.
And it isn’t only B.C.’s services industries that will benefit. It will be equally as important for B.C.’s goods industries to have access to a talent pool of tech-savvy workers to deploy the technology and innovation needed to complete globally.
BC Tech accelerates scale-up success
In the last three years, BC Tech has tripled our member numbers through a relentless focus on accelerating member success. Our track record of delivering high-impact programming is second to none: BC Tech members grow notably faster than the industry average, and an independent third-party audit found that for every $1 invested in BC Tech programs, the return on investment was $14 in incremental GDP.
A new economic narrative for B.C.
At BC Tech we believe that together, we can build a new economic narrative for B.C. To do so we must:
- Embrace technology and innovation as the critical drivers of economic growth and job growth in B.C. in the coming decade.
- Invest in capturing better data about B.C.’s economy, particularly in technology, innovation and the knowledge economy.
- Expand funding to equip more founders with the scale-up skills needed to grow into the anchor companies of tomorrow.
We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to realize the potential of technology and innovation for the benefit of all British Columbians, and we must seize it.
Jill Tipping is president and CEO of the BC Tech Association.
