APEC Conference Focusing On Tech Comes to Saint John
SAINT JOHN – The Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (APEC) will be in Saint John on Thursday to host their annual Outlook Conference. This year the conference will focus on embracing emerging technologies and feature a keynote address from former New Brunswick Premier Frank McKenna.
“Saint John has a long history on the IT side and there is a growing hub of companies like Innovatia, Xplinx Technologies and Appnovation located in Saint John that will find the industry panel discussion invaluable,” said David Chaundy, APEC’s senior economist and the conference’s coordinator.
“NBCC Saint John has an engineering technology program that is turning out the next generation of workers that will be shaping companies using technology. It is important they have an opportunity to see success stories in action.”
The conference will include Chaundy’s annual economic forecast for Atlantic Canada. A panel discussion led by Finn Poschman will explore how the embrace of emerging technologies can fire up economic development opportunities in region. The panel will feature Resson Aerospace CEO Peter Goggin, T4G vice-president Cathy Simpson and Kunaran Thillainadarajah, CEO of Smart Skin Technologies.
Chaundry says embracing new technologies is important for the growth of small Atlantic businesses.
“Research on global value chains and Atlantic manufacturers conducted by the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (APEC) highlights the need for innovative, export-oriented companies to position their products and services to provide new solutions for the global marketplace,” he said.
“The development and use of emerging technologies opens up niche opportunities for small Atlantic firms to sell on a global stage. The local market for many of these new technologies is too small, forcing these firms to think global from the get go. But it also means that the market potential is huge, creating greater employment opportunities here back home in Atlantic Canada.”
The good thing is, Chaundy said there are New Brunswick companies like T4G and Mariner who are already doing this pretty well.
“The NB ecosystem for growing technology companies is maturing. Government programs are easy to access and there is a core of senior entrepreneurs and venture capitalists keen to help companies grow,” Chaundy said. “The 2011 sale of New Brunswick companies Q1 Labs and Radian6 Technologies to U.S. buyers focused much-needed attention on the start-up side of New Brunswick’s the technology cluster.”
The APEC’S Outlook Conference takes place Thursday Nov. 5 at Saint John Trade and Convention Centre.