Meet New Brunswick’s First Chief Entrepreneur In Residence
FREDERICTON–New Brunswick technology executive David Alston has been named the province’s first “Chief Entrepreneur in Residence” by the provincial government. It’s an unpaid, volunteer position.
Alston was a key architect of one of New Brunswick’s top technology success stories, the social media monitoring pioneer Radian6 which was acquired by Salesforce in 2011 for north of $300 million.
After a stint with Salesforce, Alston became part of several startups, including Fredericton-based Introhive, as well as a very visible advocate for innovation and teaching coding in New Brunswick’s lagging education system. He also volunteered as part of the provincial government’s Strategic Program Review committee before last year’s budget.
“For me this role is really an extension of what I have been doing over the past couple of years,” Alston told Huddle.
“It started back with the Code Kids documentary which then evolved into Brilliant Labs and helping input, with many others, to the 10 year education plan and beyond. My volunteering with the Strategic Program Review helped me get a better understanding of places where citizens could play a larger role in helping to problem-solve alongside government.”
“I have also been involved to varying degrees with our region’s social innovation labs – from Noulab, to the NB+ digital lab, to evolving labs to ending generational poverty through LivingSJ. These new models have inspired me, along with many others, to want to see more use of these collaborative approaches to solve social issues, improve outcomes and unlock economic potential.”
Alston is charged with developing an Entrepreneur in Residence Program to help connect entrepreneurs and innovators with government to better address public policy issues.
“This new role is an indication to me that the government is ready to take a lot of these innovative approaches to even broader levels,” he said.
Alston is hopeful that by embracing technology and social innovation, New Brunswick’s government can become more effective and efficient.
“I see a future where the pace of innovation within government catches up the pace of innovation outside of it,” he said.
“Governments at all levels recognize that innovation and entrepreneurship are key to a thriving economy. I see models in place where active and passionate citizen problem-solvers play more of a role in tackling some of our social problems in collaboration with our civil service.”