KELOWNA – A new report estimates the Okanagan tech sector has surpassed a billion dollars in yearly economic impact, but that success comes with its own set of challenges.
The report commissioned by Accelerate Okanagan estimates, directly and indirectly, tech businesses injected over a billion dollars into the Okanagan economy in 2013.
“It’s beautiful, they are so encouraging for the high tech industry and they have some fabulous schools here that produce some wonderful students,” says Anne Denman the managing director of Bardel Entertainment Inc., which employs 47 people at their Kelowna studio.
However, the sector still faces growing pains, including finding qualified staff locally.
“The number of programs that are available are not producing enough people for the needs of the technology industry here,” says Accelerate Okanagan CEO Pilar Portela.
KinematicSoup Technologies has a staff of nine. They’ve developed a cloud software to help game developers make multiplayer games as easily as single-player ones. Their issue is not training but finding more experienced staff locally.
Despite the challenges, some believe more growth is on the way.
“A billion dollars is good. We want to see it maybe hit ten billion dollars in the next ten years kind of thing. It is just a start,” says McMichael.
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