Last week we held the Ipsos CanadaNext Symposium to discuss Canadians’ thoughts, worries, and opinions about the wave of change happening in the country driven by technology and demographic shifts. While the discussion was wide-ranging, a few key themes emerged. The first is that people with STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) skills are hard to find, attract and keep in an organization. The second is that Canada is about to experience tech-driven change at a pace and scope that is much greater than we have seen in the past.
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Managing this change and attracting young people with STEM skills will require a public sector that can quickly adapt its policies and programs while being progressive enough to see past the short-term disruption that is often associated with new and emerging technologies. Increasingly our governments are going to be tested, and how they respond will, in large part, determine how well our economy and our country performs in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Let’s assume for a second that you, dear reader, are young, tech-literate, and have mad data skills, making you very much in demand. Let’s also say you are a data scientist — an expert at the dark art of algorithms — or that you have a physics degree making you qualified for any number of jobs (some which have not been invented yet). As a young person with a skill set that is in demand, you are going to have many job offers and you will weigh which company, and which exciting urban centre you plan to call home for the first few years of your career.
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Don’t let this go to your head, but you are a catch. Everyone wants you to work for them and live in their community because you are the future. Businesses want you, and governments want you. They want you and your STEM education so much, that we regularly hear about cities investing $100 million on research into augmented intelligence, or $100 million to help big data startups. And almost every day, there will be a new posting for a government job that reads like a summary of your resume. There are so many jobs available to you, it is going to be a difficult choice. Sure, money is a factor, so is work-life balance, location, and the reputation of the company.
Some of you will want a city with great sports. Others with great culture. Some will want both. But ultimately you are going to want a place where you can grow, succeed and be supported as you push into this brave new tech- and data-driven world. You and your kind will no doubt soon dominate the urban core of our biggest cities. Someone will come up with a catchy name for you but until then you will be best described as young, tech-savvy, innovative, entrepreneurial and highly mobile (it is unlikely you will have kids soon). Attracting you and keeping you (and your high-spending, highly taxed colleagues) is going to be a priority for governments.
Ultimately, it’s your decision and you never asked for my advice. Unfortunately for my son, Andrew, who is currently studying physics in one of Canada’s fine universities, I am going to give it to him.
Andrew, as an in-demand knowledge worker, you won’t want to work for a company that uses yesterday’s technology. You also won’t want to live in a city that doesn’t incorporate new technologies into today’s policies and decisions. You want to live in a place that is culturally and politically wired to help you keep growing.
So, do not start your career in a city that cannot figure out how to incorporate the latest technology into their city. If you were looking today I would avoid any city that cannot figure out how to accommodate companies like Uber or Lyft into their transportation networks.
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While these two companies are not saints (show me a company that is) they are the first in a long line of what will be disruptive companies pushing new technologies into old markets. But even Uber and Lyft disruption will soon pale in comparison to what is coming down the pipe in technological advances.
Autonomous vehicles, drone delivered goods, wearable tech and the Internet of Things are all going to create change and disruption so large that we will one day look back on the Uber trials and wonder what the fuss was about.
Are cities going to demand that companies have local storefronts on Main Street even though everyone shops online? Are cities going to restrict drones and autonomous vehicles from entering the leafy domains of the Laurentian Elites because they just don’t understand how all this new technology works?
Andrew, in a few short years when you hit the job market if you find yourself at an airport on your way to a job interview and your Uber or Lyft app does not work because the city long ago banned them, caved in to the pressures of an established taxi business and couldn’t see the future past the revenue it reaps from yesterday’s business model, then turn around and get back on the plane. This won’t be the city for you.
Mike Colledge is president, Canada Ipsos Public Affairs
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