Hello Everyone,

I have been enjoying some travels over the last few weeks, out to Ireland and Scotland, and now back to Canada – at national and provincial events in Quebec City, Calgary, and Edmonton.

What travel can provide is new perspective:

From Ireland (population 7 million)/Scotland (population 5.8 million) – Note: England (population 53 million):

– Who knew? Harry Potter backdrops really exist!  What seemed like a magical pretend world, is what part of every-day life looks like in the old-city of Edinburgh, Scotland.  Even our visit to Glasgow in Grand Central station brings the “Platform 9 3/4 experience” not so totally unrelatable.

— Canada is known : As tourists from Canada, we often meet other tourists – and as luck would have it alot of visitors from Florida.  We were very surprised at the number of Panthers hockey fans – who definitely knew who the Edmonton Oilers were.  With all the comparisons that we often have with the US, it was interesting to see Sunrise fans feel like they were sparring with a large Canadian city rival. And our UK hosts saw Canadians in one light – representing a dynamic inclusive country of opportunity, one that many have considered ‘to move to for a fresh start.’

Overall – Canada (population: 39 million) has such strength, and having a large neighbor in the US (342 million) can provide great benefits, but also can create some tough economies of scale.  But as we can see, others work with 10:1 odds, and although economies are complex – one thing to keep in mind is that we are part of a global market.. and one where agility is becoming the strength of winners, not always size.  And when you add to agility, pride and passion – like we have in our tech SME’s – we can overcome giants.  

So with that, I come back with a new world view, and also appreciate that we can use sports to ‘open a common ground story’, and create awareness that markets our Alberta and Canadian cities globally. People can identify with how a small team can change the world.. especially with many fans cheering them on.

Thanks everyone – for building a great community – and cheering on Alberta tech companies to take on the world, and add economic and social value globally! 

See you soon,

Gail
Gail J. Powley, P.Eng
President, Technology Alberta