The old stereotype of the tech worker as a young, male, hoodied coder hunched over a laptop in a dark basement needs to be retired. Nothing could be further from reality. The increasing diversity of Atlantic Canada’s innovation sector is so important, it was the first topic I tackled with guests on the Tech Talks podcast. This myth isn’t just outdated, it’s damaging, limiting our ability to nurture and recruit young people with a range of skills–not only coders and engineers–to a whole spectrum of jobs.

For all the talk around innovation, there’s still a lot of confusion about what, exactly, it is and why it matters. But innovation isn’t grey or nebulous, not a trend. And it’s not just for coders. It’s real, it’s simple, and it is key to our economic recovery.

That’s why I was excited to have two Atlantic Canadian innovation visionaries as my guests on Episode 4 of the Tech Talks Podcast. Jeff White, CEO of the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, and Malcolm Fraser, president and CEO of Innovacorp, joined me to talk all things innovation, including the tangible ways it's transforming our economy.

Digital technological innovations have rapidly transformed business, allowing companies to drive increases in productivity and opening up new markets. Technology also makes these businesses better able to withstand challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Les innovations technologiques numériques ont rapidement transformé les affaires; elles ont permis aux entreprises d’accroître leur productivité et d’accéder à de nouveaux marchés. La technologie permet également à ces entreprises de surmonter plus facilement des défis comme la pandémie de COVID‑19.

TechImpact is proud to be part of Turning Point: Recovery and Reimagination in New Brunswick, a collection of virtual conferences and podcasts designed to reimagine New Brunswick in a post-pandemic world.

This op-ed was originally printed in the Telegraph-Journal, Daily Gleaner, and Times & Transcript on January 30, 2020.

TechImpact is focused on tech workforce development as one of our key objectives. We feel that the strength of our industry is directly tied to the quality, diversity, size and strength of its professionals, including new graduates and current workers.

The APEC report released on September 17th underlines the growing importance of digital technology to Atlantic Canada's economy. It has also shown us the tremendous potential the tech industry offers to our region and our local economy, so it's important we make it a priority.

We launched our newsletter The Impact earlier this year to help advance our primary goal of growing Atlantic Canada’s tech industry.