Just picked this up from propelSJ.

Impact of New-Era Technologies on Society & Business presented by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Tuesday, Feb. 5, 4:00 - 6:00 pm.
Saint John Trade & Convention Centre, One Market Square, Saint John NB

Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 4:00 p.m. — 6:00 p.m.
Delta Halifax, 1990 Barrington St., Halifax, NS

The topic of area that interests me is:

ampliflection* a new type of Internet-based marketing; adaptive mashups

It’s free, but registration is required.

For more info, see propelSJ

I confess I haven’t had a lot of time to formulate my thoughts on this. I certainly would not call myself an expert in IT by any stretch of the imagination. However, today a series of articles came through my feeds that culminated after reading a guest post by Will Pate at StartUp North.

The first news item was:

Industry feels pinch as numbers of IT grads plummet (Globe Investor).

The synopsis? Canada’s University and college enrollment in IT and computer related fields have dropped from 36% - 64% depending on the province.

At ThinkNB this year, I spoke with recruiters from UNB and the NB Community Colleges. They confirmed that enrollment was down. UNB was addressing this with a new program that will combine business with computer technology in a Bachelor of Information Systems program.

Next news feed article today:

N.B. IT doing well: software exec (Telegraph Journal)

According to the quote in the Telegraph Journal:

“I would say the knowledge industry in New Brunswick is healthy,” says Paul McSpurren, former president and chief executive officer of Moncton-based Whitehill Technologies Inc.

“And will be healthy and vibrant in the future.” 

NB also recently held the Rising Stars awards where 10 ITC winners will be able to participate in a year long mentorship and networking program.

Now I want to send you the last article that I mentioned by Will Pate. If you’re an entrepreneur or thinking of starting your own business, read his post.  Let’s make sure that NB is in the race. 

Will’s right. This is a race and as Canadians we do tend to just plod through until the work is done. But when you’re following the industry and you see how fast it changes and how someone is always coming out with something new or different. We have to be able to keep pace. I have met many people in NB in the ITC sector and they all have a passion for what they’re doing.  As Paul McSpurren said in today’s Telegraph article, I think the knowledge industry in NB is healthy.

We have innovation happening here in NB. We have groups like catalict whose tagline says “Start your engines. The race is on.” We have the Wallace McCain Institute that helps entrepreneurs grow their business.

There are other organizations I could mention as well but the point is that I think we recognize in NB that there’s a need for speed, experience and skills to get ahead in this industry. And maybe because NB is always playing catchup with the rest of the provinces, we’re already used to racing.

What do you think? Is NB in the race?

thinkNB launched tonight for a mix and mingle with exhibitors and guests at the Aitken Center in Fredericton. Tomorrow is a full day event open to the public. I had the opportunity tonight to meet with a few of the exhibitors and talk to them about their businesses. It was all rather loose this evening and tomorrow I’ll dive more into specific questions when I talk to various technology industry demographics. I used this event as my first time trying out utterz.

I met Dan Martell from Spheric last year at a Wizard Academy workshop put on by the Fundy Group. We have always had lots to discuss about web 2.0, online marketing and social networking. Tomorrow I’ll be talking to Dan and the others at Spheric tomorrow to find out exactly how they’re lazy but for now here’s an utterz from Dan.

It seemed appropriate to start this blog with a new event that is happening next week in Fredericton, NB. ThinkNB will be showcasing many of New Brunswick’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) companies. I hope to meet up with many of them next week and highlight them on meshEAST at some point.

This is a first for NB. I think it’s a wonderful initiative by those involved such as Gene Fowler of FatKat Animation.

“We rigorously validated the concept of a showcase with the industry, and it is responding enthusiastically,” said Gene Fowler, CEO of Miramichi-based Fatkat Animation and chair of the steering committee. “As an industry, we have not always marketed effectively to New Brunswick government departments and agencies, industry and business. Our event is a first step to change this. If you are a user or buyer of ICT, you can’t afford to miss this unique showcase.

He’s right in that there needs to be more effective marketing to the NB gov’t departments and agencies. However, I would take that a step further and say that we also need to market this information to the consumer more effectively. Whenever I ask anyone outside of the industry, even among those in the web world, numerous people had not heard about the event. A quick search online shows very few mentions. It’s not a reflection on the promotion of the event. But more the mindset that much of this industry here in Atlantic Canada is insular. That’s something I hope to help change with meshEAST. So that every day Atlantic Canadians will know about the great quality of companies that are coming out of this part of Canada with products and innovations that are applicable to all of us.

ThinkNB is a great start though and I am looking forward to connecting with new and old friends.