UBC President Santa Ono has been appointed as chief advisor of the government’s “Innovation Network” — an initiative designed to attract and retain talent for BC’s tech sector. Premier Christy Clark announced the creation of this new role and his installation on January 23.
During his time at the University of Cincinatti, Ono held a similar role with the Ohio Third Frontier's advisory board, a network which connects the university system, startup companies and entrepreneurs to provide “business expertise, mentorship, capital and talent,” according to their site. The BC government aims to build the same thing here, with Ono as their point person.
What's the plan?
The initiative aims to attract 100,000 to 200,000 more highly skilled tech workers to the province by 2025 through encouraging them to move from other areas and retaining those who are already here.
The provincial government hopes that political instability in places like the UK and the US will also help attract more workers to Canada.
“The Brexit decision ... gives an opportunity for all kinds of people who have a more worldly view to say they'd like to go to a more outwardly welcoming place like Canada,” said Liberal Minister of Advanced Education Andrew Wilkinson.
Ono hopes new degree programs, like UBC’s new school of biomedical engineering, will help attract and retain talent in Vancouver. He also recognizes opportunities presented by the Vancouver offices of Microsoft, Amazon and Hootsuite to these students and workers.
“When you have world-class strengths that attract additional companies and activity to the region ... that will require more talent to fuel those companies,” he said.
Wilkinson added that the initiative represents an “opportunity to focus on making local companies into bigger local companies rather than having them license or sell their intellectual property elsewhere.”
Moving forward
Ono has begun speaking with stakeholders in the province, and plans to convene a group at the upcoming BC Tech Summit to discuss strategy.
“For this to succeed, we really need everyone to come together and roll up their sleeves and work hard. Every indication that I have now is that people are ready to do so,” said Ono.
“I'm extremely, extremely excited. The future [of] BC as the heart of the innovation economy in Canada is very, very bright.”