Alberta ICT Council
The Alberta ICT Council is an industry-led not-for-profit organization mandated to support and develop companies working in Alberta’s Information and Communication Technology sector. Council activities involve coordinating industry stakeholders and distributing resources to fill gaps between other support programs. The Council works at both the company and sector levels. At the company level, the council supports entrepreneurs as they develop, commercialize, and market their products; at the sector level, the Council works to create an enabling environment so that companies have access to inputs and markets for their products. Other sector initiates include strengthening the awareness of Alberta’s capabilities in other jurisdictions to support product exports, and align various stakeholders to reduce duplication, fill program gaps, and raise awareness of coalitions that are able to develop ICT-enabled industry solutions. The following objectives provide the basis for the council’s activities.
Sector Alignment: Align organizations in the ICT Community to jointly identify opportunities and address barriers facing Alberta ICT Companies. Activities include aligning programs and resources of member associations to address the broader needs of Alberta’s ICT Community and its position in the Canadian and international Markets.
Access to Capital: Create an environment where ICT companies can secure capital for the development, commercialization, and launching of ICT-based products and services. Activities include identification of barriers restricting capital, improving investor understanding of the ICT sector, strengthening business plans, and building entrepreneur skills.
Access to Markets: Support Alberta’s ICT companies as they launch their products and services in domestic and international markets. The Access to Markets initiative helps ICT organizations through sponsoring collaborative marketing campaigns, coordinating export development training, and holding industry connector events to identify new market opportunities.
Access to Skills: Improve the availability of skills within the ICT community through strong industry/educator relationships, attracting individuals to Alberta’s ICT sector, sponsoring job creation programs, coordinating mentor groups, holding technical/innovation workshops, and building entrepreneur business networks.
Sector Awareness: Develop materials and relationships that improve the awareness of capabilities within Alberta’s ICT sector. Activities will include compiling statistics and research gathered from various sources, producing the “Annual State of The Industry” report, and communications to marketing and export development groups.
