Can Accelerate Okanagan’s Report On Local Tech Industry Economic Impact Be Believed?

Report Lacks The Rigor Necessary To Give It Much Credibility. The AO report’s “economic impact” conclusions are based on 2014 Survey Monkey voluntary responses, which are problematic due to an apparent lack of critical assessment. The report does not follow the kind of rigorous industry analysis performed by leading technology consultancy firms like International Data Corporation (IDC) or Gartner.


 AO Tech Industry Report Lacks The Rigor Necessary To Give It Much Credibility

Read the AO press release and access the full report here

The AO report’s “economic impact” conclusions are based on 2014 Survey Monkey voluntary responses, which are problematic due to an apparent lack of critical assessment. The report does not follow the kind of rigorous industry analysis performed by leading technology consultancy firms like International Data Corporation (IDC) or Gartner. The definition of an “industry,” for example the “automobile industry in Canada,” involves broad activity around all aspects of “automobiles,” but at some point firms like Kal Tire or “Joe’s Brake Shop” might be excluded from a definition of the automobile industry.  The report does not mention the rigor applied to this industry analysis, so the question is left open, “What exactly is the “tech industry” in the Okanagan?”  A well-defined $1 Billion industry is the mobile advertising industry in Canada.  Is that what we have in the Okanagan? By way of comparison, I reported on New Zealand’s Ice House tech incubator economic impact report, which has much greater credibility.  The AO report is essentially claiming that the Okangan technology economy is more than twice the size of New Zealand’s…That’s too big of a leap of faith for me. Read New Zealand’s Ice House Startups Achieve Impressive Results and contrast it with the AO report.

Then there is the issue of Kelowna as an employment market, as noted in the recently reported BC Business low ranking of Kelowna at 17th. Clearly, there are unresolved contradictions with the AO report.

Read More: Kelowna’s Low Jobs Ranking

Read More: Okanagan economy likely to worsen next year

I offer a summary view of “industry analysis” here: Industry Analysis: the bigger picture

Author: David Mayes

Founder, Mayo615 Technology Partners Ltd., UBC adjunct faculty, Intel alumnus, technology assessment, international business, cleantech, fly fisherman, native Californian and citizen of France, who has been very fortunate to have traveled, lived and worked all over the globe. My wonderful wife, Isabelle has reintroduced me to my French Provençal heritage.