Peter Wilson
Sun
British Columbia has the climate — both in terms of weather and its push towards technology for everyone — to attract the people who will drive the economy of the future, the new president of Microsoft Canada said Thursday.
The city and the province attract people who love the outdoors and want a healthy lifestyle, Phil Sorgen said in an interview following a speech to the Board of Trade.
“But what’s particularly great is the work that British Columbia is doing through the Premier’s Technology Council to really help push broadband access to every community,” Sorgen said.
And, added Sorgen, British Columbia is almost there with 89 per cent of the population with access to broadband.
“That’s along with the drive to get more Internet access into more homes with six of 10 having that today.”
Using the concept of “the creative class” — a term coined by Richard Florida, a professor at George Mason University — Sorgen said that this class would certainly be attracted to B.C.
Sorgen — who has been in his new job for just 45 days — said the creative class comprises those in computing, science, technology, legal, health, artistic and entertainment sectors.
Sorgen said that if people subscribe to the idea that the creative class works in a society to build competitiveness and a culture of innovation, then their coming here “should be music to the ears of the people of Vancouver.”
In Canada in 1950 the creative class amounted to about five per cent of the workforce.
Now it accounts for more than 50 per cent, Sorgen said.
Turning to the problems faced by the Canadian economy as our dollar rises and the price of our tech goods and services rise along with it, Sorgen pointed to conclusions reached the Microsoft-hosted Can>Win conference in Toronto in December, 2005.
“That was our business leaders, our government leaders and our education leaders coming together, making sure that our tax codes support foreign investment, make sure that we have the right education systems, make sure that we’re thinking about how to collaborate between industry, government and education to make sure we potentially commercialize the kind of R&D that is happening in Canadian universities.
“And I think that’s the right formula,” Sorgen said.
As for the future of technology, Sorgen said that there were four big things that will be prominent in technology development over the next decade.
“Clearly one of those is search and regardless of your search portal today when you search you’re only getting the right answer 50 per cent of the time,” Sorgen said.
“But in 2015 when more and more of your information is going to be online, that has to be refined.
“And there’s a lot of competition there and a lot of investment going on in that area.”
Another is the proliferation of mobile devices and their ability to have their information in all places at once.
“So their ability to have it in their hand. they have it on their laptop and they have it at home.”
On the business side, there will be an increased need for collaboration and cooperation across continents and time zones.
“And the last one is the benefits coming out of Windows Vista, including great connectivity, the ability to have ubiquitous search, to have improved security and ultimately the sharing of information.”
© The Vancouver Sun 2006