0:00

So you're a tech entrepreneur in Alberta . Where

0:02

do you go for support , advice

0:04

, access to capital ? Just connecting

0:07

to the ecosystem ? Well

0:09

, today we're joined by a key leader

0:11

at Alberta Innovates who's driving growth

0:13

with his team in Alberta . We'll

0:16

explore his journey what excites him about

0:18

his new role and how his teams are fostering

0:20

innovation and supporting entrepreneurs in Alberta's

0:23

dynamic ecosystem . Sit back

0:25

, settle in . Welcome

0:54

to Shift . Today's guest is Robert Lai . Robert is the VP of Investment here at AI and , robert , as I understand

0:56

it , this is three and a half months now you've been in this position .

0:58

Yeah , John , that's correct . Thanks for having me first

1:00

of all . Yeah , it's been about three

1:02

and a half months . It's been great , Really

1:05

enjoying myself here at Alberta Innovates .

1:07

Yeah , right on , it's great to have you , so why don't we

1:09

dive in a little bit ? Tell me a bit about your background and

1:11

what led you to Alberta Innovates .

1:13

Yeah , that's interesting . I have started

1:16

my career really early in

1:18

the telecom space , mostly

1:20

in the business side , in the sales side

1:22

, mostly in the business

1:24

side , in the sales side . And as my career evolved

1:26

I started working for

1:28

Bell and when

1:31

I was at Bell we worked on a major project

1:33

called SuperNet , and that's when

1:35

I really got attached to

1:37

the innovation

1:39

system here in Alberta and

1:46

it really attracted me to what we're trying to do here in the province . Then I joined

1:48

the government and worked at a ministry

1:50

called Advanced Education and Technology

1:53

. The

2:00

predecessor was called Innovation and Science

2:02

. So I learned a lot about the innovation system then and

2:05

the purpose , what our vision is

2:07

, what our objectives were . And from

2:09

there I did go back to the private sector and learned a lot more about

2:12

business and the

2:14

broader business world

2:16

. Then just came

2:18

back to now Albert Innovates , and I think

2:20

bringing both my background in

2:22

private sector and public sector is

2:25

of value to what

2:27

we're trying to do here .

2:28

Oh for sure . And so when you were with

2:30

Advanced Education , then you would have had familiarity

2:33

with Alberta Innovates back then too , and

2:36

what we you know health

2:38

solutions and the

2:40

predecessor names .

2:41

Yeah , no for sure . We

2:44

funded Alberta Innovates back

2:46

then . We developed

2:48

a lot of the policies around the innovation systems

2:51

and a lot of the initial

2:53

planning and design of the program

2:56

. Some of the programs we roll out today .

2:58

Oh , fascinating .

2:59

So there is a strong

3:01

history with that and also a connection

3:03

to what we do today .

3:04

Right Now I just want to talk briefly

3:06

about SuperNet . That's

3:09

such a great name . Now

3:12

the internet and accessibility

3:14

has become absolutely

3:16

imperative for businesses and family

3:19

life . This is what SuperNet

3:22

was bringing the internet to Alberta .

3:24

Yes , this is what SuperNet was bringing the internet to Alberta . Yes , it was probably

3:26

close to over

3:28

20 years ago that the

3:31

provincial government looked at , you know

3:33

, how the

3:35

digital economy was going to be critical to

3:37

the success to the province . And

3:40

look at how do you make an investment

3:43

that allows the province to flourish

3:45

in a digital economy . And

3:48

looking at , you know , outside of your

3:50

Edmonton and Calgary , where there's

3:52

a lot of infrastructure to support that , but

3:55

that's not the same case for a lot of communities

3:57

here in Alberta . So the investment

3:59

was made to connect 422

4:02

communities wherever there was a school

4:05

, hospital or library that

4:07

they would bring broadband to that community . So

4:10

then also created

4:12

a business model for allow local

4:15

service providers to enter the market

4:17

there and provide that digital

4:19

access that is much needed

4:21

in rural communities .

4:23

I see okay and it can still get better

4:25

. We're still improving that accessibility

4:28

in some of the small yeah yeah .

4:30

What we used to call high speed now would be

4:32

slow speed . So For sure , as technology

4:34

advances and the desire

4:37

for more , faster

4:40

infrastructure , you upgrade that

4:42

. But I think the key to

4:44

it is the vision of understanding

4:47

the need to provide

4:49

the infrastructure for that

4:52

province . Whether you live in rural

4:54

or urban , access to that

4:56

digital infrastructure was critical

4:58

Right .

4:59

So now you've obviously had

5:01

experience , as we just discussed , in the Alberta

5:03

ecosystem , the innovation ecosystem , and

5:06

now that you're here with Alberta Innovates , what excites

5:08

you most about what's going

5:10

on ?

5:12

You know , what excites me the most is that we

5:15

have a vision about what we can

5:18

be . That means there's

5:20

a lot to do yet and

5:22

the vision is to really create

5:25

a vibrant technology community

5:28

here in the province that continues

5:30

to innovate , continues to commercialize

5:34

those innovations , support

5:37

the companies that are going to commercialize those

5:39

innovations and help them to

5:41

become global companies , which is going to

5:43

be a really significant return

5:45

for the province , for

5:47

the people that live here , for all

5:49

the business that will thrive through this . And

5:52

that's really what's exciting is that vision

5:55

is going to create the opportunities

5:57

for Noni today for the future , and

6:00

it's quite honestly , it's quite

6:02

exciting .

6:03

It's pretty exciting , for sure , I agree . So

6:05

now , when we think of your position , there's

6:07

essentially and correct me if

6:09

I'm wrong anywhere in this but

6:11

you oversee four teams , correct

6:14

?

6:14

That is correct .

6:15

Okay , so capital development , the accelerator

6:17

programs , entrepreneurial investments

6:19

and post-secondary investments and

6:21

emerging technologies . That

6:23

is correct . Okay , so can you give us a little

6:25

like a bird's eye view of what each of

6:28

those four are ?

6:29

Sure . So the first group

6:32

would be the capital development team , and

6:35

their main focus is to create

6:37

more capital available

6:39

capital for companies here in Alberta

6:42

and also to help those companies access

6:44

that capital . The

6:46

second , the Accelerator Program . This

6:49

is where we want to help Alberta scale-ups grow

6:51

on a global stage through

6:54

our global accelerators

6:56

and also through fellowship

6:58

. Third , Entrepreneurial

7:01

Investments . As the words

7:03

state , we want to invest in entrepreneurs

7:06

and we invest them by providing

7:08

coaching , community

7:11

and also capital . Okay

7:13

, and the last is the post-secondary

7:15

investments and emerging technologies , and

7:18

our focus there is to enable

7:20

and matchmaking talent

7:23

and accelerating

7:25

emerging technologies towards commercialization

7:27

.

7:28

Okay , and that's the emerging technologies that researchers

7:30

are working at at the universities

7:33

and the polytechnics and stuff like that . That's

7:35

right , yeah .

7:36

So , when you talk about emerging technologies , one of the

7:38

focus we've we

7:41

invested early on is um

7:43

, um AI Right

7:45

and

7:54

that investment has , you know , created a really um . Put Alberta on a map

7:56

, global map , as one of the you know uh best in class in terms

7:58

of uh talent and also uh

8:01

infrastructure and

8:03

um activities around AI .

8:05

Right , yeah , especially when you look at the Alberta Machine Intelligence

8:08

Institute , which is just down the street from where

8:10

we are right now . In the work

8:12

they're doing , I think they're top three globally

8:14

and that's an organization

8:17

that we've supported for a couple

8:19

of decades now . So it's fascinating

8:21

when you think about , you

8:23

know , when you're talking about SuperNet and

8:25

having that vision , to say , okay

8:28

, we need to , you know

8:30

, do this to make our province competitive

8:32

. So that same vision was

8:35

, you know , 20 years ago , with artificial intelligence

8:37

going hey , how do we do

8:39

this ?

8:41

No for sure , I

8:43

think , using a sports

8:45

analogy . I know our CEO likes to use

8:47

sports analogy , and so do I . When

8:50

you think about Wayne Gretzky he always

8:52

talked about let's not focus on

8:54

where the puck is , but where the puck is going right

8:56

. So what's the next emerging technology

8:58

that we should look at investing

9:01

in and developing , so we

9:03

are well positioned for the future .

9:05

Right , and

9:08

one of those things that I hear talk a lot about is quantum .

9:10

Yeah , for sure . I don't know a lot about quantum myself

9:12

, but when I was in private sector , we

9:15

were working very much on quantum , as

9:18

you know our innovation to

9:20

make sure that our corporation was

9:22

going to be relevant in the future Fascinating

9:24

.

9:24

It's going to be exciting to see what

9:27

comes of all of this in

9:29

the coming years . So let's dive a little

9:31

deeper into a couple of those . So I'm

9:33

thinking about the accelerators . Now they operate

9:35

under what we call the Alberta Scale-Up

9:38

and Growth Accelerator Program here at Alberta

9:40

Innovates . How

9:42

do we help those companies

9:44

get off the ground and thrive here in the province

9:47

?

9:48

So we partner with global

9:50

accelerators , and these

9:53

global accelerators , you know , use

9:56

a holistic system to

9:58

build entrepreneurial capital for Alberta

10:00

companies , namely measurable

10:03

financial outcomes , such as investments , funding

10:05

and revenue , and also with

10:08

human outcomes , enhancing the entrepreneurship

10:11

learnings and the competencies of

10:13

these companies , social outcomes

10:15

, creation of networks and cultural

10:17

outcomes , to make sure that these

10:20

companies are really ready and

10:22

can compete and scale on

10:24

a global stage . So these global

10:27

accelerators that we partner with have

10:30

a lot of experience in doing this and

10:33

we have partnered with five of the top 10

10:35

in the world in this area . So

10:37

it's really leveraging the expertise of

10:39

these global accelerators to provide

10:42

their holistic systems

10:44

, uh , and enabling

10:46

our companies to learn from that

10:48

and capitalize

10:50

on that .

10:51

So these accelerators are now . They have offices

10:54

in the province .

10:55

Yes , they do .

10:56

Okay , that's , yeah , that's pretty , that's pretty cool

10:58

. It's quite a coup , I think , for the ecosystem

11:00

to be able to attract players like that .

11:02

Yeah , I think it's very important to recognize

11:04

what we can do , what we can do very well

11:06

and what partners can do and

11:09

do very well that can help us . In

11:11

this case , these global

11:13

accelerators are world

11:16

class . That's

11:18

what they do best and

11:20

ultimately , what we want is the outcomes

11:23

, which is enabling our local companies

11:25

to be able to flourish under those systems

11:27

and grow

11:29

to be global companies .

11:32

So as we're talking you know and I know we

11:34

talked briefly about post-secondary

11:37

just prior to that and the emerging tech

11:39

I want to go back just a second and can

11:41

you explain in a bit more . You know a bit more

11:43

detail about how we work with the PSIs

11:46

, the post-secondary institutions and

11:48

their work with emerging technologies to push

11:50

innovation and research forward in the province

11:52

.

11:53

Sure , so we focus on

11:55

two areas . One

11:57

is highly qualified personnel . Okay

12:00

, we call it in short HQP

12:02

. So this is the talent

12:04

side , the talent that people

12:07

are doing the research and innovating

12:09

at our post-secondary

12:11

institutions . So we have

12:13

programs that support that , such as

12:15

our graduate student scholarship

12:18

. So this is to really encourage

12:20

these students to

12:22

continue to innovate . Second

12:40

we want to connect those innovators with

12:42

entrepreneurs that can consider

12:45

and hopefully we want them to

12:48

now commercialize some of these research

12:50

programs to really

12:53

see what comes out of that research

12:55

that can be commercialized and

12:57

then again matching up with

12:59

some potential entrepreneurs

13:02

to commercialize that .

13:04

Okay .

13:05

So that's the PSI part , the post-secondary

13:07

institute .

13:07

Okay , so let me just kind of paraphrase here . That's the PSI part , the post-secondary institute . Okay

13:09

. So let me just kind of paraphrase here . So you've got a researcher at a university

13:11

that's working on a technology and

13:14

the goal and we'll fund that

13:16

through some of the programs we

13:18

have and then the goal is to try

13:20

to find an entrepreneur

13:22

that could potentially take that technology

13:25

and commercialize it in her or his

13:27

business .

13:28

Bang on . Okay , yeah , so they're

13:30

different programs but they all interlink

13:32

in terms of again , try

13:34

to develop that talent and capitalize

13:37

on some of the work

13:39

of the , from the talent to

13:42

commercial .

13:42

Okay , so that's the PSI portion

13:45

of it , of the PSI ET

13:47

emerging technology . So now , what's the emerging

13:49

technology side ?

13:51

Yeah , like we talked about earlier , it's

13:54

really looking at where the puck is going right

13:56

.

13:56

Okay .

13:57

And we invested in AI many

13:59

years ago and we're continuing

14:01

to invest in it . We see that as something

14:04

that we'll see the

14:06

continued growth of that . But

14:09

really set our eyes on what's the next thing

14:11

. Like you say , quantum

14:13

.

14:14

That is challenging . Hey , where's

14:16

the puck going ? You know , you look at

14:18

. Let's extend the sports analogy briefly

14:21

. Gretzky could figure out where the puck was

14:23

going , but of how many players ? Were there

14:25

900 players in the NHL at the time ? Maybe

14:27

not that many , but how many

14:29

of them could anticipate where the puck is going

14:31

?

14:32

That's right . So I think you know we

14:35

do focus on that . We

14:37

don't do this alone . We have many

14:39

partners that we work with , to you

14:42

know , to to take

14:45

the information , look

14:47

at the , the environment and

14:50

really consider what is the next thing , right

14:52

?

14:53

Yeah , that makes sense . Another

14:57

thing that I think about , kind of tied in with the HQP

14:59

, the highly qualified personnel and the

15:01

emerging tech , when we're doing work

15:03

and supporting work at the post-secondaries

15:06

and the polytechnics . I

15:08

would think that global players

15:10

, global academics , could look

15:12

at this and go . Hmm , this

15:15

seems like a fertile ground in Alberta for me

15:17

to go work and does

15:19

so . I guess the question is does

15:21

this attract a lot of um

15:24

external academics to the province to go

15:26

? I want to go and apply my trade here

15:28

because this looks like a hotbed .

15:29

The province to go . I want to go and apply my trade

15:31

here because this looks like a hotbed , yeah

15:40

. So attracting talent is also one of the things that you can realize by focusing on some great work . I

15:42

know in the past we used to have other programs

15:44

like I-Corps that was really

15:47

centered around bringing the brightest

15:49

and the best researchers in the world

15:51

and the intent there was

15:53

they will attract others to come and follow and

15:55

do the work here right . So

15:57

that history of that has

15:59

carried on right , Based on some of the work

16:02

that we've been doing . And when you do

16:04

great work , the scientific and research community

16:06

is tight . The scientific and research community

16:08

is tight , so when they

16:10

hear about great things that are happening

16:13

here in Alberta , they're interested

16:15

in it . They'll consider looking at working

16:17

here as well . So you're absolutely correct

16:19

. It certainly can be a way

16:22

of attracting talent to Alberta

16:25

as well . Both at the university

16:28

, Polytechnic , and at

16:30

in the companies as well .

16:31

Right , right . Well , what made me think of this was , uh

16:33

, uh , one of your comments before , when we bumped

16:36

into one another in a hallway where you said success is

16:38

a magnet , and I love that that really

16:40

resonates because , yeah , you create something and

16:43

, uh , people are going to be attracted to that .

16:45

No for sure . Uh , success is a magnet

16:48

. Uh , I think we , when we

16:50

were talking in the hallway , we talked about you

16:53

know . Going back to the sports area

16:55

, the Imbotent Oilers are a success

16:58

these days . They have

17:00

been a success and when you're successful

17:02

you attract more people that want to play

17:04

here .

17:05

Right and

17:08

the evidence is really proving out . Yeah , and now . No affront to the Calgary

17:10

Flames , because I'm sure at

17:13

some point they'll have a bit more success

17:15

and start attracting other

17:17

players . So now , how

17:21

do we spot those high

17:23

potential entrepreneurs and support them ? Are

17:27

we doing calls ? Do we want

17:29

people to come to us ? How does that all work ?

17:32

Yeah , there's many , many , I'll

17:34

say channels to

17:37

spot these

17:39

high

17:41

potential entrepreneurs . One

17:43

, they come to us , okay

17:46

, and they come to us in many fashions

17:49

One , directly

17:52

. Two , they

17:54

can go through our regional innovation

17:56

network partners , who play a big role

17:58

in terms of part of the community

18:01

, whether that's rural or

18:03

in urban centers . We

18:05

have these regional innovation networks

18:07

that they can connect with

18:09

and then they will suggest

18:12

that to work with us

18:14

. There are companies

18:16

that are well aware of us and they'll

18:19

engage us through our technology development

18:21

advisors , and our

18:23

technology development advisors are

18:26

great . I spend a lot

18:28

of time with them and I continue

18:30

to learn what they do . They really

18:33

go and listen and learn

18:35

about these companies . They will

18:37

give them some coaching

18:39

, some advice , or connect them to

18:41

other partners that could be a help

18:44

to them , or connect

18:46

them to some of our programs that can help with

18:48

them . So it's

18:50

either directly they

18:52

could go through our ecosystem

18:55

partners such as the RINs they

18:58

can go through the TDAs . We

19:00

do prefer that , when

19:04

they're trying to access our programs , not to just

19:06

go directly through the website

19:08

and apply . They

19:10

should really

19:13

consider talking to the TDA , not to just go directly

19:15

through the website and apply . They should really consider talking

19:17

to the TDA . Oh , okay , so they can get

19:19

some of that coaching and

19:21

community and advice that we talked about earlier . Yeah

19:24

, so they

19:26

are more informed in terms

19:29

of you know what

19:31

help they may need and where

19:34

the help is .

19:35

And is there a cost for someone to

19:37

access a technology development advisor ?

19:39

No , there isn't .

19:40

Okay .

19:41

Like I said , we they do an excellent

19:43

job and I really do encourage

19:46

you know companies that are considering

19:48

working um working with us

19:50

, or even

19:52

they're not working with us , that they need some help

19:54

. Just to consider reaching out to

19:57

uh .

19:58

So , would you say , then , as businesses uh

20:00

start up and begin to scale up , is there

20:03

a point where it's like they

20:05

no longer need maybe some uh

20:07

support from Alberta Innovates , Like I

20:09

guess ? What I'm saying is , if a company is well

20:12

into their journey , is it

20:14

possibly advantageous for them still

20:16

to reach out to a TDA ?

20:18

No , for sure . So you know , most of our

20:20

clients are startups , but

20:22

it's not limited to startups .

20:25

Right .

20:25

There are companies that are , maybe , you know

20:27

, a well-established company , but

20:29

they're looking to diversify

20:32

their business with new technologies

20:35

or new , I

20:38

would say , products and services

20:40

, and they want to

20:42

, you know , some help in

20:44

that regard . We will talk to them and

20:46

if there's a fit for our programs

20:48

or the services that we provide , we

20:50

will help them . But having that

20:52

initial conversation will help decide

20:54

, you know , what path to take next .

20:56

Okay , and it's also the connections too , because

20:58

I think these TDAs , these

21:01

men and women , are business professionals

21:03

, they understand the ecosystem

21:05

and they can also do those handoffs right

21:07

.

21:08

No for sure . System and they can also do those handoffs

21:10

right ? No for sure . I

21:20

mean , when we talk about ecosystem , it's not just the universities , the RINs or you

21:22

know different technology innovators , companies

21:25

. You may find the

21:27

opportunity to say you know this company is

21:29

doing this and this company is doing that

21:31

. Maybe there's an opportunity

21:33

for companies to partner , for example , just

21:36

based on that network you talked

21:38

about .

21:38

Yeah , yeah , yeah .

21:39

So there's many things that can happen just

21:42

by having a conversation with someone that is

21:44

in touch with the ecosystem and

21:48

facilitating that potential connection

21:50

, whether that's a company partner or

21:52

a researcher or you know

21:55

, I love that .

21:56

Yeah , it's almost like a concierge in

21:58

a way . Hey , like a business concierge

22:00

. I don't mean to sound like that , you know is diminishing

22:03

it or anything , but to be able to have someone

22:05

that's so connected that can say , hey , what about

22:07

? Have you looked at you know

22:09

?

22:09

so connected that can say hey , what about have

22:11

you looked at ? You know it's

22:15

funny . You say that because , uh , when I worked at uh advanced education in technology or initial

22:17

thought about the role of we didn't call it TDA then

22:20

, but we did say concierge for

22:22

the innovation system .

22:24

So is that right ? Okay , so , okay , so

22:26

, that's cool . So back back to kind of your

22:28

the , your Genesis in of your genesis in the system

22:30

you were part of coming

22:33

up with that program of technology

22:35

development advisors recommendations .

22:37

You can ask for services . It's really very similar , yeah , but we

22:39

don't want to

22:53

be calling them concierge , I guess , maybe

22:56

because that's really not a

22:58

. I think what they do is the same or

23:01

similar . I should say but we

23:03

want to really focus on the technology side . That's

23:05

why we call it technology development

23:07

advisors .

23:08

Well , and to that point you know all

23:10

of this discussion we're having , our focus is at

23:12

Alberta . Innovates is on technology

23:14

.

23:15

That's correct .

23:15

So , while there's lots of entrepreneurs

23:18

that are doing other things and I understand

23:20

again from conversations in the past you

23:22

have some background , your family has some background

23:24

on the restaurant business , which is entrepreneurialism

23:27

as well , which is entrepreneurialism as well , and there can be

23:29

a lot of similarities between

23:31

you know those entrepreneurial

23:33

undertakings , but our focus is primarily

23:36

on on tech .

23:37

No for sure . So you think about

23:39

a business . There's many different

23:42

types of business and

23:44

you mentioned restaurant being one , and

23:46

there's similarities in terms of challenges

23:49

in businesses , but what our

23:51

focus is not just

23:53

business challenges is technology

23:55

.

23:55

Yeah , business challenges Right and

23:58

we can always point people in the right direction

24:00

.

24:00

Correct . That's what we're here for .

24:03

So , robert , tell me why is funding

24:05

innovation and entrepreneurs so

24:07

important for the province ?

24:11

Well , like I said , we have a vision . We

24:14

have a vision for this province that

24:16

we are going to be a vibrant

24:19

hub for innovation , commercialization

24:22

and a vibrant technology ecosystem

24:24

, and for that to happen

24:27

, I think there's a role for

24:29

government to be enabling

24:32

that . So , through

24:35

our programs , through

24:37

our ecosystem , that

24:40

is our ability to invest

24:42

in getting to that outcome

24:44

or achieving that vision

24:47

. To not

24:49

fund or

24:51

to focus

24:53

on building that . It does not naturally

24:55

happen . You have to be very intentional

24:58

in terms of how you accomplish that

25:00

. So I think that's why it's

25:02

important that we invest

25:04

in funding innovation and

25:07

entrepreneurship here in alberta , because

25:10

doesn't happen

25:13

at a pace you would like on its

25:15

own . You need to take the

25:17

initiative and being very intentional

25:20

.

25:20

Like I say , Tell

25:22

me about , from your perspective , what

25:24

are some of the biggest challenges that really

25:26

related to more about adoption .

25:28

Okay , there's

25:44

a lot of innovation that happens Mm-hmm

25:47

and typically

25:49

the innovator

25:51

will look at well , there's a problem

25:53

there that I see that I can solve with my innovation

25:55

and

25:58

with all good intentions of solving

26:00

that problem . But now you

26:02

need the recipient to adopt it right

26:05

and I think you know

26:07

how do you encourage more adoption ? Is

26:10

maybe de-risking it for those companies

26:12

to adopt it right ? Is

26:15

maybe de-risking it for those companies to

26:17

adopt it right ? Or where's the capital to take that innovation

26:19

so you can actually get it to the point where you can prove it that

26:21

it can solve a problem for someone ? So

26:24

it's really taking the ideas

26:26

side , creating something

26:29

that can be now shown or

26:31

demonstrate to a customer

26:34

. Ultimately , you want not just one customer

26:36

markets , right , right , but

26:39

it's the adoption side I think is a

26:42

big challenge in the

26:44

innovation system . There's a lot of innovation that happens

26:46

right .

26:47

Right , okay .

26:48

And you need someone as a recipient of that

26:50

innovation . And so how do

26:52

we encourage that ? And I

26:54

think one of the things that we

26:56

see is productivity is

26:58

a big challenge , particularly here in

27:00

Canada .

27:01

Productivity ? Yes , okay , flesh

27:03

that out for me .

27:04

Yeah , so there are stats that

27:06

show that Canada lags amongst

27:09

the G7 as the lowest

27:11

productivity of

27:13

the G7 . Okay , as the lowest productivity

27:15

of the G7 . So , when you look at how adoption

27:17

of innovation and technology

27:20

can enable or

27:22

accelerate productivity , that's

27:25

my .

27:28

So adoption can enhance productivity

27:30

of technology , okay Well

27:33

when I hear you say productivity , I think

27:35

you know , and

27:38

that we've got low productivity . Do we have a shorter

27:40

work week than everybody else ? Is

27:44

it like individually we're not as productive

27:47

as other nations ? Am I understanding

27:49

that correctly , or is it a different

27:51

definition of productivity ?

27:53

Yeah , no , I think . Productivity . We're not

27:56

talking about work week or how many days we work

27:58

. It's more about how much we produce

28:00

for , you know for

28:03

, in terms of effort , right

28:06

, Okay ?

28:06

Okay .

28:07

So technology does enable to

28:09

produce a lot more with the same right

28:11

.

28:11

Okay , is that a per

28:13

capita issue , or is it because

28:15

you know Canada's ? What are we at ? 40 million

28:17

people ?

28:19

No , it's based on . I'm

28:21

not an expert in that area .

28:23

I'm putting you on the spot . You've got to answer everything

28:25

, Rob .

28:27

But certainly , like I said , there

28:29

is a lot of articles written about the

28:31

lack of productivity here in Canada . Okay

28:33

, and adoption

28:36

of technology

28:38

to enable more productivity

28:40

is a major issue .

28:42

Okay , okay . So what

28:44

are we doing at Alberta Innovates

28:46

to help with

28:48

the adoption issue . And again , I

28:50

told you I was going to put you on the spot .

28:52

Oh , not a problem . So one of the

28:54

things that we do in our program is called a

28:56

product demonstration program .

28:58

Okay .

28:59

And the intent there is to

29:01

support these startups or

29:03

these companies to

29:05

be able to demonstrate their product to potential

29:08

customers . Okay , and

29:10

a lot of people with the customer side will

29:12

always look at something new as risky

29:15

. Of course you know . Yes

29:17

, you understand my problem . Yes , you can solve my

29:19

problem . Now show me right . So

29:21

this product demonstration program will

29:23

support companies

29:26

to be able to do that .

29:28

Okay . Okay , you know you raise a good point

29:31

. Yeah , it's like being an early

29:33

adopter of something , Exactly . There's always

29:35

a bit of a risk

29:37

involved , there's uncertainty and

29:40

you know it's a very it's . It's like the bell

29:42

curve , right . So you imagine

29:44

you've got in the middle . That's where the highest

29:46

amount of any activity

29:48

or adoption is , and then on the right and the left-hand

29:51

side is a really low number

29:54

of people . So that's where initially

29:56

it's really low . So we help

29:59

people kind of get their products higher

30:01

up onto that curve .

30:03

No for sure . And you know

30:05

, like I said , our program's there to support

30:07

that and you

30:09

know , in most part it's

30:12

working really , really well when companies

30:14

are able to take their product and demonstrate

30:17

it to potential customers .

30:19

So okay , no , that's really cool . I

30:22

want to go back a little bit here . I won't

30:24

keep you much longer , but I remember in one of our conversations

30:26

you had mentioned this concept

30:29

of find , educate

30:31

connect . I think it was in the success

30:33

is a magnet conversation

30:35

that we had . Do you want to just flesh

30:37

that out for me a little bit , because I really liked that

30:39

and it fits also in with that coaching

30:41

, community capital sort of . You know , vibe

30:44

, that we've got these , these kind of quick to

30:46

remember statements

30:50

. So find , educate connect

30:53

.

30:53

Yes , this is where

30:56

our capital development

30:58

team is focused on .

31:00

Okay .

31:01

When we say find , we want find

31:03

available capital . So

31:05

, whether that's an angel investor

31:08

, a venture capitalist

31:10

, all these different sources

31:13

of capital , we want to find who they

31:15

are . We want to attract that

31:17

investment here in Alberta Okay . We

31:20

want to develop more local investors

31:22

and fund managers , so

31:25

we want to find them , okay . And

31:28

then the second is educate . And when

31:30

we say educate , this is where we want

31:32

to educate our startups and

31:34

early stage companies what it takes

31:37

to be investment ready . So

31:41

a lot of founders

31:43

are well

31:45

educated on the innovation , well

31:47

educated on a lot of business

31:50

, but some are not as familiar

31:52

in terms of what it takes to be investment

31:54

ready . Okay , so we want to create

31:57

sessions , workshops

31:59

, programs to educate

32:02

our entrepreneurs to

32:05

what it takes to be investment

32:07

ready .

32:08

Okay .

32:08

And the last is connect right . So we

32:10

find them , we educate them . Now

32:13

we want to connect the people who need capital

32:15

to the people who have the capital

32:17

. We want to connect the people who have capital

32:19

to deals that are looking for capital . So

32:22

that's the find , educate and connect that I

32:24

refer to .

32:25

Oh , cool , okay , Thank you . So

32:27

again , with all of this , from

32:29

your perspective , the first step is

32:32

start with a technology development advisor

32:34

.

32:35

Yeah , they play a critical piece in all this

32:38

. You know , I

32:40

know we all do things through

32:42

the internet , online , through websites

32:44

, and there's only so much information

32:46

you can get . But when

32:49

there are companies that really want

32:52

to better understand what you

32:54

know , programs are available

32:57

to them . What help is available

32:59

to them ? I think the best

33:01

is to reach out to a technology

33:04

development advisor , okay

33:10

, a person that will triage that and

33:12

see what your needs are and

33:14

if the needs are a good fit for our

33:16

TDAs , they will connect

33:19

you with a TDA . So that triage

33:21

is important because sometimes the

33:23

questions could be very simple , could be answered by

33:26

the person that triaged this

33:28

, but also not

33:30

misdirect you to TDA with . That's not what

33:32

the help you need , right , but certainly

33:34

we're here to help and you

33:37

know our team does an excellent

33:39

job . I'm very proud of the work they do .

33:41

Excellent . So you heard it here . Folks , there's

33:43

no charge to access

33:45

the technology development advisor . You can go

33:47

to the website and look connect

33:49

with us . I think on the top I

33:59

was looking earlier on the top right-hand corner of the page is a start here button . Click on that . You

34:01

can read all about funding and then there's a button that says connect with us . So if you're a business

34:03

owner out there , a technology business owner , select that

34:05

. Go set up a meeting with the TDA

34:08

. If you've already got a TDA , keep it going

34:10

. Robert

34:12

, this was a very good conversation

34:15

. I appreciate your insight and I appreciate

34:17

that you took some time to talk with me today .

34:19

Yeah , thank you so much for having me , john .

34:21

All right , we'll talk soon . Take care Well

34:24

, thanks for joining us today . Folks on Shift

34:26

, we love it that you listen . Take

34:29

a moment to subscribe , join your

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favorite streaming service and click the old

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subscribe button so you don't miss anything

34:35

. On behalf of everyone here , I'm

34:37

John Hagen . Until next time .