INNOVATION ECOSYSTEM IS GROWING IN ALBERTA
Slowly but surely, an innovation ecosystem is emerging in Alberta, and closer to home.
The Propel Energy Tech Venture Forum this week, last June’s all-day Onward Conference, the ongoing efforts of GE through its Calgary Innovation Centre, weekly meetings of the Rain-Forest Initiative and efforts to create an innovation/venture capital hub downtown are among the exciting initiatives underway to change the nature of what drives the Alberta economy.
Unlike the conversations of a year ago, there is now a greater sense of urgency to push ahead with the innovation/high-tech/ entrepreneurial agenda.
If all goes according to plan, GE Canada president Elyse Allan expects to see the number of startups in the company’s Zone Startups program grow to 25, from the current eight, by the end of year.
The Zone Startups accelerator, a partnership between GE and Ryerson Futures, is based out of the company’s Calgary Innovation Centre. It’s focused on the areas of the industrial Internet, the Internet of Things and the energy sector, which includes clean tech, power generation, smart cities and smart grids.
If there is one disappointment, Allan says, it’s that more companies aren’t operating in this space.
“It’s not moving fast enough,” she said Tuesday.
Key to the success of a business accelerator, according to Zone director Joe Martini, are three things — access to customers, access to capital and strong support on everything from strategy and coaching, to mentoring and raising capital.
“What we are focusing on here is the digital oilfield in the industrial cloud. It’s all about optimizing current assets and getting into the whole predictive analytics,” said Martini. “If you can optimize assets and pipelines from an environmental standpoint, you can do more with current infrastructure. There is a huge opportunity to optimize what currently exists.”
As Mayor Naheed Nenshi remarked at a recent meeting, we need solutions in weeks and months, not years.
That’s why it is equally important provincial Economic Development Minister Darren Bilous remind those looking to change the province’s fortunes that he’s interested in big ideas the province can support.
In other words — and despite this week’s NDP government announcement that $36 million will be available for solar subsidies — the era of sprinkling pixie dust is over. Hallelujah. Case studies of jurisdictions that have successfully diversified their economies show government support was crucial, which is why events like one hosted by the Zone on Tuesday night was encouraging.
The first Zone Startups Calgary Demo Day gave six Alberta startups the opportunity to pitch their companies to a group of active investors and mentors.
“Almost a year after opening our accelerator we have been able to leverage the amazing support of GE, who has helped catalyze our companies to learn, grow and refine their technologies in a rapid fashion,” said Mark Blackwell, one of the Zone’s entrepreneurs in residence. A veteran of the Silicon Valley startup and innovation world, he is chief operating officer at the software firm GNS3 Technologies.
Martini said the goal is to bring more industrial partners to the table, which would broaden the network of companies for Zone startups to access.
“We won’t just be energy tech and data analytics — but it will continue the (Internet of Things) themes from different angles,” said Martini.
The oilpatch, a vast generator of data, is the perfect place to harness the power of data analytics and apply the results toward improving efficiencies, productivity and profitability.
What’s been absent is the ability — and willingness — to capture the data and build algorithms to analyze it.
Tuesday’s event showed there are companies with business models built on capturing data and developing algorithms to analyze the numbers, apply the results and improve performance. Making all of this cost effective is the use of Cloud, where the analysis can be run at what is now a fraction of the cost.
Changing the ways businesses are run — and being willing to adopt new technologies and processes — can be difficult, especially for large, well-established companies accustomed to doing things a certain way.
Allan said it’s important for companies to create what she defines as “receptor capacity” as a way to adopt the new technologies and innovative processes — and then work with small companies that bring these new ideas to the table.
She reinforced this idea during a keynote luncheon address Wednesday at the Propel event.
“Winning the game also requires catchers. We need energy companies that want to — and know how to — engage ... to collaborate on new approaches, test new technology ... selling new ways of doing things, driving innovation, is hard,” she said.
“Generally, most people find it easier to keep doing what they are doing the way they do it. Change is scary.”
There are two pressing needs in Alberta today. The first is ensuring the oilpatch embraces the economic potential of data analytics and the IoT in terms of ensuring long-term competitiveness of the sector. The second is leveraging the knowledge gained from the application of new analytic processes in the energy sector around the globe — and into other segments of the economy.
Old world industrial companies can successfully embrace the digital age. Just ask GE.
What we are focusing on here is the digital oilfield in the industrial cloud.