Is Vancouver a Legitimate Tech Hub?

[queetz@home]

Originally Posted by logan5

What? How is tech not current? This latest wave of companies setting up in Vancouver is a step in the direction of diversity. Your comments contradict themselves a little bit.

The intent of the article is to somehow show that Vancouver is wanting to be comparible to the traditional "tech hubs" in North America, in terms of its prominence to the local economy. They seem to be under the impression that "tech hub" = prestige.

That way of thinking is more akin to the 90s where to be a "tech hub", one must have a large concentration of companies that focus solely on tech, so much so it becomes the "primary industry" of the city. In actuality, with high technology (pun intended), outsourcing, globalization, and easy remote access, the impact of the high tech industry is no longer limited to the local economy of a city.

Saskatoon and Kelowna, as mentioned, isn't vying to be a "legitimate tech hub" even though such cities have their fair share of IT firms. But nonetheless, they too are tech hubs. But notice they don't really make a big deal out of it.

Interestingly enough...San Diego is missing on the map, even though that city is also another major traditional tech hub...unless they lumped it with LA ala Demolition Man...

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by Tetsuo

It was half created here and mostly on the work of a single local person. Doesn't really count as a product of Vancouver's tech hub.

Goose_Man, if I'm not mistaken.

[LeftCoaster]

The tech industry in Vancouver is stronger than ever, and is indeed stronger than all but a handful cities in North America. EA employs more people in Vancouver than it does in Redmond, Vancouver is one of SAPs largest employment hubs, Amazon is looking to not add hundreds, but thousands of jobs in Vancouver and the list goes on and on.

The city is full of talent and major companies around the world recognize that. I don't really care if it is or isnt a tech hub, whatever arbitrary metrics that may entail, as long as the good jobs keep flowing... And it looks for the time being that they will.

[casper]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

The tech industry in Vancouver is stronger than ever, and is indeed stronger than all but a handful cities in North America. EA employs more people in Vancouver than it does in Redmond, Vancouver is one of SAPs largest employment hubs, Amazon is looking to not add hundreds, but thousands of jobs in Vancouver and the list goes on and on.

The city is full of talent and major companies around the world recognize that. I don't really care if it is or isnt a tech hub, whatever arbitrary metrics that may entail, as long as the good jobs keep flowing... And it looks for the time being that they will.

Sophos (virus scanning and fire-walls) also has their North American development team based in Vancouver.

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by LeftCoaster

The tech industry in Vancouver is stronger than ever, and is indeed stronger than all but a handful cities in North America. EA employs more people in Vancouver than it does in Redmond, Vancouver is one of SAPs largest employment hubs, Amazon is looking to not add hundreds, but thousands of jobs in Vancouver and the list goes on and on.

The city is full of talent and major companies around the world recognize that. I don't really care if it is or isnt a tech hub, whatever arbitrary metrics that may entail, as long as the good jobs keep flowing... And it looks for the time being that they will.

I'd agree that Vancouver is so much further along than it was years ago in the tech industry. It's definitely not Silicon Valley, but the city is headed in the right direction with regards to the tech industry. Hoping that this is just the beginning of massive, massive growth for the city. Could only be good things to come.

[SFUVancouver]

Originally Posted by casper

Sophos (virus scanning and fire-walls) also has their North American development team based in Vancouver.

Sophos has consistently spun out new companies as staff start up their own projects on the side, build them up, and then quit to do their new job full-time. ReCollect, for example, is one of these successful start-ups and is now a dominant player in its niche.

[Klazu]

Been meaning to copypaste this here... Exert from the full article.

Silicon Valley North: Vancouver tech surges as U.S. immigration reform idles

[...]

"One of the reasons (Facebook) does well in Silicon Valley is because all the other companies are in Silicon Valley. Apart from that, Silicon Valley is awful. It's a terrible, terrible place," said Hitchcock, eight months after relocating transformed his perspective. "Vancouver is a wonderful, beautiful place, and all the companies are here. There's a thriving tech community here."

Facebook installed its downtown base for new engineering hires in May 2013. It joined a cluster of legacy and startup digital and tech companies like Electronic Arts, Hootsuite, Bench and Mobify, and preceded global heavyweights Microsoft, Sony Pictures Imageworks and incoming Amazon.

Facebook said the employment of up to 150 staff in Vancouver from around the world is only short-term, and points to the obstructive U.S. immigration system that "makes it difficult, and sometimes impossible," to bring talented engineers to its Menlo Park headquarters, south of San Francisco.

[...]

"This same immigration issue plays an important role in many other companies' decisions to open international offices," said a Facebook spokeswoman, who declined to be named. "Canada's approach to immigration enables companies like Facebook to set up small operations such as this, and we plan to do so in a way that has a positive impact in our temporary home."

The federal government is aware of the issue and will "make no bones" about exploiting it to boost the domestic economy, said the federal employment minister.

"We're seeking very deliberately to benefit from the dysfunctional American immigration system," Jason Kenney said recently, when asked about a year-old campaign that erected giant "Pivot to Canada" billboards in the San Francisco Bay-area advertising directly to foreign nationals blocked from obtaining H-1B visas.

Offering permanent residency, the Canadian government launched a special "start-up visa" last year to facilitate the arrival of young entrepreneurs, and will open another stream this January.

The American obstacle is just one among a suite of competitive advantages helping transform Vancouver into a world-renowned tech hub, said Ian McKay, CEO of the Vancouver Economic Commission.

The province boasts lower corporate tax rates than the U.S., as well as enticing personal income tax rates. A wealth of skilled workers already funnel into the city via top-rated post-secondary institutions, feeding already flourishing companies. And the glistening city of glass towers, green spaces and waterfront has been cited amongst the world's most livable.

"One of those arrows on its own probably doesn't do a lot for us, but when you pile them on top of each other, it's a pretty compelling story," McKay said.

[...]

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business...#ixzz3AVVDaJ00

[Klazu]

Originally Posted by queetz@home

No, Vancouver is not a tech hub. Any software company that you see here is either based somewhere else, or so small and insignificant in numbers and operations to make much of a difference. For example, if Microsoft packs up its Vancouver office tomorrow, it won't really impact anything within that company.

I dunno why Vancouver wants to claim to be a tech hub.

Sure, we mostly have just regional offices, but at least pretty much every large company has a presence in here. I think Google and Apple are the few big Silicon Valley players not (yet) having a presence in Vancouver.

I think that's a quite great for Vancouver, as there are not that many cities that can boast as many tech companies having a presence (presence being 50 - few hundred employees).

Our geographical location is also a huge advantage, making us the only major non-US city in exactly the same time zone as Silicon Valley. This is a huge plus when working in an multi-office environment. Even East Coast is quite far to collaborate that efficiently with.

[casper]

Interesting take that GE (yes the multi-national) has on Vancouver as a tech hub.

https://gereports.ca/six-hothouses-for-innovation/

[Hot Rod]

very nice, and didn't include/mention Microsoft, Amazon, and Sony HQ and Development operations.

[Henbo]

This BC Business article gives some Vancouver employee numbers of a few large tech companies

http://www.bcbusiness.ca/tech-scienc...rary-tech-boom

[Klazu]

Those numbers for MSFT and Amazon cannot be right. They seem to assume everyone is on LinkedIn with up-to-date information..

[cornholio]

95% of the software, hardware and tech R&D you never see or interact with. Vancouver is by no means a hub. It is just another spoke. People tend to think of games and web sites. These are not big job generators and certainly not high paying job generators. There is a lot more to the tech industry.

[peafair]

No， I don't think Vancouver can have more advantage on Tech business and industry, high real estate price, high living expense has driven high tech talents away,Vancouver has no any competitive environment comparing with Seattle and San Jose.

[casper]

Originally Posted by peafair

No， I don't think Vancouver can have more advantage on Tech business and industry, high real estate price, high living expense has driven high tech talents away,Vancouver has no any competitive environment comparing with Seattle and San Jose.

Obviously those companies are moving to Victoria where it is more affordable.

However you have to be carefully underestimating the impact of techtoria:
http://youtu.be/a53RlQdgPaY

[csbvan]

A big article on tech in Vancouver from The Globe:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...ticle23614007/

[Vancity]

Originally Posted by csbvan

A big article on tech in Vancouver from The Globe:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/repor...ticle23614007/

really encouraging article for vancouver. the future in the tech industry for this city is promising. don't know how long it'll take for Vancouver to hit critical mass, but the road there is looking good.

[st7860]

http://vancouverisawesome.com/2015/0...ne-is-awesome/

[red-paladin]

A very good example of the kind of high tech company that is world famous but flies over the radar in Vancouver: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacDon...and_Associates

[casper]

Interesting article. Looks like Vancouver has dropped from 9th place. The analysis in the article spears to suggest it is more a result of how they do the measurement.

http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/16/van...-go-from-here/