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For more than three decades, British
Columbia has pioneered advances in wireless, satellite,
microwave and telecommunications networking technologies,
and continues to be a leading innovator in these fields. We
are also a home to excellence in software development and
new media.
- British Columbia’s ICT sector (excluding telecom
carriers and cable services) employed 66,800 people in
2005.
- Over 36,000 people are employed in software
development and new media, and another 10,000 in ICT
manufacturing (computer electronics, semiconductors, and
communications products).
- Between 2000 and 2005, this sector posted employment
growth of 8 per cent.
- British Columbia’s three university engineering
schools and five computer science schools produce more
than 1,000 highly skilled ICT graduates annually.
- Access to top-notch skills, world-class innovation,
and cost savings have attracted investment by global
technology companies like Alcatel, Electronic Arts,
IBM, Intel, Nokia, Epson, Oracle-PeopleSoft, Business
Objects, and Sophos.
- British Columbia is the location of Electronic Arts’
largest games development studio, IBM’s largest
international innovation centre, and the North American
head office of Nokia’s new N-Gage division
Communications Equipment, Systems
and Software
Wireless, satellite, microwave and IP network
technologies (enterprise class solutions, wireless
devices, enabling software and component producers):
Alcatel, Agilent Technologies, Nokia, Redback
Networks
Software and New Media
Electronic games, e-learning, digital animation,
special effects and post-production; ERM, CRM, supply
chain management and financial management software:
BusinessObjects, Electronic Arts, HSBC
Group Systems Development, IBM, Oracle-PeopleSoft,
Sophos
Semiconductors and Electronic
Components
IC design, custom PCB assemblies, DSP modules and
embedded software:
Broadcom, Epson, Intel, PMC-Sierra
Automation and Information
Management Systems
Computer-integrated manufacturing systems, robotics
and controls, digital imaging and printing technologies,
surveillance and monitoring systems, and navigation and
air traffic management systems:
3M Touch Systems, Eastman
Kodak-Creo, Honeywell, McKesson
Earth Observation and GIS
MDA
MacDonald Dettwiler, Radarsat International
- Access to a rapidly growing pool of almost 67,000
engineers, IT professionals, and skilled production
workers.
- Operating cost savings of up to 15 per cent in
software development and electronics manufacturing,
compared with U.S. west coast locations.
- Generous R&D tax credits totalling 28 per cent of
qualified R&D spending.
- Excellent air connections to key markets and
technology centres across North America and worldwide,
for easy business travel and freight shipments.
British Columbia’s expanding ICT sector
offers attractive opportunities for venture capital
investors, as well as international companies seeking to
establish new operations or develop alliances with
world-class local firms.
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