People

To compete worldwide, businesses in New Brunswick need talented men and women to design, build, implement, and operate the technology that provides competitive advantage. The NBITC is working with businesses in our province, as well as with Federal, Provincial, and local governments to support this goal.

According to the OECD, global trade in ICT Goods and Services was valued at USD 3.7 trillion in 2007, and IDC is projecting 75,000 new ICT businesses and 5.8 million ICT jobs globally over the next four (4) years. If we want to play in that game, we’re going to need lots of young people choosing careers in ICT. And it’s not just companies in the IT sector that will need them. Every business in New Brunswick makes use of technology in some manner, and larger organizations employ hundreds of graduates from Computer Science, Engineering, and Community College IT programs. If we can’t find the requisite talent, all sectors of our economy will fall behind the US, Europe, and China in productivity and innovation.

Given the stakes, all of us – parents, educators, and leaders in business and government – need to do a better job of encouraging our youth to pursue careers in ICT and the sciences, and to help them understand that careers in ICT aren’t about mindlessly droning away in front of a keyboard.

They’re about greening the planet by taking carbon out of natural gas before combustion or helping large consumers of power reduce their carbon footprint by being smarter about how they use energy, they’re about finding better ways for autistic children to connect to the people around them, and they’re about helping emergency aid workers save lives in a place like Haiti – all of which are things ICT grads are helping to do today, right here in New Brunswick.