Alright, Yesterday I had numerous meetings and for the most part they were all great meetings with intelligent people. Discussions about business, the Tech Open and our industry representation and this is where I get the inspiration for my blog post.
Here are some conclusions to topics we discussed yesterday and these all relate to the fractured industry representation:
- Gov’t likes to divide and conquer, to then better manage each sector.
- Individually, each association represents too few members of an industry to make gov’t listen, but together they would make a powerful voice for lobbying.
- We’ve got 3 different associations representing knowledge economy sector jobs for a population under 1 million.
- Industry associations may be afraid of biting the hand that feeds them.
So after a productive series of meetings and giving the future of ITANS some thought, well actually I don’t see a future for ITANS any more. I think a single voice representing the knowledge economy in Nova Scotia is the way to go. Bring together the likes of ITANS, Nova Knowledge and BioNova and have an organization that can lead, lobby and succeed! Separately some of these organizations are too small and lack the resources to do much. Some are so intertwined with the government that they are no longer effective or able to meet their own mandates. If we bring them under one roof, Together they can lead and get results.
This is just a thought and one I hope gains traction. For us to succeed we need to work together. We need an industry voice the government will respect, a voice that will get action instead of inaction.
What are your thoughts?
Can we stop doing what we’ve always done though? Build small fifedoms that battle over droplets of funding from an already overstretched government budget?
Instead, build an Empire representing a large workforce. The government money can go into better programs like skills training and infrastructure to grow our economy.
United, 3 associations as one is a powerful force that wouldn’t be competing on events, membership $$ and government funding. We could do so much more!
Change Is A Beautiful Thing!
I must say that I don’t fully understand the gov’t organizations in the city, and what roles they play. But your point certainly makes sense, and it’s frustrating to hear that such a small market has so many conflicting and contradictory forces working.