The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable Andrew Parsons, Minister of Industry, Energy and Technology:

Today is the kick-off to Innovation Week, hosted by the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Technology and Innovation, which includes workshops, seminars and networking events focused on promoting our technology sector and showcasing inspiring, good-news stories.

I’d like to continue that theme today and note that our tech sector is already estimated at a value of $1.6 billion in Newfoundland and Labrador, with approximately 165 companies and 4000 employees; and demand is expected to exceed 2000 new tech jobs over the next three years.

Our tech sector is driving growth across all sectors and diversifying our economy. Today at the kick-off, the Premier highlighted three innovation projects for which we are investing a total of $1.7 million.

Mitacs is supporting business innovation and technology commercialization throughout the province while training the next generation of graduate students in advanced and applied research and development.

The Iron Ore Company of Canada is undertaking a research and development project that is looking to solve one of the largest technical challenges for the iron ore industry in the Labrador Trough region – the recovery of fine iron.

Resource Innovations Inc., based in Corner Brook, is purchasing updated mapping software to support its Geographic Information Systems. This is essential as this industry is witnessing a major shift to digital data management and remote data collection and processing.

Mr. Speaker, countries and provinces with robust innovation and research and development activity see improvements in productivity, economic growth, and job creation and have more resources available to support spending in education, health, infrastructure and other areas.

Congratulations to NATI and all of the organizers of Innovation Week. I look forward to participating in a panel discussion tomorrow and highlighting the fantastic work of our tech sector. Thank-you.