Archive for the 'Author-Isabelle Poirier' Category

Intelligence “R” US: Innovative Economic Development Practices in Mauricie, Québec

Published
by
Isabelle Poirier
on February 1, 2010
in Author-Isabelle Poirier, Economic Development, Economic Intelligence, Investment Attraction and Social Media Marketing
. 2 Comments

New economic development practices in a region is not the result of a sole leader. Changing the economic landscape of a region will be the work of individuals who collectively engage into innovative economic development practices.

Last week, I had the opportunity with my colleague Aicha Habiby to conduct the seminar, “Optimize Investment Attraction Strategy Through Information and Social Media Applications“.  Sixteen participants representing different sub-regions in the Mauricie Region gathered in Trois-Rivières, Quebec. Canada.

It was a busy day :-) Needless to say that because this course was computer based and we were more than happy to provide this training as a team. All participants agreed to start slowly but surely embraced social media tools to improve their regional investment attraction strategy and place their region on the radar of investors and site selectors. The process included achieving the following goals:

  • Establishing their “web identity” on social networks
  • Putting into place an information monitoring system
  • Improving their web researching skills by learning advanced research techniques using web 1.0 tools and sources, social media applications and real-time search engines
  • Generating “Intelligence” using specific analysis frameworks for investment attraction
  • Nurturing their virtual and real life communities by sharing information and knowledge
  • Being aware of key success factors and best practices for their future communication strategy

For quite awhile,  investment attraction techniques have included taking advantage of the web 1.0 however; it was just the beginning.  By tapping into the new applications on the internet,  the participants can now efficiently benchmark their region, target leads and promote their region.

If you want to know more about economic development opportunities in Mauricie, you can get in touch “within a click” with the following professionals:

At the end of the day, interesting opportunities are just one click or one phone call away from you… It’s yours to discover :-)

Yes To A Stronger Venture Capital Foundation By Building On Success Stories

Published
by
Isabelle Poirier
on October 30, 2009
in Author-Isabelle Poirier, Economic Development and Metrics
. 1 Comment

No one will dispute the fact that in Canada, “small companies die due to lack of funding”.  In the article, “Canada needs a stronger venture capital foundation to build on” in yesterday’s edition of The Montreal Gazette, David Crane raises our attention on weaknesses identified in a recent study on venture capital conducted by The Impact Group. The study is based on a sample size of 18-high tech firms and it does raise a good question, “Do venture capital investors do enough to mentor the companies?  Do they do enough to help build the companies?”

It’s certainly a question that should be examined in the near future. Innovation is nothing that you can stop and it can take place when times are difficult.  It’s common wisdom that, when times are tough, innovative companies can continue to invest in new products or services, explore new market opportunities to break new ground and differentiate themselves from the competition when the good times return.

Nothing is always as bad as it looks :-). I would like to share with you some interesting information on the impact of the venture capital on the Canadian economy. Last year, E&B DATA conducted an impact study for Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association. To bring an optimistic outlook to your day on this issue, please note the following :

  • In 2007, venture capital-backed technology companies generate close to 150,000 jobs in Canada (1.3% of all private sector employees) and 1% of Canadian GDP.
  • Between 1996 and 2007, venture capital investors financed 2,175 technology companies in Canada. 1,740 of those were operating in Canada in 2008. In addition, prior to 1996, venture capital investors financed 15 companies that are still operating and have sales larger than $50 million in 2008.
  • On average, these 1,740 companies had sales of $10.5 million and employment of 47 direct jobs each. They are a mix of small, medium and large companies.

In aggregate, they generated sales of $18.3 billion.

  • $15.4 billion in ICT
  • $1.9 billion in Life Sciences
  • $1.0 billion in Other Technologies

It is good and it is a sample of performance indicators that the venture capital community (VC) can continue to improve on.

The lesson to be learned is that when times are difficult, it’s even more important for the VC community the be responsive to the needs of innovative companies (start-up and maturing companies).

Are Canadian venture capitalists proactively seeking new deals? In this unperfect world, well some actually do. Just last week, Celtic House Venture Partners and Ventures West led a financing round of $10 M for Fresco Microchip. Established in 2004 and active in Canada and in the US, Fresco’s manufactures mixed-signal and digital signal processing integrated circuits (ICs).

We certainly do need more good news to convey us that Canadian venture capitalists can secure sustainable development in the high tech sector and I hope to read more and more press releases in the near future. Can Canadian venture capitalists take on this challenge? Are you confident that they will ?

Sustainability and Social Media : Is It A Natural? - Take 2

Published
by
Ian Smith
on July 20, 2009
in Author-Ian Smith, Author-Isabelle Poirier, Economic Development, Social Media Marketing and Web 2.0 Strategy
. 0 Comments

In May 2008, Intelegia examined the Dow Jones Sustainability Index - 10 Supersectors Leaders in terms of the use of blogs in their approach to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development (SD).    After conducting a thorough examination of the websites of the companies listed in the index, Intelegia discovered that Intel had a full compliment of Web 2.0 tools (i.e., blogs, podcasts, videocasts) and Web 1.0 applications (i.e., newsletter and news alerts) to deal with social responsibility issues.

With the acceptance of online social networks as viable communication tools during the past year, Intelegia decided to conduct the same exercise with the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (2008 / 2009).  The image below is the scorecard that was used to evaluate the company’s websites. (Please click on the image to few a full scale version of the table.)

DJI Sustainability Index and Social Media

Source: E&B DATA / Intelegia

Please Note: Only online social networks that are mentioned on the company’s website are considered.

Findings from the study include:

  • Of the 18 companies in the index, only two companies do not have a section of their corporation website discussing corporate social responsibility or sustainability development. Itausa-Investimentos Itau and TNT N.V.
  • Intel still leads the way in terms of adopting Web 2.0 applications when it is comes to promoting their dedication to corporate social responsibility.  This is seen through Intel’s official Facebook Fan page for their Inspired by Education project.  Although not located in their CSR section, the company has a channel on YouTube titled, Channel Intel.  It would not be a big shock if Intel creates a channel specifically for CSR content in the near future.
  • adidas AG does not offer much in terms of Web 2.0 tools when it comes to CSR or SD however; looking at their products website is a different story.  adidas.com offers an array of Web 2.0 tools such as podcasts
  • Eni, an integrated energy has a collection of videocasts discussing their various sustainability initiatives.
  • Air France-KLM in the airline industry does not have a presence on Web 2.0 which is surprising.  For a company that should be engaging with  clients, Air France-KLM must begin an effort to use social media tools.

With the power of the Web 2.0 or social media offer to connect with other, it is interesting to see who will be quickly adopting applications and who will be conducting “business as usual” over the next 12 months.

Sustainability and Social Media : Is it a natural?

Published
by
Isabelle Poirier
on May 7, 2008
in Author-Isabelle Poirier, Corporate Blogging and Web 2.0 Strategy
. 3 Comments

Ten years from now, the Web 2.0 era will be seen as the turning point of our communication culture and collective intelligence paradigms. Business development and growth built upon collaboration, partnership, transparency and interaction will be seen as the buzzwords that best describes the decade.

This blog questions the willingness of actual industry leaders to embrace the 2.0 culture to look at corporate social responsibility and sustainable development in a different way.

Dow Jones Sustainable Index 2007 and web 2.0

Intel is the only company of these top leaders that has a CSR blog and demonstrates that CSR or SD engagements can be discussed and can evolve within a Web 2.0 culture.

Some might think that discussing about environmental externalities and community wealth is easier for an IT player than it is for a natural resource or heavy industrial player. Other might think that it is just a question of time.

Countries that can guarantee energy availability, political stability and access to natural resources are magnets for capital investments and growth. However, communities won’t keep quiet if they believe it’s not worth it. Blogs and social networks tools are the new natural channels to discuss openly about externalities linked to industrial and economic development. Ten years ago, discussion groups were often the blind spots for large corporations. Blogs have replaced them. An example of this new reality is how LNG (Liquefied natural gas) terminal projects can be challenged by stakeholders and how blogs are platforms to voice their preoccupation. The Tara Foundation uses its blog to bring local concerns to the public domain.

“Residents fear Kerry LNG gas terminal will threaten their homes”
 Up to 50 people living directly adjacent to the landbank between Tarbert and Ballylongford came together at a public meeting in Tarbert on Thursday night, where they presented their issues to two representatives of the Shannon LNG company, which is behind the proposed gas terminal.

It is expected that a residents group in Tarbert, Count Kerry, will lodge a detailed objection to An Bord Pleanála outlining their fears over the proposed LNG terminal. If their objections are upheld and plannning permisison is refused, it could sound the death knell for the multi-million euro project that is expected to create 650 jobs during construction and 50 jobs when the plant is up and running”

Could industry leaders, assessing risk and forgetting to take into consideration community’s and stakeholders’ capabilities to team up virtually to discuss and evaluate their value proposition be at risk?

Chambers Of Commerce Taking On Web 2.0

Published
by
Isabelle Poirier
on March 25, 2008
in Author-Isabelle Poirier, Social Media Marketing and Web 2.0
. 0 Comments

Networking is definitely one of the core missions of any chamber of commerce. Wondering if chambers of commerce were adopting any 2.0 communication tools, I decided to look for answers on the web. I was afraid that I would eventually be disappointed by that kind of search but, the Americans came to the rescue.

The Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce publishing videocasts is one example of how a regional chamber of commerce is establishing a new communication channel with local stakeholders.

albany-colonie chamber of commerce, tech valley, New York State

Interestingly enough, the region is part of the Tech Valley. This 19-county region of eastern New York state, between Montreal and New York City has developed a strong business climate attracting large companies such as IBM, Toshiba and recently Hitachi which are all involved in the Center for Semiconductor Research at The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University at Albany. Could the use of web 2.0 tools contribute to position the region as a real hub of innovative players?

Another example is Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. In this case, members of the Chamber can post events and news. Launched last September, the blog is definitely active and we can’t wait to watch videocasts of public events.

phillybiz.gif

On this side of the border, The North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce is taking advantage of its blog to recruit, share videocasts of events and address issues.

nvancouver2a.gif

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is taking baby steps towards web 2.0 as seen on You Tube. As for Toronto, don’t worry. Toronto’s Board of Trade blog will be back. It’s just that they are looking at using different avenues to build a strong 2.0 Media Center to maintain and reinforce their relationship with actual members and establish new ones with Generation X and Y entrepreneurs.

Hello Montreal, where are you?

To be continued…