2022 in Review: Another successful year for our province’s tech sector

As 2022 comes to a close, we’re taking a few moments to step back and reflect on another amazing year (almost) in the books. Over the past year, we’ve watched more companies across our province grow beyond their projections, we’ve seen the continued use and expansion of digital hybrid working models, we’ve seen an increased focus on the importance of digital talent, and the further acceleration of digital adoption and transformation among organizations. We witnessed Nova Scotia’s digital community continue to successfully support a more innovative, sustainable, and resilient post-pandemic reality. As the industry association for our province’s tech sector, at Digital Nova Scotia we’re very pleased to have helped play our part to support this continued success of our sector and the advancement of Nova Scotia’s digital economy more broadly. Looking back on the year, with the support of our funding partners, Digital Nova Scotia secured new projects, further advancing our evolving portfolio of programs and projects, while also continuing to grow our membership base (now numbering 265 organizations). As advocates of our sector, we proudly promoted the amazing things happening in the tech industry, right here at home. Our e-newsletter readership is up by more than 20%, we have over 18,000 social media followers, and we generated a whopping 2.5 million social media impressions over the past year. We also launched our All Hands on Tech podcast this year. This platform has allowed us to connect with local digital experts, sharing the secrets behind what makes Nova Scotia the best place for collaboration and creativity. With 12 episodes under our belt, we’re very excited for all the great tech conversations we’ll continue to have in the new year! It’s safe to say that 2022 was a year of strong growth and advancement for Nova Scotia companies. Our digital community’s ability to do transformational work in the province and export to the world has never been stronger. And our job portal is a good indicator of that: During the year, we posted close to 2,500 jobs, attracting more than 85,000 page views. This year also saw our successful launch of the Skills for Hire Atlantic program, designed to help individuals prepare for, and build a career within the digital space. This exciting program currently offers learning streams in Data Analytics and Web Development, with our initial cohort of students totalling more than 300. In addition, we offered the Get into IT program, which was focused on supporting individuals who have traditionally faced barriers entering the tech sector with professional training and career development. During the year, we continued to offer our Digital Assistance Programs, which are playing a major role in successfully connecting local tourism and small businesses across the province with the digital expertise they require in order to build and/or enhance their digital marketing knowledge and capabilities. We once again delivered unforgettable experiences to youth through our Digital Discovery Camps. This one-of-a-kind program connected 90 youth from across Nova Scotia to industry mentors, encouraging curiosity in the fields of video game development, coding, robotics and hardware. Finally, we ended 2022 on a high note celebrating the best innovators, change-markers and diversity champions at our 2022 Tech Forward Awards. As a province, we tend to be modest about our accomplishments, however this incredible evening provided an opportunity to celebrate the best that our sector has to offer. With 240 guests in attendance (our largest event to date!), it was amazing to come together to shine a light on those leaders and organizations making an impact in our sector. With the new year approaching, the holidays are a time to express gratitude for another great year gone by. The significant positive impact that Digital Nova Scotia had over the past year would not be possible without the tremendous support of our funding partners, our loyal members, and the ongoing support of our Board of Directors. Thank you for another amazing year, and happy holidays from the Digital Nova Scotia team!– Wayne Sumarah, CEO of Digital Nova Scotia