Recent study shows an annual economic contribution of 1.67 billion
A new study commissioned by Accelerate Okanagan shows that the region's technology industry is growing exponentially.
It reports that our tech sector is putting $1.67 billion into the regional economy every year, and has been growing by 15 percent year-over-year.
In total, there are 693 tech companies in the Okanagan – a 10 percent increase from the number reported two years ago.
Accelerate Okanagan Director of Operations Bree Lakes says the biggest growth can be seen in the workforce.
"The number of employees that are working in the tech industry is now at 12,474," says Lakes. "That has really grown 90 percent since we first conducted the study in 2013."
Lakes says there's also a shift in the worker demographic, with 55 percent of tech workers being under the age of 35.
She attributes much of the growth to a focus on specific types of technology.
"Information and communication tech continues to be our strongest area, and that includes software application," says Lakes. "But we're also starting to see a rise in medical tech, as well as in gaming and animation."
The data seen in this study was collected from more than 100 tech companies in the Okanagan, and is the third economic impact study to be commissioned by Accelerate Okanagan.
