TECHNATION Letter from our President & CEO – A Call to Action for our Members

March 19, 2020

Dear TECHNATION members:

In these unprecedented times we at TECHNATION see a critical need to play a part in unifying our technology and Government leaders to support and enable Canadian business and citizens during these extremely difficult times. We strongly believe that technology has an important role to play in helping to ‘flatten the curve’ of COVID-19; and our role as a national industry association is to help position ourselves as a partner and leader to support all industry sectors across the country.

Now more than ever, technology and innovation will play a fundamental role in helping Canadians and Canadian businesses stay safely and securely connected and enable business to continue to operate through alternative solutions to deliver their products and services in a safe and secure way. From smartphone Apps and new on-line retail platforms, to data analytics and remote employee working solutions, technology is at the forefront of keeping our country connected and safe.

We also see an important opportunity to drive greater communication and awareness across the Canadian business community and within Government, regarding the powerful technology solutions that our members can provide. Some of you have already announced ‘special’ offers of very relevant services to businesses or consumers in Canada. Others have specific technology that will assist business leaders or consumers that members of our communities may not know about, or understand enough about, that can help them continue their operations.

Finally, we see a critical role to play when it comes to engagement with our Government leaders – to work with us and through TECHNATION working groups – to help identify some of the critical needs arising in business and with community as the COVID-19 crisis escalates.

Our ASK: As the TECHNATION team re-positions to drive relevance in our programming through an entirely ‘on-line’ lens, we need your support to understand and/or communicate the following to our key stakeholders in business and government:

As a Canadian Technology leader: We ask that you identify ASAP the technology services, programs, hardware or offers we can share to the broader Canadian business community to support their technology needs or challenges. Please provide any details you would like to share to Katerina Kramble at kkramble@technationcanada.ca.
With respect to TECHNATION members: We ask that as many of you as possible respond to a survey we will be sending out this week to provide critical insight back into Government on key areas they can provide support to business.
The goal: Understand the business challenges you might be experiencing as a result of COVID-19; understand what is it that government should know about the impact of COVID-19 on your business and to the community at large; and finally, understand what important support mechanisms the government can provide to assist your business during this crisis.

In addition, every Friday, we will be sending out a weekly TECH4Canada COVID-19 Friday Report. This succinct bulletin will provide all our members and stakeholders important information on key Government activities we are supporting; upcoming information sessions and webinars; remote working groups; and technology offers and tips to survive and thrive in a remote business environment

On behalf of the TECHNATION team, we are committed to do our utmost to stay on top of this critical situation, and to staying closely connected to our Government leaders at all levels to keep them appraised of the business impacts our members are experiencing. Most importantly, we are committed to act as a conduit and provide all of you, our members, with the opportunity to influence and impact support our Government is considering; and other sectors need.

Stay safe, healthy and stay tuned.