The Technocentre

The Technocentre des technologies de l’information et des communications (TIC) - or Technocentre for Information Technology and Communications (ICT) - is a non-profit organization whose goal is to promote the emergence of ITC in the Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine region.

Strategic Planning 2016-2018

Context

After some years of a regional upscaling process, the time came for the Technocentre ICT of Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine to initiate a new strategic planning process. We defined where we see the organization in the coming years, how to get there, but also how to ensure sustainability. We must continue the work already started, but also demonstrate the relevance of our organization and ICT development for our region.

We firmly believe that our organization has advanced the ICT sector in the region. We see a growing interest in this sector, but also a marked decrease in leakage of important mandates in the field in favor of businesses outside of our region. The development of collaborations between professionals of the territory, made possible through networking among members of the Technocentre, has allowed previously unaccessible contracts to be obtained within our territory.

We also witnessed a growing presence of our ICT businesses at the provincial, Canadian and even international level. National contracts have in fact been obtained by some of our members. Some collaborated with international organizations and a member of the Technocentre even opened an office in Europe. The sector also achieved visibility through the organization of international missions and the presence of national and local events such as our three annual conferences.

The realization of the 2013-2015 Action Plan has been impaired by the availability of fewer financial resources than expected. The decrease in contributions from financial partners forced the organization to make difficult choices.

We still made significant breakthroughs which allowed us to hope for the best in the coming years. It is in this context that we have elaborated our 2016-2018 strategic planning.

We submitted a survey to our members in order to know what their vision for the Technocentre was and how they wanted our organization to meet their needs. We also asked how they perceived the organization and actions of the last two years. We got a very good response rate, nearly 40%.

The answers are very interesting for the Technocentre for its strategic planning process.

Some examples:

- 82% of respondents felt that the networking opportunities and belonging to a network of professionals in the territory are important;

- 81% believe the Technocentre can play an important role in the development of the ICT sector in Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine;

- 86% of respondents are aware of the services offered by the Technocentre and more than half reported having benefited from our presence for the growth of their business.

We also found in the survey that our members wish our actions to concentrate on the organization of networking activities (regional seminar, 5-7, training activities), organization of business trips, support in the marketing and promotion of their services, as well as support in their search for funding and market development.

We also noticed that, even though an obvious satisfaction was expressed by the survey results, we must work in the coming years to further promote the actions of the Technocentre. We must also ensure that we develop a stronger sense of belonging within the network of professionals we represent. The first two years are encouraging, but we need to continue and intensify our efforts to fully meet the needs of our members.

Strategic analysis

Through our surveys and self-reflection, several crucial elements were highlighted by members and administrators. The diversity of our service offers and of those offered by our network of members, the regionalization process, our governance structure and the growing vitality of the ICT sector were highlighted as key elements of our last two years of operation.

This network is also a great development potential for the Technocentre. Moreover, as we are the only region to have adopted such an organization, it becomes even more important to continue the actions already undertaken and especially to ensure the survival of regional digital strategy.

We continue to develop our network to increase the number of members. We also need to gain more notoriety. To do this, we must make a better use our brand image and also have a better understanding of the ICT data on our territory. We also must ensure that we increase the awareness of the ICT industry from our elected officials.

All these items can however only be pursued if the financing of our activities and the sustainability of the organization are guaranteed.