Cleantech Intelligence and Opportunities in British Columbia
25.01.2011
The Consulate General of Switzerland and the Swiss Canadian Chamber of Commerce have cooperated to the completion of a preliminary mandate from Cleantech Switzerland related to possible business development of Swiss Clean Tech (CT) companies in British Columbia.
The mandate started in the aftermath of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Vancouver Economic Development Commission and OSEC on February 12, 2010 and GLOBE 2010 with a questionnaire sent to various key stakeholders in B.C., as well as a series of interview exploring possible matches between the burgeoning B.C. sector and Swiss CT companies. This action was followed with more in depth interviews with local CT experts, information gathering on financial conditions, and finally with the definition of a list of preliminary axes of interest and preliminary opportunities.
Six « hot » areas
In summary, there are as of today, 6 areas identified as “Hot”:
- Low carbon transportation vehicles/boat/rail
- Biomass/Biogas – Waste to Energy
- Smart management and transmission/grid, measuring instruments
- Waste Water Treatment
- University B.C. building upgrade's projects
- Architectural/structural upgrades (Minergie, architectural envelope)
Due to the nature of B.C. the identified opportunities are spread amongst:
- various pilot projects
- the organization of trade missions with different scope
- the invitation of different speaker and/or companies to trades show and
- conference
- the pairing of Swiss know-how with Canadian companies and/or universities
It is also recommended that list of experts in each CT domain be constituted in
Switzerland in order to grasp available products and services. In order to also stay up to date and meet the main players it is also advocated to continually go to to trades shows and conferences.
Copyright Foto : UBC, Vancouver
