ICT in Greater Montreal: The Perfect Gateway to North America
During the usual annual meeting with the Diplomacy Festival, now in its eighth edition, on October 24, at the Central Market of Rome, was held the international conference organized by the Québec Delegation in Rome, "ICT in Greater Montreal: The Perfect Gateway to North America.
At the Diplomacy Festival, at the Central Market of Rome, the Québec Delegation in Rome presented the Montreal digital revolution to the public. Thanks to synergy between institutions, the private sector and research, Québec's ICT is constantly evolving, supported by a mix of technological innovation, investment attractiveness, training and research.
The Conference, titled "ICT in Greater Montreal: The Perfect Gateway to North America" was attended by Marianna Simeone, Québec Delegate in Rome, David Brulotte - Business Development Director for Europe of Investissement in Québec, Alexandre Lagarde - Senior Director for Montréal International Europe and Asia, Philippe Valentine - Project Manager ICT of Montréal International.
Montréal International, a public-private partnership, plays a central role in contributing to the economic development of Greater Montréal, the second most populated area of Canada, considered to be a major international leaders' hub, with 7 clusters of excellence in major economic sectors, the most competitive operating costs in North America and a strategic location (90 minutes from Boston and New York City) that allows 500 million consumers to access the US market.
During the Conference, the Centro Studi addressed a number of questions to the speakers on the Québec Technology and Innovation Industry.
1 - What is Montreal's offer for ITC companies and why an investor should choose Montreal?
The Greater Montréal offers several important benefits to companies and branches of foreign companies, including:
Market access
The Greater Montréal offers privileged access to nearly one billion of consumers through the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Global Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) currently in force between Canada and the European Union (EU).
In addition, Québec City is a North American hub for intermodal transport: air, sea, road and rail. The main logistic and port node, the region has the second largest port in Canada and the largest container port in eastern Canada. Its airport, Montréal-Trudeau, is Canada's most "international" airport, with 62% of international passengers.
A highly qualified manpower
The best student city in the world according to QS Best Student Cities (2017), Montreal offers a set of talents powered by a world-class teaching network. Québec's metropolis is the university capital of Canada with the largest number of post-secondary students in the country (320,000), divided into 11 universities and over 60 colleges. It is also the largest metropolis of Canada for funds invested in university research and has the largest number of university researchers in the country.
Montréal is also experiencing a rapid growth in high technology sectors: with over 220,000 skilled workers, Montréal holds the highest concentration of jobs in Canada in the technology sector (Brookfield Institute, 2016) and is at 5th place in global cities in video games, special effects, artificial intelligence and aerospace. Indeed, only in the field of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) there are more than 90,000 workers in more than 5,000 establishments (TechnoMontréal, 2017).
A competitive cost structure
Montreal offers the most competitive operating costs among the 20 major metropolitan areas in North America. Its cost advantage is between 20% and 25% compared to other metropolises, thanks in particular to its affordable wages, favorable taxation, its affordable office space, its low and stable energy costs and its innovative programs for technology companies, including various tax credits and tax holidays.
The quality of life
Montréal offers an excellent quality of life: a safe environment, efficient and accessible public services, green spaces, a world-wide culture, a cosmopolitan and bilingual community (and even trilingual), renowned gastronomy and much more.
In addition, purchasing power is higher in Montreal than other comparable North American cities. For example, a family of four, of individual income, lives better in Montreal, thanks to lower accommodation costs and unparalleled public utilities in North America. (UBS 2017, Mercer 2017)
Finally, growing from the 19th century, the Italian community of Montreal today represents more than 300,000 people. Italian is also the fourth most spoken language in the region. This is an undeniable advantage for the fifty Italian companies in Grand Montréal.
Suggestions for further reading:
http://www.montrealinternational.com/publications/technologies-de-linformation/
Montreal ranked first in the country for high-tech jobs at Brookfield Institute:http://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1057844/montreal-premier-rang-pour-emplois-high-tech-canada-intelligence-artificielle
Montreal and Toronto are becoming exemplary cities for technology giants (Fortune Magazine):http://fortune.com/2017/07/25/montreal-toronto-google-microsoft-uber/
Artificial Intelligence: Montréal is the 2nd world leader and an example of talent:https://becominghuman.ai/238-cities-have-vied-to-become-amazons-second-headquarters-b31c2944076
Montreal, the best American city for the Millennial: http://www.montrealinternational.com/blogue/montreal-meilleure-grande-ville-des-ameriques-pour-les-milleniaux/
Montreal is ahead compared to Chicago, Boston and San Francisco in the list of world financial centers: http://plus.lapresse.ca/screens/a1b7a82b-eb7e-444e-a1f5-4bb135e2349f%7C_0.html
Montreal, the best university campus in the world:http://www.montrealinternational.com/a-propos/salle-de-presse/montreal-international-lance-une-initiative-pour-faire-connaitre-montreal-a-titre-de-meilleure-ville-etudiante-au-monde/
2 - Gli italiani guardano sempre più al Canada per investire. I rapporti tra Italia e Canada sono in crescita. Qual è la tua strategia per attrarre investimenti esteri e italiani?
The economy of Québec, and particularly that of the Great Montreal, is very complementary to the Italian economy. Indeed, Québec and Italy's economies are both based on a manufacturing sector focused on the export of high technology products (aerospace, life sciences, health technologies, advanced machinery, agro-food) and information and technology communications.
For this reason, the success of Montreal in recent years as a global center of excellence for video games, special effects, artificial intelligence and software development is an interesting business opportunity for Italian companies wishing to enter the North American market or consolidate their business. It is therefore around these areas of high technology and high knowledge that Montreal International directs its interventions to European and Italian companies, which has led several international companies to choose Montreal to create a research lab, a cost center or their North American headquarters for the development of their business.
3 - In Italy, the national industry "Industry 4.0" plan was launched to promote the fourth industrial revolution. According to the latest Infocamere data, there are about 7,400 innovative start-ups in Italy. Have you had the opportunity to meet some of these realities during your stay in Italy? Have you identified opportunities for partnership development?
There are various economic opportunities and possible partnerships between Italy and Québec. In fact, both have in common the implementation of strategies for the development of manufacturing sector 4.0 and are leaders in sustainable mobility.
Québec is the Canadian province with the highest adoption rate of digital technologies. This success is based, among other things, on targeted fiscal and financial incentives, as well as on the Montréal start-up ecosystem, with only 4 million inhabitants includes no less than 2,600 start-ups. In fact, Québec's metropolis is now one of the 20 largest start-up centers in the world (Compass, 2015).
In addition to the meetings with several important industrial and technological groups in Italy, we had the opportunity to meet different startups during a recent mission in Italy. All of these innovative start-ups are high-tech and could benefit from Montreal's experience through partnerships. It is with this spirit that we have started discussions with the Institute of Technology (IIT) during our visit to Genova and we want to get closer to technological clusters, including the association of Italian video game developers (AESVI).
We see these meetings as an opportunity and we want to consolidate our relationships with them during our upcoming missions in Italy.