One of Waterloo Region’s largest technology organizations, Communitech, is looking to go through a refresh, better aligning itself to prepare for the future, particularly when it comes to artificial intelligence (AI).
Communitech, the local non-profit technology organization, works to find and network technology start-ups, working with founders to better connect them to grow and set them up for success.
In a statement, Communitech stated that it’s been reflecting on itself, saying “the magic isn’t what it used to be, and people aren’t sure what we stand for anymore.”
“I spent the summer in meetings with our tech leaders, our political leaders, and our academic institutions. One thing’s very clear to me, which is that we have incredibly diverse tech ecosystems and an incredible depth of talent,” stated Communitech CEO Sheldon McCormich, while speaking on The Mike Farwell Show. “That’s ultimately such an asset for us to build off of.”
McCormick said that refresh will involve operating itself closer to the companies it works with, streamlining, experimenting, and grounding itself in the needs of its members.
He mentioned that much of that refresh process will involve working to find local startups focusing on the AI space.
“We’re working on figuring out who is at the frontier of our community with respect to AI adoption and distill that and find a way to uh showcase it and to share it across all the different companies that we have. In summary, we’re going back to what’s in our name, which is community and tech.”
He said the best way to do that is to seek out and work closely with the founders of these startups, collaborating with other organizations throughout the region, laying out the foundations to support Waterloo Region’s “world-leading quantum ecosystem.”
McCormick stated that the refresh is not to be seen as a total reinvention, but rather a larger mental reset, looking to better reflect on prior trends, what the world is seeing right now, and looking ahead to the future.
“I’ve been saying we’re going back to what worked, but adapted for what’s next. We’re now in the AI era, and that gives us lots of opportunities to go back to a recipe that we had at Communitech, you know, 10 or 15 years ago, but to adapt it.”
The goal for Communitech reportedly remains the same: making Waterloo Region into a globally competitive tech ecosystem, “anchored by homegrown companies that start here, scale here, and stay here.”
