Finger Food Advanced Technology Group has selected Calgary as the location for its first advanced technology centre to accelerate the incubation of new digital technologies and development of Calgary’s tech and business ecosystems.
The advanced technology centre will provide 200 full-time jobs for highly skilled design, software development and management professionals in Calgary by 2023.
“There were many compelling reasons to open a technology centre in Calgary,” said Finger Food Advanced Technology Group’s CEO Ryan Peterson. “With the talent pool, appetite for growth, and partners like Calgary Economic Development and the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund (OCIF), it was the obvious city to launch our first advanced technology centre. We believe, alongside our strategic partners, we can be a catalyst for growth in Calgary’s tech and business ecosystem.”
The advanced technology centre will be a facility for global innovation; a state-of-the-art space the company says will be dedicated to disrupting traditional thinking, fostering user-centric and innovative ideas, and learning opportunities.
Finger Food Advanced Technology Group, a leading enterprise technology solution provider founded in Port Coquitlam, B.C., leveraged $3.5 million in support from the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund (OCIF).
Barry Munro, Chair of the OCIF Board of Directors, said support for Finger Food Advanced Technology Group’s investment in Calgary is based on three key factors.
“The company demonstrated strong desire to create highly skilled technology jobs in Calgary in order to support its global client base; its focus on applying its proprietary suite of technologies and processes to solve global issues in areas such as food, health, energy, and transportation; and the positive impact that the creation of the advanced technology centre is expected to have on the Calgary innovation and technology ecosystem,” Munro said.
As part of this expansion, Finger Food Advanced Technology Group will expand its longstanding collaboration with Microsoft and will leverage Microsoft’s technology suite throughout the technology centre. Technology offerings to include Microsoft Azure, HoloLens 2, Industrial IOT and Microsoft’s Artificial Intelligence technology solutions. Microsoft will also run several accredited certification programs in the new technology centre that will arm clients with new technical skills to capitalize on the emerging digital market.
“The Finger Food Advanced Technology Group has been leveraging Microsoft’s trusted technology suite of services to build cutting edge solutions for customers around the world and now, with this new space in Calgary, they can help even more customers transform their businesses with technology, especially those in the resource sector,” said Mark Speaker, Industry Solutions Executive, Microsoft Canada. “We’re thrilled to support such innovative companies that are leading Canada into the digital economy.”
Finger Food has a presence in Calgary through its clients, that includes leading energy companies such as Suncor Energy.
“Fostering a growing ecosystem is key to scale innovation,” said Sandy Martin, Senior Vice President Digital and Enterprise Technical for Suncor Energy. “That is why Finger Food’s Advanced technology centre will be an important part of building momentum to elevate Calgary as a world leader in digital technologies.”
The City of Calgary launched OCIF in April 2018 to support investments that spur growth and create jobs in strategic sectors identified in the Economic Strategy, Calgary in the New Economy.
“When I first met Ryan and the team at Finger Food, I knew this would be a welcome addition to Calgary's tech and business ecosystem,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi, a member of the OCIF Board. “By combining engineering expertise and design thinking, their business model lines up perfectly with Calgary’s existing talent pool. I believe opportunities like this are exactly what this fund was created for; delivering innovative solutions globally that are effectively ‘Made in Calgary.’”