A PESTEL is a survey the business landscape – a look at where things have gone and where they're going. Officially, it stands for a study of Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal trends, but really it's a kind of free-form look at the world around you.
A PESTEL on B.C. at the beginning of 2008 tells you that we are (in Vancouver anyway) a city undergoing a major transition from a small town with a lot of people to an urban centre with more people than we know how to handle.
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The appointment of Mossadiq Umedaly to the position of chairman of BC Hydro signals – at last -- a significant shift in economic thinking in this province.
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I was shocked to learn of a survey that showed BC businesses aren't prepared for the repercussions of a flu pandemic hitting the province.
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Tony dusts off his crystal ball and takes some stabs at predicting what 2008 will hold for businesses in B.C.
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Apparently, Vancouver has been listed as one of the world's top 21 “smart” cities.
The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF), a nonprofit think tank that focuses on job creation and economic development in the broadband economy, decided that B.C.'s largest city belonged on the list because its technology industry is heavily weighted to small businesses.
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The recently released Census figures that showed an astonishing 40 per cent of Metro Vancouver residents were born outside Canada seems to have spurred a few people in the region to actually start thinking we might somehow use this fact to boost our economic fortunes.
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No doubt there's much weeping in the biotech community today after BC's most iconic biotech, QLT, announced that it might be put on the auction block as one of several options being considered by the company's management in an effort to boost its value.
But it was inevitable.
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Is Vancouver in danger of becoming a 'bedroom community'? Tony Wanless takes a look.
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Want to know how to keep your employees happy and satisfied? Tony Wanless takes a crack at helping employers retain their talent.
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Just how is the B.C. economy shaping up in the 21st Century? Tony Wanless takes a look at what's losing ground and what's gaining in importance in the B.C. economy.
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