President’s Message, May 2009

There is probably no more exciting moment in life than the one in which you see something that was just an idea, start turning into reality.  It happens in our personal lives, when we make a commitment to something like exercise, and we first put our track shoes on the road for a run.  It happens in business when we offer our product for the first time, and someone buys it.  It is the moment in which we fee the power of momentum.

Internationally reknowned motivator Anthony Robbins says:“The most important thing you can do to achieve your goals is to make sure that as soon as you set them, you immediately begin to create momentum.”

I am pleased to say that 2009 is a year in which Communities of Tomorrow is creating momentum for our plans and goals.  We have engaged a new strategic business plan, and we are now choosing and beginning to execute the specific actions that will bring our strategy to life. 

Our organization has always been about building partnerships. We must have multiple players complementing each other’s strengths to move towards the development of a world-leading innovative infrastructure cluster of companies in Saskatchewan.  Through the efforts of our group and many others, those players are increasingly communicating with one another about their ideas, assets and plans.

As we go forward, it is becoming clear that transportation, municipal remediation and water-related innovation are the leading areas of interest and expertise in Saskatchewan infrastructure technology development.  You will be hearing much more about these sectors in the months and years ahead.

It’s always nice to have an outside party validate one’s personal conviction.  So I was pleased to see the results of reporting by Canada’s International Trade Commissioners around the world, on infrastructure investment plans. Reports made public by Foreign Affairs and International Investment Canada suggest that governments have committed infrastructure spending in the order of $1.4 trillion Canadian dollars over the next 3 to 5 years.

This report is explored in more detail in this month’s e-newsletter. It is another reminder that the world is waiting for new ideas that result in more sustainable infrastructure systems. There is no reason why Saskatchewan can’t become the leader in this field and in fact many reasons why we are well equipped to do it. We just need to decide we want to take advantage of this opportunity, before someone else does.

We are not alone in this pursuit.  The Nordic countries, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden have a long-running co-operative research organization dealing with roads and transportation.  In Minnesota they have “Terra”, a road engineering alliance which brings together participants from the home state as well as Michigan, Wisconsin and New York State.