Hm. This has never happened to me before. @CADInnovators just posted this news release announcing that I’m joining the team as Manager of Content and Communications: https://www.canadianinnovators.org/newscentre/featured_news/business_journalist_james_mcleod_joins_the_council_of_canadian_innovators

So, a few thoughts on that...
(Thread)

Throughout my journalism career, I consistently gravitated toward writing about government, politics and public policy. In the past couple years at the Financial Post, when I was writing about tech and the innovation economy, public policy was a big focus of my coverage.

I strongly believe that government policy affecting the technology sector is one of the defining issues of our time. Regulation and economic development in the innovation economy is a matter of global concern, and decisions we make now will shape our economy for generations.

Too often, the Silicon Valley tech giants suck up all the attention in this discussion. We should absolutely be talking about Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc. but as Canadians should be spending more time thinking about our homegrown innovators too.

CCI is a business council representing about 120 established, fast-growing Canadian tech companies. Frankly, it's a lot of names you might not have ever heard before, and that's a problem. These companies, and the innovation economy writ large, are really important for Canada.

Working at CCI, I'm hoping to elevate our member companies and help tell their stories. These are Canadian companies doing really cool stuff, growing fast, creating lots of jobs in the knowledge economy. More people should know about them, and about the challenges they face.

Now is a really important time for Canada's economy. We're grappling with the devastating effects of COVID-19, but we also have an opportunity to rebuild and rebound on the best possible footing to take advantage of the 21st century innovation economy.

This conversation shouldn't be driven by big tech companies headquartered in Silicon Valley. I'm excited to help tell the stories of the Canadian innovators that many people don't know about, and to advocate for policies that help our domestic companies thrive.

If you're a journalist writing about innovation, technology or economic development, and you'd like to get the perspective of one of our member companies, hit me up. My DMs are always open.

If you're somebody who follows me for dumb tweets, jokes and random observations about the news, I'll still be doing those. This isn’t about to become an anodyne corporate comms account. But you can expect to see more tweets about innovation policy and the work that CCI is doing.

For as long as I’ve been on this site, I’ve always tweeted about my work. I’m excited about my new role, and I’ll be tweeting through it.

In conclusion: I have a new job, and I'm really excited about it. If you're interested in innovation policy, or if you just want to make me look super cool to my new employer, give @CADInnovators a follow.