Spotlight on Indigenous-Owned Tech Companies in Saskatchewan
Saskatoon’s tech scene is the second fastest growing tech community in Canada—second only to Waterloo. By 2021, more than 160 tech companies called Saskatoon home. As part of that, there are a couple of Indigenous-owned tech companies that I would like to introduce.
Akawe is an Indigenous-focused custom software solutions and technology consulting company. Leanne Bellegarde, Jarret Leaman, and Paul Dube offer blockchain services, app development, and websites to organisations owned by under-represented groups, such as women, Indigenous Peoples, members of racialized minorities, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ2+ individuals. They are very conscious of data and who owns the data, always ensuring that Indigenous groups benefit from their data and information.
PLATO Testing is a national group today, and they have been absolute pioneers in Indigenous and tech business models. PLATO specialises in training Indigenous software testers to provide diverse software testing solutions to clients throughout North America. Not only do they provide the training, but they also provide excellent job opportunities afterwards for Indigenous people. They are an excellent example of a community solving problems and creating huge benefits.
These companies are indeed amazing—but are there a lot of Indigenous-owned tech companies?
Sadly, no. Despite some great examples of Indigenous people founding amazing tech companies, there is still a lot of room for more Indigenous people to create technology to solve problems.
At my company Ethical Digital, we have launched a special research project called Indigenous Women in Tech with the goal of increasing the number of Indigenous women involved in Saskatchewan’s tech industry.
We are currently in the process of interviewing over 100 Indigenous women about their thoughts on tech and how they would like to get involved in the industry. We have leaders from technology and Indigenous communities on our advisory committee, an excellent coordinator, and support from Women and Gender Equality Canada. With this project, we hope to eventually position Saskatchewan as leaders in Indigenous tech development in Canada. For Indigenous women or tech companies looking to get involved in this project, please reach out to hello@ethicaldigital.ca.
If technology is the future, then everybody should be involved in creating that future. I’m happy that there have been some great conferences and events to connect Indigenous groups with people in technology since we’ve started our research. With constant learning and development in this area, I believe we are going to see a lot of great partnerships resulting afterwards. I can't wait to meet more founders, community members, and Indigenous-owned tech companies here in Saskatchewan!