Putting the ‘I’ in IEDC – Reflections on this year’s conference

Private: Reet Gill | 05 Oct 2017 | US Perspective

IEDC Conference 2017, Toronto Canada

 

Putting the “I” in IEDC

This year marked the first Annual Conference to take place outside of the US and with a greater focus on FDI, IEDC Toronto offered a wealth of FDI and international related information. It was also great to see so many of our ED colleagues and friends at the conference.

OCO Global has been a leading International partner of IEDC for many years and we were delighted to participate again this year as a Chairman’s Sponsor.

The themes around the conference included:

– Building Local Linkages and Expanding Global Trade

– Cashing in on Creative Capital

– Nurturing the Start-Up Ecosystem

– Regional Collaboration for Investment Promotion

– The Nuts & Bolts of Economic Development from BRE to financing

My favourite and the first time tried at IEDC were the ED talks, similar to the concept of the TEDx, with a full spectrum of challenges faced by EDOs on green economy, workforce capacity, incentives and insights from economic developer professionals on these topics as well as career challenges and opportunities. It was also interesting to hear from the CEO of WAIPA Boštjan Skalar moderate the session on “Collective, Competitive Advantage for Foreign Direct Investment.” I look forward to hearing from him again at the upcoming WAIPA Annual Conference which takes place in Dubai at the end of November.

Unofficially the main theme and talk of the event was this http://tadalafiltablets.net upcoming Amazon bid and the craze/focus/stress, whatever you may want to call it, to submit the proposal before the deadline. A lot of the EDOs I met with were unable to fully participate at the conference or had to leave early, a reminder that economic developers naturally always have to prioritize the business opportunities.

As an IEDC Chairman’s Club Sponsor, OCO Global primarily exhibited our intelligent data platform Velociti which is designed to develop and prioritize investment pipelines and export options. Having recently  upgraded Velociti, we received really positive feedback and business was good at the event.

Velociti provides more than Company Growth Scores which is a tried and tested concept used in many platforms like Crunchbase, Thomson Reuters etc., Velociti provides Company Ratings specifically on FDI and Trade potential and those scores are customised for your location. Our algorithm includes OCO Global’s unique Country Attractiveness Model and we have developed machine learning capabilities for faster prospect identification and conversion.

The next IEDC Conference will be the Leadership Summit in Vegas at the end of January 2018. Having never been to Vegas, I’m keen to check out the city, theme of the conference and catch-up with old and new friends! Look forward to seeing you there!

 

 

Team OCO Global at the IEDC Annual Conference 2017