LaPointe: Why B.C.’s innovation framework needs a rewrite for Indigenous tech – Castanet
Jan 14, 2026
Indigenous participation in the tech sector remains strikingly low, below one per cent. It would take an eight-fold increase for participation to have parity with population.
That gap is often framed as a pipeline problem, suggesting the solution lies in more training, more exposure, and more time. But the persistence of the disparity points to something deeper. The constraint is not a shortage of talent or ideas, but the design of the innovation system itself.
Modern tech ecosystems are built around a narrow set of assumptions: rapid scaling, standardized ownership structures, short commercialization timelines and access to risk capital that expects a predictable exit. Those assumptions work far less well for Indigenous enterprises, because many operate under governance and ownership models involving community accountability, shared equity and longer time horizons.
