The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2024. The event traditionally focused on electronics and household appliances has changed so much over the years that it is now a must-see for any technology company who wishes to penetrate the American or even international market. This obviously attracts businesses from Quebec.
2024 marks the seventh consecutive year that the Quebec government has sent a commercial delegation to CES. It is led by Investissement Québec international and includes people from around forty companies in the province, who essentially orbit around a small stand adjacent to that of Ontario and not far from that of Korea. For the first time this year, the organizers of the imposing event have grouped these stands made up of national groups from all over the planet into a single zone, called “world pavilions”.
Added to this delegation are also local companies who come to CES on their own initiative. After all, there aren’t many opportunities to reach more than 140,000 people, most of the broader North American tech industry, in one fell swoop. These range from refrigerator manufacturers to automobile manufacturers to pharmaceutical companies, aircraft manufacturers, and others.
This diversity of economic sectors is also reflected in the Quebec delegation sent this year, notes the vice-president of exports of Investissement Québec international, Marie-Ève Jean. The role of Mme Jean’s goal is to help local companies increase their international reach, and this necessarily involves touring major international trade fairs like CES.
“We have a diversity of companies this year, both in the economic sectors they represent and in their size,” says Marie-Ève Jean at Duty, on the sidelines of a networking activity bringing together several members of the Quebec delegation. This includes leaders from established companies like Immervision and LeddarTech. We also meet young people from start-up incubators such as Centech at ETS or the Dobson center at McGill University.
“It’s part of our strategy,” continues M.me Jeans. It creates a synergy between Quebec companies themselves, whose leaders do not often have the opportunity to meet when they are in Quebec. They’re sort of captive for a few days when they come here, they can network. »
Rush to the West
Located a four-hour drive from Los Angeles, Las Vegas isn’t exactly a West Coast city. We imagine it isolated, in the middle of the Nevada desert, but that is a somewhat misleading image. First, the city itself has grown so much over the last 25 years that you can no longer see its limits even at the top of the tallest building in its city center.
Its convention center and numerous hotels are also the most spacious west of the Continental Divide, the dividing line west of which water flowing in rivers flows into the Pacific Ocean rather than the ‘Atlantic.
Seen from Quebec, this makes this city a perfect gateway to access companies on the American west coast, which have a strong technological focus. “The West Coast is quite attractive for our businesses,” assures David Brulotte, the general delegate of Quebec in Los Angeles. “Many companies here and in Quebec specialize in the same type of applications. »
Mr. Brulotte’s office is located in Los Angeles, but his delegation has representatives in San Francisco and Seattle, further north. These are important branches for Quebec given the economic potential of these regions, but also because they create a link between states that share several common values.
Quebec, for example, shares with California a carbon market that Washington State is currently eyeing. Its leaders are consulting the Quebec representatives present on site to find out how they could deploy their own carbon exchange. Obviously, it creates strong bonds, believes David Brulotte.
And if you have to go through Las Vegas to connect Quebec to California and Washington, why not.