Judy Bishop害羞草研究所檚 business career has been about riding waves of change in the high-tech industry.

And as she has immersed her past business acumen and experience into Kelowna害羞草研究所檚 burgeoning high-tech sector, she sees the signs of another big wave about to sweep across the Okanagan.

Bishop says the ecosystem developing in Kelowna, mixing start-up companies with the venture investment and company building skills of long-time tech industry players seeking the Okanagan lifestyle, will further enhance that foundation to meet the demands of an expanding industry.

害羞草研究所淚 don害羞草研究所檛 think we will recognize the change that will have occurred in this industry 10 years from now. There is a huge wow factor that is going to come into play here,害羞草研究所� Bishop said.

A big part of that wow factor, she says, will be the opening of the Okanagan Centre for Innovation now under construction in downtown Kelowna, which she says will be a huge symbol of the impact the high-tech world is making here,  drawing together start-up companies, investors and company development knowledge.

In B.C., she says, there are 550 high-tech companies and 7,000 people working in high-tech industries across the Okanagan. 害羞草研究所淚n our province, technology employs more people than oil and gas, mining and forestry combined. But the average person is probably not aware of that.害羞草研究所�

Bishop said even she was caught off guard when she began looking into the prospect of living in Kelowna and where she would fit in the local business community.

害羞草研究所淚 thought Kelowna was a technology backwater initially, and I admit that was my Vancouver chauvinism. Now I害羞草研究所檓 embarrassed that I ever let myself think that way.

害羞草研究所淎s I gained more insight into what is happening here, it was shocking to me how so few people outside the Okanagan understand the tiny tidal wave of successful companies that are already operating here. There is no question in my mind many of these companies can become world-class entities.害羞草研究所�

She knows what she害羞草研究所檚 talking about, having been involved at senior corporate management levels of the corporate tech industry growth dating back to the 1980s.

害羞草研究所淚 think the birthing rate of new companies here in the Okanagan, and getting them to toddlerhood has been great, but what has been missing is having the ecosystem to get them to later adolescence or adulthood,害羞草研究所� she said.

害羞草研究所淏ut there are people like me who are moving here, choosing to want to live here because of all the Okanagan has to offer, who can lend their experience and investment to support the further development of that ecosystem.害羞草研究所�

While she still has a place in Vancouver,  Bishop said she now considers herself a full-time Kelowna resident害羞草研究所敽π卟菅芯克鶟even my plants have made the move here害羞草研究所澓π卟菅芯克鶖where among other things she serves as an executive in residence advisor for Accelerate Okanagan.

Bishop acknowledges herself as a highly motivated 害羞草研究所淎 type personality害羞草研究所� who loves the business world, but is someone with an eclectic list of outside interests害羞草研究所攐rchid breeder, wine connoisseur, freelance photojournalist, jam-maker, electric bass player in a rock band. And she can fly a plane.

Where does she find the time for all that? 害羞草研究所淚害羞草研究所檓 organized, I don害羞草研究所檛 watch TV and I don害羞草研究所檛 have kids so I have lots of time to do these things. I害羞草研究所檓 the kind of person that needs new information pounding through my head all the time or I get bored.害羞草研究所�

But still, getting into business was never her original intention as a career. Bishop was born in a northern Ontario community, to a francophone family who spoke very little English. 害羞草研究所淢y parents realized I couldn害羞草研究所檛 survive in an English-speaking school so they shipped me off to live with my older sister in Quebec where I could attend a French-speaking high school,害羞草研究所� she said.

Not particularly thrilled with the climate of Quebec, Bishop set her sights on Vancouver, studying biochemistry at UBC with the idea of going to medical school.

害羞草研究所淚 changed my mind at the last minute. I had received, and still have to this day, my acceptance letter to med school from UBC, but I realized at that moment that being a doctor was doing what my father wanted me to do, but that I really wanted to do something different with my life,害羞草研究所� she said.

That 害羞草研究所渟omething different害羞草研究所� led her to apply for a senior management position with a high-tech start-up company.

Ever since, Bishop says her business career has coincided with the ups and downs of the high-tech world.

Today, Bishop sees herself as bringing two distinct skills to the table from her past business experience: That of being a deeply trained negotiator and deal structurer, as well as being an experienced corporate board director.

害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 easier than ever to start a company anywhere in the world,害羞草研究所� she said. 害羞草研究所淢oney has no country. It goes where opportunity exists for it to go to work.害羞草研究所�