If those attending the Alberta IoT session at the Cochrane RancheHouse didn't know about Cochrane's tech ambitions before, they certainly do now.

On Nov. 4, the Alberta IoT Association attracted 140 people to an evening that focused upon Building Smart Cities with Internet of Things technology. Keynote speakers Matt Ludwig and Patrick Giroux, of PCL Construction, explained the company's strategy to integrate IoT and advanced analytics.

Equally important was the networking opportunities it provided. Besides representation from Cochrane and Calgary companies, it attracted officials from Microsoft and Telus.

McThings CEO Tom Groenland is a director of Alberta IoT, and his company is one of the founding members. He encouraged the organization to host the event here in his home of 19 years.

"It's a pretty well-kept secret of Cochrane having the technology ecosystem here that we do here. I think for a lot of them it was enlightening to understand that Cochrane is doing stuff, we're not just home of MacKay's and a bedroom community."

The Town of Cochrane provided an overview of what is happening in the tech sector here.

"I think they welcomed the opportunity to come to a place like this and are eager to be in a room of likeminded people aligned to go the same direction they are," says Mayor Jeff Genung, who spoke at the event.

He's impressed with what has been accomplished since the idea emerged in the 2017 civic election.

"It's in conversation everywhere, and we're now hosting events like this."

The mayor sees the development of a tech incubator as the next important step.

Groenland agrees.

"It's completely critical," says Groenland. "One of the hardest things as a small startup is getting that first space."

"For us specifically, most of our customers are Fortune 2000 multi-billion dollar organizations. With those companies, it's useful to have a board room and an address that's not a residence. That incubator will help that. That's the big thing they'll get out of it."

An incubator also enables startups to learn about the legal paperwork involved, develop marketing strategies, and share resources.

"What I'm really excited about is being able to share some of that, and then in the process also see if we can further work with those startups that we'd like to bring into there to create value for all parties involved."

While Alberta IoT officially launched in February, it has been in the works for three years, he explains. The breakup of major high tech companies, such as NovAtel, left a major gap and dispersed the knowledge base into small clusters.

"The goal is to first bring those companies together and then also create more opportunities to make Alberta a centre of excellence in IoT."

He believes the association can help potential competitors come together to deliver solutions.

"It's useful to have those connections because sometimes you can accomplish something together. The market for IoT is so big that in a lot of cases it helps to work together rather than compete directly locally."

He believes his company may have gained a few customers from the Nov. 4 event and suspects others did as well.

"Everybody that I talked to had a positive takeaway from the event and some actionable benefits that can help their business."

"Being able to deliver value, I think, is critical for these kinds of events to be successful. It wasn't just a bunch of people in a room talking and then not getting much out of it. People got something out of it, which is important."