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Daniel Arbeau is hoping his local company will help put the South Okanagan on the map as a burgeoning spot in the global tech industry.
Arbeau started NetDNA, which specializes in tech and automation solutions to streamline companies' work processes, in Penticton in January 2018.
"We take the internet and devices and software and we bring them all together in a fusion," Arbeau said. "I've listened to my customer's needs, I come up with how to do it and and then I build the hardware and the software together which then helps them to reduce a lot of labour."
NetDNA has already been honoured as a top new business in the community by the local Chamber of Commerce and tackled major markets in Canada and beyond, designing key technology for the oil and gas industry.
His key markets for now include Texas and oil and gas areas in Western Canada, but Arbeau has big plans to expand his tech for use in the South Okanagan's main industries like orchards and wineries.
"We are in the middle of using some of our work that we've done down in Texas and building a smart irrigation system for orchardists and other farmers in the area," Arbeau said.
"Sometimes when you say automation, people think of taking jobs away, but really the way we are approaching it is helping enhance their jobs and helping them do their jobs more effectively. We're not taking anyone's jobs away."
He hopes to roll out his new smart irrigation tech in the region in February or March.
Arbeau is excited to be part of a growing tech community in the Okanagan.
"There's not a lot of hardware companies, a lot of companies that are down here are more software-based," he explained. "But definitely the South Okanagan, if you include up to Kelowna and that, is starting to become quite a hub for tech ... it's a great place to be."
He also hopes to continue to grow the business for the betterment of the local economy.
"We might not be doing a whole lot of work in the Okanagan yet, but I am employing people here and we are trying to make a positive impact in our area."
