I'm constantly talking to technology companies and they're echoing a similar refrain: there's a war for good technical skills that shows no signs of abating. Even more of a challenge is the ability to find people with a combination of engineering talent and strong people skills.

Since this talent is at the heart of the technology sector, it behooves us to understand the trends that are affecting the industry and to look at ways of  trying to improve the situation. Here's what's going on.

Somehow, the words "incubator" and "accelerator" have somehow become interchangeable. They're not. They're two different things.

Business incubators have been around for decades—they're the original. Accelerators, the new kids on the block, started popping around the turn of the millenium.

There is a PayPal mafia, a Facebook mafia. and a Twitter mafia. They're all powerful networks of entrepreneurs and investors based in Silicon Valley.

Now, there is a “Canadian mafia” emerging. And it's very strong.

It wasn't terribly long ago that incubators were a niche concept. In 1980, you could almost count them on your two hands—there were just 12. Today, there are literally thousands littering Canada and the US.

While only a few are prominently famous—think Y Combinator in Silicon Valley and TechStars in New York City—hundreds upon hundreds more in every shape and size have triggered a tidal surge in this service of fostering startups. The idea is great: mix quality mentorship with access to funding to cultivate ecosystems of successful technology companies.

Yep, the idea is great. But do they actually work?

A small Nova Scotian startup, SABRTech, has won the Nova Scotia Clean Tech Open, an international competition designed to fund and mentor clean technology startups.

SABRTech, formerly Marine Arctic and Antarctic Technologies, is developing a procedure to convert grown and harvested algae into aviation biofuel.  The idea is obviously a good one: the company was awarded $100,000 in cash, $200,000 as a negotiable seed investment, and mentoring and business development services.

Toronto's Mistakeville has created a "how not to" site - a place where people can share their mistakes and learn from the mistakes of others.

Because we believe you aren’t defined by your mistakes. Instead, you are defined by how you react to them. We believe mistakes are a badge of action. It's easy to make no mistakes – just do nothing. We believe sharing mistakes helps both ourselves and others. Sharing a mistake is the single most powerful thing you can do to learn and grow from your mistake. Sharing a mistake is like giving a gift of learning.

Mistakeville was created by Dimitris Sotirakopoulos and Michael Kahn. The pair are learning from other startup entrepreneurs mistakes and are currently looking for a technical co-founder to join the team.