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| The Innovation Issue |
March 16, 2005 |
By Peter Wolchak
IF PEOPLE YOU KNOW THINK CANADIAN COMPANIES ARE LESS COMPETITIVE, LESS ADVENTUROUS AND LESS INVENTIVE THAN COMPETITORS AROUND THE WORLD, HAND THEM A COPY OF THIS MAGAZINE.
THE BACKBONE YOU’RE HOLDING WASN’T PLANNED AS AN ISSUE FOCUSED ON INNOVATION, BUT IT SURE TURNED OUT THAT WAY.
This issue is bursting with Canadian corporate success stories, tech progress in the workplace and in the automotive and environmental sectors, and advances in IP, portable storage and advertising that promise to remake a number of industries.
To start, this issue contains Backbone’s first annual presentation of the Branham300, the premier ranking of Canadian IT software and services organizations. The largest list is the Top 250 organizations by revenue, which contains well-known heavy hitters and some significant players you have probably not yet heard of. The 300 also consists of 25 Up and Comers plus 25 Multinationals. Of particular note, too, is the Top 20 Movers and Shakers. These are the companies that not only thrive in hot markets—security, online HR services, portals, Web search, mobile computing, etc.—but which also zoom past competitors.
The Branham list is a great source of insight into Canada’s tech sector, and we are very pleased to be working with the Branham Group. Check out http://www.backbonemag.com/300 for an online version.
The Top 300 is based on earnings, and if your company didn’t submit its results we encourage you to do so for the 2005 list.
Maybe we’ll see your company in Backbone next year.
Everyday advances: Backbone’s mandate is to offer practical business technology information you can use today.
We deliver on that goal with the adaptive technology (AT) story on page 58. AT is often associated with people who have significant physical challenges, but increasingly it is coming to the rescue of the general workforce.
If an employee has slightly decreased vision or wrist pain from computer use, AT can help that person be more productive.
And if you’re interested in both the planet and profits, check out our green coverage on page 20. Environmentally friendly technology does not have to be a pain to use and expensive to implement; this article presents four practical and economical ideas that make a difference today.
Progressive cities: And recent events have certainly kept pace with our look at innovation. Just before this issue went to press, the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) named Toronto one of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of the Year.
The list is an international ranking, and more information is at http://www.intelligentcommunity.org.
Of Toronto, the ICF said: “A highly educated, technically proficient and creative workforce (nearly 60 per cent have some post-secondary education) has made Toronto a hub for finance, corporate headquarters, filmmaking, call centers, manufacturing and R&D. It ranks third among major North American metropolitan areas for the size of its information and communications technology labor force. Multiple carriers have wired the Toronto area and made access to broadband and advanced services nearly ubiquitous.”
ICF cited projects such as the Kids@Computers program, which focuses on disadvantaged children, and eCity, which improves the internal workings of government and its delivery of services.
Not to be outdone, Fredericton in New Brunswick announced a groundbreaking initiative: the deployment of a free city-wide Wi-Fi network. Wi-Fi was first intended to make the city’s 650 employees more efficient, but officials realized it is relatively easy to offer everyone free wireless broadband.
The Fred-eZone project already covers about half of all city computer users. The upcoming phase two will extend coverage to about 95 per cent.
The city is also handing PDAs to its employees. The computers will be used to access records and plans by building inspectors, parking-meter readers, fire inspectors, etc. There are also plans to loan PDAs to tourists for multimedia tours of the city, and to network-enable transit buses.
Police vehicles may even be moved to the Wi-Fi network.
Innovation advice: This issue also contains an interview with Terry Matthews, Canada’s preeminent tech entrepreneur, on page 26. I won’t ruin the surprise, but his closing comments about Canadian competitiveness are an echo of the statements above and a call to action for the future.
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