By Steve Dietrich

I was privileged recently to attend an Industry Canada conference entitled E-commerce to E-economy, Strategies for the 21st Century.

The event, held in Ottawa under the auspices of the Canadian e-Business Initiative, was possibly the most strategic meeting of the minds in the past six years; government representatives and leaders of the largest and most influential technology companies in Canada gathered to discuss our nation’s overall economic performance generally, and our use of e-commerce technology specifically.

The overarching message was that in order for Canadian companies to grow and compete on a global scale, we need to embrace technology. And we are not doing so to the extent required.

Backbone was also the only media sponsor for the symposium and, if I may say so, the most relevant publication which reported on the event. Our coverage begins on page 28 of this issue.

I say we were the most relevant because, on top of the importance this conference and its theme holds for Canada, it also had a special significance for Backbone.

As we enter our fifth year of publishing, the message the magazine has been promulgating is that e-commerce technology can and does provide strategic and financial gains for companies. We are here to provide the practical information you need today to make a long-term difference in your corporate and personal performance.

Industry Canada has studied businesses of all sizes and found that those firms which implemented standard e-commerce initiatives — such as online marketing, computerized inventory management and electronic business-to-business relationship management — realized measurable and significant benefits.

The government agency concluded Canadian companies can gain strategic advantage by implementing e-business solutions.

We couldn’t agree more. And it is that perspective that we will continue to provide to you. Through the turmoil of the dot.com meltdown, 9/11, Enron, WorldCom, and through the terrible international strife in recent years, Backbone has endured because our readers and advertisers recognize the need for a magazine that reports on the tools Canadian businesses require to succeed. Backbone anticipates the future, keeps pace with and even strides ahead of the changes and opportunities that technology brings. We provide innovators an opportunity to be even more innovative.

We have established Backbone as a broad-based business magazine which focuses on the technology needs of Canadian executives. I am proud of our accomplishments thus far and pleased that we are also building for the future. We have built corporate distribution relationships with Globe Distribution Services (a division of The Globe and Mail), Bell Canada small and medium business customers, Scotiabank commercial customers, and Industry Canada’s prime influencers. The magazine was also distributed at more than 55 technology-related trade and consumer shows over the past year. Overall, distribution has increased by about 30 per cent over the last eight months, and now sits at more than 130,000 strategically-delivered copies. In the coming months you will see this trend continue, and I personally invite anyone who would like to reach out to employees or business partners to discuss corporate/bulk subscriptions and e-newsletters with us.

Contact information is on the masthead on page 14.

Also, we are thrilled to announce that the prestigious Branham300 will be published in the March/April issue of Backbone. Compiled by the Branham Group, the annual listing of Canada’s top privately and publicly held information technology companies was previously published by the National Post, and the agreement Branham recently signed with Backbone is, frankly, a coup for us.

As it’s actually rare that I sit down to write a column, I would like to thank the talented, knowledgeable and dedicated staff members who put this magazine together issue after issue, and express my appreciation for the continued support of our readers and advertisers.

I began this column by referencing Industry Canada’s message. I’d like to finish it with a quote from Anthony G. Wilhelm, whose book Digital Nation is also highly relevant here: “Renewed attention to building a Digital Nation requires ambitious and defensible benchmarks, goals and time to motivate coordinated activities across a range of institutions and organizations. Restarting the dialogue is a necessary first step to recommit to a long-term agenda in which in the foreseeable future we can envision everybody contributing productively to the economic and civic vitality of a digital nation.”

Thank you for supporting Backbone.