That’s the message Karna Gupta, ITAC’s President and CEO, recently delivered to staff members in Minister Gary Goodyear’s office, Minister of State for Science and Technology and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario.

ITAC is pleased with the Government’s extension of funding for the Federal Economic Development Agency, as well as the creation of the Advanced Manufacturing Fund.  “ICT companies rely on these programs, which help drive momentum and keep the ecosystem strong to support the development of skills for the digital economy”, Mr. Gupta said.  At the same time, he said we need to make sure that talent issues are “front and centre”.  In discussions with the Minister’s staff, Mr. Gupta said that ITAC members could benefit from a boost in programs for co-op students, based on industry need or “pull”.

ITAC believes that ongoing dialogue between ITAC members and the Minister will produce positive results for the ICT sector and the Canadian economy.

For more information, contact:  Cindy Baker at cbaker@itac.ca.

“Access to foreign markets and investment is essential to the growth of Canadian companies”, said Mr. Gupta.  “We have successfully established an ongoing dialogue to collaborate with DFAIT on initiatives to promote international business development in the ICT sector”.

ITAC and International Trade officials shared a focus on markets in India, the United Arab Emirates, Europe and the U.S.  Mr. Gupta suggested that ITAC could work with DFAIT to further capitalize on the excellent work by our Trade Commissioner Services to provide information and connections in foreign markets, and to prepare for visits by foreign delegations.  ITAC members will also receive updates on the Canada-India Free trade negotiations, and access to DFAIT experts on the Indian market.  As well, ITAC will explore avenues for members to participate in the upcoming five-year review of the Government’s Global Commerce Strategy.

For more information, contact:  Cindy Baker at cbaker@itac.ca

Presentations delivered at the Information Technology Infrastructure Roundtable (ITIR) Roundtable, which was chaired by Liseanne Forand, President, Shared Services Canada (SSC), included:

Innovation Agenda -English
Innovation Agenda – French
Overview of Priorities and Activities – English
Overview of Priorities and Activities – French
Report on Architecture Framework Advisory Committee -English
Report on Architecture Framework Advisory Committee – French
What Success Looks Like -English
What Success Looks Like – French
Innovation Background – ITAC – FrenchInnovation Background – ITAC – English
Background – CITPA Innovation in the Business World – English
Background Deck – CITPA Innovation in the Business World – French
Background Deck – CITPA Innovative opportunities – English
Background Deck – CITPA Innovative Opportunities – French

“ITAC strongly supports all the efforts made by Shared Services Canada (SSC) leadership team to reach out to ITAC and its members during the strategic planning process for network email and data centre consolidation,” says Karna Gupta, President and CEO of ITAC. “ I have received very positive comments by more than 50 of the ITAC members who attend the four advisory committees which meet almost monthly. This open and refreshing approach that Shared Services has adopted in terms of consultation has enabled our members views to be heard. At the same time, the SSC has informed us that ITAC has made a difference in the direction and the plans they are making for government-wide services.  Liseanne  and her teams are also making a difference by the great job they are doing.”

The federal Government is shifting resources from indirect measures to direct programs for industrial support to drive Canadian innovation.   Following the publication of the Jenkins Committee Report in late 2011 and in the Federal Budgets of 2012 and 2013, this change in orientation has had a large impact on the SR&ED program, displacing hundreds of millions of dollars for use in other areas and programs.

The next ITAC Strategic Microsystems Council Best Practice Forum, Karen Atkinson, Partner, Business Tax Services at Ernst and Young (and the Chair of ITAC’s Tax and Finance Committee) will present an overview of the changes. Representatives from government agencies including  Jessie Maggard, Business Development Manager Business Development Operations Ontario Centres of Excellence, will join us to discuss existing new and pending initiatives in industrial support that the microsystems community should be aware of. This forum will be of particular value to CFOs, CTOs and executives seeking a clearer understanding of opportunities for industrial support. While the focus will be on microsystems, all members of the ITAC community are welcome to attend. Seating is limited. Please register early.

Date:
Monday, June 24, 2013

Time:
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. (Lunch will be provided)

Location:
Teledyne DALSA, 605 McMurray Road, Waterloo, Ontario   N2V 2E9

Cost:
ITAC Members – $35.00 + HST
Non-Members – $55.00 + HST

Click Here to Register

For more information, please contact Micheline Lepage at (613) 238-4822 x 2245 or via email at mlepage@itac.ca

Jim Muzyka, ITAC Chair 2013-14

Toronto, Ontario: June 14, 2013. Jim Muzyka, Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Xerox Services for Xerox Canada Ltd., has been named Chair of the Board of Directors for ITAC, the Information Technology Association of Canada, for the 2013/2014 term. He succeeds Jen Evans, the Founder and Chief Strategist of Sequentia Environics who successfully completed her term today.

Muzyka’s career is distinguished by achievements in both corporate and entrepreneurial dimensions of information and communications technology. It began in the mid-eighties at Xerox Canada where he held progressive sales and marketing functions. On leaving Xerox in 1998, he co-founded Optus Corporation, transforming a small printing and transaction processing business into a pioneer in the one-to-one customer communications. Optus was acquired by Symcor in 2000 and Muzyka became Senior Vice-President, Sales and Marketing in the Customer Communications Division. From Symcor, he served as the President of Mobile Computing Corporation where he successfully restructured the business to attract new investors. He returned to Xerox Canada in his current position in 2008. He is responsible for all aspects of the Xerox Services business in Canada and was instrumental in establishing the company as the leader in the Canadian document outsourcing market.

Apart from his strong credentials as an ICT executive, Muzyka is also a community builder and a vigorous champion of diversity in the ICT industry. He serves as the executive champion for women at Xerox Canada and is a member of the board of Canadian Women in Communications. “Jim joined the ITAC Board of Directors shortly after I did in 2008,” Jen Evans said. “At the time, I was the only female director on the Board. At his very first meeting Jim challenged us all on this and proceeded over the next two years to demonstrate that creating more diverse organizations is simply a matter of will. Today women comprise 30% of the ITAC Board and diversity is a central priority for the association – all due to Jim’s leadership.”

Karna Gupta, ITAC’s President and CEO also endorsed Muzyka’s leadership. “When I arrived at ITAC, Jim Muzyka was our treasurer and already recognized as a leader in our association.  ITAC faced a very challenging opportunity in 2012 as we brought the world to Canada with WCIT – the World Congress on Information Technology – in Montreal last October,” he said. “It was a large project that demanded a great deal of our Board and Executive Committee. Jim was a steadying influence throughout that project. He is a great asset to the ITAC community and I am looking forward to working even more closely with him in his role as Chair.

About ITAC:

The Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) is the voice of the Canadian information and communications technologies (ICT) industry. ITAC represents a diverse ICT community spanning telecommunications and internet services, ICT consulting services, hardware, microelectronics, software and electronic content. ITAC’s community of companies accounts for more than 70 per cent of the 572,700 jobs, $155.3 billion in revenue, $6.2 billion in R&D investment, $30.4 billion in exports and $11 billion in capital expenditures that the ICT industry contributes annually to the Canadian economy. The ICT sector currently represents 4.9 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) and accounted for 9.4 per cent of all real GDP growth since 2002. ITAC is a prominent advocate for the expansion of Canada’s innovative capacity and for stronger productivity across all sectors through the strategic use of technology.

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For further information, please contact:

Lynda Leonard

Senior Vice President, ITAC

(613) 238-4822 ext. 2223

Wayne Hendry

Manager of Communications, ITAC

(905) 602-8345 ext. 2224

John Quinn

Head of Corporate Communications, Xerox Canada

(416) 733-6828

_________________________________________________________________________________

June 18, 2013

Ken Sutcliffe, Interim Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) will follow up on its information strategy by presenting an update on the activities of the organization, its detailed IM/IT operating plan for Fiscal year 13/14, and its Architectural Blueprint and technology standards.

Date	Tuesday, June 18,  2013
Location	Sheraton Centre Toronto (Essex Ballroom) 123 Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario    M5H 2M9
Time	8:00 am – 9:00 am - Registration and Breakfast (a light breakfast will be provided) 9:00 am - Presentation by Ken Sutcliffe, Interim Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Cancer Care Ontario and Q&A period 10:30 am - Adjournment
Cost	ITAC Members – $70.00 + HST Government Rate – $70.00 + HST Non-Members – $140.00 + HST
Registration	Click here to register

Note: ITAC memberships are corporate – if uncertain, inquire before you register by visiting the ITAC members page.

For more information:
Contact Micheline Lepage, Manager, Programs and Events, ITAC – Tel: (613) 238-4822 x 2245 or at mlepage@itac.ca.

Looking forward to seeing you on June 18th!

Ken Sutcliffe Biography Ken Sutcliffe has over 30 years’ experience in health care – beginning in Australia and for the past 22 years in Ontario.  Before joining CCO, Ken worked in the community health care sector of Ontario where he managed the modernization of IT technologies and the implementation of Unified Communications (UC) tools for Community Care Access Centres (CCAC).   Since joining Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) Ken has continued that work and is taking CCO through a technology revitalization process, the roll-out of enterprise UC tools and the launch of several mobile health applications. Ken holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences in Nursing and more recently, he completed a Certificate in Business Information Systems from the University of Victoria.  In addition to these accreditations, Ken holds a variety of security, process and technology certifications.

 

John took home the top prize of $85,000 while the runner up, Meghan Athavale, CEO of  Winnipeg-based start-up PO-Motion $15,000 . Meghan said her chief motivator for entering the competition was a berth at Ryerson University’s Digital Media Zone incubator, part of the prize package.

PO-MOtion creates interactive floor and wall displays that work using standard projectors, cameras and computer hardware, where competitive solutions lock users into proprietary equipment. These can be used as advertising or marketing vehicles or simply for fun at a party.

ITAC is proud to welcome both winning companies as members! We also look forward to working withBackbone Magazine and our other sponsors and partners on ITAC’s Ingenious Awards.

For more information about the Second Annual Backbone Start Me Up Innovation Campaign, click here.

Overall, 11% of Canadian enterprises made sales of goods or services online in 2012, up from 8% in 2007. The value of online sales was highest in the wholesale trade sector at $44.6 billion, while the percentage of firms selling online was highest in the information and cultural industries sector, at 35%.

Canada’s largest firms, as defined in the Note to readers, dominated the online selling market, accounting for about $71.9 billion or 59% of the value of total online sales. Almost one-third (31%) of large enterprises sold online in 2012. Overall, e-commerce sales accounted for 4% of total sales of goods and services by Canadian enterprises. Almost half of Canadian enterprises made purchases of goods or services online in 2012.

Survey on Digital Technology and Internet Use – English

Survey on Digital Technology and Internet Use – French

Supplier Advisory Committee Agenda -English

Supplier Advisory Committee Agenda –French

Military Spend analysis – English

Military Spend analysis – French