Communitech Blog

Not to be confused with the ‘old’ murphy’s law that posited “what can go wrong, will go wrong”, Jacqui Murphy has been spending a lot of time of late talking how to make things go right for entrepreneurs. Her belief is that the focus of building companies should be on getting customers and revenue first — and not the ‘old normal’ that you must raise money first. She believes that not only is it the new order — it’s also the best way to establish a power position when you do go to raise money with VCs. I agree and invite you to check it out and let us know your thoughts about the ‘new murphy’s law’. http://blog.techcapital.com/
- Iain

We’re on the road again-to London this time- spreading the word about what a great place Waterloo Region is for technology professionals to build their careers.

On Wednesday from 5-7:30 p.m., a number of Waterloo Region’s technology companies will descend on the Hilton London (300 King St., London, On.) to speak with candidates.  Skills most in demand are software developers, engineers, quality assurance specialists, project managers and product managers.

Find out more about the event, as well as about Waterloo Region companies that are hiring, on www.waterlootechjobs.com.

-Karen

The Canada 3.0 Forum kicks off tomorrow in Stratford – two days, 1,000 participants, 67 speakers, 31 demos and exhibits; all intended to kick off a conversation about Canada’s digital economy. The Waterloo Region Record calls it “an invasion of Canada’s digerati,” and Kevin Tuer, VP of digital media with Communitech, is pointing the way.

Formerly Communitech’s CTO-in-Residence, Kevin is now managing director of the Canadian Digital Media Network, which was announced in January thanks to a $10.7 million investment by the Networks of Centres of Excellence. I like to think of Canada 3.0 as the launch party for the Network. And Kevin’s our host.

Communitech has been obsessed with digital media for the last two years, lining up industry partners, applying for federal and provincial funding, and talking to R&D managers about what digital media tools and technologies offer them by way of opportunities. Some people ask me, ‘Why?’

We started thinking about digital media because Waterloo Region companies are expert ‘tool makers’ — visualization, data management, mobile computing, and more. And we see huge opportunities for more business-driven commercialization when digital media tools are applied in multiple sectors: entertainment, education, health care, advanced manufacturing, financial services. That translates to more companies, bigger companies, and stronger companies in Canada’s tech sector. And we’re all about that.

That’s Communitech is building a digital media and mobile convergence centre in Waterloo Region. Along with our partners at the University of Waterloo Stratford Institute, the convergence centre will anchor the Canadian Digital Media Network. One of the first jobs is to figure out who’s doing cool stuff in the digital media space in Canada, and then get them connected to one another. The trick is getting the tool makers and the tool users to start a dialogue. And these are two groups who don’t usually work closely together. Until now.

So Canada 3.0 marks the start of a big conversation about Canada’s digital future. And I’m glad I have a front row seat. Let’s get this party started.

Our community is a success in part because we spend time thinking about what’s next: What’s the next opportunity? What’s the next innovation? What’s the next sector where tech can have an impact? 

We’re full of questions about the future possibilities and opportunities. Combined with our capacity to DO something about the opportunities we find and our resilience… . Well, you can start to see why we’re one of the most “talked about” tech Regions in North America.

We’re producing a publication called TechNEXT. In it, we explore new areas of technological capability and strength. We examine the commercial, scientific and mental momentum of the Region and discuss the aspects of our ecosystem that cultivate start-ups and business success.  I hope you’ll take a look at it. More importantly I hope it get you thinking about what’s NEXT.

TechNEXT is available for distribution on May 31^st. You’ll find copies of the publication at Communitech, CTT, the Canada 3.0 Forum on June 8-9, 2009 and in local waiting rooms. We’re also distributing to specific postal code areas through The Record. 

Post-script: When you see TechNEXT, would you take a very brief survey to let us know what you think of the content? We’re interested in your opinion. Thanks in advance!

Click Here to take the TechNEXT survey

One of the sessions hosted at the Tech Leadership Conference yesterday was called “Winning Real Opportunities: The U.S. Stimulus Anti-Hype”.  I had the honour of chairing this session.  Judy Bradt of Summit Insight brought a lot of energy to the room.  However, there weren’t many people in the room to absorb that energy.

This caused me to ponder (it’s always dangerous for an engineer to ponder).   Given that the U.S. Government is one of the largest customers in the world for many products, why is it we had so few in the room to partake of Judy’s wisdom?  One could argue that it is far too onerous to work with the U.S. Government.  Perhaps, timing isn’t right.  Perhaps we just don’t understand the process.

If it’s the latter, the good news is, we can fix it.  Judy had agreed to come back to the Region and take those interested parties through the process.  She has even agreed to meet one on one to discuss specific cases.  Any interest?  If so, email me at kevin@communitech.ca.