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The Poieo3d Printer Brings Tomorrow's Technology Into Today's Home

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TORONTO, ON – 3D printing, in the form of the revolutionary Poieo3D Printer, is finally ready for prime time – not to mention play time and study time! Designed BY families FOR families, the Poieo3D Printer aims to make an exciting new technology as commonplace and worry-free as a microwave oven. While not quite “Tea, Earl Grey, Hot”, the Poeio3D Printer just might be the closest thing on Earth to home-based Star Trek tech.  

Currently featured in a high-profile Kickstarter campaign, the Poieo3D Printer is the first such featured device to offer a one-year warrantyFREE lifetime online education, and a family-friendly, child-safe design

Though 3D printing technology has proven its worth time and time again in recent years, the majority of applications have been in industrial and commercial settings. The Poieo3D Printer is the logical next step in the evolution of 3D printing, seamlessly incorporating this advanced technology into our daily lives by ensuring it's safe, simple to use, and affordable.

To that end, the Toronto, Ontario-based R&D team behind the Poieo3D Printer made safety a priority in all aspects of the design, beginning with the elegantly rounded, Polycarbonate-ABS injection molded case. There are no confusing and superfluous buttons or screens, no sharp edges or fiddly clamps, no hot plates or wayward lasers to burn tiny hands or damage inquisitive eyes. Instead, a large window illuminated by a cool-running white LED bulb showcases each and every 3D-printed creation as it comes into being, layer by paper-thin layer.

“Sure there are competitive products with flashy laser cutter attachments,” explains Tom Zelenka (M.B.A., P.Eng.),  one of the Co-Founders behind the Poieo3D Printer, “but as a parent do you really want that in your home? I don't know how many times my son has reached in for a part while it's printing. If that was a laser cutter he would not have a hand!”

The Poieo3D Printer isn't just user-safe, it's environmentally-friendly too. The 3D printing process employs biodegradable print material derived from renewable resources such as corn starch and sugarcane. This material does NOT give off foul-smelling, toxic fumes when the printer is used, making it ideal for home or classroom use. Available in a rainbow of colors at a surprisingly low price, the material comes in the form of thin flexible filaments wound on spools for ease of storage.

The family-oriented team behind the Poieo3D Printer strongly believes in the value of their “baby”; the fact they're offering a one-year warranty with every Poieo3D Printer (no other price-competitive product on Kickstarter or otherwise offers this) means they're in this for the long haul.

In addition, when you purchase a Poieo3D Printer you also gain access to FREE on-line education for life. “We have learned so much along the way through this journey and want other families and kids to benefit,” states Jeff Alford, Co-Founder of the company. “What we found frustrating, however, was that we could not find a good on-line educational resource that teaches how to use 3D printers, where to find and/or design images, and so on. Our goal is to create an on-line educational community of learning with training modules, instructional videos, projects for family, friends, kids, and school teachers.” You can't put a price on that kind of knowledge!

Both Alford and Zelenka share the vision of bringing a learning package centered on the Poieo 3D printer into the classroom.   It is their hope that teachers will take advantage of this amazing technology to further their learning experience in order to reach the diverse endpoints required in the Board of Education curriculum.  For example, a learning module of the grade 4 science curriculum could be developed that exploits the capacities of the Poieo3d printer, allowing students to actually make their own gears and pulleys.  “If a picture is worth a thousand words, well then a working model is worth a million!” explains Zelenka.  “There are many aspects of the curriculum where the Poieo3D Printer could be used to further the learning process from biology to geometry and so much more,” according to Alford, “and if we are successfully funded in Kickstarter these are the types of things we would do.”

The Poieo3D Printer lists for CAD$799.99 at the company website but in concert with the Kickstarter campaign running until the end of 2014, purchasers can take advantage of a host of special, value-added discounts: the Early Bird at CAD$649 (US$571), theKickstarter Special at CAD$699 (US$615), and the value-infused Kickstarter Bundle that features a trio of Poieo3D Printers plus three spools of printing filament for just CAD$1,999 or US$1,759! US dollar prices are based on the current exchange rate of 0.88 but there's no guarantee this lucrative exchange rate for buyers in the United States will remain so enticing over the short to medium term. 

For more information on the revolutionary, groundbreaking, family-friendly Poieo3D Printer, please visit the home page athttp://www.poieo3d.com/ and the Kickstarter campaign page at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/poieo3d/poieo3d-a-friendly-3d-printer-by-families-for-fami

 

ABOUT Poieo3D

 

Poieo3D was co-founded by several families inspired by the wealth of opportunities offered by the amazing new world of 3D printing. We believe an affordable, easy to use, and child-safe 3D printer such as Poieo3D should be available to ALL families and should be a vital component of every home and classroom. Our founders have successfully launched new products in Canada and have expertise in product development and fulfilment while our team includes skilled engineers who have spent many years designing and making 3D printers and software.

 


CIGI releases key resource in ongoing debate on global Internet policy and governance

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Waterloo, Canada – November 21, 2014 – The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) has published a new resource, on challenges and opportunities in Internet policy, developed to inform the work of the Global Commission on Internet Governance (GCIG).

Chaired by Sweden’s former Prime Minister Carl Bildt, the GCIG is a two-year initiative launched in January 2014 by CIGI and Chatham House, and will produce a comprehensive stand on the future of multi-stakeholder Internet governance.

The new briefing book, Finding Common Ground: Challenges and Opportunities in Internet Governance and Internet-Related Policy, provides readers with an understanding of the key issues and actors involved in shaping Internet governance. Initially presented to the GCIG’s twenty-nine commissioners at their Stockholm meeting in May 2014, the briefing book is now available to the media and public by visiting: www.cigionline.org/publications/common-ground.

“Researchers with CIGI’s Global Security & Politics Program have conducted an extensive review of the issues affecting Internet governance,” says Fen Osler Hampson, Co-Director of the GCIG and Director of CIGI’s Global Security & Politics Program. “They are building a foundation of information to support the work the Commission is undertaking — helping to to contextualize the current debate on challenges, like surveillance, and opportunities, like economic development.”

CIGI’s Finding Common Ground covers the following key issues, among others, that are front and centre in the current Internet governance debate:

  • Managing systemic risk including norms of state conduct; cybercrime and surveillance;  and infrastructure protection and risk management
  • Preservation innovation including Internet access, interconnection, and economic development; and critical internet resources
  • Ensuring rights online including technological neutrality for human rights; privacy, the right to be forgotten and the right to access the Internet; and freedom of expression and freedom of assembly online
  • Current Internet governance ecosystem including the governance role of private and public sector actors; the United Nations and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development; and individuals as actors in Internet governance

The next meeting of the GCIG will be held in Ottawa, Canada, from November 24 to 25, 2014. For more information on the GCIG, including its twenty-nine commissioners and thirty-five research advisers, please visit: www.ourinternet.org. Follow the GCIG on Twitter @OurInternetGCIG.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Kevin Dias, Communications Specialist, CIGI 
Tel: 519.885.2444, ext. 7238, Email: kdias@cigionline.org

The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) is an independent, non-partisan think tank on international governance. Led by experienced practitioners and distinguished academics, CIGI supports research, forms networks, advances policy debate and generates ideas for multilateral governance improvements. Conducting an active agenda of research, events and publications, CIGI’s interdisciplinary work includes collaboration with policy, business and academic communities around the world. CIGI was founded in 2001 by Jim Balsillie, then co-CEO of Research In Motion (BlackBerry), and collaborates with and gratefully acknowledges support from a number of strategic partners, in particular the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario. For more information, please visit www.cigionline.org.

Over $16.8 Billion Lost Per Year from Data Loss and Downtime in Canada According to Global IT Study

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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS:

 

·       Globally, companies on average lost 400%2 more data over the last two years (equivalent to 24 million emails3 each)

In Canada:

·       Data loss and downtime costs enterprises $16.8 billion

·       57% of IT professionals are not fully confident in their ability to recover information following an incident

·       36% of organizations lack a disaster recovery plan for emerging workloads4; just 14% have plans for big data, hybrid cloud and mobile

·       Only 1% of organizations are data protection “Leaders”; 9% “Adopters”; 90% are behind the curve

·       China, Hong Kong, The Netherlands, Singapore and the US lead protection maturity; Switzerland, Turkey and the UAE lag behind

 

HOPKINTON, MASS, DECEMBER 2, 2014 – EMC Corporation (NYSE: EMC) today announced the findings of a new global data protection study that reveals that data loss and downtime cost enterprises $1.7 trillion globally and $16.8 billion in Canada in the last twelve months.  Data loss is up by 400% since 2012 while, surprisingly, just over half of Canadian organizations are still not fully confident in their ability to recover after a disruption. 

 

EMC Global Data Protection Index, conducted by Vanson Bourne, surveyed 3,300 IT decision makers from mid-size to enterprise-class businesses across 24 countries.

 

Impact of Data Loss and Downtime

 

The good news is that the number of data loss incidents is decreasing overall.  However, the volume of data lost during an incident is growing exponentially in Canada:

 

·       72% of enterprises surveyed experienced data loss or downtime in the last 12 months

·       The average business experienced more than five working days (42 hours) of unexpected downtime in the last 12 months

·       Other commercial consequences of disruptions were loss of employee productivity (48%) and delays to product development (32%)

 

New Wave of Data Protection Challenges

 

Business trends, such as big data, mobile and hybrid cloud create new challenges for data protection in Canada:

 

·       55% of businesses lack a disaster recovery plan for any of these environments and just 1% have a plan for all three

·       In fact, 54% rated big data, mobile and hybrid cloud as ‘difficult’ to protect

·       With 29% of all primary data located in some form of cloud storage, this could result in substantial loss

 

The Protection Paradox

 

Adopting advanced data protection technologies dramatically decreases the likelihood of disruption.  And, many companies turn to multiple IT vendors to solve their data protection challenges.  However, a siloed approach to deploying these can increase risks and costs:

 

·       Enterprises with three vendors were likely to spend an average of $5 million more on their data protection infrastructure compared to those with just one

 

The Maturity Matrix

 

EMC Data Protection Index survey participants were award points based on their responses, ranking their data protection maturity in one of four categories (see methodology for further details):

·       The vast majority -- 90% -- of Canadian businesses rank in the bottom two categories for data protection maturity

·       Globally 13% (10% in Canada) rank ahead of the curve, with 11% (9% in Canada) classed as “Adopters” and 2% (1% in Canada) considered “Leaders”

·       China has the greatest number of companies ahead of the curve (30%) and the UAE the least (0%) 

·       Very large enterprises of more than 5,000 employees were twice as likely (24%) to be ahead of the curve than smaller enterprises of 250-449 employees (12%); companies in the U.S. and The Netherlands were the greatest vanguards outside of Asia Pacific and Japan (at 20% and 21% respectively)

 

 

EXECUTIVE QUOTE

 

“This research highlights the enormous monetary impact of unplanned downtime and data loss to businesses everywhere.  With 62% of IT decision-makers interviewed feeling challenged to protect hybrid cloud, big data and mobile, it’s understandable that almost all of them lack the confidence that data protection will be able to meet future business challenges.  We hope the global data protection index will prompt IT leaders to pause and reevaluate whether their current data protection solutions are in alignment with today’s business requirements as well as their long term goals.”

 

Michael Sharun, President, EMC Canada

 

 

 

 

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

1.                Read through the complete findings at http://emc.im/DPindex

2.                To view the Global Results Infographic, visit http://emc.im/DPindex 

 

METHODOLOGY

Research carried out independently by Vanson Bourne between August and September 2014.  Respondents were IT decision makers within organizations employing over 250 people.  There were a total of 3,300 respondents from 24 countries.  200 respondents each in the USA, UK, France and Germany and 125 respondents each in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, UAE, Italy, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Australia, Japan, China, Korea, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, The Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.

To create the maturity curve, IT decision-makers were asked specific questions relating to their backup and recovery experience, strategy and infrastructure. Each section was scored out of 64 to give an overall maturity rating. This score was then multiplied by a scaling factor to normalize the curve and give a total score out of 100 points. Once scored, these IT decision-makers were divided into four even segments from a low to high score; Laggards (scoring 1–25), Evaluators (scoring 26-50), Adopters (scoring 51-75) and Leaders (scoring 76-100).

 

FOOTNOTES

1. Enterprises defined as those companies employing more than 250 people. Figures based on company data from Dunn and Bradstreet. Figure represents total estimated loss to enterprises within the 24 countries covered by the EMC research

2. Comparative figure based on previous EMC Disaster Recovery Surveys

3. Average total loss per company is 2.33TB.  Assumes average email size of 100KB

4. “Emerging workloads” here comprise hybrid cloud, big data and mobile

 

ABOUT EMC

EMC Corporation is a global leader in enabling businesses and service providers to transform their operations and deliver IT as a service. Fundamental to this transformation is cloud computing. Through innovative products and services, EMC accelerates the journey to cloud computing, helping IT departments to store, manage, protect and analyze their most valuable asset – information – in a more agile, trusted and cost-efficient way. Additional information about EMC can be found at www.EMC.com.

Tapped Mobile Partners with Shazam as Exclusive Canadian Advertising Representative

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TORONTO (Dec. 03, 2014) – Tapped Mobile, Canada’s leading provider of mobile ad technology solutions, today announced a new partnership with the world’s top engagement platform, Shazam. Beginning today, Tapped Mobile is the exclusive representative of Shazam in Canada, selling all integration, and advertising opportunities. With 9.5 million current Canadian users, and 300,000 new users each month, Shazam delivers targeted, companion mobile and online experiences to any audience. The combined market-leading, multiplatform, content and technology solutions of Tapped Mobile and Shazam create the opportunity for exciting mobile advertising experiences.

Shazam’s unique listening interface allows consumers to immediately connect offline TV and music experience to online, immersive discovery, special offers, and find delightful extras. Canadians have already been connected through their Shazammed content to advertisers like McDonald's, Reitmans, Toyota, Michael Hill Jewellers and HBC.

68% of users who Shazam an ad engage with that brand. 

“We’re mobile-first and tech-forward at Tapped. Mobile is the first screen, so partnering with Shazam is a perfect fit for Tapped, and for the advertisers we work with,” said Jed Schneiderman, President, Tapped Mobile. “Lives of consumers are deeply integrated with their mobile devices. With Shazam’s vast audience, and our ability to define, target, and create immersive mobile experiences to engage audiences, it opens the door to more – and more importantly, better - ways to reach consumers on the most ubiquitous of all platforms.”

“Working with Canada’s leader in both mobile technology solutions and mobile market research is a great fit for Shazam, as one of the world’s most popular mobile apps,” said Josh Partridge, Director, EMEA and Canada, Shazam. “The market demands more innovative and mobile-first marketing programs, and this partnership will deliver that to Canadian Shazam users.” 

Mobile is connective, and central to the lives of Canadian consumers. Understanding where they are and how they’re using their phones is vital to effective mobile advertising. Nearly 84% of TV viewers use a smartphone or tablet while watching TV, and 53% of consumers with tablets or smartphones have engaged in mobile-based activity related to what they're watching on TV. In addition, 20% of audiences on tablets and 13% on smart phones have made a purchase on their device after seeing a product on TV. Shazam gets consumers to that content quickly, and Tapped Mobile delivers targeted, content-driven, immediately relevant integrations.

 

About Shazam

Shazam is one of the world’s most popular mobile apps that magically connects people to the world around them. Shazam pioneered audio recognition technology that helps people identify music and has grown into an app that effortlessly connects people with artists, TV shows, ads, cinema and radio. Shazam has been downloaded over 500 million times, is downloaded over 13 million times a month, and has over 100 million monthly active users.

 

For further information about Shazam Entertainment visit www.shazam.com and @Shazam.

 

About Tapped Mobile

Tapped Mobile is a leading Canadian provider of mobile advertising technology solutions.  The company offers Canadian brands a unique approach to mobile marketing by leveraging partnerships with the world’s leading mobile ad technology companies. Tapped delivers unparalleled ad tech to Canada, including store-level mobile location data; first video ad units with social sharing; four different types of in-stream video ad units; mobile re-targeting; and industry-leading mobile media research.  In addition, the company offers traditional display and video advertising across a diverse list of premium and exclusive publishers and ad networks. tappedmobile.com

PressReader reveals massive global network of partners

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Vancouver, Canada – December 3, 2014 – Over 5,600 hotels, libraries, cafés and cruise lines are now sponsoring PressReader HotSpots in their locations, offering guests 3,500 newspapers and magazines.

To find the nearest PressReader HotSpot, please visit www.pressreader.com/hotspot/map.

PressReader carries thousands of prominent newspapers such as: The Washington Post, USA Today, The Guardian, Le Monde and The Globe and Mail. It also includes a thousand popular magazines: Vogue, Cosmopolitan, GQ, Elle, Martha Stewart Living and T3.

PressReader innovative solution has quickly become the travel industry standard. Leading hotel chains are now offering PressReader HotSpots as a standard amenity, these include: Shangri-La Hotels, Trump Hotels, Sofitel, InterContinental Hotels, Hotel Jen, Pullman, Novotel, Mercure and Ibis.

“PressReader HotSpots have grown astronomically since the solution launched a year ago,” said Alex Gruntsev, PressReader’s Chief Innovation Officer. “We pioneered an all-you-can-read paid content distribution model, similar to Netflix, and now it includes thousands of partners that sponsor access. We were the first to launch this approach for newspapers and magazines, and now we’re taking it to the next level with the new PressReader HotSpot Map.”

PressReader HotSpots combine the innovative mobile app with the elegant presentation of PressReader online at PressReader.com. Businesses can easily designate their local Wi-Fi enabled area as a PressReader HotSpot.

Some of the first PressReader HotSpots were Virgin Australia airport lounges, the New York Public Library and the San Francisco Public Library.

About PressReader

PressReader is an all-you-can-read digital newsstand that connects people through news, and is available to 250 million people to read, share and talk about news. Full issues of 3,500 global newspapers and magazines can be read online, in print or downloaded via the app. Businesses offer their own customers PressReader Hotspot, a solution that provides PressReader sponsored access at: libraries, hotels, corporate offices, airport lounges, airlines, cruise lines and more. PressReader also offers readers an individual subscription to continue accessing content from anywhere. PressReader partners with more than 4,000 publishers in over 100 countries, to help publishers monetize and distribute their content, and grow their global reach and readership. PressReader has been redefining how people read, share and talk about news for 15 years from its headquarters in Vancouver.

For more information visit pressreader.com or about.pressreader.com, and follow us on TwitterFacebookLinkedIn and Google+.

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PressReader Contact:

William Mbaho

Tel.: +1 604 278 4604 x359

williamm [at] pressreader.com

TELUS launches Canada’s first Internet of Things marketplace for businesses

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Toronto, ON – TELUS is helping Canadian businesses accelerate their adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) technology with the launch of the TELUS IoT Marketplace – an online space offering turn-key IoT solutions from cutting-edge innovators and industry-leading technology companies. For businesses, the TELUS IoT Marketplace will simplify the complexity of IoT and allow them to quickly deploy a solution to help reduce costs and enhance their efficiency, productivity and profitability. For developers and IoT technology providers, the marketplace will provide an instant sales channel, with lead generation, the support of TELUS’ sales and marketing teams, and integrated billing. 

“IoT technology has tremendous potential to make Canadians businesses more productive and profitable, but amidst the hype and predictions it can be challenging to know where to start,” said Shawn Sanderson, TELUS’ vice-president of Internet of Things. “With the TELUS IoT Marketplace, we’ve carefully selected some of the most innovative IoT technology on the market and packaged it as ready-to-implement solutions; making it easier for businesses to take advantage of this game-changing technology.”

Notwithstanding the significant exposure and promise attached to IoT, Canadian businesses have been slow to embrace the technology. An IDC study commissioned by TELUS earlier this year revealed that only 13 per cent of Canadian businesses will have deployed an IoT solution by the end 2014. A surge of growth is expected however, with an additional 30 per cent looking to deploy in the next two years and Canadian IoT spending to reach $21 billion by the end of 2018.

The TELUS IoT Marketplace has the potential to greatly accelerate adoption by Canadian businesses by making it easier, faster and less expensive to implement an IoT solution. TELUS has done the research and back-end integration to shorten deployment time from months to just a few days, and services purchased from the marketplace can conveniently appear as a monthly charge on a TELUS bill – meaning businesses don’t have to invest in up-front capital expenditures.

At launch, the TELUS IoT Marketplace will feature 38 solutions across multiple industries, including:

• fleet management solutions to improve driver safety and reduce fuel costs 
• oil and gas solutions to monitor and improve pipeline safety
• retail solutions to optimize store traffic and increase sales
• restaurant solutions to improve food safety
• construction solutions to track high-value assets and reduce losses
• public safety solutions to connect and coordinate emergency responders

TELUS is actively onboarding new partners and plans to add solutions on a weekly basis.

The TELUS IoT Marketplace is one of several significant innovations TELUS will bring to the IoT space. In addition to launching the IoT Marketplace, TELUS is building a vibrant ecosystem with other IoT leaders – working with major global players like Accenture, IBM, Cisco and Intel – to bring the best of IoT to Canada. As an example, TELUS has signed a deal with Jasper – a pioneer and global leader in IoT – to provide customers and partners with the world’s leading platform for managing their connected devices.

“TELUS is leading the way in bringing the world’s best IoT technology to Canada,” added Mr. Sanderson. “Our strategy builds on the multi-billion-dollar investments we’ve made in spectrum, network infrastructure, next-generation data centres, IT security and healthcare technology, and ensures Canadians will be able capitalize on the full potential IoT has to offer.”

The TELUS IoT Marketplace can be found at telus.com/iot.

About TELUS 
TELUS (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is Canada’s fastest-growing national telecommunications company, with $11.8 billion of annual revenue and 13.5 million customer connections, including 8.0 million wireless subscribers, 3.2 million wireline network access lines, 1.45 million Internet subscribers and 888,000 TELUS TV customers. TELUS provides a wide range of communications products and services, including wireless, data, Internet protocol (IP), voice, television, entertainment and video, and is Canada's largest healthcare IT provider.

In support of our philosophy to give where we live, TELUS, our team members and retirees have contributed more than $350 million to charitable and not-for-profit organizations and volunteered 5.4 million hours of service to local communities since 2000. Created in 2005 by Executive Chairman Darren Entwistle, TELUS’ 11 community boards across Canada have led the company’s support of grassroots charities and will have contributed $47 million in support of 3,700 local charities organizations by the end of 2014, enriching the lives of more than two million Canadian children and youth. TELUS was honoured to be named the most outstanding philanthropic corporation globally for 2010 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, becoming the first Canadian company to receive this prestigious international recognition. 

For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.

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For additional information, please contact:
Ryan Bazeley
TELUS Social and Media Relations
416-738-6063
ryan.bazeley@telus.com

Colleges and CANARIE | Cloud Technologies to Support Applied Research Projects With Small Businesses

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OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Dec. 3, 2014) - CANARIE, a vital component of Canada's digital infrastructure supporting research, education and innovation, today announced new partnerships with Centennial College, George Brown College, Humber College and Selkirk College. CANARIE will provide its Digital Accelerator for Innovation and Research (DAIR) cloud resources to support these colleges' applied research programs. These programs engage local businesses with college students and faculty to address specific business issues.

Cloud technologies drive a meaningful competitive advantage for small businesses by providing advanced computing resources anywhere, anytime that can quickly scale up or down to meet changing business needs. For these colleges and their business partners, DAIR's cloud resources provide rapid access to technologies that support a wide range of applied research projects. Students engage in practical learning, while small businesses benefit from accelerated product development at no additional cost.

"The partnerships with CANARIE enable colleges and institutes to use transformative cloud technologies to respond to the applied research needs of industry, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises, the source of 70% of new jobs," says Denise AmyotPresident and CEO of Colleges and Institutes Canada.

"CANARIE recognizes that Canadian businesses gain a significant competitive advantage by adopting cloud resources to develop products for a global market rapidly and cost-effectively," says Susan St. MauriceDirector, Technology Development at CANARIE. "The college partnerships are drivers of long-term cloud adoption, as both students and businesses see first-hand the power that cloud technologies deliver."

CANARIE's relationships with these colleges add to a growing list of partnerships it has developed to ensure Canadian entrepreneurs and small businesses benefit from DAIR's free cloud resources. Other college partners include Algonquin College, New Brunswick Community College, Red River College and Seneca College. More information on DAIR for Colleges and Polytechnics may be found athttp://www.canarie.ca/cloud/colleges/.

Additional CANARIE partners helping small businesses adopt DAIR's cloud platform include the City of Fredericton's goFred initiative, TECEdmonton, StartUp Calgary, GrowLab, ICT Association of Manitoba, Accererator YYC and the Association of University Research Parks. More information on DAIR for incubators and accelerators may be found at http://www.canarie.ca/cloud/incubators/.

CANARIE also works with the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) offered through the National Research Council, to ensure that the small business clients of these programs are aware of the powerful cloud resources available to them.

CANARIE welcomes partnerships with other post-secondary institutions, business incubators and accelerators, and other organizations supporting small businesses to capitalize on the power of cloud computing.

ABOUT CANARIE Inc.

CANARIE designs and delivers digital infrastructure and drives its adoption for Canada's research, education and innovation communities. CANARIE keeps Canada at the forefront of digital research and innovation, fundamental to a vibrant digital economy.

CANARIE's roots are in advanced networking, and CANARIE continues to evolve the national ultra-high-speed backbone network that enables data-intensive, leading-edge research and big science across Canada and around the world. One million researchers, scientists and students at almost 2,000 Canadian institutions, including universities, colleges, research institutes, hospitals, and government laboratories have access to the CANARIE Network.

CANARIE also leads the development of research software tools that enable researchers to more quickly and easily access research data, tools, and peers. In support of Canada's high-tech entrepreneurs, CANARIE offers cloud-computing services to help them accelerate product development and gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

Twelve provincial and territorial network partners, together with CANARIE, collectively form Canada's National Research and Education Network (NREN). This powerful digital infrastructure connects Canadians to national and global data, tools, colleagues, and classrooms that fuel the engine of innovation in today's digital economy.

Established in 1993, CANARIE is a non-profit corporation, with the major investment in its programs and activities provided by the Government of Canada.

For more information, please visit: www.canarie.ca.


CONTACT INFORMATION

BlackBerry and NantHealth Launch Breakthrough NantOmics Cancer Genome Browser

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WATERLOO, ONTARIO and CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA--(Marketwired - Dec. 8, 2014) - BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSX:BB), a global leader in mobile communications, and NantHealth, a cloud-based information technology provider combining science and big data to transform healthcare, today announced the first secure clinical genome browser that gives doctors unprecedented access to patients' genetic data on the BlackBerry® Passport smartphone - the NantOmics Cancer Genome Browser™.

The NantOmics Cancer Genome Browser platform on the BlackBerry Passport enables deep, interactive reporting on genomics data for physicians and other treatment providers in clinical settings - for example, giving oncologists a powerful view into the individual genetic alternations that make each patient's disease unique and highlighting relevant treatment options. The BlackBerry Passport's large high resolution screen enables clinicians to view a patient's chromosome at an individual base-pair level. It is the first in a series of innovative offerings being developed jointly by BlackBerry and NantHealth for use by healthcare professionals.

"BlackBerry's partnership with NantHealth illustrates how the mobile security and collaboration technology we are known for can be reimagined to create revolutionary applications across a variety of industries," said John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO, BlackBerry. "BlackBerry technology has proven itself secure, reliable and powerful enough to be counted on in life-and-death situations. Its innovative form and functionality make BlackBerry Passport an ideal addition to a doctor's medical kit."

"The proprietary NantOmics Cancer Genome Browser enables clinicians for the first time to investigate a tumor genome from the full three billion bases down to the single-base level in real-time, thanks to the power of the NantOmics supercomputing infrastructure," said Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D., founder and CEO of NantHealth. "This integrates with NantHealth's treatment recommendation engine, Eviti, to personalize treatment protocols to individual patients based on their genomic signature."

Powered by BlackBerry's mobile security infrastructure, the NantOmics Cancer Genome Browser is fully encrypted to allow deployment in a HIPAA-secured environment, enabling clinicians to securely access patient data as soon as it's available, wherever they are. BlackBerry's recently launched BES12 cross-platform EMM solution will enable hospital IT administrators to easily deploy the application to a clinician's BlackBerry Passport smartphone and ensures that the application data is fully secure end-to-end.

"BlackBerry already powers many of the diagnostic machines clinicians rely heavily upon so it makes sense to tie those devices directly to a BlackBerry smartphone," said Soon-Shiong. "NantHealth has quietly built the unique capability of placing a super-computer into the doctor's hand at point of care and in time of need. Now with BlackBerry's partnership and through the power of the cloud and secure networks, the reality is we are now able to put dozens of supercomputers, through mobile devices, into doctor's hands on a global basis. Our goal is to extend this unique capability from doctor to patient, thereby establishing patient empowered 21st century health."

The NantOmics Cancer Genome Browser will be demonstrated at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January and will be preloaded on some BlackBerry Passport devices and available to the professional community in early 2015.

About BlackBerry

A global leader in mobile communications, BlackBerry® revolutionized the mobile industry when it was introduced in 1999. Today, BlackBerry aims to inspire the success of our millions of customers around the world by continuously pushing the boundaries of mobile experiences. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry operates offices in North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Company trades under the ticker symbols "BB" on the Toronto Stock Exchange and "BBRY" on the NASDAQ. For more information, visit www.BlackBerry.com.

About NantOmics

NantOmics is a leading medical diagnostic company dedicated to providing actionable intelligence and molecularly driven decision support for cancer patients and their providers at the point of care. NantOmics is the first molecular diagnostics company to pioneer an integrated approach to unearthing the genomic and proteomic variances that initiate and drive cancer, by analyzing both normal and tumor cells from the same patient and following identified variances through from DNA to RNA to protein to drug. NantOmics has a highly scalable cloud-based infrastructure capable of storing and processing thousands of genomes a day, computing genomic variances in near real-time, and correlating proteomic pathway analysis with quantitative multi-plexed protein expression analysis from the same micro-dissected tumor sample used for genomic analysis. For more information visit www.nantomics.com.

About NantHealth

NantHealth, a member of the NantWorks ecosystem of companies, is a transformational healthcare cloud-based IT company converging science and technology through a single integrated clinical platform, to provide actionable health information at the point of care, in the time of need, anywhere, anytime. NantHealth works to transform clinical delivery with actionable clinical intelligence at the moment of decision, enabling clinical discovery through real-time machine learning systems. The company's technology empowers physicians, patients, payers and researchers to transcend the traditional barriers of today's healthcare system. By converging molecular science, near real-time patient signal monitoring, computer science and big data technology, the NantHealth Clinical Operating System (cOS) platform empowers physicians, patients, and payers to coordinate best care, monitor outcomes and control cost in real time. This is the first system of its kind in healthcare, enabling 21st century coordinated care at a lower cost, enabling value-based population health management at a single patient level and at the population at large. For more information please visit www.nanthealth.com.


CONTACT INFORMATION


Twitter’s Chris Moody and IBM’s Howard Pyle to Headline C Space at ARIA at 2015 International CES

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Arlington, Va., December 8, 2014 –The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® today announced that Chris Moody, vice president of data strategy at Twitter, and Howard Pyle, vice president of the Marketing Innovation Group, IBM, will deliver headline addresses at C Space at ARIA, a new show location at the 2015 International CES®.

Moody and Pyle will join Bob Pittman, chairman and CEO of iHeartMedia Inc., Neal Mohan, vice president of display and video advertising at Google, Jason Jercinovic, IBM Global Brand Director, Havas Worldwide and Scott Burke, senior vice president of advertising at Yahoo, as C Space headliners. C Space is the newest official show location and the destination for the marketing, advertising, content and creative communities at CES.

“There’s truly something for everyone following the marketing and advertising worlds within this dynamic line-up of speakers at C Space,” said Karen Chupka, senior vice president, International CES and corporate business strategy, CEA. “Our headliners represent some of the best minds in the business. We’re confident that the marketing, advertising, content and creative professionals attending the 2015 CES will come away inspired and excited about applying the latest digital trends to build their brands.”

Owned and produced by CEA, the 2015 CES is the world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies, and will run January 6-9, 2015, in Las Vegas, Nevada. C Space at ARIA has slightly different hours than the rest of the CES show locations, open from 10 AM Tuesday, January 6 through 4 PM Thursday, January 8, 2015.

Transportation will be accommodated by the C Space Shuttle, presented by HookLogic, with frequent shuttle service between C Space, Tech East and Tech West. For more information on C Space please visit CESweb.org/CSpace.

Note to Editors: The official name of the global technology event is “International CES®.”  Subsequent references to the event can be shortened to “CES.”

About CES:
The International CES is the world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies. It has served as the proving ground for innovators and breakthrough technologies for more than 40 years—the global stage where next-generation innovations are introduced to the marketplace. As the largest hands-on event of its kind, CES features all aspects of the industry. And because it is owned and produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the technology trade association representing the $211 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry, it attracts the world’s business leaders and pioneering thinkers to a forum where the industry’s most relevant issues are addressed. Follow CES online at www.CESweb.organd through social media: 

UPCOMING EVENTS

  • CES Unveiled Las Vegas
    January 4, 2015, Las Vegas, NV
  • 2015 International CES
    January 6-9, 2015, Las Vegas, NV
  • CES Unveiled Tokyo
    February 18, 2015, Tokyo, Japan
  • CEA Winter Break
    March 5-8, 2015, Snowmass Village, CO
  • 2015 International CES Asia
    May 25-27, 2015, Shanghai, China

Contacts:

Tara Dunion
703.907.7419
tdunion@CE.org

Krista Silano
703.907.4331
ksilano@CE.org

Online Giving Platform Empowers Donors to Make Informed Giving Choices this Holiday Season

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Vancouver, BC (December 16, 2014) – Chimp.net is a web-based tool that connects donors to Canadian charities. Through a unique online experience, it simplifies the donation process and empowers Canadians to make informed giving decisions. 

Chimp has used the latest technology to gather important financial information for every registered charity in Canada through the Canadian Revenue Agency. To promote responsible generosity, this information is made available to registered Chimp users to learn about an individual charity’s revenue, expenses and current programs.

“The holiday giving season is typically the most robust time of year for charitable fundraising initiatives, encouraging Canadians to make reactive giving choices,” said John Bromley, CEO and Founder of Chimp. “At Chimp, we encourage donors to commit to giving by depositing money into their Chimp account. They receive their tax receipt right away but then pause and give thought to who they are giving to and equip themselves with the knowledge to make an informed donation.”

Chimp.net, whose website name derives from the full-title Charitable Impact Foundation, has the lowest fees associated with online giving and provides individuals, groups and charities with a streamlined transparent process for online donations. For the month of December, social media manager Hootsuite will cover all administrative fees on chimp.net donations, which means every cent of a donation will go directly to the charity.

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ABOUT CHIMP - Chimp.net is the online face of the Charitable Impact Foundation, a liaison between Canadian charities, companies and donors. More than $46 million has been given through Chimp to 3790 charities. A chimp account is like your own private foundation. When you deposit money into a chimp account, you receive a tax receipt immediately. Companies can easily set up matching campaigns and other incentives for their fundraising efforts. 

 

MEDIA NOTE - Complete media materials, including fact sheets, biographies and high-resolution, downloadable photos are available upon request.

Startups and Extreme Tech Challenge Semi-Finals at 2015 International CES

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The 2015 International CES® will spotlight startup entrepreneurs and innovation across the technology spectrum in an expanded Eureka Park Marketplace at CES Tech West. The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® today also announced new areas and events at CES dedicated to the startup community, including the Startup Stage. Owned and produced by the CEA, the 2015 CES will run January 6-9, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
 
An anchor for the startup community at CES, the 2015 Eureka Park Marketplace will feature more than 375 exhibitors, 59 percent more than the 2014 CES. Presented by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and UP Global, Eureka Park provides a platform for new companies to introduce their innovations to venture capitalists, media and buyers. Eureka Park also features concentrated exhibits from startups originating in France and Israel, as well as exclusive exhibits from Indiegogo and TechCrunch's Hardware Battlefield finalists. Read more...
 
Extreme Tech Challenge Semi-Finals to be Held at 2015 International CES
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) today announced that MaiTai Global Inc. will hold the semi-finals of the Extreme Tech Challenge at the 2015 International CES. The Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC) brings together targeted resources and world-class advisors to help high-energy entrepreneurs execute their ideas. Owned and produced by CEA, the 2015 CES, the world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies, will run January 6-9 in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

The XTC semi-finals will take place 2-3:30 PM Thursday January 8 at The Venetian. The top 10 XTC semi-finalists will be invited to the event and asked to present to the  XTC Judges Circle. The event will be broadcast live and three finalists will be selected and invited to the finals to be held on Necker Island on February 6, 2015, with Sir Richard Branson as the special guest judge. Read more...

Note to Editors: The official name of the global technology event is “International CES®.”  Subsequent references to the event can be shortened to “CES.”

About CES:
The International CES is the world’s gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies. It has served as the proving ground for innovators and breakthrough technologies for more than 40 years—the global stage where next-generation innovations are introduced to the marketplace. As the largest hands-on event of its kind, CES features all aspects of the industry. And because it is owned and produced by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), the technology trade association representing the $211 billion U.S. consumer electronics industry, it attracts the world’s business leaders and pioneering thinkers to a forum where the industry’s most relevant issues are addressed. Follow CES online at www.CESweb.organd through social media: CEA Social Media

UPCOMING EVENTS

  • CES Unveiled Las Vegas
    January 4, 2015, Las Vegas, NV
  • 2015 International CES
    January 6-9, 2015, Las Vegas, NV
  • CES Unveiled Tokyo
    February 18, 2015, Tokyo, Japan
  • CEA Winter Break
    March 5-8, 2015, Snowmass Village, CO
  • 2015 International CES Asia
    May 25-27, 2015, Shanghai, China

Contacts:

Tara Dunion
703.907.7419
tdunion@CE.org

Krista Silano
703.907.4331
ksilano@CE.org

The project of a young Greater Montreal start-up, a Kickstarter favourite

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Saint-Bruno, December 15th 2014 - Ipnos Soft, a small business specialized in tablet and smartphone applications development based on Montreal’s South Shore, has posted its’ latest project “Ben & Lea Interactive Adventures” on Kickstarter, the up-and-coming American crowd funding platform.

In less than a week, the Kickstarter team chooses the project as a “Staff Pick”, a special status reserved to the most promising projects. “We were excited and surprised to be placed in that category. It’s a vote of confidence and that’s really encouraging!”, says Simon-Alex Bérubé, Ipnos Soft Co-Founder. Indeed, only 700 projects worldwide are currently in this position, on a total of 6000 seeking funding. To this day, about 100 Quebec-born projects have earned this title. The Ipnos Soft team is even more thankful because “Ben and Lea” is the first made-in-Quebec kids’ game to be given this mention and one of the few projects with an education vocation to be placed in that category.

Games for kids, a new niche for Ipnos Soft.

“We wanted to diversify and thought we had the expertise to position ourselves in the educational games niche. It’s a large international market, but there are new society issues that need to be addressed. Kids have access to tablets at a much younger age than before per example”, explains Mr. Bérubé. “There are few educational choices that are also fun and promote human interaction when we look at what’s available in terms of kids apps for tablets. We wanted to fill this gap and this is why we created “Ben and Lea Interactive Adventures”, adds Mr. Bérubé.

“Ben and Lea Adventures” are a series of discovery-based interactive stories. Different aspects related to pre-schooler development are involved: objects identification, animals, distances, sizes, vocabulary and spelling. Children either use the touch screen or the device’s built-in camera to identify items. “We wanted an app that leveraged technology to maximize the child’s potential. We had to work really hard to make sure the product experience was as rich as possible. We ended up deploying much greater efforts and resources than we had originally planned to validate that the end-result was up to par with what we wanted to offer our own kids », comments Mr. Bérubé.

“Ben and Lea Interactive Adventures” will soon be available for our little ones: In French and in English at launch and possibly in more languages in the future. But the creators can’t rest on their laurels, they will need to face advertising giants like Disney, Pixar, Mattel and Fisher-Price. This is why the small South Shore creative studio is asking for help from the community to concretize the project. “Each individual who talks about Ben and Lea to a friend, neighbour or family member is an additional chance for us to succeed in a very competitive market”, explains Mr. Bérubé.

It’s Ipnos Soft’s first experience on Kickstarter, but it already cumulates successes such as “Relax melodies”, a health & wellness app for smartphones and tablets that enables users to mix melodies, sounds and special effects in order to obtain a personalized ambiance based on one’s tastes and needs.

Kickstarter, the social funding phenomenon

Open since 2013 to Canadian creators, Kickstarter is a website that encourages businesses and individuals to propose innovative projects to a community of donators from all over the world. This is a new trend called “Crowd funding”. Its’ donators, commonly referred to as « backers », obtain rewards of variable value in exchange of the amount (pledge) that they give towards a funding campaign. Per example, some projects will offer backers the product before its’ commercial release, in a limited edition, autographed and even, in some cases, an exclusive and private meet & greet with the creative team.

Since its’ birth in 2009, the Kickstarter network raised over 1,3 billion US dollars, and supported approximately 70 000 creative projects in different fields, with a community of 7 million backers. Only
downside, there are still few Canadian donators in the Kickstarter community, which results in many Canadian projects being financed by American donators.

That said, non-US projects have had success on this platform, some have even surpassed their objectives. All in all, 200 projects from Quebec were concretized because of Kickstarter and of those, only 2 were created by teams based on the South Shore of Montreal. “Ben and Lea Interactive Adventures” would actually be the first from Saint-Bruno to break through this platform.

“We have three weeks to meet our funding objective. The amount raised will be used to efficiently market the application. We have a great product and we are anxious to offer it to families around the globe. We’re proud that it’s 100% made in Quebec”, concludes Mr. Bérubé.

If you want to help Ipnos Soft launch “Ben and Lea Interactive Adventures”, go on www.benandlea.com. Per example, a $5 pledge will give you access to the first three stories for iOS tablets at launch.

More information:
www.ipnossoft.com
www.benandlea.com

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Press Contact:
Simon-Alex Bérubé
Co-Founder, Ipnos Soft
media@ipnossoft.com
Téléphone : 514.296.1534

iGotcha Media Implements Its First Wayfinding Kiosks at World Trade Centre Montreal

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MONTREAL, December 16, 2014 – iGotcha Media, developers of eye-catching, entertaining and informative digital signage solutions, video walls, kiosks and content, today announced that four 47-inch wayfinding kiosks are now fully-operational at the World Trade Centre Montréal (WTCM), an Ivanhoé Cambridge property.

iGotcha Media’s wayfinding kiosks enable customers to navigate large commercial and institutional spaces (shopping malls, airports, hospitals, universities, etc.) and find the services they are looking for with ease. Features include: floor plan maps, a semantic search engine (name, description and keywords), pictures, a cross-building pathfinder, ‘breadcrumbs’ – clear paths to specific destinations (including optimized routes for disabled customers), e-mail coupon promotions and a calendar of events.

For merchants, the benefits of wayfinding kiosks include: an interactive platform for video and text customer communications (promotional and informative), opt-in data-catching through newsletter registration (name and e-mail) and the simplicity of cloud-based content management.

The WTCM is a unique complex spanning an entire city block that consists of several restored historic buildings under a glass roof. Home to dozens of boutiques, restaurants, services and more than 50 offices, the WTCM’s wayfinding kiosks help visitors find their way with ease, inform them of promotional opportunities and simplify access to all on-site services.

“Our new wayfinding kiosks welcome our visitors,” says Jacques Rajotte, Property Manager, World Trade Centre Montréal. “Given the size our facility and its unique layout, providing directions can be challenging. Our kiosks are strategically positioned in high traffic areas and enhance the customer experience by providing a wealth of information with an intuitive interface. We have already received great feedback from our visitors, merchants and tenants.”

“We are pleased to be working with the WTCM,” says Greg Adelstein, President, iGotcha Media. “The benefits of wayfinding kiosks for visitors are quite apparent. For merchants, our kiosks provide an unprecedented platform to communicate directly with prospective customers by offering promotions and building longer term relationships via subsequent electronic communications. We believe that this showcase implementation will drive awareness and interest, and help us accelerate a roll-out of additional implementations that we are currently working on.”

About iGotcha Media

 

iGotcha Media specializes in delivering turn-key digital signage solutions, including: hardware, software, installation, content development and network management. We help businesses achieve their signage needs, generate new streams of revenue, reduce costs and gather data. iGotcha Media’s clients include: Cambridge Group of Clubs, Le Château, National Bank of Canada, Reebok, Rockport and Via Rail Canada. Headquartered in Montreal, iGotcha Media was founded in 2005. For more information, please visit www.igotchamedia.com.

About the World Trade Centre Montréal (WTCM)

 

Located between Old Montréal and downtown, the World Trade Centre Montréal is a vital part of Montréal’s Quartier international.The location and unique architecture of this prestigious complex reflect Montréal’s history and development. Covered by an immense glass roof, the indoor “city within a city” offers an inspiring living and work environment. The WTCM is owned by Ivanhoé Cambridge, a real estate subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, one of the largest institutional fund managers in Canada. www.centredecommercemondial.com/en.

Faster, Higher Capacity Internet Service Coming to West Coast Vancouver Island Communities

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TOFINO, BC--(Marketwired - Dec 17, 2014) - The District of Tofino and the District of Ucluelet today announced that a collaboration with TELUS, BC Hydro, All Nations Trust Company and the Province of British Columbia will bring improved Internet service to the West Coast of Vancouver Island communities of Ahousaht, Tofino and Ucluelet. Expected to be completed in early 2016, the multi-million dollar Highway 4 fibre optic cable installation project will improve capacity, alleviate congestion, and significantly improve the quality of Internet service for residents, businesses and visitors.

"Fibre optic Internet infrastructure on the West Coast has been the vision and hope of coastal residents, community leaders and First Nations for many years," said Tofino Mayor Josie Osborne. "The completion of this exciting project will bring many benefits to our growing and vibrant communities for decades to come."

"This is great news for all of us out here on the West Coast," said Ucluelet Mayor Dianne St Jacques. "The impact on our economy will be significant and our residents will really love 'being brought up to speed.' Thanks to everyone involved for all their hard work in making this project become our reality."

"This significant investment will create immediate and long-lasting benefits for West Coast communities, while laying the groundwork for TELUS to offer customers with expanded services in the coming years," said Ray Lawson, TELUS general manager for Vancouver Island. "This fibre connection will support the local tourism economy, allow local healthcare providers to adopt new technologies in their practices, and bring local students fast access to information now and into the future."

According to TELUS, the new fibre optic infrastructure has the potential to support home Internet at speeds up to 50 million bits per second depending on their distance from TELUS equipment (approximately 10 times faster than currently available technologies). The first stage of the fibre optic cable construction will take place from Great Central Lake to the Long Beach Junction and is expected to begin in late spring or summer 2015. BC Hydro has already begun to prepare existing poles to support the additional weight of the fibre lines. Once complete, TELUS will string the new fibre optic cable along the fortified hydro poles.

While weather will dictate the pace of work during the winter months, all parties anticipate the project will be complete by early 2016.


CONTACT INFORMATION

  • Media Contacts

    Lynda Kaye 
    Kaye Public Relations for Tourism Tofino
    250-266-5293
    Email Contact

    Josie Osborne
    Mayor
    District of Tofino
    250-266-5229
    Email Contact

    Dianne St Jacques
    Mayor
    District of Ucluelet
    250-726-7744
    Email Contact

    Liz Sauve
    TELUS Media Relations
    604-719-6715
    Email Contact

    Blair Phelps
    Ministry of Technology, Innovation and Citizens' Services
    250-889-9726
    Email Contact

Averna Announces New Online Resource for Product Developers and Test Engineers

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Montreal, Canada, December 16, 2014 – Averna, an industry-leading developer of test solutions and services for communications and electronics device-makers worldwide, announced today the launch of an online Resource Center dedicated to test engineering.

For over 15 years Averna has worked closely with hundreds of organizations in multiple industries, delivering essential test expertise and high-value test systems. Averna’s leading test engineering know-how, award-winning solutions, technology partnerships, and solid engineering processes help ensure its clients’ products reach the highest quality on time and on budget.

This unique expertise is now available to all in an online Resource Center, containing a wealth of material showcasing the full power and true potential of Test. Averna’s Resource Center contains eBooks, white papers and videos that explain the significant return on investment (ROI) that test engineering provides, as well as best practices, tips, and how to’s specifically related to Test.

Averna Resource Center Features

  • Test Guru eLearning Series eBooks and White Papers
  • Best Practices for High-Tech Product Testing
  • Case Studies and Customer Success Stories
  • Videos on Averna Products and Services

Click here to access Averna’s Resource Center.

Click to tweetFrom @Avernatech: Averna Announces New Online Resource for Test Engineers www.averna.com/en/resource-center

About Averna

Averna is a premier manufacturing solution provider for communications and electronics device-makers worldwide, helping them deliver a better end-user customer experience. Key Averna clients in the communications, aerospace, defense, automotive, consumer electronics, and medical-device industries use Proligent, RF Test instruments, and other test solutions to accelerate product development, reduce manufacturing costs, achieve superior quality throughout the lifecycle, and solve critical supply-chain issues.

Averna has offices around the world as well as a network of partners such as JOT Automation, Keysight Technologies, and National Instruments. Incorporated in 1999, Averna is a Best in Test award winner and has been honored as one of the Deloitte Fast 500 fastest-growing technology companies in North America. www.averna.com

© Copyright 2014 Averna. All rights reserved. Information subject to change without notice.

Averna and Proligent are trademarks of Averna Technologies.


$60K Investment Available Through Accelerate Okanagan's New Program, Fast Track

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KELOWNA, BC – December 30th, 2014 - Accelerate Okanagan has launched a new access to capital training program, called Fast Track. The program has received a $60,000 commitment from investors, subject to a successful due diligence review. The Fast Track program is available to local Okanagan tech companies. Businesses from outside the region are eligible to participate remotely.
 
“One of the toughest parts of raising investment is finding a lead investor to complete the due diligence review,” says Andrew Greer, Program Manager at Accelerate Okanagan. “Fast Track overcomes that barrier. Not only will the program provide training to increase the chance of raising investment, it also creates an opportunity to partner with lead investors who can attract other follow-on investment. This is a great opportunity for companies looking for investment capital.”
 
In a national
survey of 150 of Canada’s emerging tech companies, CEOs identified funding and capital raising as their top challenge. Accelerate Okanagan is working with the community to tackle this problem locally.
 
Targeting technology-based companies who are past the idea stage and have demonstrated traction, Fast Track focuses on pitch practice and due diligence preparation for companies who are ready or nearly ready for investment. This program is open to all types of technology companies - including, but not limited to, information and communications tech, clean and green tech, agricultural tech, life science tech, and advanced manufacturing.
 
Participants will each receive pitch training, due diligence training, and a professional review of legal, financial, and valuation components for their due diligence. Participating companies will have access to an Executive in Residence (EIR), who will coach each participant for the duration of the program.
 
There is a $150.00 fee for applicants who are selected into the program. There is a maximum of 10 spots available. Deadline for applications is
January 16th, 2015. For more information on program dates and entry evaluation criteria, or to access a detailed application form, click here.
 
For further information on the Fast Track program, contact Accelerate Okanagan Program Manager
Andrew Greer.

Addictive Mobility Releases Its Annual Report on Mobile Advertising Landscape

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TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jan. 6, 2015) - Addictive Mobility, a leading mobile in-app ad-tech platform, today released its annual report on the mobile advertising landscape. The report provides both brands and agencies with insightful trends that have developed over the past year and more importantly how these trends will impact the upcoming year.

"We received a great deal of positive feedback from our clients upon the release of our first annual report produced last year. Many of our agency partners have been requesting this type of aggregated research that they can leverage when trying to transition their brands into advertising on mobile," explained Naveed Ahmad, CEO of Addictive Mobility.

"2014 was clearly a watershed year for mobile and for us as a company. With expansion into global markets like the UK and Middle East, we were able to attain a comprehensive understanding of the global landscape for mobile advertising. Perhaps the most interesting observation for us has been how global brands leverage mobile advertising. Some brands, such as Nestle and Molson Coors have done a fantastic job in creating meaningful messaging for mobile, while many other brands and verticals are still only dipping their toes in this platform," stated Naveed.

"2015 is shaping up to be an exciting year. We believe that although there will be massive consolidation in the marketplace, platforms who are focused on going deep in terms of product development will be called upon as opposed to those solution providers trying to become the jack of all trades and master of none," explained Naveed.

To view the Addictive Mobility 2014 Year End Report, please visit the following link: http://file.marketwire.com/release/am2014ye.pdf.

Contact Information

Technology and Innovation Saluting Inspiring Women

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TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Jan. 6, 2015) -

Editors Note: There are five photos and one video associated with this press release.

The inspiration from telling stories of the creative lives of others has brought twenty2b design to create 'The Portrait Project'. This initiative brings forth unique moments in order to understand and get inspired from a group of determined women who have captured their work, lifestyle, success, struggles and most vulnerable moments on a Drift Stealth 2 wearable video camera.

Capturing the journey of these women's lives from all over the world is what inspired the creative team of twenty2b to collaborate with sponsor Drift Innovation in bringing the stories of these exceptional women to life for the beginning phase of 'The Portrait Project'. This multi-pronged campaign is an extension of twenty2b's mission to engage in great visual story-telling.

"There is an infinite amount of amazing stories out there and we decided to capture the stories of women who display their art and their passion in their work in every aspect of their lives in a unique two minute portrait video. We love projects at the center of technology and art, and none could be a better representation than telling inspiring stories shot 100% on cameras we designed," says Founder and Award Winning Director Drew Henson.

The importance of 'The Portrait Project' is to provide an outlet for creative women to become leaders and visionaries who are shaping the respective fields they are in while inspiring other women around the world to do the same.

Catch the trailer by visiting and subscribing to 'The Portrait Project' on YouTube at: http://youtu.be/1GlxVK9iprU.

Additional Release Dates for 'The Portrait Project':

Available on all twenty2b social media platforms

(Release order subject to change)

Jan 6 - Trailer Release @ 12 pm

Jan 12 - Kim Noseworth Portrait of a Model @ 11:59 am

Jan 17 - Kearstin Plemel Portrait of an Actress @ 11: 59 am

Jan 26 - Anouk Wipprecht Portrait of a Fashiontech Designer @ 11:59 am

Feb 02 - Melissa Zabinsky Portrait of a Model @ 11:59 am

Feb 09 - Tiffany Newton Portrait of a Gallerist @ 11:59 am

About twenty2b:

The company founded by Red Dot and iF Design Award Winning Director Drew Henson focuses its creative studio services in product design on functional solutions centered at the intersection of technology, design and art. twenty2b develops unique products and projects in addition to offering consultancy in industrial design, product design strategy and consumer electronic trend analysis for clients and collaborators. For more information, visit http://twenty2b.ca.

About Drift Innovation:

Dedicated to creating technology for people who share our passion for sports, art, music, film and an active lifestyle, Drift Innovation lets creative individuals capture and share their unique journey and live life outside the box. Drift manufactures quality HD action cameras, mounts and accessories, leveraging the latest technologies and R&D. By putting professional-caliber features in an intuitive, easy-to-use design, Drift allows anyone to immediately begin filming "out of the box."

Widely recognized as one of the top action camera brands globally, Drift distributes its products in more than 35 regions. For more information, visit http://driftinnovation.com.

Twitter: @twenty2b

Instagram: @twenty2b

YouTube: www.youtube.com/twenty2bdesign

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/twenty2b

To view the photos associated with this press release, please visit the following links:

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20150106-The_Portrait_Project-Collage.jpg

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20150106-Drift-Innovation-Stealth-2-Video-Camera.png

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20150106-Olivia-Burst-Dancing-in-Motion-December-15.jpg

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20150106-Kim-Portrait-at-Fashion-Week-January-12.jpg

http://www.marketwire.com/library/20150106-Model-Melissa-Zabinsky-Riding-through-Europe-Feb2.jpg

Contact Information

Study Shows Okanagan Tech Sector is a $1 Billion Industry

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KELOWNA, BC – January 7th, 2015 - Accelerate Okanagan announces the results of the long awaited Economic Impact Report assessing the Okanagan technology sector. The study was commissioned by Accelerate Okanagan and conducted by a third party in conjunction with Victoria-based VIATeC.
 
The Okanagan tech industry contributed $1.02 billion to the local economy in 2013. This includes a direct impact of $797 million in revenues generated by tech companies as well as an indirect impact of $223 million created by businesses that supply inputs to the technology sector.
 



Accelerate Okanagan CEO, Pilar Portela, says that the study clearly shows why the Okanagan is one of the best places in Canada to start or invest in a tech business.
 
“Startups and tech companies in the Okanagan have great access to vital resources. With over 6,500 highly skilled tech workers, an international airport that offers non-stop flights to 64 destinations, and easy access to vital business support programs and services, the Okanagan is a thriving entrepreneurial community that offers everything today’s startups need for success.”
 
Tech Industry a Major Source of Employment
 
The growth of the tech industry in the Okanagan is creating thousands of jobs for the many highly skilled people who move to the area to enjoy the Okanagan lifestyle. For Accelerate Okanagan and other local organizations that support the tech industry, this is good news.
 
According to the survey, the Okanagan Valley is home to 558 technology businesses with a collective workforce of 6,551 employees. The average business has ten employees (eight full-time and two part-time) and works with two independent contractors. It is estimated that there are 1,920 self-employed technology workers in the Okanagan.
 
Tech Sector Workforce Demographics: Employees Are Younger; More Women Entering Tech
 
Technology employees also tend to be slightly younger than local employees in other industries, although all age groups are represented in the industry. 38% of the Okanagan tech sector employees are under the age of 35.
 
Although historically the tech industry has been a mostly male-occupied sector, this trend is changing. The study shows that one quarter of local tech employees are women. Based on local initiatives highlighting Women in Tech, Accelerate Okanagan is optimistic that this percentage will increase over the next few years.
 
Overall, the Okanagan tech sector is diverse, growing and makes a significant contribution to the local economy. Accelerate Okanagan’s continued support and promotion of the sector will be important in raising the profile of technology businesses in the region.
 
The study has a margin of error of 9.1% and is accurate 19 times out of 20. The full 22-page report is available here.
 

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About Accelerate Okanagan
Accelerate Okanagan, a technology focused not-for-profit, was formed in December 2010 with the mission to increase the number of technology companies that start and grow in the Okanagan. First, by providing programs that support entrepreneurs and technology companies looking to start, accelerate and grow and second, by helping to develop and support a vibrant entrepreneurial, creative and innovative technology community.
www.accelerateokanagan.com  |  @AccelerateOK

New initiative to accelerate world-class, game-changing energy technologies

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Calgary, AB – Innovate Calgary is pleased to introduce Kinetica Ventures (Kinetica), a new initiative focused on accelerating world-class energy technologies to help industry partners address key challenges and increase competitive advantages via access to emerging innovation.

This comes following a recent announcement made by the Government of Canada to provide $3 million in funding over the next five years to Innovate Calgary to develop an energy technology accelerator program. This funding is part of the Canada Accelerator and Incubator Program (CAIP), which is also providing funding support for TEC Edmonton’s health accelerator initiative. 

Powered by Innovate Calgary, Kinetica will bridge the gap between the energy industry and technology innovators. It will be a uniquely industry-driven program, working closely with key partners in the energy sector to identify their most pressing challenges in four areas: hydrocarbon recovery; energy transport; carbon capture, re-use and disposal; and renewable energy.

“This funding provides an opportunity to assist energy technology companies to de-risk and commercialize their innovations, helping increase the long-term economic prosperity of Alberta through the adoption of transformative energy technologies,” says Peter Garrett, President, Innovate Calgary. 

Kinetica will assist local, national and international technology researchers and entrepreneurs by providing access to the necessary capital, expertise and relationships to commercialize their industry-validated technologies more efficiently and cost effectively, and achieve faster adoption by energy sector partners.

“As energy prices continue to change, energy companies with enhanced access to innovative technologies will enjoy an increasingly important competitive advantage.  We intend for this to be a ‘made in Canada’ story,” says Kevin Frankowski, program lead for Kinetica. 

Kinetica is based in Alberta, Canada, an international energy hub, with access to world-class expertise, field trial opportunities and first customers. Many of the world’s largest energy companies are headquartered in Calgary and are contributing to the success of Kinetica and the entrepreneurs and technology development it facilitates.

To learn more about Kinetica Ventures, visit www.kineticaventures.com.

  

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 About Innovate Calgary

As a leading technology transfer and commercialization centre, Innovate Calgary works closely with startups, entrepreneurs, researchers and investors from the advanced tech sector to take innovation and ideas to the next stage of growth. Innovate Calgary has been successfully contributing to the growth and acceleration of the advanced technology sector for more than 30 years. Our integrated approach to commercialization focuses on facilitating connections among stakeholders and offering a comprehensive range of programs and services to achieve success.

 

Contact:

Meghan Ockey

Advisor, Communications & Marketing 

Phone: (403) 284.6410

Email: mockey@innovatecalgary.com

www.innovatecalgary.com
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