Village Gamer

Accenture and the Canadian Youth Business Foundation (CYBF) have announced that the Accenture Foundations have awarded the national charity a grant of US$420,000 to help the organization support young entrepreneurs in Canada.

The two-year commitment is part of Accenture’s global corporate citizenship initiative, Skills to Succeed, which will equip 250,000 people around the world by 2015 with the skills to get a job or build a business. The grant will help CYBF mentor more than 2,000 entrepreneurs aged 18 – 34 and enhance the mentoring skills of more than 3,700 existing and new mentors, who help entrepreneurs build and scale sustainable businesses across the country.

In addition to the grant Accenture will provide CYBF with pro-bono services to help ensure the long-term success of the program. Specifically, Accenture employee volunteers will create a new online mentoring orientation program, which will upgrade the skill sets of both mentors and mentees. Additionally, Accenture volunteers will be recruited to act as mentors to the entrepreneurs.

“Supporting Canadian Youth Business Foundation helps bring to life Accenture’s commitment to building skills,” said Adrian Lajtha, chief leadership officer at Accenture. “CYBF proves it’s possible to make a significant, lasting impact on the economic well-being of individuals and their communities by developing entrepreneurial skills and connecting people with the right job opportunities.”

“Accenture’s work empowering Canadian youth through our work with Canadian Youth Business Foundation builds on our goal to make a difference in the lives and careers of people across Canada,” said Bill Morris, managing director of Accenture in Canada. “Teaming with CYBF fits with Accenture’s global corporate citizenship focus, Skills to Succeed, which recognizes that skills are one of the most powerful drivers of success.”

The grant is an extension of Accenture’s relationship with CYBF which began in 2006, when Accenture funded development of their online mentoring tools and interactive business planner. Additionally, CYBF is an active member of the Prince’s Youth Business International network (YBI), which Accenture has supported since 2006 by providing more than US$3.6 million in grants and pro-bono assistance in recruiting, training and maintaining the organization’s mentoring network. The new funds will be used to rebuild and roll out the nonprofit’s online mentoring orientation tool and to assess, scope and develop mentoring programs and services.

“Both the Canadian Youth Business Foundation and Accenture share a commitment to invest in the success of tomorrow’s business leaders by providing them with the skills and support they need to start and sustain their own businesses and to drive economic vitality in communities” said Vivian Prokop, chief executive officer of Canadian Youth Business Foundation. “The support of Accenture will enable Canadian Youth Business Foundation to strengthen and broaden its successful mentoring program as the foundation and platform for entrepreneurial, small business skill development for young entrepreneurs in Canada and around the world.

Enterprise solutions provider CSDC Systems Inc. has acquired Privasoft, an Ottawa-based provider of solutions – for public sector and regulated industries – that automate legislated obligations to comply with laws such as Access to Information (ATI) and Freedom of Information (FOI).

Privasoft designs, develops and delivers a variety of solutions including the AccessPro suite. Privasoft’s products are used by a large number of organizations in North America and Europe to automate capturing, tracking, reporting and managing cases as part of the information disclosure process. For nearly twenty years, the solution has proven to optimize case processing, reduce operational costs and deliver consistent decisions while improving the quality of responses.

The addition of Privasoft to CSDC’s existing portfolio of solutions for permitting, licensing, grants and courts, solidifies CSDC position in the market as a leading provider of enterprise solutions that improve the effectiveness and efficiency of service delivery.

“This strategic acquisition increases the strength, depth and breadth of solutions in our product portfolio.” said Sebastien Pare, President and COO of CSDC. “In joining two organizations with complementary customer bases, clients of both companies, all of whom are continually being asked to do more with less, will benefit from the resources and efficiencies of the greater organization. While the Privasoft organization will maintain their focus on the Freedom of Information market, their customers will gain access to expanded resources and enhanced solutions and support.”

Following a five-week-long call for applications, The Canadian Youth Business Foundation has announced the names of the 30 young entrepreneurs who will form the official Canadian delegation at the G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit (G20 YES) in Nice, France this fall.

Thirty dynamic young Canadian entrepreneurs have been selected to participate in the G20 YES, an annual international summit that brings together dedicated and influential entrepreneurs of the G20 countries, between October 31 and November 2, 2011. At the summit, delegates will be working together to identify the ways that governments and business communities can best harness the potential of young entrepreneurs, while also driving public policy, raising awareness and providing a voice for young entrepreneurs around the globe. The resulting recommendations will then be officially handed to the G20 leaders on November 3^rd in Cannes.

Representing Canada will be:

• Arjun Kumar: CEO of Kela Medical Inc. in Whitby
• Armen Bakirtzian: CEO of Avenir Medical Inc. in Toronto and CYBF Entrepreneur
• April Glavine: CEO of Lean Machine Healthy Vending Service Inc. in Moncton and CYBF Entrepreneur
• Barbara Mclean-Stollery: President of Executive Airways Grooming Services in Calgary, CYBF Entrepreneur and G20 YES 2010 participant
• Devon Brooks: Co-Founder of Blo Blow Dry Bar in Vancouver and CYBF Mentor
• François Baron: President of 3Dvisionic in Montréal and CYBF Entrepreneur
• Harry Chemko: Co-Founder and CEO of Elastic Path Software Inc. in Vancouver, G20 YES 2010 delegate and CYBF Board Member
• Jackie Cook: Chief Production Officer of Thread Media in Saskatoon
• Jean-René Lemire: Theobroma Chocolat, G20 YES 2010 participant
• Kassandra Linklater : Co-founder and Director of D.L. Strategic Online Media Corporation in Surrey
• Ken Leblanc: CEO of PropertyGuys.com Inc. in Moncton G20 YES 2010 participant, CYBF Entrepreneur and CYBF Board Member
• Kendal Netmaker: Founder and CEO of Neechie Gear in Saskatoon
• Kévin Paquet: President of AL-Peintre Inc. in St-Gédéon-De-Beauce and CYBF Entrepreneur
• Lesley Steele: President of Eastern Passage Village Veterinary Hospital in Eastern Passage and CYBF Entrepreneur
• Lisa von Sturmer: Founder and CEO of Growing City in Vancouver and CYBF Entrepreneur
• Martin Thibault: President of Absolunet in Boisbriand
• Marty Park: President and CEO of Evolve Business Group in Calgary and CYBF Mentor
• Matthew Hudson: Founder and CEO of Invenia Technical Computing in Winnipeg and CYBF National Best Business Award winner
• Meghan Athavale: President of PO-MO Inc. in Winnipeg and CYBF Entrepreneur
• Mike Wahl: Co-Owner of Definitions Wellness Safety Services in St. Johns, Newfoundland
• Milun Tesovic: Co-Founder and CTO of MetroLeap Media Inc. in Burnaby and G20 YES 2010 participant
• Monica Mei Chiu: CEO of WhatImWear.in, Owner of Aime Luxury and Founder of M Project in Toronto and CYBF Entrepreneur
• Mylène Chaumont: President of Sentinelle Santé in Gatineau and CYBF Entrepreneur
• Olivier Letard: Chairman of PCO Innovation in Montréal
• Roxanne Tétreault: Artistic Director of Esprits Libres Communications in Granby and CYBF Entrepreneur
• Stéphane Elie: President of Symbiose Communication in Longueuil, Québec and CYBF Entrepreneur
• Toby Reid: President and CEO at Solegear Bioplastics Inc. in Vancouver and CYBF Entrepreneur
• Tod Caton: President of Backside Tours in Edmonton
• Wael Badawy: President and CEO of IntelliView Technologies Inc. in Calgary and CYBF Mentor
• Valérie Bellavance: Senior Director, Quebec of Canadian Youth Business Foundation in Montréal

“The Canadian Youth Business Foundation is proud to have some of Canada’s most driven, resourceful and influential young entrepreneurs participate in the G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit,” explains Vivian Prokop, chief executive officer of the Canadian Youth Business Foundation and founding chair of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance. “These dynamic young delegates have been selected for their role as Canada’s job creators and innovators. Hailing from the four corners of our country and focused in diverse sectors of our economy, they have an impressive depth of experience and insight to offer to the G20 leaders and their fellow entrepreneurs. In November, these 28 young entrepreneurs will come home with strengthened knowledge, a credible platform and the voice to become a leader who drives change to the culture of entrepreneurship in Canada.”

CYBF hosted the inaugural G20 YES in Toronto in June 2010, inviting 200 young entrepreneurs and the organizations that represent them from the G20 countries to participate in the development of a communiqué delivered to the G20 leaders. The Summit also resulted in the creation of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance, an international network of like-minded organizations supporting youth entrepreneurship.

Florida-based security and identity management solutions provider AuthenTec and Toronto’s QuickPlay Media Inc.,  have announced a partnership that will see QuickPlay using AuthenTec’s DRM Fusion™ Server to integrate QuickPlay’s OpenVideo™ platform with Microsoft PlayReady®. The integrated offering will enable content owners and mobile operators to securely stream video on demand (VOD) content directly to media tablet devices while ensuring compliance with entertainment industry DRM standards.

“We are excited to add AuthenTec to our growing ecosystem of technology partners,” said Wayne Purboo, CEO of QuickPlay Media. “By working with AuthenTec as one of our DRM partners, QuickPlay is able to provide customers with a high quality VOD streaming service for tablets that cost effectively meets the stringent security standards of leading content providers.”

“Our DRM solutions allow QuickPlay to offer content providers direct yet secure access to a growing number of tablet users with a cost-effective service that supports current and future multimedia standards,” said Dr. Simon Blake-Wilson, Vice President of AuthenTec Embedded Security Solutions. “We are pleased to further expand our leadership in DRM and content protection through this unique partnership with a market innovator and leader like QuickPlay.”

AuthenTec’s DRM Fusion Server and Agent support Microsoft PlayReady, Windows Media DRM, Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and DECE UltraViolet standards. The Agent is available as a downloadable application for both Android and Apple iOS-based smartphones and tablets. As an embedded solution, it is available on Android and many other embedded platforms for mobile phones, set-top boxes and other OEMs. AuthenTec also offers an end-to-end media security solution through its DRM Fusion Server for carriers and network service providers. AuthenTec’s DRM Fusion Server handles the entire DRM process from content protection, rights creation, rights and condition management to license generation and delivery.

AuthenTec’s complete security offering includes fingerprint sensors, identity management software, hardware IP, and encryption software for mobile and networking applications. AuthenTec’s solutions ensure security and user identity from the client to the cloud, and are deployed by the world’s leading companies including Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Fujitsu, HBO, HP, IBM, Motorola, Orange, Samsung, Siemens, and Texas Instruments among many others.

Just one month after Payfirma’s iPhone Virtual Point of Sale App was released in Canada, the Company is now proud to announce the release of its Blackberry Mobile Payment App for Canadian merchants to accept credit card on their Blackberry devices instantly.

“Payfirma’s mission is to bring efficient payment technologies to all Canadian businesses, large and small,” noted Michael Gokturk, CEO and founder of Payfirma, “now consumers and merchants can accept payment for goods and services on their Blackberries anywhere with a cellular or WIFI signal – thereby increasing their sales efficiencies and improving the overall checkout experience.”

Payfirma’s payment apps let any business or consumer accept all major credit cards securely on Blackberry & iPhone. Users can swipe or manually input a credit card, authorize the transaction within 5 seconds and email a receipt of the transaction directly from the app to the customers. All transaction data is encrypted and fully secure through Payfirma’s PCI compliant facilities.

Merchants and developers can also integrate directly to Payfirma’s mobile settlement and authorization gateway, which enable any mobile application to add a hosted, secure mobile checkout solution.

“The next release of our mobile apps will enable users to link their settled funds from the phone directly to an NFC (near-field communication) chip within the phone itself,” continues Gokturk, “enabling the smartphone to be used as an e-wallet and using it to pay for goods and services wherever NFC devices are enabled.”

The app is offered for free and users must have a valid Canadian merchant account to process live transactions. Opening a merchant account with Payfirma is easy, and can be opened directly within the app itself, or on the Company’s website.

Quebec enterprise software developer Devolutions has announced that the next release of its widely acclaimed Remote Desktop Manager application will offer users an enhanced level of value, convenience and productivity thanks to a new development partnership with TheGreenBow, a leading enterprise security software firm.

The development partnership allows for the integration of TheGreenBow’s VPN Client software directly into Devolutions’ Remote Desktop Manager. As a result, IT managers and remote workers will be able to create a VPN tunnel and rapidly open a secure remote connection with Remote Desktop Manager – and all with a single click.

“This development partnership fits perfectly with the vision of our two companies,” commented Devolutions’ CEO David Hervieux and TheGreenBow’s CEO Roger Simon in a joint communication. “We both focus on providing our users with the best of security and usability for remote sessions in elegantly efficient ways, so they can be more productive and improve performance. We look forward to continuing to work together and expand on this initial success.”

Currently, TheGreenBow is available as an add-on to Remote Desktop Manager, but the next version of Remote Desktop Manager will support the TheGreenBow VPN software out of the box. Full release details will be launched soon.

IGLOO Software announced today that the company has been positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the Niche quadrant of the Social Software in the Workplace and Externally Facing Social Software reports. IGLOO was one of 22 and 18 vendors respectively to appear in the reports.

The Gartner reports help to advise business executives and IT leaders who are seeking information and direction on investments in social technologies. The Magic Quadrant for Social Software in the Workplace consists of products that support internal information sharing, project coordination and collaboration. The Magic Quadrant for Externally Facing Social Software consists of products that support external teaming and networking where most participants reside outside the organization.

“We consider our positioning in the Magic Quadrant confirmation of our strategy to focus exclusively on a 100% cloud solution to enable modern business collaboration,” said Dan Latendre, CEO of IGLOO Software. “This unique approach provides a highly flexible and agile solution that can only be achieved with a pure SaaS (Software as a Service) model.”

You can download a complimentary copy of the Magic Quadrant for Social Software in the Workplace, courtesy of IGLOO – registration required.

Author credits:

Gartner Magic Quadrant for Social Software in the Workplace by Nikos Drakos et al., August 25, 2011.
Gartner Magic Quadrant for Externally Facing Social Software by Jeffrey Mann, et al., August 25, 2011.

Vancouver social intranet software provider Intranet Connections has been selected by Ontario based healthcare organization York Central Hospital to provide its intranet services to their 2,500 users, providing an effective and accessible communications tool for healthcare workers on the go.

York Central Hospital was looking for intranet software to better organize their internal communications for healthcare professionals that access the intranet from computers across the four wing hospital throughout the day. The main objective of the intranet was to provide a central location for employees to access important company information. They use their intranet to announce their CEO’s message, hospital highlights, healthcare news, media coverage and press releases. Human Resources consolidated their important documents and policies onto the site and are promoting employees to apply for internal jobs within the Job Center application. A Google search widget allows employees to find content on the internet from the intranet home page.

Nelson Cardoso, Corporate Webmaster for York Central Hospital, says, “I appreciate the ability to create sub-sites that enable various departments and areas like fire and emergency and energy awareness to manage their own content. The service and response time needed to be efficient, and we found that in Intranet Connections.”

To prepare for the launch of Intranet Connections, York Central Hospital offered learning sessions, sent weekly engagement emails and advertised the new intranet with promotional posters and articles in the hospital newsletter. York Central Hospital uses Intranet Connections stats software to monitor visits to the site, whose visits have increased substantially in less than three weeks. The ease of using Intranet Connections software has made adding content simple. York Central Hospital allows users to manage their own content in the Physician Resource Center and Medical Affairs area of the intranet.

Shaftesbury has announced the appointment of Jay Switzer, former President and CEO of Canadian broadcaster CHUM Limited, to the production company’s board of directors, effective immediately.

“Jay has been one of the Canadian broadcast industry’s most successful leaders for the past 25 years, and has been integral to the creation of some of this country’s most dynamic programming and media brands,” said Christina Jennings, Chairman & CEO, Shaftesbury. “His wealth of experience will be invaluable to Shaftesbury as we continue to expand and diversify our business and develop additional opportunities for growth.”

“It is a true privilege to join the board of a company I have admired for more than 20 years,” said Switzer. “Christina and her team are the best in the business and I look forward to working with the board to help Shaftesbury develop and grow into the future.”

A respected veteran of the Canadian arts and media industry for more than two decades, Switzer served as President and CEO of CHUM Ltd. prior to its sale in 2007, and was instrumental in the development and launch of CHUM’s specialty channels dating back to MuchMusic in 1983/84. Switzer is co-founder and Chair of Hollywood Suite Inc., which recently announced the launch of a multiplatform four-channel HD specialty movie package in Canada, and also serves on the boards of Canadian media companies William F. White International Inc. (Comweb Group) and OUTtv, as well the Canadian Centre for Diversity. Switzer is a former Vice Chair of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters and a former longtime Governor of the Banff Television Foundation.

Switzer holds an MBA from the Ivey School of Business (University of Western Ontario), and has been recognized with numerous awards for his leadership in both broadcast industry and community initiatives.

Switzer joins current Shaftesbury board members Jennings; Scott Garvie, Senior Vice President, Business & Legal Affairs, Shaftesbury; Millard Roth, former CEO, The Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association; Carey Diamond, President and CEO, Whitecastle Investments Ltd.; and Donald Ziraldo, co-founder of Inniskillin Wines Inc. and Chairman of Mobilotto Inc. and Ziraldo Icewine.

The BCIC-New Ventures judges have made it official and today announced the 10 Finalists for the the 2011 competition as well as the Top 5 for the Agritech competition. The BCIC-New Ventures Competition is open to any B.C. resident, team or business with an innovative technology product or service that has not yet secured significant financing from external investors.

Each of the competitors have paid $200.00 entry fees and participated in business-related seminars and events which began in April, along with 4 stringent elimination rounds began with pitching their idea, and then moved on to passing a feasibility test and developing a condensed business plan. The final round will take place on September 8th and 9th, when the award finalists will pitch to a live jury. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony to be held on September 22nd.

In alphabetical order by company name the Top 10 BCIC-New Ventures companies are:

• Awesense Wireless Inc.
• CapTherm Systems Inc.
• FundRazr
• MineSense Technologies Ltd.
• Polymer Research Technologies Ltd.
• Precision NanoSystems Inc.
• RewardLoop
• Secodix Corporation
• semiosBIO Technologies Inc.
• Wifarer Inc.

Competitors entered in the Agritech stream will be evaluated by a separate panel of jury members and the Top 5 finalists of the stream will vie for 2 prizes: the $30,000 Shildroth First Prize for Innovation in Agritech Prize and the $20,000 Shildroth Second Prize for Innovation in Agritech .

In alphabetical order by company name the Top 5 Agritech companies for 2011 are:

• BlueION Water Technologies Inc.
• Diacarbon Energy Inc.
• GreenScene AgriTek Inc.
• KOK Technologies
• semiosBIO Technologies Inc.