Upcoming Ontario IT-related trade missions for 2010, provided by Mauricio Ospina, International Trade Branch - Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade

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VP from NORTHROP GRUMMAN in Toronto (Jan 14 and 15)

P Gerald E. Buckwalter, VP, Homeland Security for Northrop Grumman will be in Toronto on January 14 and 15.  Mr. Buckwater is interested in meeting Ontario-based IT companies with the following technologies:

 

• Data/sensor integration/fusion
• Visualization/Common Operational Picture
• Remote monitoring/management

To request a 25 minutes meeting with Mr. Buckwater, please send a 50-words company profile. Also include the number of employees of your company in Ontario and mention a couple major projects related to the sectors of interest, recently implemented or in development. Send this information to Bryan.Harvey@ontario.ca or call 416/325-6875 (email preferred).

 

2010-2011 Ontario IT missions to the U.S. – ATTACHED LIST (Most are completely full due to constant improvements and added mission components)

In 2009, I led four IT trade missions to the U.S. with positive ongoing results and feedback from the participating Ontario companies (Dalsa, OpenText, Redline, Atlantis, and many other smaller companies). These missions usually include turn-key exhibit space in the award-winning Ontario pavilion at a key trade show, an opportunity to make a 1-minute elevator pitch during a business reception (100 to 500 people), up-to-date databases of local distributors, 1x1 meetings with major VARs and reps, and an information session. In addition to these outgoing missions, I also co-organized the visit of over ten major U.S. system integrators to the province who met with over 100 Ontario companies. My 2009 programs were ranked with an overall 91% satisfaction ranking. Some selected comments from participating companies are below. 

For 2010, already several trade missions are full already. Please see below or attached.

 

 

Sectors: Wireless, Telecommunications                       CTIA · March 23-25, 2010 · Las Vegas, NV

Eight wireless companies will exhibit in the Ontario Pavilion at CTIA Wireless (www.ctiawireless.com) and receive several value-added benefits. CTIA attracts about 100,000 executives and 1,000 exhibitors from companies representing all facets of the wireless and communications sectors.

COST: US $2,200 per company (Early bird registration $2,000).  Note: No spaces left

 

 

Sectors: IT and security                                                U.S. System integrators · Spring 2010 · Ontario

A delegation of five US system integrators is interested in meeting with innovative Ontario-based suppliers of IT products and services. Details to come

                                                  

Sectors: IT and Security                                               Washington DC · June 2010 · Washington, DC

For the second time, eight experienced Ontario IT and security companies are invited to join a trade mission to Washington D.C. This mission offers participating companies valuable face-to-face market contacts, one-one-one meetings and information about selling to the U.S. government and private sector partners in the Washington D.C. area. 

COST: US $1,500 per company (Early bird registration $1,200).  Note: 40+ companies in the waiting list

 

 

Sectors: Security                                                          ASIS  · Oct. 12-14, 2010 · Dallas, TX

For the second time, eight Ontario security companies will exhibit within the Ontario pavilion at ASIS 2010 (www.asisonline.org) and receive several value-added benefits. ASIS is the premiere security event attracting more than 23,000 security professionals and hosting the largest marketplace of security technologies, products and services.  Confirmed exhibitors at ASIS include Honeywell, Panasonic, ADT, Johnson Controls, ITT and Ingersoll Rand. The 2009 Ontario mission to ASIS received a 94% satisfaction rating.

COST: US $2,200 per company (Early bird registration $1,800 valid to July 31, 2010).  Note: 4 spaces still available

 

 

Sectors: Simulation, Security, e-Learning                    I/ITSEC 2010 · Nov. 29 – Dec. 2, 2010 · Orlando, FL

For the third time, eight Ontario-based IT companies will have the opportunity to exhibit in the award-winning Ontario Pavilion at I/ITSEC (www.iitsec.org) and receive several value-added benefits. The event attracts 16,000 attendees from over 40 countries and 500 exhibiting companies from the IT security, training and simulation sectors including U.S. prime contractors, large integrators and distributors such as SAIC, Lockheed Martin, L3Comm, Adobe, HP, CAE, Rockwell and BAE systems.  The 2009 Ontario mission to I/ITSEC received a 90% satisfaction rating. 

COST: US $2,200 per company (Early bird registration $1,800).  Note: 4 spaces still available

 

 

Sectors: IT and security                                                U.S. System integrators · December 2010 · Ontario (TBD)

A delegation of five US system integrators is interested in meeting with innovative Ontario-based suppliers of IT products and services. Details to come

 

 

Sectors: Internet telephony, Cloud Computing             ITEXPO 2011 · Winter 2011 · Miami Beach, FL

Eight companies with VoIP and related technologies will exhibit in the award-winning Ontario Pavilion (# 512) at Internet Telephony Expo 2010 - ITEXPO (www.tmcnet.com/voip/conference) and receive several value-added benefits.  ITEXPO attracts over 6,000 executives from companies in the Internet voice application, wireless, video and Internet TV, instant messaging and social media sectors. The 2010 Ontario mission to ITEXPO received a (TBD) satisfaction rating.

 

 

Sectors: Wireless, Telecommunications                       CTIA · March 2011 · Las Vegas, NV

Eight wireless companies will exhibit in the Ontario Pavilion at CTIA Wireless (www.ctiawireless.com) and receive several value-added benefits. CTIA attracts about 100,000 executives and 1,000 exhibitors from companies representing all facets of the wireless and communications sectors.

 

 

Selected testimonials 2009-2010 Ontario IT missions to the US

Ontario mission to I/ITSEC (Nov.-Dec 2009)                                                             

 

Delegates’ satisfaction ranking: 90%

• The exposure we had and level of business contacts were great (especially for the guests at the breakfast sessions). The booth and huge Canadian maple leaf drew a lot of positive attention. Mauricio was great to work with.
• Provided excellent exposure to a new market for our company, including medical simulation in Greater Orlando, Lockheed Martin, Northrop-Grumman.
• Very professionally run and gave a very positive corporate impression to all convention attendees. Very ‘can-do’ attitude from the government staff. Aggressive and professional in funneling people to the booth. Overall, wonderful exposure run by very professional people.

Ontario mission to ASIS (September  2009)                                                                  

Delegates’ satisfaction ranking: 94%

• The breakfast with ASIS GLA was excellent. It allowed for the members of the GLA to explain what each one does and allowed us to target specific members. I was able to obtain an excellent and interesting lead as well as another potential lead. 
• Our objective was to find distributors in new markets. By second day, we found potential distributors for Europe, South and Central America, as well as the two largest security distributors in the US. Also, the ice wine tasting brought an incredible amount of traffic. Great idea! Mauricio did a fantastic job.
• We would not have exhibited at ASIS if we had not been on the Ontario booth. It really helped us to have several very large prospective customers come to the booth and enjoy the wine tasting. Definitely helps with our growth in the US market.

Ontario mission to Washington DC (June 2009)                                                   Delegates’ satisfaction ranking: 86%

• After participating in our first mission…we were incredibly impressed by the scope, reach and impact of the mission.  The planned agenda was full of value for our company and it was executed masterfully by our host, Mauricio Ospina and his team.  These events and meetings enabled us to build relationships at key organizations that may have taken years to establish otherwise.  We would not hesitate to participate again and strongly encourage other firms to also take advantage of the fast-track the missions provide to penetrate new markets.  
• Government-arranged meetings are more effective than our own arranged meetings. We will come back again if another mission is planned.

           

Ontario mission to ITEXPO (February 2009)

                                                                   

Delegates’ satisfaction ranking: 96%

• The exhibition was very good for my company. We made over 50 strong sales leads and closed 5 deals on returning to Canada. We also formed a partnership with one of the largest distributors of VoIP hardware in the USA. Our booth location was great and the elevator pitch was great.
• This program is fantastic for us. We would not have come if we had to get our own 10x10 (booth). Being in the Ontario pavilion gives us immediate credibility and visibility. The show has been fantastic for us – we have secured two immediate large resellers and about ten more, plus two new partners in a whole new type of channel for us that we had not had realized. Mauricio makes the whole organization of the event super smooth and he is so focused on the quality, effectiveness and value of the event to us. Please continue this program.

Ontario mission to I/ITSEC (Nov.undefinedDec. 2008) 

                        

 

 Delegates’ satisfaction ranking: 90.5%

• The Ontario trade representatives did a terrific job of introducing us to key local contacts and provided us with a strategically located kiosk at the show. We will be increasing our exports to the US quite substantially. This is my second time coming to an Ontario-sponsored show and both times were productive, well organized and potentially lucrative to our Mississauga firm.
• For small business, trade shows are very important part of our marketing activities. However, many times the show proves to be not cost-effective for us. This program really allows us the market exposure we are looking for at an affordable cost and the quality is excellent. The entire program is very well organized and we really feel positive that this is the best program we have attended in a long time. Thank you Ontario government! And thank you Mauricio on a job well done.  

See attached list – Happy 2010

Mauricio Ospina
Area Director, ICT sector
International Trade Branch - Ministry of Economic Development and Trade
6th Floor, Hearst Block, 900 Bay St.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M7A 2E1
Tel. (416) 325 6151, Mobile: (416) 845 0862
Fax (416) 325 6509
mauricio.ospina@ontario.ca
www.ontarioexports.com

The January eLATED Event! “Look at that CodeBaby Character! : Adding interactive characters to digitally engage your eLearning audience”

Alliance numérique invites you to come and see what the Quebec eLearning industry has to offer! Walk your way through the exhibition zone, attend conferences and network with the best eLearning professionals of the province! For more information on this event, please contact:

 

Marie Claude Bernard

Alliance numérique

1450, rue City Councillors, bureau 800
Montréal (Québec)  H3A 2E6

 

Tél. : 514 848-7177, poste 226

Cell : 514 451-2079

Télec. : 514 848-7133

 

mcbernard@alliancenumerique.com
www.alliancenumerique.com

Washington, D.C. AND Kitchener, ON – Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) and Desire2Learn Incorporated (Desire2Learn) announced today that the companies have reached an agreement to license each other's worldwide e-learning patent portfolios and settle all outstanding litigation between them. Under the terms of the Agreement, the companies will dismiss their pending litigation.

"We are pleased to have resolved our differences with Desire2Learn," said Michael Chasen, President and CEO of Blackboard. "Bringing this matter to resolution is in the best interests of both of our organizations, our respective clients and the broader education community."

"We're pleased to enter this agreement, and believe it is in the best interests of the educational community," said John Baker, President and CEO of Desire2Learn. "We will continue to focus our attention on our clients, as well as the development of our products and services."

Additional details of the settlement were not disclosed.

About Blackboard Inc.

Blackboard Inc. (NASDAQ: BBBB) is a global leader in enterprise technology and innovative solutions that improve the experience of millions of students and learners around the world every day. Blackboard’s solutions allow thousands of higher education, K-12, professional, corporate, and government organizations to extend teaching and learning online, facilitate campus commerce and security, and communicate more effectively with their communities. Founded in 1997, Blackboard is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. For more information about Blackboard, please visit www.blackboard.com.

About Desire2Learn Incorporated

Desire2Learn is a world-leading provider of enterprise eLearning solutions that enable institutions and other organizations to create teaching and learning environments that reflect their vision, values, goals, pedagogical approaches and branding. Founded in 1999, Desire2Learn has subsidiaries, offices and personnel located in North America, the U.K. and Australia. Desire2Learn supports more than five million learners worldwide and clients include higher education, K-12, as well as associations, government and other leading organizations. For more information, visit: www.Desire2Learn.com, call 1.519.772.0325 or toll-free 1.888.772.0325 (within North America), 0808.234.6744 (U.K.) and +61 412 067 308 (Australia).

Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for Blackboard and other statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "plans," "expects," "will," and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including the factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of our Form 10-Q filed on November 6, 2009 with the SEC. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company’s views as of December 15, 2009. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company’s views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s views as of any date subsequent to December 15, 2009.

SYNOPSIS: JISC funded SHARE project provides significant step forward in extending a learning object repository (LOR) to support teaching and learning

Kitchener-Waterloo, ON, and Nottingham, U.K., December 9, 2009 – Desire2Learn Incorporated (Desire2Learn), a leading provider of mission-critical enterprise eLearning solutions, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Nottingham Trent University, one of the company's largest clients in the U.K., that will enhance learning object repository (LOR) use by extending repository infrastructure to support teaching and learning.

Through the partnership, a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) interface will be developed to JORUM in conjunction with JISC. This work will provide a crucial foundation to enable a cultural shift, build a sharing community mindset within Nottingham Trent University as well as address outcomes of the JISC Repository Programme¹. The successful implementation of the JISC funded SHARE (Supporting, Harnessing and Advancing Repository Enhancement) project provides a significant step forward with development of a Nottingham Trent University repository as well as best practices for LORs in general.

"The existence of an LOR within the university's VLE provides an opportunity for harnessing a distributed infrastructure," states Professor Sue McKnight, Project Owner, SHARE project and Director of Libraries and Knowledge Resources, Nottingham Trent University. "By building a sharing community mindset, easy access and discovery of learning resources and related work will be facilitated. We will be demonstrating what can be done but, importantly, part of the JISC project is focusing on cultural change, the contribution to the sector should be in identifying barriers and ways of addressing these to facilitate sharing or reuse of learning objects."

This project will undertake:

•  Development of policies and best practices for the sharing and licensing of content within LOR, the IRep and National Repositories such as JORUM
• Further development of the Nottingham Trent University institutional repository beyond being storage for a wide variety of materials, building on the cultural work of embedding its use and content into the life and work of academics at Nottingham Trent University
• Collaboration with Desire2Learn to work on the integration of Learning Repository with external repositories including JORUM 
•  Enhanced sharing within the organization with the integration of the institutional repository (IRep)
• Metadata mapping and metadata application profiles for the description of different types of content

"Nottingham Trent University is setting the framework for the U.K. market. They are leading the way - laying the groundwork that will leverage technology to develop more accessible scholarly and related work," says John Baker, President & CEO, Desire2Learn. "Through this partnership, there will be a wealth of information that can be drawn upon, just in time as people want it."

McKnight says, "We are working together with the academics to assist with their successes; to create really inspiring learning environments. If there is a lot of really good content in the learning object repository, or indeed if our search through the learning object repository leads them to other repositories that have really good content, we'll be making it easier for them to achieve what they want as teachers - to enhance the experience of students."

Information on SHARE can be found at www.ntushare.org.

About Nottingham Trent University

Nottingham Trent University (NTU) spans three campuses and serves more than 24,000 students from 90 different countries. Having been awarded the top new university in the U.K., according to the Good University Guide, NTU delivers some impressive results with over 97% of students in employment six months after graduating. Besides collaborating closely with employers, Nottingham Trent University has made significant strides in accessibility and distance learning over the years. For more information visit: www.ntu.ac.uk

About Desire2Learn

Desire2Learn comprises Desire2Learn Incorporated and its subsidiaries. Desire2Learn is a world-leading provider of enterprise eLearning solutions that enable institutions and other organizations to create teaching and learning environments that reflect their vision, values, goals, pedagogical approaches and branding. Founded in 1999, Desire2Learn has offices and personnel located in North America, the U.K. and Australia. Desire2Learn supports more than five million learners worldwide and clients include higher education, K-12, as well as associations, government and other leading organizations. For more information, visit: www.Desire2Learn.com, call 1.519.772.0325 or toll-free 1.888.772.0325 (within North America), 0808.234.6744 (U.K.) and +61 412 067 308 (Australia).

¹ Repositories and Preservation programme: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/whatwedo/programmes/reppres.aspx

###

John McLeod
Director of Marketing
Desire2Learn Incorporated
519.772.0325 ext. 378
PR@Desire2Learn.com

As many of you may be aware, there are international efforts underway, through a committee (JTC1/SC36) of the International Organization for Standards( ISO), to address “Standardization in the field of information technologies for learning, education, and training to support individuals, groups, or organizations, and to enable interoperability of resources and tools.” (from the committee’s 2008 business plan).  Canada’s contribution to this international standards committee comes from the eLearning Standards Advisory Council of Canada (eLSACC).

The eLSACC is currently Canadian use cases dealing with e-testing, as they develop a submission to the international committee.  Please take a look at the Invitation notice below and connect with the appropriate contacts indicated if you would to make a submission, or obtain more information about eLSACC and the JTC1/SC36.

__________________________

Need for use cases on 'High Stakes' e-Testing

 At the last JTC1/SC36 plenary meeting held in September 2009 in Umeå, Sweden, an invitation was issued to national bodies and liaison organizations to provide use case information related to 'high-stakes' e-testing. SC36 WG5 members decided to conduct a survey to obtain use cases on 'high-stakes' e-testing, which includes:

• •·         Those tests where the learner responses are automatically marked by computer. e.g., multiple choice item types, drag and drop, list ordering, hot-spots, etc. Out of scope will be free-text questions that are either computer or human marked)
• •·         Tests that are delivered using the internet, whether the test is taken while online or the test stored locally on a machine shortly before and then for the duration of that test before being removed
• •·         Where the test is leading to a formal qualification, or some other recognition – often referred to as ‘high-stakes’ tests

Canadian submission (with eLSACC and eLearning Community members input)
To contribute to Canada’s submission, it would be appreciated if eLSACC members and members from Canadian eLearning Communities who may be developing and implementing e-testing within the public, private, and voluntary sectors (e.g., government, K-12 education, higher education, corporate) would forward information regarding their work in this area to Simone Laughton at simone.laughton@utoronto.ca. The deadline for Canadian submission of the use cases is January 23, 2010.

Information regarding the information required for the Use Case Submission is provided in the hyperlinked call (Ctrl-click here) for use cases (form: excerpt from SC36 N1906).

This note has been prepared by Simone Laughton who is a Canadian delegate to JTC1/SC36 meetings. Please contact her at simone.laughton@utoronto.ca if you have any questions or require additional information.

Thanks very much for your consideration and help,

Robert Thivierge
President, eLSACC
November 27, 2009

http://elsacc-cccnal.ca/  

Toronto, December 1^st, 2009 – Once again, Melia Media, the e-learning division of TFO (The Ontario French-Language Educational Communications Authority), has won international acclaim for its leadership in the creation of multimedia educational resources. The International Academy of Visual Arts granted TFO’s Melia Media not one but two W³ Silver Awards in the Government and Best Structure and Navigation categories for its childcarelearning.on.ca / infogarderies.on.ca website, produced in both official languages. The site was developed in collaboration with the Government of Ontario.

“With these two awards, TFO’s Melia Media is consolidating its position as a leader in online educational resources. The childcarelearning.on.ca site was selected among nearly 3,000 entries by a jury made up of the world’s top website producers,” noted a proud Christine Larouche, Director of TFO Interactive Media. “I would like to congratulate the Melia Media team for their great work and creativity in developing websites that have been nationally and internationally recognized on several occasions. This is also the result of a strong collaboration with stimulating partners such as the Ministry of Children and Youth Services.”

The childcarelearning.on.ca website was designed to help Ontario child care supervisors better understand licensing requirements under the Day Nurseries Act. The site is based on a virtual child care centre that users can easily relate to their work environment and daily routine. In each room of the centre, the licensing requirements of the Day Nurseries Act are presented in simple language with accompanying interactive images, as well as photos and videos showing licensed child care centres in action.

The childcarelearning.on.ca website is intended for supervisors and staff in licensed child care programs across Ontario. It is also useful to anyone interested in learning more about child care licensing requirements.

Granted by the International Academy of Visual Arts, the W³ Awards honour and recognize creative excellence on the Web.

-30-

Contact :

Louise Jourdain – Senior Information Officer – Melia Media - 416.968.8273 - ljourdain@tfo.org

Via Gary Woodill on Workplace Learning Today.

Social Networking in the Workplace

Presenter:
Stephanie Taylor, Manager of Systems Development Services at the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo

Date: 16 December 2009 at 1:00 P.M. (Eastern)
Mode: Elluminate Live!
URL: Please contact the secretariat at cnie-rcie@cnie-rcie.ca
Recording: To be posted after the event.

********
ABSTRACT
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The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo hopes to better engage our citizens, champion innovation, improve employee collaboration, and empower our people by using Social Networking in the Workplace. By developing guidelines we hope to open up the possibilities for effective collaboration and data sharing in an ever changing world. In this W&WW session Stephanie will present the guidelines and discuss the value of social networking in the workplace.

Stephanie Taylor is the Manager of Systems Development Services at the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. She is currently working on her MEd. specializing in Educational Technology through the University of Calgary; Stephanie started her IT career in high school when she taught computer basics at the local rec. center. Since 2006 she has presented at multiple conferences on the topics of E-Learning Development and Social Networking in the Workplace.

http://www.cnie-rcie.ca/?q=node/302

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Please also visit http://www.innovationineducation.ca for detailed information on CNIE's upcoming annual conference in May 2010.

 

From  Workplace Learning Today, announcement about a new industry report that, among other interesting information, estimates the size of the US market for self-paced elearning products and services at US$16.9 B in 2009, with forecasted growth to US$23.9 B by 2014.

The Executive Summary can be downloaded from the Ambient web site at http://www.ambientinsight.com/Reports/eLearning.aspx