News Release
N.B.'s future showcased at gala
May 8, 2009
Peter Corbyn says IT isn't just a geeky little industry anymore - it's the key to a fruitful and stable New Brunswick economy.
"It's not nerdy; it's been cool for years," said the founder of the eco-friendly social networking site GreenNexxus at the 11th annual KIRA awards Thursday night.
The locally developed site won the Most Promising Start-Up award.
"IT is letting New Brunswickers develop solutions for the rest of the world," Corbyn said.
"That's essential to our economy ... it's simple math, with a population as small as ours, the market is outside the province.
"But because of IT, we don't have to leave to do it."
The gala, which celebrates New Brunswick's knowledge industry, was held at the Delta Fredericton Hotel.
More than 500 high-tech executives, developers and programmers from across the province rubbed shoulders at the event.
The Most Promising Start-Up category was dominated by Fredericton firms. Along with GreenNexxus, Meritus University, an online institution, was also shortlisted.
The category was rounded out by Smart Skin, founded by UNB students that hone nanotechnology to create more interactive video game controllers, and maybe one day prosthetics with a sense of touch for amputees.
Kumaran Thillainadarajah, the recent engineering graduate helming Smart Skin, said the gala wasn't so much a pat on the back for this year's accomplishments as a venue to better develop the future of IT in New Brunswick.
"It would be nice to win," he said before the winners were announced. "But mainly I want to build relationships here. That's really important because I'm so new to this," Thillainadarajah said.
Mary Goggin, vice-president of delivery services at Accreon, said established companies like hers need that networking just as much.
The Fredericton company won two KIRAs, Export Services and Employment Growth, after bringing its malleable software consulting services to companies around the globe.
But she said New Brunswick's IT companies need to collaborate to truly strike out beyond the province's borders to a market that can better sustain them.
"It's difficult and very competitive in the U.S., what with so many vendors knocking on the same doors," she said.
"But (exporting is) essential for our IT industry ... and it's necessary for our clients, because New Brunswick companies aren't offshore but near-shore, offering the benefits of being a fresher alternative to massive markets without the risk of offshore companies."
Virtual Expert Clinics, a special-needs education software developer that was also nominated for its dealings overseas (for Export Product, loosing to Q1 Labs), agreed that a bigger IT sector has much to offer the province.
Virtual Expert Clinics president and founder Cynthia Howroyd said the industry has changed drastically, from hardware to software, from CD-ROM installations to online applications, from business driven to a linchpin in day to day life.
She said it's the only industry growing quickly enough to keep pace with many of the province's, and the world's, issues.
"The old model of teaching a few autistic kids 30 years ago won't work now that there's hundreds," Howroyd said.
"IT lets us export our individualized lesson plans ... it's the only thing that can scale up as quickly as the disorder to help us deal with it."
Premier Shawn Graham agreed the industry's growth is staggering, especially as it becomes the biggest in the province, with a contribution of $2 billion.
He said functions such as the KIRA awards highlight that progress and the industry's potential.
"You can see how that growth has changed Fredericton from just a government-driven town in leaps and bounds," he said.
"Where you see the decline in forestry and mining it's so important to diversify ... to have our knowledge industry keep our local companies here as they bring what we have to offer all over the world."
By KYLE MULLIN
Daily Gleaner