Business In Brief
Canada 3.0 Platinum Sponsor PwC has announced the launch of its Digital Readiness Assessment (DRA). The DRA is a diagnostic business offering that helps companies to assess their current “digital state” and seek out new business opportunities to go digital.
At Canada 3.0 2011, attendees can try out a DRA survey on their mobile devices, a short online version that will help them self-assess in a few minutes where they are on their digital journey. It is made up of a short number of questions by priority areas including: Strategy & Innovation, Revenue Growth, Partner Ecosystem, Customers and others.
“Currently, most Canadian companies are moving to digital models in gradual steps that are being pushed forward by their more entrepreneurial managers and the tactical needs of the business,” says Jerry Brown, an associate partner in the Consulting practice in PwC’s Toronto office. “The goal of the DRA is to help companies create an effective digital strategy and really transform their business model to keep up with the quick pace of change.”
“The successful companies will be the ones who have the best strategy to engage with all of their digital partners – everyone from their customers, to their suppliers, vendors, distributors and other businesses.”
PwC, a keynote speaker at the Canada 3.0 Conference, will also be a judge at the first ever Road to Banff Pitch Off Contest. Hosted by the Banff Venture Forum and the Canadian Digital Media Network, the competition is open to early stage ICT, life sciences and clean tech companies with annual revenues of less than $5 million. The top three finalists will win an all-expense paid trip to the Banff Venture Forum, October 6 – 7 in Banff, Alberta. At the Forum, finalists will attend a one-day workshop where they will be introduced to potential investors and paired up with a Venture Capital (VC) mentor for the conference.
In a few weeks, PwC will hold its eighth annual one-day conference for CEOs of emerging Canadian technology companies, Connecting Vision to Reality 2011. This year’s conference is on May 11, 2011 at the Ted Rogers School of Management, 55 Dundas Street West, Toronto. The speaker roster includes a number of industry experts including keynote speaker Jeremy Gutsche, founder of TrendHunter.com. The results of PwC’s 2011 Report on Emerging Canadian Technology Companies will also be released at the event.
D-BOX Technologies Inc. has announced the company’s agreement with Warner Bros. Pictures to feature D-BOX’s immersive motion technology with the studio’s franchise finale, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 in theatres July 15.
This final act is the third film in the series to offer D-BOX’s motionals effects. Fans of the movie franchise can expect to be transported back to Hogwarts with Harry and friends feeling sensations of motion along the way. Intense battles and exhilarating flights onscreen become real as D-BOX MFX Seats move in perfect sync with all ofals the onscreen action.
“Warner Bros. has been a tremendous supporter of our motion technology and this is such a legendary movie franchise for D-BOX to be associated,” said President and CEO of D-BOX Technologies, Claude Mc Master. “We have collaborated on a number of new releases over the past two years and look forward to partnering on future movie content with the studio.”
PEER 1 Hosting has announced the arrival of its IPv6 enabled 10GB backbone network today, bringing future-ready network reach to customers ahead of the imminent IPv4 address exhaustion.
PEER 1 Hosting’s network is one of the first supporting both IPv4 and IPv6 traffic, ensuring customers’ websites remain visible to all users around the world, irrespective of the networks or hardware they are using.
The IPv6 upgrade is the result of $10M investment over the last three years by PEER 1 Hosting and has included a beta phase, allowing Colocation and transit customers to test the backbone through PEER 1 Hosting’s network of datacenters. Offering both IPv4 and IPv6 network capabilities will allow PEER 1 Hosting’s Colocation and hosting customers to adopt the new protocol at their own pace, by providing a bridge to both worlds as networks transition towards IPv6 as standard protocol.
“Ping is one of the things we pride ourselves on and here is the perfect example of how we’re making sure businesses are accessible and online,” said Jag Bains, director of Network Operations for PEER 1 Hosting. “IPv6 is the next wave and we’re at the forefront of the transition. When IPv4 reaches capacity we’re ready to support our clients with the new protocol.”
PEER 1 Hosting is ahead of the curve in bringing IPv6 online for its customers, while industry debate continues to linger over standards and adoption. The PEER 1 Hosting backbone will also offer the added network benefits of the IPv6 protocol including increased addressing capacity, more flexible security, the ability to expand infrastructure and accelerate business.