Snapshots from MobiBiz 2011

IT World Canada and IDC Canada partner on a one-day conference that focuses on enterprise mobility technologies and the leadership strategies needed to help them meet business objectives. MobiBiz was held at the Toronto Board of Trade on June 21, 2011.

By Shane Schick, Editor-in-Chief, IT World Canada
Photographs: David Dorkin

Man from MaRS

Mark Zimmerman, senior advisor, information technology, communications and entertainment at the Medical and Research Science (MaRS) Discovery District, profiled some of the hottest emerging firms in the mobility space. This included Wave Accounting, Polar Mobile and Extreme Labs, any of all of which, he said, could become the RIMs of the next 10 years.

Tablet talk

IDC Canada’s senior analyst for Canadian emerging technology and digital media (and ITBusiness.ca advisory board member) Krista Napier ran the concurrent session on what Canadian organizations need to know about tablets such as the PlayBook or the iPad.

Diamond glitters

OCAD U president Sara Diamond, who also co-chairs the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre, provided an overview of how mobile user interfaces will change in the next few years, as well as increased functionality of devices and applications. Among the highlights: “Botanicalls,” a system that sends messages through Twitter to remind users of when their plants need water.

Apps, apps and more apps

Brandon Mensinga, senior mobility analyst at IDC Canada, ran a concurrent session on how to develop a decision framework among the growing plethora of apps and devices. Some of his research indicated that while iOS is steadily growing as a platform, we remain largely a BlackBerry OS-dominated country.

Mobility means ‘Zum’

Alber Hanna, head of IT infrastructure strategy and planning for the City of Brampton, Ont., discussed how mobile technology has been built into its new bus rapid transit system, Zum. For example, if a bus is running behind schedule, a system on board the bus will hold a green light longer or shorten a red light to get the bus through an intersection more quickly.

‘Don’t take away our iPads!’

Dale Potter, CIO for the Ottawa Hospital, discussed how his organization adopted mobile technologies like tablets and smart phones very quickly and on a large scale to improve communications in life or death situations. One sign of success: Potter said some staff were nearly in tears by the time initial pilot projects ended and products had to be returned.

Mobility means business

In a keynote session, John Ramsell, vice-president of mobility at SAP, looked at key drivers for more adoption in the enterprise and touched on the key issues. This included the consumerization of IT, security and application control, leveraging existing investments, and creating “timeless” applications that “prosumers” can use.

Meet MobiBiz 2011

The MobiBiz advisory board and leadership team from IDC and IT World Canada, including, front row left to right: Krista Napier, IDC Canada’s senior analyst, digital media; Joanne Haywood vice-president of marketing and product management, IDC Canada; Fawn Annan, president and group publisher, IT World Canada; Shane Schick, editor-in-chief, IT World Canada. Back row: Brandon Mensinga, senior mobility analyst, IDC Canada; Tony Olvet, group vice-president of research, IDC Canada.