User generated content is great, as long as you can find the right users. And we have.
Over the last couple of weeks we’ve introduced some new voices to our blog network, and a few more are just about to start posting. I thought this might be a good time to formally welcome them to Blogs.ITWorldCanada.com and to offer some background about why we invited them in the first place.
Paul Rummell has been a great resource to me for several years, going back to my days working on ITBusiness.ca. He brings a unique mix of public and private sector expertise in managing IT, including stints with firms such as EDS and as a former federal CIO of Canada. Now a consultant, Paul has already weighed in on topics such as virtualization and the possible Microsoft-Yahoo deal, and I can’t think of a better person to represent our community of senior technology executives.
Russell McOrmond should be well known to anyone who cares about free/libre open source software, digital copyright and sound public policy. Based in Ottawa, Russell has emerged as the go-to guy we approach for commentary on all kinds of stories. He was also one of the most frequent letter-writers, to the point where it made sense to give him a regular platform for his analysis and ideas. As policy coordinator for the Canadian Linux User’s Exchange and manager of Digital Copyright Canada, he will serve as our conscience on controversial issues such as intellectual property and non-proprietary business models.
Ross Chevalier is the CTO of Novell Canada. Normally we would have avoided hosting executives from a vendor organization out of fear the posts would become too self-promotional (note to P.R. people: blogs are not the new bylined articles), but Ross is a different story. For one thing, he’s been around forever, and he knows better than most how the media game is played. For another, his expertise goes well beyond Novell technologies and he has a wide range of interests – always a good character trait for this particular medium. I think you’ll be surprised by his first, and unexpectedly provocative post when it shows up over the next day or two.
Paul, Russ and Ross will all be posting to our Enterprise Insights blog, but we recognize the need for a regular look at data protection issues, which is why I asked Brian Bourne to contribute to the Security Insider blog. Brian was one of the driving forces behind last year’s hugely successful Security Education Conference Toronto (SecTor) event, which brought a Black Hat-style focus to the staid trade show circuit. A consultant with CMS, Brian has the on-the-ground experience to back up his opinions.
I should note that we don’t pay our bloggers for the content they produce. This is a volunteer opportunity where we give them the chance to connect directly to thousands of Canadian technology professionals. I’m so grateful to them for their time and talent. Our goal at ComputerWorld Canada is to lead the IT conversation, and this group has the makings of a terrific dialogue.