About

Vision Statement

The MEIC will be the Canadian leader in fostering design excellence, innovation capacity, economic and social benefits, in the global mobile and wireless industries.

Mission Statement

The MEIC will facilitate a powerful mobile ecosystem by bringing together like-minded stakeholders to drive talent development, accelerate mobile adoption and commercialization, enable excellence in design and applied research with the objectives of promoting job creation and economic prosperity.

MEIC offers programs for our membership for the purpose of partnership, collaboration, research and business development.

Membership

Why Join MEIC?

MEIC Members are entitled to a broad variety of benefits, including access to unique programs and services, valuable networking opportunities, exclusive promotions and discounts, comprehensive MEIC reports and resources, and much, much more! Whatever your interests may be, there is certainly a fit for you at MEIC.

Leadership: Our Board of Directors

 

President and Academic Co-Chair: Dr. Sara Diamond, President and Vice-Chancellor, OCAD University

Dr. Sara Diamond is the President of the OCAD University, Canada’s “university of the imagination”. She holds a PhD in Computer Science and degrees in new media theory and practice, social history and communications. While retaining OCAD University’s traditional strengths in art and design, she has led her university to become a leader in digital media and design research and curriculum through the Digital Futures Initiative, towards new research in Inclusive Design and health and design, as well as in sustainable technologies and design. She has also led OCAD University to begin the unique Aboriginal Visual Culture Program.

She is founding Chair of the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre and current co-chair (with RBC).She is a visualization, wearable technology and mobile media researcher, artist and designer. She is co-principle investigator on the Centre for Information Visualization/Data Driven Design, an OCADU/York University major initiative. Diamond was the Artistic Director of Media and Visual Art and Director of Research at the Banff Centre, where she created the Banff New Media Institute (BNMI) in 1995 and led it until 2005. She developed www.codezebra.net, a performance and media art, fashion and software collaboration environment.

Diamond continues to write about digital media history, digital media and design strategy for peer reviewed journals and curates for festivals and galleries.

Vice President and Industry Co-Chair: Jamie Barron, Partner, Deloitte & Touche LLP

Jamie has over 20 years of experience in the professional services field, and has served a wide range of companies in the TMT industry during that time.  Jamie has experience in many sub-sectors of the TMT eco-system, such as wireless, wireline, satellite, advanced network equipment, internet, multi-media, clean-tech, software, advanced electronics, and mobile applications.  Jamie has also worked with offices in Canada, the United States, Germany, Singapore, Australia, Russia, Belgium, the United Kingdom, and many other countries to support the servicing of Deloitte TMT clients.

Jamie has worked with TMT companies at various stages of their evolution, from start-up, through high-growth, and ultimately the IPO and public company stages.  Jamie’s work in the TMT space has entailed direct linkages to innovation, prosperity, job creation and economic development, which by extension has involved working with leading innovation centres and technology associations in Canada.

Secretary: Renee Szuhai, Sr. Product Manager/Technical Sales, Huawei Devices

Renee Szuhai is a veteran in the mobile communications industry with many years experience within both device manufacturers and wireless service providers. She is currently employed by Huawei Devices as a Senior Product Manager.

Her well-rounded mobile communications experience has included direct interaction with mobile device manufacturers, 3rd party developers, and industry standards bodies. Combining an inquisitive nature and strong interpersonal skills have allowed her to hold a variety of roles in technology leading lositions at Nokia and Bell. This also opened opportunities to work with global teams to research and communicate wireless technology and convergence developments back into the Canadian marketplace. At Bell her broad experience opened up opportunities in Services & Device Integration, joint carrier/GSMA initiatives such as OneAPI, and Inclusive Design Research for accessibility initiatives.

Her strong communication and presentation skills have allowed her such roles as the media spokesperson for Nokia Canada, where she represented Nokia at industry conferences, trade shows, events, as well as providing technology interviews for TV and print media journalists.

Treasurer: Stephen Perelgut, University Relations Manager, IBM

Stephen Perelgut is IBM Canada’s University Relations Manager working out of the IBM Centre for Advanced Studies in Markham. He graduated from the University of Toronto’s Department of Computer Science with his MSc in 1984. Since then, he has helped start a software company, Holt Software Associates, which he ran as vice-president before leaving to join IBM.

Stephen is currently in charge of IBM’s University Relations within Canada and works with universities across Canada as well as linking to other academic and research institutions around the world. He has been the Chair of the Consortium for Software Engineering Research, the leading software engineering research group in the world.

Within IBM, Perelgut provides oversight for all linkages between the company and academia including research collaborations, recruiting, sales and technical skills exchange. As well, he manages research projects relating to Services Sciences, Management and Engineering and mobile and social computing.

Krista Napier, Senior Analyst, Canadian Digital Media & Emerging Technology, IDC Canada

A senior technology analyst tracking the Mobile industry in Canada. Specialties include deep insight into the Canadian mobility sector, including mobile phones, media tablets, and eReaders, as well as trends surrounding these devices, such as BYOD, MDM, NFC, etc. A source of commentary on Canadian tech news and trends to the mass media, and a frequent speaker at events across the Country.

Dragan Nerandzic, Chief Technology Officer, Ericsson Canada Inc.

Dragan joined Ericsson in 2001 and since 2006 has held the role of Chief Technology Officer for Ericsson in Canada. Mr. Nerandzic previously held the roles of VP, Network Systems and Director of Technical Strategy, and has over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry.

Prior to joining Ericsson, Mr. Nerandzic was responsible for wireless technology planning and strategy for an operator’s network. He actively participated in standardization and industry organizations including 3GPP2, TIA and CDG. Mr. Nerandzic also had responsibilities for engineering design of analog and digital mobile networks. Mr. Nerandzic’s past experience includes working at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of Belgrade where he held various teaching and research roles in areas of fixed and mobile networks.

Mr. Nerandzic id a member of the Board of Directors of the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre, MET Advisory Board a the University of Toronto, the Editorial Advisory Board of Backbone Magazine and a Member of the Technical Advisory Panel at the Terrestrial Wireless Systems Branch of Communication Research Centre Canada.

Mr. Nerandzic holds a Master of Science degree in Telecommunications and Computer Networks, Protocols and Switching, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Belgrade. His executive development includes programs from Duke University, Boston University, London School of Business and Rotman School of Business.

Josh Sookman, Founder & CEO, Guardly

Josh is the visionary behind Guardly. He founded the company in 2010 to empower people during emergencies by connecting them to their personalized safety networks with a single tap. Prior to Guardly, Josh worked at the BlackBerry Partners Fund and RBC Venture Partners where he supported ten investment transactions and developed expertise in location-aware applications, mobile business models, game mechanics and ciral distribution strategies.

Josh was a Board Observer at SocialDeck (acquired by Google). He is a huge supporter of innovation, youth entrepreneurship and the startup community, and is the co-curator at Toronto [StartupDigest]. He completed his Masters degree at the University of Toronto and his Undergraduate degree at the University of Western Ontario.

He loves wakeboarding, squash and ping-pong and still enjoys the challenges of writing code to solve complex problems.

Dr. Robert Luke, Assistant VP Research and Innovation, George Brown College

Robert Luke is Assistant Vice President of Research and Innovation for George Brown College. He leads the College’s applied research and innovation activities that focus on engaging college faculty and students with industry development needs and productivity challenges. He is also responsible for institutional research focusing on strategic planning, reporting and overall educational quality measurement and improvement.

Dr. Luke maintains an active research program that focuses on participatory innovation design and the application of innovative technologies in healthcare and education. He is chair of the Polytechnics Canada Research Committee, and a member of the Toronto Community Foundation Toronto Vital Signs Advisory Group. In 2011 he was appointed to the Programs and Quality Committee of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

Michael J. O’Farrell, Co-Founder, The Mobile Institute

Michael is Founder of The Mobile Institute; Vice-Chairman at ooober; Board Member of the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre; and Co-Author of Mobile Internet For Dummies. As a global subject matter expert on the mobile industry, Michael has been a notable mobile technology pioneer and considered a leading mobile industry futurist.

Over the last 20 years, Michael has played a key strategic role in the launch of innovative new mobile products and services internationally with organizations including Accenture, Carlson Marketing, dotMobi, Ericsson, FedEx, Ford, Google, GSM Association, the Initiative for Open Authentication, Kimberly-Clark, Microsoft, Mobile Marketing Association, MOCOM 2020, Motorola, National Bank of Canada, Nokia, Open Mobile Alliance, Personal Communication Industry Association, RBC Financial, RSA Security, Samsung, Syniverse, TD Waterhouse, VeriSign, Yellow Pages, Visa and mobile network operators globally including Bell, Eurotel, Hutchison 3, Microcell, Orange, Orascom, Rogers, Swisscom, T-Mobile, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telenor, Telus, Vodafone and more.

In addition to shaping the early marketplace practices of the Open Mobile Alliance, Michael was a co-founder of MOBILEINNOVATIONWEEK, the dotMobi Advisory Group & Policy Advisory Board, the Wireless Advertising Industry Association (now the Mobile Marketing Association), the PCIA Global Initiative and the WAP Forum’s Developers Expert Group (now the Open Mobile Alliance).

Since the early 1990s, Michael has been a features speaker at over 100 intercontinental events, chaired international forums, and has co-authored mobile industry best practices, guidelines, research, articles and interviews focused on the next wave of opportunities to service over 6 billion mobile consumers world-wide.

Vincent John Vincent, President, GestureTek

Vincent John Vincent is the Co-Founder, Co-CEO, & creative force behind GestureTek Inc., the inventors, pioneers, & world leaders of Video Gesture Control for 26+ years. He & Francis MacDougall invented & patented video gesture virtual reality, where the user’s image appears on screen & interacts with the virtual world, from 1985; & 3D Depth Camera Gesture Recognition, for avatars & off screen point control, in 2000.

Vincent is intrumental in running & growing GestureTek, & creating diverse applications & markets for their various gesture technologies. They have installed 6000+ gesture displays and surfaces, for public entertainment, educational, & rehabilitation, etc. They licensed tech & patents to Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s XBOX for Gesture Control Cameras, etc. The GestureTek gesture control technology was ported to mobile phones around the world with over 120 million phones already using it on over 400 applications.

With a Psychology BA (Waterloo U); he invented Virtual Reality Performance from 1986 onward; received a Canadian New Media Lifetime Achievement Award; the Milan Media Guru Award & is a DigiFest, Digital Pioneer Hall of Fame inductee.

Gary Schwartz, President, Impact Mobile

Over the past ten years, Gary has played a leadership role in the media industry. Gary is the CEO of Impact Mobile, Inc., Chair of MEF North America and is the author of “THE IMPULSE ECONOMY” and “FAST SHOPPER. SLOW STORE” published by Simon & Schuster, Aria Imprint.

In 2002, Gary ran the first cross-carrier short code campaign in North America. In 2006, Gary founded the mobile committee for the Interactive Advertising Bureau and has worked to publish literature such as the Mobile Buyer’s Guide helping extend the digital buy into mobile (for which he received an IAB award for industry excellence in 2009).

Additionally, in 2007, Gary started work to help establish a joint task force between the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) and the IAB with the aid for the Media Rating Council (MRC) to develop global, auditable mobile measurement standards.

In 2010, Gary was elected as the Chair of MEF North America with a remit to develop a mobile commerce practice to service brands, retailers and content owners (for which he received a MEF award for industry excellence). In 2011, in partnership with MEF and a number of industry groups including the X9 security standards body, Gary worked to develop m-commerce security and privacy guidelines. Gary is the recipient of the Macromedia People Choice Award, Dodge Foundation award for innovation and the Retail Touchpoints Award for customer engagement. Gary is an Asia and Japan Foundation Fellow.

Donald Henderson, President & CEO, Interactive Ontario

Don brings more than twelve years of legal and videogame experience to his role of President & CEO of Interactive Ontario.  He has previously served as Chief Operating Officer at each of Bedlam Games and Groove Media, and as Vice President, Legal and Business Affairs and General Counsel of bitHeads Inc.  He has been credited on nine console and PC video game titles, including most recently, Dungeons & Daggers:  Daggerdale (XBLA/PSN/PC) and was Bedlam Games’ interactive producer on the Gemini-nominated Lost Girl transmedia project.

Prior to entering the videogame industry, Don spent six years practicing law at Goodmans LLP where he represented clients in the software and interactive media industries.  Don received an Honours B.A. degree from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of British Columbia.  He is a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Ontario Bar Association and the International Game Developers Association.  He is a founding member of the International Video Game Bar Association. Don has lectured on the topics of the business of video games Ryerson University and he teaches the course “Game Business and Marketing” at George Brown College.

Carolyn Fitton, Senior Mobility Manager, SAP

Carolyn Fitton, Senior Mobility Manager SAP and co-author of Enterprise Mobility for Dummies, has diverse experiences in enterprise mobility. She drives product, sales and marketing initiatives across the SAP ecosystem, educating internal and external stakeholders on enterprise mobility solutions, and helps lead go-to-market strategy and promotion of enterprise mobility products. She is an active SAP Community Network contributor and blogs regularly for ‘SAP for Mobile’ and ‘Business Innovation from SAP’.

Anthony Kanfer, Senior Director, Mobile & eCommerce Platforms, Rogers Digital Media

Anthony brings over 20 years of experience in the development of innovative software technologies in the mobile, internet, payments, education, healthcare and manufacturing industries and is currently Senior Director, Mobile & eCommerce Platforms at Rogers Digital Media.

Anthony came to Rogers via the acquisition of Brave Commerce, where he was founder and CEO. Prior to founding Brave Commerce, Anthony was CTO at MyThum Interactive, responsible for the strategic direction and development of MyThum’s award winning mobile solutions. Anthony has been involved in mobile technology development for over 10 years, starting with the role of m-Commerce Group Product Manager at 724 Solutions. In addition, he has been involved in numerous startup and early stage technology ventures throughout his career.

Anthony holds a B.Sc (Electrical Engineering) and a M.Sc (Engineering) degrees from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

Shane Davies, Director, ISVs, Cloud Services Providers & Top Apps, Microsoft Canada

Sales, recruitment and major account management experience selling information technology solutions, both domestically and internationally, both direct to end users and through ISV, OEM, SI and VAR partners. Experience working with small companies up to the largest software companies in the world, such as Oracle and Microsoft.