CHAIR
LISA CARROLL
Vice-President, Consulting Services – Government – Ontario, CGI Inc.
Lisa Carroll is the lead for the Government Sector for CGI in Ontario – this
includes the Government of Ontario and the Ontario Broader Public Sector.
She represents all of CGI’s service offerings and delivery including
consulting, systems integration and managed services to her team’s Public
Sector Clients.
Lisa has been in IT Consulting Services for over 20 years with a primary
focus on delivering successful initiatives for Public Sector clients across
jurisdictions within Canada. She began her tenure with CGI in 2002 and has led the
development of new business as well as client management of many long-term Government
client relationships. In addition to CGI, Lisa has held client-focused positions throughout her IT
Consulting career with leading Canadian organizations such as Sierra Systems, University
Health Network, Qunara (acquired by Allstream) and Compugen Systems Ltd. Through these
positions she has lived and worked in Halifax, Ottawa and Toronto and has had the opportunity
to partner with Federal, Provincial, Municipal, Healthcare, Education and Utility Public Sector
customers across these geographies.
Lisa has recently taken on the role of Chair, Ontario Public Sector Business Committee and a
position on the Ontario Board of the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC).
Lisa is passionate about how the Ontario ICT Sector can help Governments to enable citizencentred service delivery, to modernize and to improve efficiencies.
VICE CHAIR
BILL MACDONALD
President & CEO, Marksal Inc.
Bill is President and CEO of Marksal Inc. providing telecommunication and IT
solutions to public and private organizations across North America. One of
Marksal’s unique business propositions is to provide accessibility to remote and
rural areas with proven satellite technology. These solutions leverage
telecommunication networks by providing high availability and functionality while successfully
improving profit margins.
An industry veteran, MacDonald brings over 30 years of sales and marketing management
experience to the position from a variety of leading technology and software companies
including Hewlett Packard Canada, Compaq Canada and MediSolution Ltd.
PAST CHAIR
John Breakey, CEO, GeNUIT Inc.
ITAC PRESIDENT & CEO
KARNA GUPTA
Karna Gupta is one of Canada’s most respected and well-seasoned executives in
information and communications technology. With more than 30 years of
outstanding industry experience, his expertise and accomplishments span across
North American and international business domains.
On August 10, 2011, Karna Gupta was named President and CEO of ITAC, the
Information Technology Association of Canada. In addition to his experience and
exceptional track record, he brings a passionate commitment to building strong ICT ventures to
this new role.
Mr. Gupta currently serves on several corporate boards and actively mentors young companies
and entrepreneurs. He also serves on the board of the Regional Incubation Centre – Venture
Lab in York Region.
In 2008, Mr. Gupta was named CEO and a member of the Board of Directors of Certicom Corp
(TSX: CIC). He led the organization through a successful turn-around. He then led the company
through a successful defense against a hostile bid and then successfully sold to RIM with over
96% shareholder approval.
Prior to his appointment at Certicom, Mr. Gupta held the role of President for the Real-Time
Billing Division of Comverse Technologies from2006 to 2008 (NASDAQ: CMVT). There he
significantly improved the overall performance of the division with a globally-distributed
workforce (1500) in 50 countries and serving a customer base world-wide. Mr. Gupta’s previous
role in Comverse was Chief Marketing Officer for Comverse Americas.
Prior to Comverse, he was President of Sitraka Mobility. Under his leadership, the company
grew from a start-up venture to a strong industry contender in mobile application development.
He led the organization through a successful merger with Everypath Inc. of California.
Mr. Gupta also served as Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Eftia OSS
Solutions, a company focused in delivering OSS solutions to the carriers. Earlier in his career,
Mr. Gupta held several executive positions with Bell Canada (TSX: BCE), including Vice
President, Product Development and Management. He holds a Master of Business
Administration degree in Marketing and Finance from Concordia University in Montreal,
Quebec. He has also attended executive development programs at Duke University, Harvard,
MIT, University of Western Ontario and Technion Institute in Israel.
DIRECTORS
Fawn Annan
President & Group Publisher, ITWorld Canada
Fawn Annan is President and Group Publisher of IT World Canada, moving into
this role in 2010. She has been with IT World since 1995, starting her tenure as
the first GM of Executive Programming, moving then to VP & Publisher,
Government to Chief Strategy Officer until taking over as President. She is one
of three female Presidents in the IDG family that has publishing interests in 96
countries.
Fawn is an active community leader sitting on the Ontario ITAC board, the
iCanada Advisory Board; the Crowdfunding Board, CataWIT and previously she sat on the
Advisory Board for Athabasca, and the Municipal Information Systems Association's Board. In
October 2012, Fawn became a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubiliee Medal Recipient. The
award honours Canadians who have made a significant impact on society and business through
the application of technology.
Bob Becker
Principal, SMA
Bob Becket is Principal of SMA providing business development and
marketing services to clean and high tech firms. He leads the ITAC
Marketing and Sales Executive Think Tank and Roundtable events. In
1985, Bob started SMA with a mandate to generate profitable sales
revenue for technology firms. Now, having just celebrated 26 years in
business, Bob and his team continue to help clients engage with their
markets through an ever evolving line-up of marketing services. Before
establishing SMA, Bob worked as a Brand Manager at Colgate Palmolive, and was a partner in
GLA Computer Systems, a Canadian software company.
Aaron Brooks
Director, Innovation Office, Softchoice Corporation
Alexandra Brown
President, Aprilage Inc.
Alex is a consumer tech and media executive with experience launching,
building, and managing both new and mature companies in the Canadian
market. She has been involved in the launch and growth of numerous online
businesses including Facebook, Blurb, eBay, PayPal, and Kijiji, and nine
television channels for Canwest and Alliance Atlantis. She is also the owner and
president of Aprilage Inc., which produces the APRIL® “face aging” software sold
to health, education, and law enforcement organizations in more than 25 countries.
Alex is the Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors, and Chair of the Governance Committee, of the
OMDC (Ontario Media Development Corporation), a member of the Leadership Council of the
Perimeter Institute of Theoretical Physics, and a judge for The Next 36: Canada’s
Entrepreneurial Leadership Initiative.
Derek Colfer
Head of Mobile Innovation - Canada
Derek has over 12 years of mobile experience in North America and Europe. Prior to returning
to Canada in 2002, Derek worked at Agency.com in London England. Derek gained a
considerable amount of experience in text, mobile web and location–based mobile solutions for
several U.K. clients including, Heineken, Barclays and Deutsche Bank.
In 2002, Derek co–founded Jambo Mobile an award winning mobile solutions & software
company. Derek played a key role in building and delivering mobile solutions for Pfizer, Visa
Inc., P&G, Hallmark and Virgin Mobile. Jambo Mobile was acquired in 2007.
In his current role, Derek leads Visa Canada’s mobile strategy and product portfolio. Working
directly with the Global mobile team in San Francisco, Derek’s areas of responsibility include
mobile/NFC payments, alerts, app development and other near–term mobile innovations.
Derek obtained a Bachelors Degree from Bishop’s University in Political Studies and a Masters
Degree in International Relations from Trinity in Dublin. He is a terrible poker player and an
even worse golfer. He likes the great outdoors and spends his free time outside as much as
possible with his wife and two young boys.
Gregory Coughlin
Client Executive, Ontario Government, IBM Canada
David Craig
Partner, Consulting & Deals, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
David is a Partner in PwC’s Consulting group and leads the Technology and
Communications practice area. David joined the firm in 2004 and has 29 years
of international experience having lived and led projects in Canada, Europe and
the United States. David is a key contributor to the Communications practice
within PwC Canada bringing both operational and consultative experience to the
firm. He also focuses on information security services as a member of the
Technology leadership team within PwC Canada. As a consultant, his
experience ranges from operational and financial due diligences, through to running and
improving operations for clients. Prior to joining consulting, David ran large departments, such
as Network Operations, Customer Service, and Billing & Collection within a national carrier.
Jon Dermott
National Sales Director, National Public Sales, Dell Canada
Ray Deutschbein
Senior Enterprise Account Executive, Adobe Systems Canada
Peter Fraser
President, Thinkage Inc.
Naeem Lakhani
Partner, Bnotions
Arun Malhotra
Arun Malhotra & Associates (AM&A)
AM&A is headed by Arun Malhotra, an FCA and CISA with significant MNC
(Multinational Corporations) experience in senior managerial positions in all of
the Big 4 , the most recent being with KPMG, serving many sectors including
Technology, Infrastructure, Security & Financing.
AM&A specializes in enabling Business-to-Business (B2B) and, in limited cases, Business to
Consumer, to develop a business case for operating successfully in the Technology financing
arena. Its focus in this industry has been since 1998 in specializing in small to mid-size business
financing.
AM&A assists such Tech business financing from idea to Pre Funding Stage by identifying the
necessary activities involved in such operations. This entails the identification of the appropriate
logistics, necessary management skills to execute the logistics, the resources required to assist
management to develop and operate the logistics together with the funding investors. Financial
investment and investor’s payback within a specified time frame. AM&A has assisted with
sourcing appropriate financing for Tech
Ventures of over $ 25 million:
In addition, Arun Malhotra is also a President of a Tech company, RISST (Revolution In Secure
Sensor Technology) focused on a patented biometric sensor technology serving both
commercial and consumer markets with day to day applications.
Mary-Ann Massad
CEO and Managing Partner, Knowsys Inc.
Mary-Ann Massad Johnson, is the founder and CEO of the Knowsys Group
(1995), a strategic IT and management consulting services firm that has grown
and flourished under her leadership into a multi-million dollar organization with an
impeccable reputation with Fortune 100 companies in Canada, USA, and
Europe.
Mary-Ann has enjoyed over 27 years of experience in management consulting,
systems integration, and outsourcing working with government, financial services, and utilities
industries. Her career before Knowsys Group included senior management, partner, and
consulting roles with Quantum Information Resources, APG, CGI Group, IBM, Ernst and Young,
and Keane Consulting.
Mary-Ann’s achievements include the management of portfolios of large scale systems
integration, infrastructure, and applications development projects in excess of $400 MM. She
has led and managed teams from 150 to 1000 people, managed operational budgets in excess
of $20 MM, and personally generated consulting services revenue in excess of $100 MM.
Clients include: CIBC, TD Bank, Scotia Bank, Bank of Montreal, Ontario Government, the
Canadian Federal Government, the US Government, Loblaw, Rogers Communications, Hydro
One, Ontario Power Generation, Fred Deeley Harley Davidson, and Seneca College.
She leverages her knowledge in leadership, sales, marketing, finance, human resources and
project management to teach would-be and up-and-coming women CEO's how to turn their
businesses into multi-million dollar enterprises with her new book entitled, Move from
Employee to CEO of Your Own Destiny, available on Amazon.com and
www.knowsysinc.com.
Mary-Ann is working on a second and third books which will be released in 2011 and 2012,
entitled, Entrepreneurship-From Soup to Nuts and Intrapreneurship – Harnessing the
Entrepreneurial Spirit within the Corporation respectively.
Mary-Ann is a three-time Royal Bank of Canada Entrepreneur of the Year nominee, a member
of the Women President’s Organization, 2007 Award-winning CEO in Residence for the Telfer
School, University of Ottawa, and sits on the Board of Directors for the Information Technology
Association of Canada.. Mary-Ann has a B. Commerce Honours’ from the University of Ottawa
(1985) and is a graduate of The Program on Negotiation for Senior Executives from Harvard
University (2004). She is currently doing her Chartered Director certification through McMaster
University. In addition, to English Mary-Ann speaks French, Arabic, and conversational Italian,
Spanish, and Greek.
John Millar
President, Digital Boundary Group
Craig Sisson
Industry Manager, Public Sector, McAfee Inc.
Louis Vesprini
Account Executive, Ontario Public Sector and Healthcare, Hewlett Packard
Company
Mr. Vesprini is Account Executive, Ontario Public Sector and Healthcare, for HP
Canada. In this role he is responsible for HP’s business relationships with
public sector organizations in Ontario and is accountable for the financial
performance, contractual relationships, and service excellence for all HP’s
business lines operating in Ontario Public Sector accounts.
Louis has over thirty years of business and information technology experience in
various technical, management and customer facing roles. He has an excellent
track record of driving business transformation and project success.
His experience includes such roles as: an independent business consultant providing consulting
services to EDS in the area of Customer Service and Delivery Management; CIO of a multibillion dollar corporation managing a $300 Million services agreement and working with senior
business executives, user management and a major service provider to align systems services
and a systems strategy in support of business objectives; A senior technology manager with
overall responsibility for the technical infrastructure of a complex computing environment
(desktop, midrange and mainframe) including network management, security, operations, help
desk, operating software, technical architecture planning and implementation, and hardware,
software and vendor management.
Louis has earned an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Mathematics and
Computer Science from McMaster University.
Doug Weir
President, The Weir Group
Allan Wilson
President, Allan Wilson and Associates
Allan Wilson coaches the owners and managers of mid-sized technology
companies in developing and implementing their growth plans. Allan Wilson and
Associates is the management consulting practice of Allan Wilson, and has been
operating since 1992. Through his consulting career, since 1981, Allan has
provided help to hundreds of advanced technology companies.
Allan’s experience and qualifications include:
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Five years writing business news for major Canadian daily newspapers, three years with
Evans Research Corporation, a leading market research firm focused on the information
technology industry and six years with the marketing and entrepreneurial services divisions
of Ernst & Young. Since 1992, he has worked independently under the name of Allan
Wilson and Associates.
An Honours BA in philosophy and a Master of Business Administration from the University of
Western Ontario.
Certified Management Consultant and a member in good standing of the Canadian
Association of Management Consultants.
Involved in the advanced technology community: Founder and Manager of the Toronto
Technology CFO Forum, Director of ITAC Ontario, Founding member of the Toronto Board
of Trade ICT committee, member of the City of Toronto ICT committee, mentor with
VentureLab in Markham, and 17 years as a director of the York Technology Association.
Wai Yu
Partner and Managing Director
Accenture Canada's Provincial Public Service Practice
Wai Yu is a Managing Director with Accenture who has over 18 years’
experience working with senior government officials within Canada and the
United States to define and implement innovative, large-scale alternative
service delivery solutions for business transformations. Wai is an expert in the
areas of business transformations and government strategy development. She
has successfully managed business and technology transformation initiatives
and is extremely skilled in facilitating discussions across complex, multistakeholder, multi-tiered environments to derive transformational service delivery visions and
gain agreement on transformational roadmaps.
Wai is the Managing Director of Accenture’s Canada Provincial Public Service business,
primarily focused in Ontario. In this role, Wai leverages her deep experience in helping public
and private sector clients achieve service delivery excellence through leading strategies to
achieve One Client View, Integrated Case Management and Customer Contact Transformation.
Her experience includes several public sector organizations representing multiple levels of
government. These include: Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Human
Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) – Service Canada, Canada Student
Loans Program, Canada Grants and Contributions Center of Excellence, Employment
Insurance Canada, Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services, State of California
Social Services, Service Ontario, and the City of Toronto, amongst others.
In addition to her client responsibilities, Wai collaborates with alliance partners to promote the
public agenda and serves on executive boards, such as the Information Technology Association
of Canada (ITAC), where she serves on the Public Sector Executive Committee of Ontario,
providing leadership and representing the interests of the IT business community of Ontario.