When the Liquor Control Board of Ontario’s Hugh Kelly took to the podium to receive the CIO Canada ‘CIO of the Year’ award at the 2007 Canadian Information Productivity Awards gala in Toronto in November, it was not only the crowning moment in his stellar 35 year IT career, but also a fitting end to an evening in which the his organization won a gold award in the ‘Collaboration, For Profit’ category and earned a finalist berth in the ‘Efficiency & Operational Improvements’ category.
“Hugh Kelly is the kind of CIO for whom the word ‘visionary’ might have been invented,” said presenter John Pickett, VP and Editorial Director of IT World Canada. “Under his guiding hand, the IT division has become a key enabler of everything from a remarkable worldwide supply system to award-winning retail operations.”
It was also a big night for healthcare institutions from coast to coast, which won a total of six Gold and Silver Awards of Excellence, accounting for a quarter of the 24 awards. Leading the way was Sarah Kramer, CIO of Cancer Care Ontario, who accepted the Diamond Award of Excellence, the top honour in the Not for Profit category, for the Wait Time Information System, a project which she headed, and which has succeeded in reducing wait times for key health services in Ontario.
The Diamond Award of Excellence in the For Profit category was given to Toyota Canada for its CustomerOne project, a wide-ranging IT solution that enables the company to share customer and vehicle information with various stakeholders. The project was conceived and helmed by CIO Hao Tien, who was on hand to accept the award.
CIPA Hall of Fame inductees for 2007 were Ed Lawlor, founder of DeltaWare Systems Inc. of Charlottetown, PEI, who entered as the first ‘Regional Builder’ in the Hall, and Richard Alvarez, president and CEO of Canada Health Infoway, who’s been a leader in the healthcare ICT industry for 20 years.
Awards for ‘Exceptional Innovation’ were given to UBC Research Enterprises, for Flintbox, a Web portal that enables researchers to share their discoveries, research methods and findings, and to Origin Organic Farms, for the development of its Clean Environments Organic technology.
The 2007 award winners were drawn from record numbers of 170 entries and 90 finalists and were presented at a black-tie dinner attended by 800 executives.
“We had strong participation from all regions in this year’s competition,” said Norm Kirkpatrick, President and CEO of CIPA. “Every province was represented among the finalists.”
CIPA is Canada’s oldest and largest awards program in the field of information technology.
