One blogger turned reporter for a few days while others imagined projects of the future and the ongoing issues around Canada’s digital economy as ComputerWorld Canada’s Blogging Idol event continued its momentum this week.
GHY International’s vice-president of IT, Nigel Fortlage stayed up late to provide day-by-day coverage of the 2010 Midsize Enterprise Summit in Boca Raton, Fla. His posts included capsule summaries of every major vendor presentation and his reflections on the best and worst speakers. He also explained why it was worth making time on his calendar for it every year:
“The leaders on this list are an opportunity to network with 300-400 of my CIO peers from Canada or USA,” he wrote. “From them I learn some of the best tips and techniques you don’t read about elsewhere as they come from the trenches. The other leading factor is that analysts from major firms like Gartner are here to share their insights, giving you the other half of the equation in what may be happening that you missed because you were focused elsewhere.”
Newcomer Ron Van Holst was inspired by a sunny afternoon spent outside playing catch with his son to write a post that examined the nature of competition and what it means for those trying to move our digital economy forward.
“We learned from the Vancouver Olympics that we can be competitive on a global scale if we choose to be, and if we invest in ourselves. We need an ‘Own the Podium’ mindset for Canadian business,” he wrote. “Industry Canada is expected to open up public consultation on its Digital Economy Strategy sometime in the next few weeks. This is an opportunity for Canadians to share their ideas on how to make Canada’s economy more competitive. Now is the time to act to make Canada a stronger economic power.”
As rumours swirl about the next “hybrid” BlackBerry device, Chris Lau adopted a mock-scholarly approach to write a “future case study” on the as-yet-unreleased product.
“RIM needs to accept that a smart phone can only be a touch screen or a QWERTY, and that there are drawbacks in each,” he wrote. “RIM is trying to develop a product that promises to be the ‘best of both worlds.’ Ultimately, RIM will fail in addressing all consumers by trying to be too much.”
And finally, celebrating Earth Day, Tania Samsonova offered a review of Kick the Fossil Fuel Habit, a book by Tom Rand, in which she wondered whether it was really possible:
“I am a pessimist, or an extremely cautious person (call it what you like), and I have been taught by experience that, if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” she wrote. “As some of you may know, it is actually possible to make a gravity-powered clock, for example. The only catch is that manufacturing this clock will be a lot more expensive than a regular alarm clock and a lifetime supply of batteries. I will be happy if someone explains to me that I am mistaken and the obstacles to Tom’s suggestions that I see are no obstacles at all.”
ComputerWorld Canada’s Blogging Idol continues until May 7.
