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PUTTING IT IN YOUR
COMMUNITY
CANADA'S IT WEEK - COMMUNITY IT HERO AWARDS
St.
John’s, (May 8, 2003) - Five
Community IT Heroes were honored today for their achievements at
a special luncheon held at the Admiral
Green Golf Club House
in St. John’s.
The
Awards Luncheon was hosted by Nati in conjunction with the
Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) and Industry
Canada, as part of Canada's 2003 IT Week celebrations.
The
Community IT Hero Awards recognize individuals who have assisted
their communities in a significant way through the use or
application of information technology (IT). “ These Community
IT Heroes bring something unique to the IT sector and to their
communities,” says Marvin Chaulk, Vice President of Nati.
“They demonstrate the spirit, dedication, and altruism that is
so prevalent in the people of Newfoundland and Labrador.” The
Community IT Hero Awards Luncheon is just one of 142 events
happening across the province during IT Week, representing half
of the total events across the country.
Attendees
of the luncheon were also treated to hear
Wayne Gudbranson, President & CEO of Branham Group Inc., a
leading go-to-market consultancy firm, as he discussed the state
of the IT industry in Canada. Mr. Gudbranson is a planning,
marketing, and partnering strategist who is actively involved
with many of the "Who's who" and the "Next Who's
who" in the Information Technology Industry.
As Mr. Gudbranson explained, “Newfoundland and Labrador
has tremendous capacity. By
working together, it is the people of this province who can
harness its fullest potential”.
Community IT Heroes
Harvey
Weir – Bringing the World Wide Web to Newfoundland Schools
Throughout
Mr. Weir’s career, he has been the leading figure in bringing
the schools of Newfoundland and Labrador into the Internet age. By utilizing the Information Communications Technology of
STEM~Net, Mr. Weir headed two initiatives that would
revolutionize the way students and teachers in K-12 education
facilitated computers in the learning process; STELLAR schools
and SchoolNet Rings.
Larry
Penney – Volunteering to Make IT Available
Through
Mr. Penney’s extraordinary volunteer activities and
willingness to give, he has been able to provide information
technology services to those people who under normal
circumstances may not be able to access it. At the Independent Living Resource Centre (ILRC), Mr. Penney
provides on-going computer support and troubleshooting for the
disabled persons, and also designed/built the computing network
and the web server for the ILRC.
Mr. Penney also has made significant contributions to the
VOAR radio station and the St. John’s Adventist Academy.
Clare
Button – Innovating in IT for Scientific Analysis
Clare Button
has long been known for his innovations in education. While
teaching at O’Donel High School in Mount Pearl, Mr. Button and
his colleagues brought a robotics competition to the junior high
level, which is first of its kind. He has contributed to
O’Donel High sending more provincial champions to national
Skills Canada competitions than any other school in Canada. He
has been awarded one of twelve NORTEL International Awards for
Excellence in Education and the Prime Minister’s Award for
Teaching Excellence. Mr. Button has also recently been capturing
his student’s interest in IT projects through the innovative
use of IT in coastal zone research.
Fay Herridge – Shedding Light
on IT and Discovering a Fortune
Ms.
Herridge, an accomplished creative person in writing, took it
upon herself one day to learn how to use a computer. With
no training or prior knowledge she spent long hours learning not
only how to use a computer but how to write HTML code.
Ms. Herridge now holds training sessions for people who
have little knowledge of computers; she also has published a
book that covers the basic knowledge requirements of computer
operation; she has set up her own popular web site promoting the
community of Fortune; and using her computer skills, she has
created ‘The Fortune Teller’, a free local community
newsletter.
Sheila Lewis – Saving Beagles
Using IT
When
Sheila Lewis discovered the mistreatment of beagles, she decided
to use her IT skills to do something about it. Ms. Lewis
went to animal shelters, used her digital camera to take
pictures of the dogs, and then posted the images on her public
awareness website: www.beaglepaws.com. Through the
awareness created by hits on the website, Ms. Lewis has been
able to successfully arrange in and out of province adoptions of
mistreated beagle dogs.
Nati
Nati, the
Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Technology Industries (www.nati.net),
is a not-for-profit industry group representing the interests of
over 200 technology companies and organizations. Since its
inception in 1991, Nati has experienced steady growth and
heightened recognition as the voice of the technology sector for
Newfoundland and Labrador.
Nati is an energetic, focused and forward-looking force
that is accelerating the business of technology. Covering the
areas of leadership, market development, corporate development,
and networking and communications, Nati delivers critical
services that are fueling the growth of the technology
industries.
Industry Canada
Through
its programs and services, Industry Canada is helping to build a
dynamic and innovative economy where all Canadians have the
opportunity to benefit from more and better-paying jobs,
stronger business growth, and a marketplace that is fair,
efficient and competitive. (www.ic.gc.ca)
Information
Technology Association of Canada
ITAC
is the voice of the Canadian information technology industry.
Together with its partner organizations across the country, the
association represents 1300 companies in the computing and
telecommunications hardware, software, services, and electronic
content sectors. ITAC's
mission is to identify and lead on issues that affect our
industry and to advocate initiatives, which will enable its
continued growth and development. (www.itac.ca)
Contact:
Marvin Chaulk
Vice-President
Nati
Telephone: 709-757-3253
Email: marvin@nati.net
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