Backbone magazine_Green Tech by Yorkminster Stakeholder Communications

$4.95

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B U S I N E S S

T E C H N O L O G Y

L I F E S T Y L E

Green tech

Real progress, or just another greenwash?

Create green How existing systems save big money

Waste not Recycling all our old tech

Plug in, drive away Will we finally be driving on electricity?

May 2008 $4.95 PM 41000015

GOV ER N AN C E

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B E T T ER PRO DU C T I V I T Y

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IT EFFI C I EN CY

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GADGET ROUN DUP

Vorsprung durch Technik www.audi.ca

Beautiful. Technically speaking. When you speak about the beauty of the Audi A5, it’s hard not to mention the 3.2 FSI V6 engine with 265 hp and the thrill of quattro® permanent all-wheel drive. Or that it’s the ﬁrst Audi coupe in 15 years, and that the S5 was named AJAC’s Best New Sports Performance Car over $50,000. So we’re going to stop speaking, and let you decide for yourself.

A LT E R N A T I V E T H I N K I N G A B O U T Q U A L I T Y M A N A G E M E N T S O F T W A R E :

Make Foresight 20/20. Alternative thinking is “Pre.” Precaution. Preparation. Prevention. Predestined to send the competition home quivering. It’s proactively designing a way to ensure higher quality in your applications to help you reach your business goals. It’s understanding and locking down requirements ahead of time – because “Well, I guess we should’ve” just doesn’t cut it. It’s quality management software designed to remove the uncertainties and perils of deployments and upgrades, leaving you free to come up with the next big thing.

Technology for better business outcomes. hp.ca/quality

COVER

CONTENTS

MAY/JUNE 2008

32 Painting the town green

Environmental fervour comes and goes, but this time we may have the will and the systems to make it work. By Hailey Eisen

Innovation dumps

New technology rapidly becomes piles of old technology, but a few smart people have a few good ideas.

Green profits

IBM expects going green will save it US$450 million. Not everyone can do that, but dollar savings are out there. By Jim Harris

FROM THE EDITOR

Q&A

Four steps to better efficiency

CONTRIBUTORS

Use less paper and less electricity, and get more done.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

By Trevor Marshall

BACKSPACE

Telework’s downside: when good

AUTO FORWARD

employees make bad security moves.

Electric charge

Plus, get thee away from me,

GM’s Volt may finally be

cellphone Chow Chatterer.

the electric car for all.

By Peter Wolchak

By Laurance Yap

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW

Responsible governance

TEK GADGETS

Gear up

Corporate governance is complex and challenging.

From a tiny MP3 player with an

Here’s some advice.

alarm and FM radio all the way to a

By Danny Bradbury

big impressive iPod dock.

By Peter Wolchak E-TRENDS

Building productivity How tech can ramp output. By Gail Balfour

ENDGAME

Juno player Canadian star Measha

BIG IDEAS

Green, in practice Environmental office myths, plus some real advice. By Mark Lorne

Brueggergosman finds a rehearsal hall, stays in touch with fans and heads to the Junos. By Hailey Eisen

PM 41000015

DEPARTMENTS

FEATURES

By Ian Harvey

EDITOR’S LETTER

Environmental responsibility, when it pays Will our green intentions lead to real change this time? I think so, but to find out which ideas will be successful, look to yourself

Environmental concerns are front and centre today in the media, in political discussions and during coffee breaks at work. But the cover of this issue of Backbone asks a good question: are we actually making real progress this time, or are we looking at a greenwash in which people and institutions simply jockey to be on the right side of this fence while actually accomplishing little? Will all the sound and fury end up, again, signifying nothing? Because remember, we’ve been here before. A number of years ago everyone was talking about holes in the ozone layer and PCBs and recycling and habitat loss. We didn’t make much progress then, so the problem is still with us. It would be fair to say, however, that this time there is an increased sense of urgency, coupled with a greater emphasis on practical solutions. You’ll find many such examples in this issue. But as the green exhortations fly, which are likely to succeed? Here’s an easy test: as Detlev Zwick, Schulich School of Business associate professor, said in Hailey Eisen’s cover story, successful green products and services will be those that are mainstream and cost effective. “It won’t be driven by moral obligation because, bottom line, there is still only a small group of consumers who will pay a premium for environmentally sound products.” The successful environmental initiatives will be those that deliver a benefit without requiring us to dramatically change our lifestyle.

Short and long roads Like compact fluorescent bulbs. These little gadgets deliver huge environmental returns (see the Publisher’s Letter on the next page) and don’t require significant change from us: yesterday you ate dinner to the light of an incandescent bulb, today it’s a fluorescent. Easy. Compact fluorescents will be a hugely successful environmental technology. Electric cars, however, face a tougher road to widespread adoption. Few inventions have changed our 6

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society as much as the car, and gassing up and hitting the road are deeply ingrained in us. An electric car is intriguing and pulls at our genuine desire to be better people, but to actually drive one would require us to start thinking in terms of short round trips. If your electric car can go for six or eight hours on a charge, you then have to return home or go somewhere with a compatible plug to charge it overnight. Filling a gas tank takes five minutes; recharging a car’s battery will require many hours. So even if practical electric cars were available today, they would not supplant gas-powered vehicles for quite some time. On the business side, a good example of a company using motivated self interest to deliver both customer satisfaction and power reductions is co-location provider Q9 Networks. Hosting companies traditionally charge on a per-foot basis: a server installation that occupies 100 square feet will be charged for the space occupied, and all the concomitant services—including power—are included on an all-you-can-eat basis. The problem is there is no incentive for customers to moderate their power use, so a few years ago Toronto-based Q9 moved instead to a per-volt-amp model. Customers that used less electricity saved themselves money, so suddenly customers began to audit their electricity load. “The behaviour of our customers changed dramatically when we made this switch. They are much more active about inventorying their equipment and much more knowledgeable about how much power they’re using and why,” said Q9 CEO Osama Arafat. “The overall consumption for every one of our customers has been reduced.” None of this argument is meant to discount altruism or the real desire of many people to help the environment, but for the type of massive and near-term change we require, look first for practical and relatively low-pain initiatives to be the success stories. If these moves also save people money, success is almost guaranteed. And once we see that these initiatives work, we will be more willing to move on to more substantial lifestyle change.

Peter Wolchak Editor pwolchak@backbonemag.com

ALTERNATIVE THINKING ABOUT POWER & COOLING: NG:: NG

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To learn more Call: 1-866-885-4237 or Visit: hp.ca/cooling © 2008 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. The information contained herein is subject to change without notice. AMD, the AMD Arrow logo, AMD Opteron, and combinations thereof, are trademarks of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. 1Free HP 8GB Reg PC2-5300 (2 x 4GB) Memory Kit offer (SKU 408854-B21) applies to the purchase of any of the following: HP ProLiant BL465c G5 2356 Quad-Core 1P 2G Blade Server (SKU 445105-B21) or HP ProLiant BL465c G5 2352 Quad-Core 1P 2G Blade Server (SKU 445574-B21). This offer applies only to purchases made from an HP Canada authorized reseller between May 1, 2008 and July 31, 2008. Reseller prices may vary. Resellers may sell for less. Full terms and conditions available through HP authorized commercial distributor. 2Care Pack buy-one-get-one-free offer valid on a 3-Year, 24/7 4-Hour On-Site Response Care Pack (SKU UK066E) with a list price of $518 purchased between May 1, 2008 and July 31, 2008. Offer cannot be combined with other Care Pack offers and is not valid on Big Deal pricing or ASP incentives.

CONTRIBUTORS Ian Harvey is a Toronto-based freelance writer who works at home and so avoids leaving a carbon footprint from his commute, recycles even when his kids forget, separates his garbage and wishes he could afford a hybrid vehicle, or at least a diesel. He believes North Americans are only beginning to wake up to the realities of energy conservation and waste reduction, especially in the IT industry, and predicts next year will mark the tipping point of a wholesale shift in strategy. Lisa Manfield is a Vancouver-based editor, writer and proponent of online publishing, contributing to sites like TheTyee.ca and Suite101.com. She buses to work, always prints in duplex and can be found on most social networking sites.

Publisher Steve Dietrich sdietrich@backbonemag.com

EDITORIAL Editor Peter Wolchak pwolchak@backbonemag.com Contributing Editor Lisa Manfield lmanfield@backbonemag.com Publishing Assistant Sue Ansell sansell@backbonemag.com Art Director Shelley Walker swalker@backbonemag.com Creative Consultant Gavin Orpen Production and Prepress Peter Pasivirta Online Communications Coordinator Sue Ansell sansell@backbonemag.com Contributing Writers Danny Bradbury, Gail Balfour, Trevor Marshall, Jim Harris, Ian Harvey, Mark Lorne, Laurance Yap, Paul Lima, Hailey Eisen Contributing Illustrators Pablo Pasadas, Alain Gonçalves Contributing Photographers Meek Kapuszczak, Steve Uhraney Cover Illustration Gavin Orpen

ADVERTISING SALES Director of Sales Harry deHaas Tel: 905 471 9276 hdehaas@backbonemag.com V.P. Sales Marketing Steve Dietrich Tel: 604 986 5352 sdietrich@backbonemag.com Special Supplements Account Manager Natalie Hayward Tel: 604 986 5362 nhayward@backbonemag.com ●

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Danny Bradbury blogs regularly about green technology and cleantech at businessgreen.com and is interested in energy policy as we skitter dangerously along the crest of peak oil. He tries to remain cautiously optimistic about our ability to adapt to forthcoming challenges, but also worries that we’re in danger of overusing technology as a lazy substitute for good, old-fashioned parsimony and commonsense.

Gail Balfour is a freelance journalist, specializing in technology and healthcare, who lives and works out of her Toronto condo. She has come a long way from her days in a third-floor attic apartment where her computer’s old CRT and the 1950s appliances would heat the entire room. These days she enjoys an LCD screen that stays cool and goes to sleep when idle, a refrigerator built in this century and a whole new appreciation for efficient green technology. Hailey Eisen is a Toronto-based freelance writer. While conducting research on the impact green IT is having on the corporate world she was impressed to find an actual cultural shift taking place. Inspired by Canadian businesses’ commitment to reduce their carbon footprint, Hailey has embraced her own ecological promise to conduct her freelance business in a more environmentally conscious manner.

Trevor Marshall is a Toronto-based writer and a regular contributor to Backbone. He believes green technology is not just the right thing to do, it’s also good business sense. A key benefit of any green technology — whether it’s an energy-smart lightbulb, a hybrid car, or a generating station fuelled by landfill gas — is that waste is a symptom of inefficiency, and inefficiency costs money. In that light, why wouldn’t people try to make their lives and workplaces as green as possible?”

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HEAD OFFICE/CIRCULATION Publimedia Communications Inc. Tel: 604 986 5344 info@backbonemag.com ●

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PLEASE SEND COMMENTS TO: E-MAIL pwolchak@backbonemag.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters may be edited for length and clarity. MAILING ADDRESS 187 Rondoval Crescent, North Vancouver, BC V7N 2W6 FAX 604 986 5309 WEB SITE www.backbonemag.com MEDIA KIT www.backbonemag.com/mediakit ●

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EDITORIAL OFFICE 1676 Wembury Road, Mississauga, ON L5J 4G3 editor@backbonemag.com SUBSCRIPTIONS One-year subscription $27.25 (GST incl.) within Canada $40.95 outside Canada To subscribe call: 604 986 5344 online: www.backbonemag.com/subscribe ●

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Backbone magazine is published six times per year by Publimedia Communications Inc. 100,000 copies are distributed through Globe Distribution Services, a division of The Globe and Mail. An additional 5,000 copies (approx.) are distributed to select newsstands, additional subscribers of Backbone magazine and trade shows. Plus an additional 10,000-15,000 copies are distributed through corporate affiliations. Year established, January 2001. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher, or the staff. All editorial is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. The publisher is not responsible for any liability associated with any editorial or products and services offered by any advertiser. Copyright © 2008 Publimedia Communications Inc.

www.backbonemag.com

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Cert no. SW-COC-002550

PUBLISHER’S LETTER

Acting locally Steve Dietrich, publisher, founder, Backbone magazine, president, Publimedia Communications Inc.

B Y

S T E V E

D I E T R I C H

Some environmental initiatives—like trying to reduce paper use—are tougher when one runs a magazine, but we have found many ways we can help. Similar initiatives can be explored in any office We planned this green-focused issue a number of months ago and, during this process, our thoughts turned to our business and our own office. We decided that now was a perfect time to ensure we are as green as we can be. Looking around we found many unexpected challenges and hurdles but we also realized that many changes were more cost effective and easier to implement than we had originally thought. And it turned out that

the very stories we were planning for this issue helped form our own thinking here in the office, so below is a list of the steps we worked on and some references to those practical bits in this issue that guided us. 1) Recycling: The first call I made was to Quebecor, our printer, to further explore our options for using recycled paper. What I got was a very informative and lengthy lesson on the various paper 10

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stocks, grades, quality levels and cost options that have come along in the last few years, since the last time we selected our stock. I also learned that the de-inking process used to make recycled paper itself creates a potential waste hazard. Like many good environmental impulses, research shows that doing the right thing can be a lot more complicated than you would like. So we need to do more research here, but as an immediate step we have increased the proportion of recycled material in our pages to 30 per cent. We’re interested in whether you think there is a significant difference in paper quality. This question will be a balancing act for us: we want more recycled material but we also must maintain the quality of our product. We welcome your input on this question. There are many examples of recycling in the tech industry in this issue. HP, for one, recycled 250 millions tons of hardware and print cartridges last year. See “Saving the world...” on page 28. The same story discusses reclaiming the base materials from old technology. 2) Reuse: For us, the reuse mandate from the 3Rs refers to extending the use of our content without actually printing additional magazines. Our Web site does this by hosting all of the print edition’s content, and it adds content such as blogs, an events calender, a careers section, directory listings, press releases, book reviews, etc. These add some cost to our business but there are now opportunities to work with new sponsors and advertisers, as well as provide more value to readers and advertisers. Check out our site at www.backbonemag.com and let us know what you think. 3) Reduce paper use: This is a tough one for us. Our business is still based on creating and selling magazines, so we cannot reduce our circulation. We like to think that, by educating 350,000-plus readers per issue—and especially in issues such as this one— about how they can reduce their own carbon footprint, we are doing some long-term good. For example, we have a great story on reducing paper use on page 56 of this issue. 4) Use less heat: This is an easy step, although in my experience many have not taken it. According

to the Live Earth organization, lowering a thermostat two degrees saves four per cent on an energy bill and can prevent 500 pounds of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. That means a simple programmable thermostat in our office, which lowers the temperature when no one is there, will help both our budget and the Earth. 5) Reduce lighting: This is also an easy one. We replaced our regular light bulbs with fluorescent (CFL) bulbs. The Union of Concerned Scientists has stated that if every American household replaced just one bulb with a CFL, greenhouse gas production would be reduced by 90 billion pounds annually, the equivalent of taking 6.3 million cars off the road. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finds that each CFL saves a homeowner $30 over the life of the bulb. So again this one is easy, beneficial and frugal. 6) Reduce overall power usage: There is a potential solution here, but for now it is on the To-Do list. On page 16 of this issue, Jim Harris details the use of intelligent sensors which automatically control lighting and other appliance use based on occupancy and usage patterns. In studies this has reduced energy usage by between 75 and 90 per cent. However, obtaining and deploying these types of sensors will require further research and preparation. Of course, there are simple and immediate steps available. The first is simply ensuring the computers are turned off each evening. Currently this doesn’t always happen. Also, tenants can ask building management or the utility company for a report card, as many will provide free energy audits to help identify inefficiencies. In addition, many utility companies offer rebate programs to help pay for the cost of energy-efficient upgrades. 7) Travel less: My personal rule in life has been never to commute more than 20 minutes to my office. We’re lucky here at Backbone as most of our staff live nearby and the rest work out of their homes. Biking or walking to work is good for air quality and makes one feel energized and more productive at work. Sometimes this is not possible, so look at car pooling and public transit. I will also commit to conducting more conference calls, in lieu of business travel.

8) Drive fuel-efficient cars: I must admit, I drive a gas-guzzling SUV and I’ve felt guilty about it for quite some time. I had planned to replace it, but this too is not simple. I could buy a fuel-efficient car but is this, on balance, an environmental win? Each step that gets that new car to me— manufacturing, shipping and assembling the parts, shipping the actual car—uses energy and natural resources. So getting rid of a serviceable car may not be as positive a move as it seems. There are opinions on both sides of this question, and again I will have to conduct more research. My preference, though, is to drive a more responsible vehicle. Soon, of course, we may be driving electric cars. See news of the Chevy Volt on page 58. 9) Conserve water: This one is often tough for most Canadians to comprehend, as we have numerous huge fresh water lakes and so much snow melt or, in Vancouver, rain. However, the worldwide supply is actually quite limited and many

areas suffer severe shortages or outright drought. Again, see Jim Harris’ story about using intelligent irrigation systems to reduce water consumption by 70 per cent. Simple rules we have at our house (not the office) include drink more but flush less. 10) Buy domestic: Again, a tough one. I personally like imported food, wine, beer, furniture, cars, etc. We don’t have as many choices for Canadian electronic products, for example, but certainly there are strong local options for food, drink, furniture, and often clothing. I have to laugh when I see tourists in Whistler buying bottled water from France for $3 when the local tap water is better, fresher, takes less effort to get there and is free. So we will make the switch to domestic wine, beer, furniture and, of course, magazines. This issue is full of tips which can help deliver a greener future. Realizing that future starts with each of us making some daily lifestyle changes.

The Big Shot Accepts 12"x18" papers for two-page spreads, heavy cover stock, envelopes and more. Now that's impressive.

B A C K B O N E

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B A C K S PA C E B Y

P E T E R

W O L C H A K

Skill shortage still primary concern A study from Microsoft Canada and the Strategic Counsel conﬁrms an overwhelming majority of Canadian C-level executives, IT professionals and students believe there’s a shortage of information technology skills in Canada. However, their assessment of its severity differs: 90 per cent of respondents agree Canada is experiencing a shortage but only 60 per cent of C-level executives feel this is a serious concern for businesses, compared to 96 per cent of CIOs and 77 per cent of IT professionals. One reason for this disparity is 76 per cent of C-levels see systems upkeep and maintenance as the most important role for IT. By contrast, three-quarters of IT professionals say they want more opportunities to make a difference for their organizations, while 85 per cent of students surveyed say more challenging work environments are a priority as they plan their IT careers. However, that desire for interesting work may hit up against a workplace reality: IT professionals devote up to 80 per cent of their time to routine maintenance. Other study ﬁndings:

> 78 per cent of IT pros want opportunities to make a difference in their organizations

> 90 per cent agree IT executives should be consulted when a business is making a strategic decision

> 69 per cent of C-level executives characterize IT staff as “reactive,” well ahead of “strategic” and “innovative”

> 92 per cent of CIOs agree top IT talent is difﬁcult to attract and retain; only 61 per cent of other C-level executives agree

Mobile workers adopting bad security habits Risky behaviour almost as common as employee excuses The popularity of telecommuting and mobile work is increasing, while at the same time workers are adopting dangerous security habits, warns a recent study from Cisco. The company cites 2007 stats from Gartner which show the worldwide corporate teleworking population—individuals who spend at least one day a month teleworking from home—is expected to undergo a compound annual growth rate of 4.3 per cent between 2007 and 2011; the number who telework once a week will show compound growth of 4.4 per cent. While this is occurring, survey respondents believe their remote workers are becoming less diligent toward security awareness, an 11-point increase from the year before. “While working at home, people tend to let their guard down more than they do at the ofﬁce, so adhering to security policies doesn’t always intuitively seem applicable or as necessary,” said John N. Stewart, Cisco’s chief security ofﬁcer.

Some of this risky behaviour includes:

opening e-mail and attachments from unknown or suspicious sources. This continues even though it’s a well-known security risk. using work computers and devices for personal use. This is up three per cent year 12

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over year. Justiﬁcations offered include “My company doesn’t mind me doing so,” “I’m alone and have spare time” and “My boss isn’t around.”

allowing non-employees to borrow work computers and devices. Non-employees are not held to a company’s security policies. Employees say: “My company doesn’t mind me doing so,” “I don’t think it increases security risks,” “Co-workers do it.” hijacking wireless Internet connections from neighbours. Globally, 12 per cent of remote workers admit to accessing a neighbour’s wireless connection. Reasons offered: “It’s more convenient than using my wireless connection” and “My neighbour doesn’t know, so it’s OK.” accessing work files with personal, nonIT-protected devices. Justifications for this include: “These devices are secured with antivirus and other content security software,” and “I regularly use these devices to access my network.” Cisco said IT departments need a proactive approach to influencing corporate security; awareness, education and sustained communication are as important as purchasing firewall software.

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Download the Leveraging Information Whitepaper:

IBM.COM/TAKEBACKCONTROL/CA/ACCURATE IBM, the IBM logo and Take Back Control are trade-marks or registered trade-marks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States and are used under licence by IBM Canada Ltd. ©2007 IBM Corporation. All rights reserved.

B A C K S PA C E

Hey cellphone users:

Get over RFID concerns

enough already 10 things not to do. Ever

—Cavoukian

Sick of annoying cellphone users, voiceto-text technology vendor SpinVox has compiled a list of remedies for 10 irritating cellphone habits.

1 The Offense: Loud Speakers, people who

talk loudly and share their conversation with everyone. The Remedy: If you can’t talk quietly, wait until you’re in a more appropriate location.

The Offense: Taste Blasters, those who shout their musical preferences through ringtones. The Remedy: Reduce the volume of your ringer.

The Offense: Chow Chatterers, who use cellphones at the dinner table. The Remedy: Leave the table if you must take the call.

The Remedy: Put the cellphone away or let others skip ahead in line.

The Offense: Ring Cyclists, who let phones ring and ring, rather than answer or silence them. The Remedy: Keep the mobile in a convenient place where you can answer it quickly.

8 The Offense: Free Samplers, those who 4 The Offense: Spinal Tappers, who have their select ringtones in public, loudly. speaker volumes turned “up to eleven” or use speakerphones in public. The Remedy: Lower the volume and only use the speakerphone at home or in your ofﬁce.

5 The Offense: Text Maniacs, people who text

during conversations, meetings, meals, etc. The Remedy: If you can’t wait, politely excuse yourself.

6 The Offense: Checkout Blockers, who keep others waiting in line when they should be paying and collecting their things.

The Remedy: No one cares about your ringtone, so do this in private.

The Offense: Walk ‘n’ Strollers, people who bump into you while texting or hunting through a contacts list. The Remedy: Stop or step to the side.

10 The Offense: Can Conversationalists,

Radio Frequency Identiﬁcation (RFID) technology has the potential to save lives in the health-care sector, but concerns over security may stand in the way of deployment, according to a white paper released by Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner Ann Cavoukian and HP Canada. The authors want to cut through this uncertainty over the application of RFID. In the U.S., some health-care providers already use RFID-based systems to track equipment, instruments and sponges used in surgery to ensure that nothing is left behind inside a patient, and RFID-enabled labels track specimens, laboratory results and pharmaceutical products. There are also baby-and-mother matching systems that prevent mix-ups and abductions: the RFID system triggers a lockdown if an infant is improperly removed. “The objective of our joint paper,” Cavoukian said, “is to assist health-care providers in understanding the current and potential applications of RFID technology, the potential beneﬁts, the information privacy implications associated with its uses, and the steps that may be taken to mitigate any potential privacy risks.” The paper, RFID and Privacy: Guidance for Health-Care Providers, is available at www.ipc. on.ca.

busy people who take calls in public bathroom stalls. That’s not why they built restrooms. The Remedy: Just don’t do this.

AIM LISTINGS PLUMMET AMERICANS HAPPIER WITH E-COM Customer satisfaction with the e-commerce sector is at an all-time high in the U.S., according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) from the University of Michigan and ForeSee Results. E-commerce in aggregate rises to a score of 81.6 on the ACSI’s 100-point scale, a two per cent jump from 2006. The e-commerce sector now outperforms all other service industries measured by the ACSI. “The improvement in e-commerce is impressive, given the downward trend in the national ACSI,” said Claes Fornell, head of the ACSI at the University of Michigan. “E-commerce is the only sector to improve this quarter, and in fact reaches an all-time high in customer satisfaction while other industries start to struggle.” More on the report is available at www.foreseeresults. com/Form_Ecommerce_Feb08.html. 14

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The number of Canadian Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) on the AIM market operated by the London Stock Exchange decreased 46 per cent during 2007, according to the 2007 Canadian AIM Survey from PricewaterhouseCoopers. There were seven new listings raising £93 million during 2007, compared to 13 new listings raising £186 million in 2006. Overall, AIM’s 220 IPOs in 2007 represent a fall of 32 per cent on the 325 IPOs experienced in 2006. In Canada, 90 IPOs were listed on the TSX and TSX Venture exchanges for a combined value of $3.4 billion, compared to 109 new issues worth $5.6 billion during 2006. Canadian AIM-listed companies now represent approximately 12 per cent of the 347 international companies listed on AIM. Offsetting the seven new listings during the year were eight Canadian companies that de-listed from AIM.

All content is also on our Web site: www.backbonemag.com/magazine

I WANT TO BROADCAST MY LIFE TO MY FANS AND NARRATE IT ON THE FLY

What does it take to be a Televisionary? A deep understanding of what people want and need. An ability and expertise in making television more individual and more personal. As a global leader in TV technologies, multimedia infrastructure and services, Ericsson is uniquely positioned to enable The Individual Television Experience.

Are you my televisionary?

To ﬁnd out what it takes to be a Televisionary for your customers, go to www.ericsson.com/televisionary

Ericsson is a trade-mark of Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, Ericsson Canada Inc. is a licensed user.

BIG IDEAS

Go green to create green Environmental initiatives can drop huge savings to the bottom line, and it’s IT that will get you there Jim Harris is the author of Blindsided, published in 80 countries worldwide, and The Learning Paradox, nominated for the national business book award. He speaks at more than 50 conferences and seminars a year worldwide. E-mail him at jimh@ jimharris.com.

B Y

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Big Blue recently launched Project Big Green, a program through which it will invest US$1 billion per year to dramatically increase its energy efficiency. IBM claims to operate the world’s largest commercial technology infrastructure, with more than eight million square feet of data centres on six continents in 2007. And it plans to double the computing capacity of its data centres within the next three years. Normally this would require it to double the size of its facilities; under the Big Green efficiency plans, it will do so without increasing power consumption or its carbon footprint. As part of this strategy, the company virtualized 3,900 distributed servers—45 per cent of its

In other words, green creates green. And reducing the electricity that goes into the actual boxes is just the beginning: technology has a lot more savings in store.

Starting with data centres Data centres generate a huge amount of heat and, therefore, require expensive cooling systems. So reducing the number of servers saves operating costs and reduces air conditioning bills. This is significant as a typical 25,000-square-foot data centre spends US$2.6 million in power annually. Why is this important? Per square foot, data centre energy costs are 10 to 30 times more than those of a typical office building, and data centres have doubled their energy use over the last five years. Some IT departments haven’t embraced the shift because they fear it will result in staff reductions, but IT’s role is actually going to increase in importance as we go forward. Instead of patching distributed servers and checking cabling, IT professionals will engage in more interesting work such as designing, implementing and tweaking smart systems.

Adding smarts to systems

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worldwide total—onto just 33 system z servers. In the process, the company cut electricity use by 80 per cent and dramatically reduced its carbon footprint by 2.5 million tonnes per year. This equates to taking a million cars off the road. IBM expects this will save more than five billion kilowatt hours of energy per year, with projected savings over five years of US$450 million.

Energy use can be reduced by 75 to 90 per cent, according to studies by the Rocky Mountain Institute, without changing our lifestyles. This can be accomplished by applying practical, proven and existing technology. The key is distributed embedded intelligence. For example, intelligent sensors installed in an office building can turn off the lights when there has been no movement detected for a period of time. Or, in an underground garage, the fans can turn off when no cars are idling. In one such application, a $600 investment in sensors yielded $25,000 a year savings. Over a decade that’s savings of $250,000 for an initial $600 investment—or a nine-day payback. These initiatives catch the attention of CEOs and CFOs. Smart systems are applicable outdoors as well. A staggering 70 per cent of the world’s fresh water usage is for agriculture. But irrigation is hugely inefficient as it relies on dumb systems that are either all on or all off. An intelligent irrigation system mea-

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sures soil moisture and only waters when needed. The system also tracks weather forecasts and reduces watering when rain is expected. Intelligent irrigation systems can cut water use by 70 per cent. Also, smart grids promise to shave electricity usage during peak demand times. Logic systems attach to those devices in houses or offices that draw significant amounts of electricity. These systems communicate and turn off appliances when required while, for example, running a freezer before its internal temperature climbs too high.

Marketing green Some marketers track a segment called LOHAS: Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability. In 2005, this segment represented only three per cent of North American consumers, but it has exploded to 43 per cent today. The LOHAS market represented US$229 billion in America in 2006 and will almost double to US$420 billion by 2010 and then US$845 billion by 2014. LOHAS consumers believe it is important for companies not just to be profitable, but to be mindful of their impact on the environment and society. So companies are going green because they want to win market share or are afraid of losing it. HSBC was the first bank to go carbon neutral in 2005. Why? Because the company wanted to capture the lion’s share of financing for green power deals—wind, solar, tidal and others—which will be worth hundreds of billions of dollars over the coming decades. Barclays Bank then followed suit, because it wants to be a dominant player in the rapidly emerging carbon trading market—estimated to be worth US$2 trillion a year by the UN Environment Program Finance Initiative.

Or imagine an electric car that downloads electricity at night at five cents a kilowatt hour and then, if the owner is away during the day, sells it back into the grid at 17 cents during peak usage times. With these applications it’s easier and cheaper to save money and increase profit than to make money and waste it through inefficiency.

Cutting carbon Many strategies for reducing CO2 emissions actually generate a profit, according to findings from McKinsey, one of the pre-eminent management consulting firms worldwide. McKinsey shows that 46 per cent of reduction projects generate savings, and if those savings are invested in additional lowcost reduction strategies, companies could achieve approximately 70 per cent of the proposed Kyoto targets, at little or no cost.

Canada: most inefficient in OECD Green is green GE’s CEO Jeffrey Immelt declared recently that “Green is green,” and his company plans to invest US$1.5 billion in green research and development and targets US$20 billion in green sales by 2010. Wal-Mart announced it will spend US$500 million on sustainability projects with paybacks of four years or less. Given that Wal-Mart operates on three per cent net margins, the company would have had to achieve US$17 billion in topline sales to get the same benefit, and even for the largest retailer in the world, that would be daunting. So while Wal-Mart may have begun its green odyssey for PR purposes, now the company has seen the bottom-line benefits and those have become a central corporate goal. In fact, the company is pressuring its entire supply chain to become energy efficient.

Oil pressure The price of oil has risen from roughly US$10 a barrel in 1999 to US$110 per barrel in March 2008, and new data on global oil production over the last three years shows that we have hit peak oil. Peak oil doesn’t mean we’re out of oil—there are still about a billion barrels left under the Earth’s crust—but we’ve reached the maximum rate of extraction. As demand con18

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tinues to rise two to three per cent per year, prices will inevitably continue to rise. In the first oil crisis of 1973, the price quadrupled in 18 months. Japan, entirely dependent on oil imports, realized the vulnerability of its economy and began the most aggressive energy efficiency program in history. The net result was that Japan’s heavy industries—such as petrochemical, cement, pulp and paper, and steel—were able to significantly improve their energy efficiency, in some cases by more than 35 per cent. By 1987, Japanese steel makers were 41 per cent more energy efficient than their American counterparts. The result: 230,000 American steelmakers lost their jobs over the next decade because U.S. steel companies were the most energy inefficient of the major global players. So was energy inefficiency an advantage or a huge liability?

As the most energy inefficient economy among the G8—and, in fact, among OECD countries—Canada faces a huge liability. The only less efficient economies are Iceland, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates. We consume roughly the same amount of energy per person as in the U.S., but produce 20 per cent less GDP for energy input. When the Conservative government attacks Kyoto, it is defending gross energy inefficiency. As the rest of the world’s economies dramatically improve, Canada falls further behind. The good news is that Canada’s grossly energy inefficient economy offers a huge opportunity to radically improve, protecting jobs and the economy. Failing to do so creates a ticking time bomb in terms of inevitable job loss. Becoming the most energy efficient economy globally would create hundreds of thousands of new “green collar” jobs in Canada, and insulate our economy from job loss. GM, Ford and Chrysler have actively resisted government-regulated fuel efficiency standards in both Canada and the U.S. If, instead, they had embraced efficiency, their sales would not have plummeted as the price of oil has risen dramatically. So going green is good not just for ecological imperatives but for economic ones, too.

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1. IBM Global Financing offerings are provided through IBM Credit LLC in Canada and other IBM subsidiaries and divisions worldwide to qualified commercial and government customers. Monthly payments provided are for planning purposes only and may vary based on your credit and other factors. Lease offer provided is based on a FMV lease of 36 monthly payments. Other restrictions may apply. Rates and offerings are subject to change, extension or withdrawal without notice. 2. Predictive Failure Analysis monitors select components such as processors, memory, hard disk drives, voltage regulator modules and power supplies. 3. IBM hardware products are manufactured from new parts, or new and serviceable used parts. Regardless, our warranty terms apply. For a copy of applicable product warranties visit: ibm.com/systems/ca/onebox or write to: Warranty Information, P.O. Box 12195, RTP, NC 27709, Attn: Dept. JDJA/B203. IBM makes no representation or warranty regarding third-party products or services, including those designated as ServerProven® or ClusterProven.® Telephone support may be subject to additional charges. For on-site labour, IBM will attempt to diagnose and resolve the problem remotely before sending a technician. On-site warranty is available only for selected components. Optional same day service response is available [on select] systems at an additional charge. IBM, the IBM logo, IBM Express Advantage, System x and System Storage are trade-marks of the International Business Machines Corporation in the United States and are used under licence by IBM Canada Ltd. For a complete list of IBM trade-marks, see www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml. Intel and Xeon are registered trade-marks of Intel Corporation. All other products may be trade-marks or registered trade-marks of their respective companies. All prices are IBM’s estimated retail selling prices as of January 8, 2008. Prices may vary according to configuration. Resellers set their own prices, so reseller prices to end users may be less. Products are subject to availability. This document was developed for offerings in Canada. IBM may not offer the products, features, or services discussed in this document in other countries. Prices are subject to change without notice. Starting price may not include a hard drive, operating system or other features. Contact your IBM representative or IBM Business Partner for the most current pricing in your region. © 2008 IBM Corporation. All rights reserved.

Y E X E C U T I VE OVER V I E W

Understanding governance

You run a bank and you are in a quandary. A new technology is emerging that will change the way customers interact with you; in the ’70s it may have been ATM cards, now perhaps it’s contactless payments, but in any case all the banks want to be first on the scene with this feature. It is expected to make life more convenient for customers and lower your business costs. There are risks involved with deploying the technology, though. The project may come in over budget, take too long to implement, or the technology may be susceptible to fraud. How can you quantify those risks? Plus, these aren’t the only risks you must assess. There are dangers inherent in not implementing the technology, including the possibility of losing customers to other banks and finding your competitors can do business without investing as much money. Your board of directors must weigh the technical and business risks carefully and make a decision, but it can only do that properly if the necessary intelligence is available from the computing department. Welcome to the world of IT governance, and specifically, to the intersection of IT and corporate governance. When most people think of governance, compliance probably springs to mind. Enron’s bankruptcy in 2001 following runaway fraud led to the creation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) the following year, which sought to impose tighter controls on the way companies operated. Canada’s milder SOX equivalent, Bill 198, came into effect a year later. Other controls such as the banking indus-

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Illustration: Pablo Pasadas, colagene.com

IT governance is a complex beast. We take you through some of the legislation, standards and best practices

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NICOLE HAGGERTY, Richard Ivey

MICHAEL LAMBERT, Sherbrooke University

CARMI LEVY, AR Communications MICHAEL PARENT,

NEIL BEATON, Pacific & Western Bank of Canada

Simon Fraser University

try’s BASEL II and the industry-imposed PCI-DSS rules for handling credit card data have also led companies to question how well their IT departments are protecting their systems and information. Recent events have highlighted the relationship between risk management in the IT department and the broader business world more than ever. Michael Parent, director of the CIBC Centre for Corporate Governance and Risk Management at Simon Fraser University’s Segal Graduate School of Business, highlights the TJX debacle, in which the retail group lost tens of millions of customer records to thieves following a lapse in IT security. “TJX’s share price took a 3.5 per cent drop two days after the class-action lawsuit was filed,” he said, also recalling the Federal Trade Commission’s investigation of the group six weeks later. “That opens you up to shareholder lawsuits.”

ity. But with high-profile data breaches regularly covered by the press, it is easy to forget that IT is about more than locking down computer security. Simply throwing a best-practice security document at a computer team and following up six months later with an audit won’t cut it. Lambert refers instead to a definition of governance issued 10 years prior to SOX. The U.K.’s 1992 Cadbury Report on the financial aspects of corporate governance has become a template for many institutions.

Help available Best-practice guidelines, which can help manage risk and avoid these types of problems, are relatively well documented. “When people want to implement IT governance and they rely on the proper framework, it’s much easier and goes much more efficiently,” said Michael Lambert, an associate professor who teaches IT governance at Sherbrooke University in Quebec. Several standards focus on particular aspects of IT governance. For example, ISO 27001 and 27002 set out specific security practices for applications in an IT context, which is a focal point for much compliance-driven governance activ22

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“Corporate governance is the system by which companies are directed and controlled,” the report said. This direction goes beyond simply covering your corporate behind against security threats. It includes setting strategic goals, supervising the management of the business and reporting on the leaders’ stewardship. Frameworks that address this broader view of governance run into double figures. Among them are the Information Technology Infrastructure Library

(ITIL), published by the U.K. government, which is a set of best practices for providing IT services to end users. Others include AS 8015, an Australian methodology that has been adopted internationally, and IT GAM, a matrix of different areas of IT developed by Peter Weill and Jeanne Ross, two professionals lauded for their approach to IT governance. In North America, the Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT) lays out best practices for running an IT department. “It’s all summed up in the five fundamental dimensions of IT governance,” Lambert said, describing COBIT. ■ Strategic alignment ties together business and IT plans so that the computing department works toward the goals that the board has laid out. ■ Value delivery makes sure that IT delivers the benefits that were promised. ■ Resource management concerns the management of applications, information, infrastructure and people within the computing department. ■ Risk management reflects organizational tolerances for risk in IT operations. ■ Performance measurement enables the board to understand how well the computing department is executing its tasks. These five struts of IT governance don’t exist independently, however, picking one without addressing the others is difficult. For example, change management procedures (such as applying new system patches) may be considered a resource management issue, but also affect the level of risk within the organization because the frequency and speed of system patches or

This is more than a notebook

grandandtoy.com/engineforgrowth TECHNOLOGY | IMAGING | INTERIORS | OFFICE SUPPLIES | PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

E X E C U T I VE OVER V I E W

TONY BALASUBRAMANIAN, PwC Canada

DAVID SENF,

JOHN SINGLETON, COBIT

IDC

other changes could affect your vulnerability to security exploits.

Assessing compliance For a truly holistic approach to IT governance, however, Tony Balasubramanian, a partner in advisory services at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Canada, suggests that even the broadest governance frameworks such as COBIT must be complemented by other elements. He envisages three layers of IT governance, with bestpractice frameworks constituting the filling in the pie.

“You’d have to question how far along the Canadian marketplace is in asserting that IT is in a good state to be able to do those things,” said David Senf, IDC Canada’s director of security and software research. “The situation in Canada is significantly different from the U.S. in that we have way more smaller-sized companies,” said John Singleton, former auditor general for Manitoba, and a former president at the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), which co-developed COBIT. He argues that, generally, these

“When people want to implement IT governance and they rely on the proper framework, it’s much easier and goes much more efficiently.” —Michael Lambert, Sherbrooke University

Above those frameworks lie the strategic IT decisions that must be made to support the business, he explains. “At the bottom layer, you have the things that support those COBIT and ITIL frameworks. They’re things like job descriptions, skills and competency development in IT, and management of employees so that you can get them up to a sufficient competency level.” Unfortunately, employee training is the biggest challenge facing small (sub-1,000 employee) companies considering governance strategies, according to IDC. Lambert also emphasizes the importance of producing IT governance skills in academic institutions, and said that there are too few courses focusing on this. Perhaps that’s one reason why most of the experts Backbone interviewed believe Canada isn’t governing its IT very well. 24

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companies aren’t driven to comply with SOX, which has been a big driver for governance initiatives in larger firms. However, Senf said that even larger companies are experiencing limited success. “In organizations with over a thousand employees, we see a better penetration of standard best practice for governing IT,” he said. “But where they are adopted, we don’t see that many IT organizations are far along with that.”

Grim IT picture If we’re falling down on IT governance, who’s to blame? No one is manning the rudder, Senf said. “You ask [IT departments] why they’re not doing more, and invariably they point to management and say ‘there’s not the proper leadership in our organization to push us to do this, or to

put the proper budgets or policies in place to allow the organization to do more.’” Singleton points to a fundamental cultural divide between IT professionals and businesses. The fault there lies with the board, said SFU’s Parent. In a study evaluating the presence of IT expertise on the board, he found Canada ranking a sorry fourth behind Britain, Australia and the U.S. (and the state of those countries wasn’t much better). “It’s a pretty grim picture,” he said. “It’s one of these things that we all know we need to do, but we don’t do it until a crisis occurs, and then we get religion.” Therein lies the problem. Senior management has traditionally viewed IT as a black box; a mysterious discipline in which obscure technical things happen, and into which money flows and the occasional productive system flows out. And yet in an age where the fortunes of many companies are intrinsically tied to the quality of their computing operations, having a solid understanding of IT on the board amounts to a fiduciary duty, Parent said; it’s table stakes. “Boards are being negligent in discharging their responsibilities in terms of IT in the organization from two perspectives,” he warns. Firstly, they’re not minimizing the risks associated with IT investments, but they’re also failing to acknowledge the successes that investments in IT can bring. He proposes a structured model for communicating risk to senior management. There are five broad types of IT risk, he said: competence, infrastructure, project risk, business continuity and information risk. These should be subject to both internal and external audit, he said, and the audit committee responsible for that should report to the board. What about fulfilling the board’s other duty: to properly align IT with business strategies in an accountable way, ensuring that it is used effectively to drive new efficiencies into the business? “At the board level, it’s about going beyond the compliance and control issues with technology, and seeing the value of it,” said Nicole Haggerty, assistant professor of management information systems at the Richard Ivey School of Business. “They need to shape a framework of accountability. Who makes decisions? Who gets involved in

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E X E C U T I VE OVER V I E W

them, and what are the core decisions that need to be made around business priorities and architecture?” This requires regular meetings between the board and IT, said PwC’s Balasubramanian. Other methodologies may be useful here. Another framework from ISACA, called VALIT, is based on COBIT but extends it to connect IT with the board’s strategic objectives.

advisory firm AR Communications. “You have to have budgetary approval in the first place,” he said. It isn’t surprising that risk management sits at the top of most companies’ radar when it comes to IT and corporate governance. No wonder people like Beaton are starting there. But Levy is one of many who insist that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Once IT departments have convinced the board of the need for effective IT risk management, they should be advocating a stronger emphasis on the other aspects of governance that could cement the relationship between the server room and the boardroom. “You have to show how much this ad hoc approach to service delivery is costing,” Levy said, and then follow up by explaining how beneficial a formalized, strategic link between IT and the board can be.

Getting started We may now understand what IT governance means, but embarking on such an initiative will be a daunting task for many companies. How can it be done? Many will choose to focus on the risk management aspect as a crucial factor and leave the other elements of governance for the time being. “Operations and efficient service organization are two very important things but given our size they haven’t been issues,” said Neil Beaton, CIO at Pacific & Western Bank of Canada, which runs its systems entirely on PC technology and

maintains just 60 staff. Instead, his main focus is on formalizing risk management, he said. “We don’t have the same formal infrastructure adoption challenges that a large corporation would have.” No matter how scaled back your IT governance operation, you’ll still need money to make it work, said Carmi Levy, a former CIO in the finance sector and Info-Tech research analyst, and now senior vice-president in strategic consulting at technology

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E-TRENDS

Saving the one computer T h e r e i s a w e a l t h o f g o l d , s i l v e r, lead, copper and aluminum trapped in discarded circuit boards, casings, keyboards, memor y chips, processors and cathode ray tubes

PHOTO THIS PAGE: STEVE UHRANEY

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Barrie, Ontario – Alfred Hambsch shuffles quickly through his sprawling 30,000-square-foot electronics recycling facility, rattling a narrative explanation of the robust machinery towering above as it greedily crushes circuit boards, plastic, wiring and other technology cast-offs. “This one,” he yells in his German-accented English over the noise of the hammer mill, “is breaking apart the circuit boards. And here is the centrifuge, which has a blade in it to strip apart the metal from the plastic. “And here,” stopping for breath at the foot of a fivestorey bright green behemoth of silver pipes and tanks, “is where we make the diesel from the plastic.” It’s a dirty job but someone’s got to do it, and Hambsch is no shrinking violet in the world of e-waste. Larger than life, he’s a man on a mission, wearing his passion for his business—the quest to save the planet from itself—on his sleeve. “My goal,” he said, throwing his arms up, hands open to indicate the piles of discarded computers, televisions and other electronics piled up around him, “is for zero landfill. This is a resource. Why mine it from the ground when you can recover it here?” Indeed, waste not, want not, or in Hambsch’s case, e-waste not, want not. In all this garbage is a bounty of gold, silver, lead, copper and aluminum.

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world, at a time

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PHOTO: STEVE UHRANEY

MONITORS READY TO BE PROCESSED

PHOTO: IAN HARVEY

SORTING LINE

Waiting on legislators

HYDRO AND TELEPHONE CABLES

CIRCUIT BOARDS ARE SEPARATED OUT

CATHODE RAY TUBES

SMALL SERVO MOTOR

PHOTO: IAN HARVEY

In the meantime, he’s anxiously awaiting Ontario’s expected e-waste legislation to kickstart the incoming stream of scrap electronics. The first step in that process is set for March 31 when Glenda Gies, executive director of Waste Diversion Ontario (WDO), a noncrown corporation set up to find alternatives to sending otherwise recyclable garbage to provincial landfills, hands in a report to the province’s Minister of the Environment. It’s expected to form the basis of legislation by the fall. Four years in the making, the report suggests an approach modeled on other successful programs in Europe. The key to the proposed program is a levy on electronics paid by the consumer, she said, which in turn would generate the cash to pay for the collection and recycling of those products when they’re junked. The same retail sales channels that delivered the items to customers would work in reverse to collect them, she said. “They would collect the old items when they deliver the new ones, warehouse them on pallets and then the items would be picked up and taken to the recycling plants. This would be paid from the levies. Consumers could also take their computers to, say, second-hand stores, Goodwill or the Salvation Army thrift stores and drop them off. They, too, would be paid.”

PHOTO: IAN HARVEY

There’s no shortage of plants. Hambsch’s Barrie Metals Group also owns General Electric and Electronics Processing (GEEP), a 30-acre facility an hour north of Toronto. Other Canadian e-waste recyclers include Sims (www.sims-group.com) in Brampton, Ont., ecycle (www.ecyclesolutions.com) out of Airdrie, Alta., FCM (www.fcmrecycling. com) out of Montreal, Teck Cominco (www. tcer.ca) in Trail, B.C., Technotrash Alberta (www.technotrash.ca) in Calgary, Rider Ecosys (www.ecosys.ca) in Mississauga, Ont., and MaSer Canada in Barrie (www.masercorp.com). Overall, there are 18 such e-waste recycling plants globally. All are waiting anxiously for jurisdictions across North America to ban e-waste from landfills, since their operations need a steady stream of waste to be profitable. “Right now I have about 60 people working one shift (in Barrie), but I’d like to have two shifts running,” Hambsch said. “In Edmonton, where they have the landfill legislation, we have no problems with feedstock. Here I can’t get enough until they pass the legislation.” A millwright by trade, Hambsch came to Canada from his native Germany in 1975. Typical of the European trades-turnedentrepreneur class, he saw a land of opportunity and, by 1985, had purchased salvage company Barrie Metal Group. While commodity prices remained low until the last few years, he also knew there would be a need to develop a better way to recycle the growing stream of electronics. He’s a hands-on guy who designed the machinery and processes he is using in Canada

COMPUTERS BEFORE PROCESSING

PHOTO: STEVE UHRANEY

I r o n i c a l l y, n o t e n o u g h g a r b a g e

and in plants in Durham, N.C., Sacramento, Calif., and, soon, Dallas. Like the other plants, GEEP is a factory in reverse: dismantling and separating components instead of assembling them. Because it is so labour intensive, some processes—like cutting up monitors to separate the glass—are moneylosing propositions, although offset by the $700 per tonne tipping fees the plants receive. These are noisy, busy places: components are crushed and then hand sorted into essential materials, plastics and metals. In the second stage the components are further pummeled until they are separated into metals and plastics. At GEEP the third stage is a centrifuge, which delaminates any remaining plastic from metal. The final products are a granular pile of mixed metals, which are then shipped to a smelter for recovery, and a powdery almost sand-like mixture of hard plastics, which are fed into a new nano processor to rearrange their essential hydrocarbons into diesel fuel. It’s the latter process which, according to Hambsch, is exclusively his and separates his operations from the competition.

PHOTO: IAN HARVEY

Hambsch has also designed and built a modern day Alchemist’s Stone, turning a sandlike stream of ground mixed plastic, which would otherwise go to landfill, into black gold—diesel fuel—at the rate of 300 litres an hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “That’s just a start,” he smiles, his stout barrel-chest filling with pride. “What I want and what we think we can get is 500 litres an hour. I use it to drive my generators to create electricity to run the plant and run the turbines which heat the plastic as part of the process to make diesel oil. We want to be self-sufficient.” Indeed, Environment Canada numbers show we dumped 140,000 tonnes of e-waste between 2004 and 2005, and it expects that to triple by 2011. Dealing with that old technology will likely require some new technology.

PHOTO: IAN HARVEY

E-TRENDS

PHOTO: STEVE UHRANEY

PHOTO: IAN HARVEY

HAMBSCH AND THE DIESEL STILL, WHERE PLASTIC BEADS ARE MADE INTO DIESEL FUEL

FINE PLASTICS

Canada is following the lead of Europe, which passed its Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive in 2003 to manage end-of-life-cycle disposal. Coupled with 2006 legislation called Restriction of Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS), it also restricts the use of six toxins in manufacturing—lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE)—and diverts e-waste to recycling. In Canada, 4,750 tonnes of lead, 4.5 tonnes of cadmium and 1.1 tonnes of mercury go into landfills annually, based on 2004 Environment Canada estimates. These toxic substances have been linked to kidney damage and neurological impairment.

PHOTO: STEVE UHRANEY

Private-sector action

PHOTO: IAN HARVEY

PHOTO: STEVE UHRANEY

Photo: Ian Harvey

The separated components are ground into beads of metal, copper and plastic

COPPER WIRES

PHOTO: IAN HARVEY

SHREDDED CIRCUIT BOARDS

METAL BITS

Spurred on by Europe, North American governments and technology companies long ago realized they’d better get with the program. Most major tech manufacturers now have fee-based disposal programs for corporate customers and consumer incentives for recycling obsolete equipment. “We have to be part of the solution,” said Frances Edmonds, Hewlett-Packard Canada’s director of environmental programs. HP recycled 250 million pounds of hardware and print cartridges globally last year, 50 per cent more than in 2006. “This is an issue the IT industry—anyone in electronics—needs to face head on.” The vehicle the industry created to do that is Electronic Products Stewardship Canada (EPSC), a consortium of computer makers, electronics importers, assemblers and retailers that has been working with provincial environment ministries to develop a best practices plan for the proper disposal of electronic waste. “Canada should be very proud,” said Jay Illingworth, director of EPSC. “We were not the first moving forward on this but we’ve worked with all four programs in place now and there’s a program going forward in Ontario.” The industry stakeholders have recognized the role they must play, he said, adding the template adopted under the WEEE recycling models will likely include items like tires, car batteries and other manufactured goods. Plants like GEEP, Sims and others largescale multinational operations are critical to the recycling program, Illingworth said, but these need to be large centres running at capacity to be economically viable. That mandates truck-

Cross Canada update Asking consumers to pay for recycling through an upfront levy won’t induce sticker shock, according to the authors of a Waste Diversion Ontario plan, as prices for electronics continue to drop and the additional cost will simply be folded into the shelf price. And it’s a necessary evil; while corporate Canada has adjusted to the reality of paying to dispose of its electronics, funding responsible disposal of obsolete technology from consumers will require a legislated tax or levy. Ontario is expected to table legislation this fall to put levies on new computers and peripherals. It joins British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, which have enacted e-waste legislation effectively banning electronic trash from landﬁlls. Quebec and Manitoba are well along in developing programs with only New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador still mulling their best course of action, given the lack of proximity to recycling plants. Ontario’s program, which will be the biggest in Canada, is projected to cost about $47 million in the ﬁrst year with $8.8 million in start-up administration costs and $2.6 million for promotion and audit. Those expenses will be offset by the levies: for desktops, $12.36 each; laptops, $1.97; peripherals, $0.35; monitors, $10.99; TVs, $9.21; and printers, $4.64.

ing or shipping materials via rail, despite the obvious carbon footprint that creates. “Certainly we’re lucky in Canada in that we have the capacity for the recycling we’ll need in many places and we have smelters for lead and other metals,” Illingworth said. “But there’s a question about whether the Atlantic provinces will be able to achieve the economies of scale needed to make recycling plants economical. Also, there are some questions around toxic materials like mercury and other materials in batteries which we’ll need to work out.”

All content is also on our Web site: www.backbonemag.com/magazine

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Green is the new

Employees and consumers want greener products, greener services and reduced energy consumption. But as marketers and vendors respond, are we looking at just another big greenwash?

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Politicians and big companies have been pushed, if not shoved, into listening to the environmental concerns of their citizens and consumers over the last few years. Now many of those same people are looking at whether their employers’ policies are green enough, and if they are demanding enough of their suppliers. And tech providers are not immune, with increasing questions about both the electricity sucked up by computers and about what happens when those aging devices are no longer wanted. These concerned voices are not lost on marketers and manufacturers, who realize that green may be the new gold, as buyers increasingly expect products and services that do no environmental harm. “The growing demand for more sustainable products and services could translate into one of the biggest new markets in recent memory,” said Bruce McIntyre, leader of the sustainable business solutions practice for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Canada.

“I have this tingling feeling that 2008 will be the year everyone wakes up and begins to put things into practice, especially on the technology side,” said his colleague Jonathan Hirst, a director in PwC’s Advisory Practice. “I think this is the wake-up call for technology vendors and IT organizations across all businesses.” For a recent PwC study entitled Going Green: Sustainable Growth Strategies, conducted in conjunction with the Economist Intelligence Unit, 148 senior technology executives from around the world were surveyed to determine how the world’s focus on global wellness is impacting the technology sector, and what corporate plans are being put into place in order to meet the concomitant growing demand. The survey focuses on technology executives from five key regions: Asia, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. According to the study, 61 per cent of technology executives believe that it is

Illustration: Gavin Orpen

gold

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“The growing demand for more sustainable products and services could translate into one of the biggest new markets in recent memory.” —Bruce McIntyre, PricewaterhouseCoopers Canada

“important” or “very important” for their companies to take steps to reduce their environmental impact, a fact that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise in a day and age where media, politics and society all focus on green issues.

Why go green? McIntyre said a number of factors are driving the survey results in the global technology industry. The first is enlightened self-interest. The philosophy that a company will “do well by doing good” supports a growing focus on corporate social responsibility and the drive to “green” business practices. In order to respond to growing market demand, some technology companies are being proactive by investing in sustainable R&D and reevaluating their manufacturing and packaging processes in

order to stay ahead of the curve and ensure a reduction in environmental impact. Another driving factor is pressure exerted by shareholders, institutional investors and current and potential employees. Companies now realize that many investors and Gen Y employees are looking for organizations that demonstrate ethical and sustainable business practices and offer feel-good employment and investment opportunities. “This younger generation has grown up very concerned about these issues and it’s as though there 34

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has been a cultural shift in terms of more awareness surrounding the environment,” McIntyre said. For organizations looking at the big picture, these two influencing forces seem to be enough to drive legitimate change. “Most companies today are aware of reputation issues and don’t want to be painted with a bad brush,” McIntyre said. “Not only are they responsible for their own practices but also the actions and decisions of the entire supply chain.” For this reason, corporations from technology manufacturers to software developers are beginning to feel pressure along the supply chain, and this is translating into action. According to the PwC survey, currently 18 per cent of technology executives claim their companies practice environmentally preferred purchasing, with 53 per cent stating they will implement this practice in the next two years. “This report is reasonably indicative of what is going on in a variety of industries,” McIntyre said. Not only are the above factors influencing change, but also organizations across all sectors are feeling the drastic increase in energy costs and the impending threat of government legislation and taxes which will ultimately make unsustainable practices increasingly expensive. Industries that develop their own standards for sustainability reporting will be in a good position, McIntyre said, to face government legislation. This is already beginning to influence business practices in Europe and parts of the U.S.

Greenwashing While this is not the first time the world is “seeing green,” marketers today are facing a unique challenge. The 1980s and 1990s saw intense environmental hype that dissipated as quickly as it appeared, leaving in its wake a torrent of cynical consumers. Marketing executives were accused of “greenwashing” and “green spinning” the companies and products they represented, misleading consumers and making false claims.

BRUCE MCINTYRE, PwC

“Increasingly, we are now seeing successful green marketing campaigns that are [going mainstream by] removing the green message altogether,” said Detlev Zwick, associate professor of marketing at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto. What will drive this second and third wave of green marketing, he explains, is making green products and services as mainstream and cost effective as possible. “It won’t be driven by moral obligation because, bottom line, there is still only a small group of consumers who will pay a premium for environmentally sound products.” One of the roles marketing will have in spreading the green message is in raising awareness. “It’s up to them to create literacy in the marketplace in terms of credible environmental and sustainable claims and green credentials,” Zwick said. “The best way to reach businesses and customers is not at the point of sale but rather via Web sites, social networking sites and media attention.” No matter how skeptical some consumers and businesses still are, Zwick is confident this global campaign for green is here to stay. “But, I’m not a believer that marketing will play an important role in greening the economy,” he said. “What will deepen the consumption of green products and services is government policy.”

Sustainable businesses Until governments begin implementing taxation and legislation that will ultimately force business to “green up,” individual corporations and industry sectors are taking issues of the environment into

RON DIZY,

JONATHAN HIRST, DETLEV ZWICK,

PwC

York University

their own hands—and they’re using technology as a driving force for change. While it may seem that technology implementation is a cause of increased energy consumption in corporations, the PwC study reveals a unique opportunity for technology organizations and IT departments to promote the capabilities of IT in reducing the carbon footprint. Using creativity and technology to promote internal change pushes many corporations to think outside of the box, and according to the study, this “has a direct impact on the level of collaboration and innovation found throughout the entire technology value-chain, including marketing, human resources, research and development processes, manufacturing and supply chains.” “The pendulum swing towards green technology is unleashing a creative disruption within the global technology market,” McIntyre said. In keeping with the study, which states that 60 per cent of technology manufacturers are currently developing green products and services, multinational corporations such as Sony, Nokia, Microsoft, Dell, HP and many others are beginning to focus a portion of R&D dollars on sustainable product innovation and e-waste recycling programs. The increasing global demand for a lighter footprint is driving these changes, which some companies have been gearing up for since the last green wave at the turn of the century. But again, altruism is not the only motivating factor—60 per cent of companies surveyed said energy savings is one of the most important factors in their com-

NICK AUBRY,

Sempa

TAU LENG,

SuperMicro Computer

Sony Canada

pany’s environmental decision-making process. “Sony sees the value in adopting a sustainable business model because reducing energy consumption and emissions results in a significant cost savings,” said Nick Aubry, manager of National Parts Operations and Environment with Sony Canada. Sony has committed to developing energy saving devices, reducing harmful

chemical substances in the manufacturing process, and coordinating take-back programs that recycle and reuse electronic waste at end of life, he said. “Though some people see the corporate shift toward sustainability as greenwashing, concern for the environment has been part of Sony’s corporate DNA for at least the past 10 years.” While technology manufacturers like Sony are using the environment as a

More than a greenwash According to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ February Going green study, technology companies are hopping on the green bandwagon—implementing initiatives in order to lessen their impact on the earth. While many have already begun to make changes, over the next two years the study shows an expected industry-wide increase in action. Of the 148 senior technology executives surveyed:

> 61% feel it’s important to take steps to reduce

Industry vie

environmental impact

> 40% say the green movement creates signiﬁcant market opportunities

> 60% say energy savings is one of the most important factors in the environmental decision-making process

Going gree Sustainab n: le growth stra

tegies*

Technolog y Volume 5 executive connect ion

> 20% state their companies maintain a formal and widely distributed environmental policy; 48% will do this over the next two years

> 60% of technology manufacturers are developing green products and services, while only 33% of service-oriented businesses are doing the same

*connecte

dthinking

The full survey is available online by conducting a search at www.pwc.com/extweb/pwcpublications.

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Photo: Jason Kempin/FilmMagic.com

“Put a price tag on CO2” Al Gore on where carbon emissions and technology meet Nobel Laureate Al Gore and Cisco CEO John Chambers want the world to know travel is no longer necessary to bring corporate and political leaders together, and that video conferencing can help businesses save on travel costs and reduce carbon emissions. To prove their point, the two took part in a March video conference that spanned four cities and two continents and was broadcast live to technology leaders across the globe. The discussion, run on Cisco’s TelePresence technology, focused on the critical role innovation can play in mitigating climate change and the responsibility of the IT industry to provide open and secure platforms for widespread communication. Vice President Gore spoke from his hometown of Nashville, Tenn., and provided an assessment of the earth’s current state of distress and the corporate and political response to climate change. “More and more people are recognizing the clear evidence that we are facing a planetary emergency,” Gore said. “However, when you give people a list of 25 priorities…the climate crisis consistently ranks at number 23 or 24. So what is needed is a new sense of urgency.” While Gore said business leaders are far ahead of political leaders, he said both groups have a long way to go. “The planet has a fever and the fever is

springboard for the development of innovative green products and services, not only marketing themselves as sustainable but also tracking and recording their eco footprint, entrepreneurs are also seizing the opportunity to develop cleaner solutions in the form of new businesses. Sempa Power Systems, for example, provides technology and implementation services it says help commercial building owners and managers lower energy costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cut energy consumption. The Sempa Hybrid Heating System is a patent-pending solution that automatically load balances fossil fuel sources with electricity consumption. “For most of our customers we’re able to reduce heating costs from 10 to 30 per 36

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going up,” said the recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. “We need to change our light bulbs, but more importantly we need to change our laws.” For the technology industry the power for change lies in innovation and collaboration. “The Internet, with technology tools all lumped together in uniﬁed communications, can suddenly change the paradigm,” said Cisco’s John Chambers. “Collaboration and social networking will allow people to work together toward a common goal in ways they could not before.” This is about the collaborative ability to no longer need to be in the same room to solve a problem. And the best way to encourage more environmentally responsible innovation, in Gore’s words, is to “put a price tag on CO2. I believe the single best thing we can do in every country, starting with the United States, is to reduce taxes on businesses and employees and then replace every dollar of that revenue with pollution taxes—CO2 taxes,” Gore said. “If we put a price on carbon…that would unleash innovations for solar concentrating thermal electric power, wind energy, conservation and efﬁciency, teleconferencing and the many information-technology applications that can reduce CO2.” —Hailey Eisen

cent and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 to 50 per cent,” said Ron Dizy, president and CEO of Sempa, founded in 2003. “True, if we did not offer economic benefits we would have far fewer, if any, customers. But if we only offered cost savings we wouldn’t have the same traction either. People are interested in capital projects that deliver both environmental and economic savings.” Another growing trend in the quest to save the planet is the teaming up of like-minded companies within the technology sector. According to the PwC survey, this is also an industry-wide means of safeguarding against future government legislation. Last summer, Intel and Google teamed up to form Climate Savers Computing,

a non-profit organization that now has more than 100 member companies. “The mission of the group,” said Tau Leng of SuperMicro Computer in San Jose, Calif., “is to reduce by 50 per cent the power consumption worldwide by computers by the year 2010.” The group, of which SuperMicro is a sponsor, aims to create industry-wide standards that will ensure cost and emissions savings, and educate the public, including consumers, about the harmful realities of energy consumption. “We are hoping that governments will get involved as well,” Leng said. “All of us want good things for the earth.” All stories are also on our Web site: www.backbonemag.com/magazine

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E-TRENDS

More produ Boosting staff productivity step one: look to technology B Y

G A I L

B A L F O U R

Illustration: Alain Gonçalves

If the last pizza you ordered arrived hot at your door, you have a Canadian invention to thank for it. Today Pizza Pizza is a household name and one of the biggest success stories in Canada, with 28 million customer orders a year in more than 500 locations across the country. But in 1967 it was just a single 300-square-foot store at the intersection of Parliament and Wellesley in Toronto. How did the company grow to where it is today? It was largely due to branding and creative use of technology, according to George Jeffrey, vice-president of enterprise development at Pizza Pizza.

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Working with a car upholstery firm, the company invented the world’s first insulated pizza delivery bag in 1967. “It was a simple thing, but it was an innovation,” Jeffrey said. It was to be the first of many such inventions from the company. The now famous “11-11” phone number was no small feat when it came on the scene in 1975: one-number calling systems were almost unheard of in those days. It was so successful, especially after Burton Cummings produced the jingle that made the phone number a Canadian icon, that the company was having trouble keeping up with the

ctive demand. In 1979 it designed the first computerized order-taking and central phone system. Without a centralized call centre, it could have never expanded as rapidly as it did across Canada, Jeffrey said. It allowed the company to take orders much more efficiently, and without the huge staffing investment that would have been required otherwise. Jeffrey was one of four panellists at a recent roundtable in Toronto hosted by Microsoft Canada. They were gathered to discuss a recent mid-size business survey conducted by Info Tech Research Group and released by Microsoft. Of the 200 business executives polled, two-thirds cited the use of technology to improve staff productivity and efficiency as the number one growth enabler. One reason for this may be that smaller businesses now have better access to decision support software, offerings that were

typically only available to large businesses in the past, said Jill Schoolenberg, general manager of small and medium business at Microsoft Canada, in Mississauga, Ont., and moderator of the panel. “Clearly, Canadian small, mid-size and large companies alike, although they face different opportunities and challenges, recognize the limitless growth potential offered by the strategic use of IT.” Another panellist, Ted Maulucci, CIO of Toronto-based Tridel Corp., said when new laws caused the condo market to explode in the early ‘70s, his company was almost overwhelmed by the sudden demand. At first, all the information needed to close condo deals was sent to its law firm on paper. It was demanding, expensive and time consuming, and there were version control issues.

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“We were terrified we would double-sell units. We needed a common data source,” Maulucci said. The company started out by automating some of its documents. “Now we are not even handing out documents at all. We can close hundreds of deals, send them to a document server and go home. This is a huge productivity gain, and would have taken a law assistant hours, even days, in the past,” he said. “It also cut out an enormous amount of paper, printing and courier costs. We have $130,000 of hard savings every year. And the volume of sales has doubled.” Today, the Tridel group of companies is responsible for building more than 66,500 homes, and the sales arm processes as many as 500 transactions in a single day.

G e t r e a d y, g e t s e t A third panellist, Peter Hwang, founder and CEO of Torontobased Enwise Power Solutions, said having an established growth plan upfront and investing in some basic tools saved his company

CARMI LEVY, AR Communications

GEORGE JEFFREY, Pizza Pizza TED MAULUCCI, Tridel Corp.

position to respond quickly there will be less fatality.” Canadians in general are slow to adapt to new technologies, but that is not the case with social networking and other Web 2.0 functions, Reid said. These will likely play an important role in business going forward, especially as younger people make their way into the workforce. “There is tremendous opportunity here for young smart people to do wonderful things. This is the kind of culture we have to foster here: one of entrepreneurship. You don’t need to create all the technologies from scratch (anymore); it is possible to bring technology together from different areas to create something new.”

Focus on growth Carmi Levy, senior vice-president of strategic consulting at AR Communications, based in Thornhill, Ont., said Canadian companies, especially smaller ones, are often not focused on growth. This is a mistake. Software that can give them visibility into their processes should be seen as an investment, not a cost.

from being overwhelmed by customer demand from the beginning. Founded in 2006, the power company found a niche after the utility market deregulated. It offers competitively priced utility packages to customers, and tech-savvy solutions like customer invoices on a USB key. It started off with a small staff, but set up an automated service to answer messages promptly. This turned out to be a crucial decision. “Within a few days of launching we had more than 400 Web inquiries. I am not sure what we would have done (if we had not had tools in place.) We would have lost those calls.” Success stories aside, the fact is that a great many Canadian companies will not make it past the three-year mark, said John Reid, president and co-chair of Ottawa-based high-tech collaborative association CATA Alliance, who was also on the panel. “Canadian companies today still often don’t know where their next obstacle or opportunity is coming from. But if you are in a 40

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Canadian businesses optimistic about future; stafﬁng main concern > Two-thirds of businesses plan to expand in 2008 > Only three per cent expect contraction > The top business challenge faced by Canadian business is stafﬁng

> Large companies lead substantially in the establishment of technology plans

> Adoption rate of technology plans is higher than last year > The desire to further deploy technology plans is also higher > Canadian business is surprisingly optimistic about business conditions in 2008

> Only 20 per cent express concerns Source: Info Tech Research 2008

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E-TRENDS

PETER HWANG, Enwise Power Solutions JOHN GALLIGAN,

RANDALL CRAIG, Pinetree Advisors

JOHN REID, CATA Alliance

JILL SCHOOLENBERG, Microsoft Canada

Workshift.com

“You are spending so much time managing the minutiae of your day-to-day business, the tactical elements, that you are frankly wasting your time trying to piece them all together. You simply have no time or resources to do the critical type of strategic thinking or planning that will ultimately drive the growth of your business,” he said. “Strategic software investment allows you to look at the big picture, and manage your resources much more effectively than if you were up to your ears in paper and spreadsheets.”

“Even more sophisticated software like CRM is starting to be commonplace and easy for new employees to learn, because they may have used similar packages elsewhere.” It’s great to have strategic goals for your business, but don’t stick too rigidly to the plan, he said. It’s important to leave room to stumble onto greatness that you may not have anticipated. “If you only concentrate on your future goals alone, you ignore a lot of the innovation that may be possible. Imagine Facebook 15 years ago.”

Levelling the playing field

Randall Craig, president of Toronto-based consulting firm Pinetree Advisors, said technology allows functions that couldn’t be done before, like very targeted recruiting through Web sites such as LinkedIn. It is easier these days to make staff searches more individualized; fewer résumés come in, but those you do get will be more appropriate to the job. In addition, most people in the workforce are now tech savvy enough to know the basics, so companies need to spend less time and money on training in general. 42

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John Galligan, manager of operations at Ottawa-based consulting firm Workshift.com, said the number of small businesses that have grown up on the Internet is starting to level the playing field, and in the last five years it has allowed Canadian small businesses to compete on a global scale. “Many of us were here five years ago, but (the rest of the world) just couldn’t see us. But the Internet is a great leveller in that way,” he said. “It also allows the intelligence and the creativity that is really out there to come more to the surface. This is something that you might not see if all you have is big companies. Larger companies are often following a model, and may lose out on all the creativity that a smaller shop can command, and [it can] think outside the box. A larger company, well, they have a box for a reason: a tried, tested, bulletproof type of thing. It works for them. They can cost it; they can sell it.” Galligan agreed with Reid that social networking, YouTube and other Web 2.0 offerings will continue to change the face of business. “The younger generations coming into the workforce now, that’s how they work. The newer generation already has that mindset. So we are looking at how that affects how we do things and how we sell things.” Not all companies are on board with this idea yet though, because to some degree it is an intangible. They can’t hold it in their hands, and can’t easily measure its reach like they can with direct mail, for example. And, unfortunately, it is often still seen by many as a productivity hindrance rather than a tool. “It’s a different metric. It’s still seen as water cooler chat, as opposed to getting the work done.” All content is also on our Web site: www.backbonemag.com/magazine

Backbone and KPMG present

Canada’s Premier Web 2.0 Innovators In the upcoming July 2008 issue Backbone and KPMG will announce Canada’s ﬁrst and only ranking of Canadian Web 2.0 pioneers. Our editorial will feature and rank companies who are leading the way in one or more of the following implementation categories:

1) Problem Solving: customer response, idea generation, solution brainstorming 2) Innovation: crowdsourcing, market prediction, participatory feedback 3) Collaboration: jams, customer input, user rankings 4) Knowledge sharing and management: teamware, wikis, blogs and collaborative content creation

Learn more about the winners’ innovative strategies at local events this September - watch for cities and dates in the next issue! For further details email: Steve Dietrich at sdietrich@backbonemag.com

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The rise of green technology Canada is taking a leadership role as global companies look towards better environmental practices

The environment and climate change are growing global concerns, accompanied by warnings from scientists and activists and encouraging a major shift in corporate and social practices. Green technology has emerged as a strong force in the fight to regulate climate change and build globally based, environmentally sustainable solutions. Organizations are using IT to help reduce and track their carbon emissions and develop and support business models with a green focus. Europe and Asia have recognized the value of alternative energy sources, and Canadian companies have recently made significant progress on green

research and development. Results so far include innovative methods of waste management and clean electricity production. Canadian firms are operating internationally using patented technologies to produce energy in a modern, sustainable and effective manner. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) businesses lead by example through the promotion of corporate-sponsored environmental initiatives that are producing positive effects. Paperless transactions, virtual conferencing, motion sensitive lighting and intelligent thermostat control are employed with greater frequency in offices across the country. Not only have

these initiatives resulted in lower environmental impact but also in cost savings. Those organizations that preach innovation as a competitive advantage are leading the charge towards a shift in global practices. Eco-conscious organizations are attracting employees who believe in environmental protection and are often flexible, adaptable and resourceful in ways that benefit the business. The role technology plays in the green movement continues to gain momentum as the corporate world heeds scientists’ predictions of the risk of increasing environmental degradation.

We see a new Ontario on the horizon. What do you see? Bold new ideas in earth sciences. Breakthroughs in environmental technologies. Advances in photonics and communications that are light years ahead. Innovations as far as the eye can see. They’re shaping a new Ontario, spurred on by Ontario Centres of Excellence. Since 1987, we’ve been accelerating innovation in our province. Connecting researchers and entrepreneurs. Developing and attracting prime talent. Helping transform amazing discoveries into competitive industries, jobs, and a global reputation for ingenuity. We’re making our mark on Ontario—and it’s making one on the world. See how the future is taking form at oce-ontario.org.

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Mother Nature calling MTS Allstream and the greening of business There are no simple solutions to the challenges of climate change —but transforming business communication practices may be one of the most effective steps. Over the past several years, MTS Allstream has been named one of the 50 Best John MacDonald, Corporate Citizens in Canada President, Enterprise Solutions division by Corporate Knights magazine and has earned the title of Canada’s most environmentally responsible company in the telecommunications sector from Report on Business magazine. In December 2007, Maclean’s magazine ranked MTS Allstream as one of the country’s top two socially responsible telecommunications companies. In 1992, long before climate change became a universally recognizable phrase, MTS Allstream adopted an environmental code of practice. That early commitment eventually evolved into the organization’s Environmental Management System (EMS), a framework for positive change that’s been widely recognized for its comprehensive effectiveness. Nominated for Manitoba’s Sustainable Development Award of Excellence several years in succession and recognized by the Federal Minister of Natural Resources for participation in the Office of Energy Efficiency’s ‘Energy Innovators’ initiative to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the company’s work in the environmental arena has been a key to being recognized as a top corporate citizen. “There’s a real commitment to the fundamentals here,” says John MacDonald, President, Enterprise Solutions division. “Our entire organization is very committed, and we have challenged ourselves with the task of renewing and redoubling all our efforts in this area.” For example, fuel efficiency has increased by as much as 10 per cent through education that supports more fuel-efficient driving habits on the job.

“While trying to accomplish even more internally,” says MacDonald, “MTS Allstream is also committed to helping our customers achieve their own environmental goals.”

“There’s a real commitment to the fundamentals here. Our entire organization is very committed, and we have challenged ourselves with the task of renewing and redoubling all our efforts in this area.” While virtual workplaces, meetings and conferences are not new, a convergence of public concern about climate change and technological innovation has recently sparked tremendous uptake of these telecom solutions. Today, a growing number of companies recognize that reducing employee travel and commuting times while increasing productivity is a key factor in streamlining business and environmental goals. “It’s about being plugged into people in all the different offices of a corporate structure. The ability to communicate clearly and quickly in real time is going to make the need for extensive travel less necessary. That will obvi-

ously have a very positive impact on the environment,” MacDonald says. As well as being cost effective and good for the environment, adoption of MTS Allstream’s teleworking and videoconferencing technologies provides a significant business advantage. “It can be more efficient, meaning you get to certain tasks or decisions earlier, because you don’t have to arrange travel,” says MacDonald. “Through live meetings and online collaboration, people can get together instantly to create, revise, update and exchange information. And they can also see who is available and what the best way to reach them is – that reduces time spent in trying to find required experts or decision-makers.” As we move forward, a deeper understanding of how business activities impact the environment will be a key concern for any organization. MTS Allstream is devoted to continuing its efforts to its own environmental goals, and to developing innovative telecommunications solutions that help their customers to lower their environmental footprint, now and for years to come.

F o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n v i s i t u s o n l i n e a t w w w. a l l s t r e a m . c o m o r c a l l 1 - 8 6 6 - 4 5 4 - 0 8 4 4

IT’S ABOUT

INNOVATIVE TELECOM SOLUTIONS THAT HELP THE ENVIRONMENT Businesses today are faced with growing pressure to conduct their business in a more environmentally responsible manner. Increasingly, companies are realizing the importance of reducing their carbon footprint and understanding that going green just makes good business sense. That’s why Allstream is committed to helping organizations achieve their environmental goals. With a full suite of solutions that help businesses reduce employee travel and commuting times while increasing productivity, you can decrease your carbon footprint and make better use of your existing resources. Our Unified Communications portfolio and IT consulting services help you implement and utilize collaboration and mobility tools that help you achieve these objectives. Employing an experienced and dedicated workforce, powerful technology, national presence and global connectivity, our world-class suite of telecom services and solutions help you be more environmentally responsible, increase productivity and lower costs. Thousands of companies have already benefited from the Allstream difference. Call us today to find out how our solutions can help your business.

For more information, call 1 866 454-0844 or visit www.allstream.com/green

IP CONNECTIVITY | UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS | SECURITY | IT CONSULTING ®Manitoba Telecom Services Inc., used under license.

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Value from waste Plasco Energy Group treats waste as an asset In urban communities across Canada, the United States and Western Europe municipal solid waste is produced at the rate of three quarters of a ton per person, per year. About one third of that comes directly from a person’s home and is picked-up at the curbRod Bryden, President and side, while more than half of CEO of Plasco Energy Group it comes from institutions like hospitals, malls and office buildings, and industrial plants. Finally, the remaining 17 per cent is a result of construction and demolition waste. The choices for managing municipal solid waste have been very limited: separation of recyclable components, composting or anaerobic digestion of separated organics, incineration, or landfill of the remainder. Recycling continues to be a desirable priority. However, separation of organics and incineration or burying the remainder is problematic both environmentally and economically. A growing number of provinces in Canada now require that waste be treated as an asset of the community and managed to its best value. “To do this,” explains Rod Bryden, President and CEO of Plasco Energy Group, a private Canadian waste conversion and energy generation company, “we must adhere to three important steps.” First, waste must be managed in a way that eliminates as much negative environmental impact on land, water, and air as possible. Second, recycling must be maximized to the limits of feasibility. And third, the net economic value from residual waste must be maximized. The third choice “With the current global focus on greenhouse gas emissions and air contamination,” says Bryden, “a meaningful economic and environmental value is to convert all solids to valuable prod-

ucts and all gases to clean energy to replace energy currently being created from fossil fuels.” For decades, scientists around the globe have been faced with the challenge of trying to create consistent and useful products from an unpredictable and variable waste stream. Since 1986, Plasco has operated research facilities in Canada and Spain attempting to do just that. In 2007, it opened its first 100-tonnes-per-day commercial scale demonstration plant in Ottawa. With a focus on transforming waste into saleable solid products, clean water and energy, while producing no emissions or contamination to water or land, Plasco has now developed the third choice in waste management—the only conversion system of its kind in the world. How it works The Plasco Conversion System is capable of breaking all waste down to its original, natural elements. “Everything that comes out of our system is transformed into usable products with commercial value,” he says. “There is no waste or negative environmental implication.”

VALUE OUTPUTS FROM EACH TON OF WASTE PROCESSED: ELECTRICITY – 1.4MWh

POTABLE QUALITY WATER – 300L

COMMERCIAL SALT – 5 to 10kg CONSTRUCTION AGGREGATE – 150kg

SULFUR AGRICULTURAL FERTILIZER – 5kg

For more information visit www.plascoenergygroup.com

The results are 30 per cent clean water, three to five per cent sulfur (fertilizer), five to 10 per cent chlorine (commercial salt) and 15 per cent vitrified solids (construction aggregate), with the rest made up of gas. The gas that is produced can be shipped off-site and blended into a natural gas pipeline or used onsite to operate internal combustion engines to make power. “For each ton of waste we get the power used in the conversion process and about 1.4 megawatts of saleable power—enough to run a household in Canada for 55 days,” says Bryden. A good neighbour Their “unwelcome neighbour” characteristics usually result in locations far away from population centres, which therefore require long-distance transportation of waste and equally longdistance return transportation of any usable energy produced by the incinerator or recovered from the methane from landfills. Unlike the current waste management options, Plasco is a neighbour that communities will welcome, says Bryden. The Plasco Conversion System operates in architecturally attractive plants with no stack, no emissions except engine exhaust, no noise and low truck traffic. With Plasco’s system, waste will be dealt with where it is created and electricity can be generated where it is needed. “Many communities are anxious to deal with their own waste and to conserve their valuable energy. We give them the opportunity to do so,” says Bryden.

Is garbage going to waste?

Los Angeles 200

Tonnes Per Day

Ottawa 100

Tonnes Per Day

Some things are very difficult to recycle. That’s where we come in. We convert more than 99% of post-recycled garbage into green energy and other useful products while substantially eliminating the impact of garbage on our environment. We recycle leftover garbage so it won’t end up in landfills or incinerators. PlascoEnergy completes your community’s recycling options so you don’t let garbage go to waste.

plascoenergygroup.com PLASCO ENERGY GROUP 1000 Innovation Drive, Suite 400 Ottawa, ON, Canada K2K 3E7 Tel. 613.591.9438

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Your roof: wanted for business You might not have considered your roof space to be an investment asset, but a few modifications can bring you a new, shimmering blue finish along with pay cheques in the mailbox for the next 25 years as you sell the electricity generated by your very own solar power system. This may sound like a futuristic notion, but you might be surprised to learn that this is already possible in some parts of the world, and even more surprised to learn it is already possible in Ontario. Of course, you do have to purchase the solar power system, but with the Ontario Power Authority’s new guaranteed feed-in tariff for solar electricity, this technology is already becoming economic on commercial buildings, giving you the opportunity to assist with climate change in a significant way. Starting in late 2008, a company called Sustainable Energy Technologies (TSX-V: STG) will be rolling out a complete solution for installing solar power on buildings. The solution offers competitive advantages that make solar

Solar panels used at the University of Toronto power systems scalable, “enabling you to get more power in a wider range of circumstances, even in less-than-perfect conditions,” says Aryn Strand, Business Development Manager. “This technology makes solar power universal and easy to install. We envision it as a future main-

stream building product that you can pick up at Home Depot,” says Strand. In 2006, Sustainable Energy Technologies launched its first commercial product in Spain where government incentives have accelerated the adoption of renewable energy. Greece is also currently undergoing a major shift toward the generation and use of renewable energy and Sustainable Energy Technologies is a first mover in this market as well. Sustainable Energy Technologies is a leader in developing and manufacturing power conversion products for the rapidly growing renewable energy industry. “Our patented technologies are used to connect energy sources (e.g. solar power, wind power or fuel cells) to electricity grids, making it possible to sell power to utility companies or use it in your own home or business,” explains Strand. The building power solution is the latest development for the company, with distribution plans in all major markets around the world. One of the primary reasons why solar energy is such a valuable source

F o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n v i s i t w w w. s u s t a i n a b l e e n e r g y. c o m

of clean electricity is because it provides the most amount of usable energy during the grid’s peak times. “On a hot sunny afternoon when everyone has their air conditioner cranked up the grid needs to supply the maximum amount of power,” Strand says. “That’s when solar power systems are producing at their highest capacity.” It also brings electricity generation to the point of use, cutting down the need to expand expensive transmission and distribution systems. “As an active player in the world’s leading markets we are currently preparing for major growth here in Canada,” says Strand. The Government of Ontario’s feed-in tariff legislation is expected to jump start the solar power industry in that province. “We would love to see more provinces get on-board,” says Strand. “There is no reason not to have solar panels on the rooftop of every building.” Sustainable Energy Technologies is a publicly traded company with common shares listed on the TSX Venture exchange under the symbol STG.V.

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Greening from within Bell Canada works towards a low-carbon future In an attempt to respond to the world’s overwhelming concern for issues impacting the environment, including global warming, Bell has developed and deployed a Climate Protection Strategy which aims to engage employees, customers, suppliers, Stéphane Boisvert, governments and NGOs in President, efforts to achieve what they Bell Enterprise Group call a low-carbon future. This holistic strategy aims to “green” Bell’s internal practices, but as Marc Duchesne, Bell’s Director of Corporate Responsibility and Environment, says, “The benefits really kick in when we can affect change within our customers. “Regardless of how much CO2 we emit within our own operations—which of course we are focused on reducing— the big picture is how ICT can deliver improved energy efficiencies through either travel substitution or virtualization solutions,” says Duchesne. An example of this can be seen through Bell’s Smart Meeting Guide. The program was developed in 2007 in an attempt to reduce Bell’s dependency on business travel and encourage more energy-efficient means of meeting. “We realized that this guide not only worked internally but also made a whole lot of sense for our customers,” says Duchesne. To promote alternate communications technologies including audio, video and Web conferencing, Bell launched the Smart Meeting Guide publicly through its Conferencing Division. It also developed an online calculator which allows customers to see how much greenhouse gas emissions are eliminated when using conferencing solutions from Bell as opposed to conducting inperson meetings. “We offer a full breadth of ICT solutions and professional services to help customers better understand and

improve their usage of technology and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” says Stéphane Boisvert, President, Bell Enterprise Group. A great example of how Bell provides technology and services that help reduce environmental impact is energy conservation in residences and business. The Energy Conservation Solution allows businesses and individuals to control their own lights, outlets, thermostats, appliances, hot water tanks and air conditioning. Load controllers are installed for each electrical device and a mini-computer gives clients virtual access to each device via their computer, BlackBerry/ mobile phone or Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system. “In the summer this system allows you to turn up your thermostat a few degrees during peak-times, saving you money and energy, and then turn it down again an hour before you return home from work,” explains Boisvert. For Bell, there is great importance in leading by example. “We live and breathe our commitment to building a more sustainable future,” explains Boisvert. An example of Bell’s internal environmental commitment is the Everyday Kyoto awareness campaign, which was launched in 2004 and engages employees in the fight against climate change through a series of 23 activities employees can commit to at work, at home and while commuting. Also, Bell is strongly committed to building better workplaces, explains Boisvert. Three Bell campuses—Montreal, Toronto and Calgary—are currently being built as LEED certified buildings with state-of-the-art collaborative work environments and ICT applications throughout. “Our primary focus is on sustainable communities,” says Duchesne. “In the communities we serve, Bell is the enabler of smart buildings, intelligent transport systems, travel minimizing

and virtual office solutions, as well as energy optimization services.” Not only does Bell offer technologies to help improve corporate and consumer sustainability, but it also offers end-of-life take-back programs which have already diverted more than 492,058 mobile phones from landfill and recycled more than 80 metric tons of batteries and accessories. As part of its Mobile Take-back program, Bell donates $1 for each unit collected to help WWFCanada fight climate change. Finally, the partnership between Bell and WWF-Canada also aims to better document the potential of telecom-

munications products and services to reduce energy consumption. “The real challenge is to change the attitudes, behaviours, policies and investments to ensure we maximize the opportunities ICT offers for a low-carbon economy,” explains Julia Langer, Director of the Global Threats Program with WWF-Canada.

F o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n v i s i t : w w w. b e l l . c a / e n e r g y a n d w w w. c o n f e r e n c i n g . b e l l . c a (for GHG calculator and Smart Meeting Guide).

Get more Backbone . Get it online. S e e w ww .b ackb o n e mag . co m This year you’ll see much more activity in Backbone’s online community.

Top 12 features of our Web site 1 2 3 4 5 6

Online magazine: Find all our magazine content as well as content that we couldn’t quite ﬁt into the regular issue. Blogs: Updated daily. Come by and see what our editor and other writers have to say. And add your comment. Events: Upcoming technology-related events from across Canada. Careers: Looking for a job? Have a position available? Look no further than our careers section. Directory listings: A great resource if you’re looking for Canadian tech industry associations, outsourcing organizations, VoIP providers, security companies, wireless solution providers, social networking organizations, etc. Press releases: Check out the latest tech industry press releases or post one of your own.

New alliances & links from www.backbonemag.com: Sympatico / MSN is our new content partner. You’ll be pleased to ﬁnd content and links from their Web site to ours and ours to theirs.

Check out:

7 8 9 10 11 12

Top300: Canadian tech companies—categorized and archived— presented by the Branham Group for the past 15 years. Gadget of the week: Find out about the newest gadget available now in Canadian stores. Book reviews: Find short reviews about the latest business and technology books on the shelves. Multimedia: The start of a growing section for podcasts, Web casts, how-to guides, etc. RSS feeds: Provide you with even more easily accessible content. Subscribe: If you’re not getting this publication on a regular basis –simply subscribe and you won’t miss out.

Wasabi!: A new section which showcases the latest products from Japan, not available yet in Canada. www.backbonemag.com/wasabi Sync Blog: The latest news from Simon Cohen and Marc Saltzman, some of North America’s most recognized and trusted experts in the ever-changing world of high tech. www.backbonemag.com/sync-blog.com

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BIG IDEAS

Don’t believe everything you hear 5 green myths Mark Lorne, general manager, technology, Grand & Toy.

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All content is also on our Web site: www.backbonemag.com/magazine

, and some real advice

These days everyone wants to take environmental action, but there are a lot of myths out there masquerading as facts. An oft-heard workplace “truism” is that it’s best to leave PCs on all the time, because constantly turning them on and off causes damage. That’s a myth, and we debunk it and four others below. And by challenging these old chestnuts we also offer genuine information on how you can use a little less electricity every day, and therefore make the world just that little bit better. Myth #1: Use screensavers to save power. It would be nice if the “saver” part referred to energy savings: you could look at photos of mountain vistas or cute kittens and feel good about the habitats and animals you’re helping out. Sadly, screensavers were designed to extend the life of monochrome CRT monitors. No one uses those any more, and no one should use screensavers. Screensavers can actually boost electricity use by preventing computers from entering energysaving sleep modes. Plus, active monitors generate more heat, making air conditioners work harder. Get rid of your screensavers, no matter how cute the kittens are. Myth #2: Devices that are turned off don’t use power. Many devices sip power even when they’re not really on. TVs, for example, are always watching for you to click the remote and so constantly draw some electricity. This standby power, also called vampire power or phantom load, is used by any device with a clock, timer or touchpad. And chargers draw power even when their phones or computers aren’t connected to them. According to Natural Resources Canada, standby power accounts for five to 10 per cent of all electricity used in Canadian homes. At the office or home office, plug all your equipment (PCs, monitors, speakers, scanners and printers) into a power bar and flick the bar’s switch when you’re not working. Myth #3: Switching off computers is bad for them. It’s a persistent myth that repeated on/off cycles damage computers. However, a study at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory concluded hard drives, for example, are not harmed by frequent shutdowns, and a sustainability paper from the University of British Columbia found computer

components are actually harmed most by the heat stress created when a PC is on. The only component worn out by on/off cycles is the actual power switch and “they are typically rated for 40,000 on/ off cycles. Over a 10 year period, you would have to turn your computer on and off 11 times a day, 365 days per year to hit 40,000.” If you’re not using your computer, turn it off. Myth #4: If I’m not actually working on it, my PC doesn’t use much power. Not true either. According to the Harvard Green Campus Initiative, whether idling or crunching big spreadsheet numbers, computers use about 45 watts for the CPU and 80 watts for a CRT monitor. Enabling the energy-saving features on newer PCs, however, drops consumption to about 15 watts total. Myth #5: My one little computer can’t be that big a deal. Also from Harvard comes this eyeopening number: one desktop computer left on all day is responsible for more than 1,500 pounds of atmospheric CO2 over a year. All of which means, as a minimum, turn off office PCs and peripherals when they’re not in use, and get rid of screensavers. To save even more electricity, slay those vampires with power bars. A power bar at every workstation may cost some money up-front but that investment will come back as long-term savings and the positive feeling that you’ve actually done some good.

7 energy savers From Ohio University comes this power-saving tip sheet. More good ideas are online at www.facilities. ohiou.edu/greenpc.

> enable your PC’s standby/sleep mode and power management features

> review documents on-screen instead of printing them

> turn off peripherals until you are about to use them > choose dark backgrounds for your screen display > network or share printers where possible > use the double-sided printing option > send e-mail instead of paper memos or faxes B A C K B O N E

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Q&A

Efficiency in To create a greener office, start by measuring

O PATRICIA CULKINS,

vice-president of Environment, Health and Safety for Xerox

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Offices generate enormous amounts of paper. The pencil pushers of the past have given way to keyboard jockeys, and “CTRL+P” remains a popular way to generate a backup of important files. One would be forgiven for assuming that Xerox, a company synonymous with copying, is happy we are so quick to generate documents. Instead, the company is eager to help businesses reduce the number of print, copy and fax machines used and the mountains of paper they produce. Backbone sat down with Patricia Culkins, vice-president of environment, health and safety for Xerox, following a customer meeting in Toronto. Culkins has been holding such meetings across Canada to pass on advice about how companies can become greener. The biggest improvements, it turns out, come from changing corporate culture. Backbone: The personal computer was supposed to give us the paperless office, but that didn’t happen, did it?

Culkins: In fact, it was the person who founded the Xerox research center in Palo Alto, Calif., who coined the term “paperless office.” He envisioned that, by this time, we would not be printing. But in fact printing has increased. Backbone: But that’s changing now?

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B A C K B O N E

Culkins: In the past, because of the available technology and the way business processes worked, they were very paper intensive. As we help our customers improve the efficiency of these processes, some of that includes eliminating paper from the process. If we think about it, if a process is inefficient there’s typically an environmental

dimension associated with that, and if we drive out inefficiency we not only drive down our environmental footprint, but also deliver benefits to the bottom line. But because there wasn’t much awareness around this, even a few years ago, it was hard to connect. Fast forward to today: awareness has just exploded, both with respect to the seriousness of the environmental consequences of our actions and the tight linkage between that and economics, and the expectation that businesses and governments need to drive the solutions for ensuring sustainability. Backbone: Can you explain this linkage?

“It used to be that our customers would ask, ‘What’s the bottom line?’ But now people say to me, ‘We know what the financial benefits are—we need you to help us quantify the environmental benefits because now our employees really want to understand that.’” —Patricia Culkins, vice-president of environment, health and safety for Xerox

Culkins: Xerox has studied a lot of document-intensive processes for our clients and we have found that for every two employees that have a computer, there’s a print device. And then we found that those devices are sitting idle for 98 to 99 per cent of the time. We have found companies can reduce that ratio (of employees to printers) to 15:1 and significantly drive down their energy consumption. By shifting from personal printers and other single-function devices to a shared multifunction device, companies can

four steps your footprint, and then act on the results reduce energy consumption by 50 per cent. In addition, by replacing older equipment with today’s EnergyStar devices, companies can drive down energy consumption by about 70 per cent. So there’s not only an environmental benefit, but a bottom-line benefit, too.

“It still surprises me that if something is environmentally preferable, people assume it’s automatically going to cost more. That’s not true, because if we improve the environmental performance we’re driving inefficiency out of the process—and inefficiency results in lost dollars.” —Patricia Culkins

Backbone: So what advice do you have for companies? Culkins: We have learned there are four key dimensions. The first is quantitative: what gets measured gets managed. So we measure the current state and the costs associated with that. And it’s not just dollar impact. This is what surprises me lately. It used to be that our customers would ask, “What’s the bottom line?” But now people say to me, “We know what the financial benefits are—we need you to help us quantify the environmental benefits, because now our employees really want to understand that.” That’s what motivates them to pursue more optimization. Number two is the value chain. Companies need to think beyond their own operations and remember that by reducing the environmental impact of their own products and services, that in turn drives environmental benefits up the supply chain. For Xerox to deliver its products and services to our customers, typically there are machines that are required, plus consum-

ables and paper. To provide that machine we need to assemble it, fabricate parts, manufacture chemicals, extract raw materials from the earth and so on. For paper, it’s the same thing: there are chemicals to make and wood to harvest. There’s packaging, transportation and— everywhere—energy. So we look at this in terms of an environmental footprint. The first step is to ask, “What can I do in my own operation?” but also recognize that you have some influence within your own supply chain. Backbone: And all of that costs money, right? Culkins: That’s the third dimension. It has to be economically driven. It still surprises me that if something is environmentally preferable, people assume it’s automatically going to cost more. That’s not true, because if we improve the environmental performance we’re driving inefficiency out of the process—and inefficiency results in lost dollars. But if we’re looking at the business case, we may have to look at it a little bit differently than how we normally would in an annual budgeting process. For example, if we’d simply looked at the cost of a part and went for the lowest cost provider, we never would have implemented our remanufacturing strategy in the 1990s because we needed to design a little more cost into the part in order to be able to reuse it a bunch of times. The economic win is that the part ends up costing us less over its life cycle. Backbone: What’s the best way to introduce new, greener processes? Culkins: That’s the fourth dimension: the quick hit. We recommend piloting a program so we can make sure we’ve worked out all the

bugs in any new process before going forward with a full implementation. There have to be some easy wins, because if we can demonstrate an easy win it creates more enthusiasm to go further and to get more of the organization’s people involved. And when we get more people involved we can accomplish a lot more. B A C K B O N E

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A U T O F O R WA R D

An electric car for the masses The Chevy Volt concept is perhaps the best bet yet for a successful electric car

Photo courtesy ofGM

Tony Posawatz, vehicle line director for the Chevrolet Volt, with the E-Flex fuel cell

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Y A P

A car is a car, right? Sure, today’s vehicles are sleeker than their hundred-year-old predecessors, they may have more stuff on the inside to play with, they go faster and are more comfortable, but they still have four wheels and are powered by engines that drive gearboxes that turn axles and differentials to put power to the ground.

Cars are mechanical, tangible; pieces move and mesh with each other. But there has been a quiet revolution going on under the hood. It started about 10 years ago with the introduction of driveby-wire throttle control, where the motions of your foot on the gas pedal are transmitted to the engine not by a mechanical link but by a computer. Giving it more gas no longer literally meant more gas; more gas meant you wanted to go faster and the engine computer figured out whether to achieve that goal with more fuel or by altering valve timing, fuel mixture and other variables. The result was cars that ran smoother and more efficiently while offering the same or better performance. Since then, the influence of technology has spread. Mercedes-Benz was the first to introduce electronic braking in 2003, and several car companies now offer suspensions monitored and adjusted by computer. Drive a Ferrari 599GTB or a Corvette with Magnetic Ride Control and you get a suspension that reads the road surface hundreds of times a second and makes constant adjustments. General Motors has been more aggressive in integrating electronics than any other car manufacturer, largely because it sees the electrification of the automobile as its long-term goal. It has several reasons for doing so. For one, electrically powered cars have the potential to answer environmental questions facing the car industry. Second, they offer excellent acceleration in realworld situations, as electric motors generate full torque from a dead stop. Finally, the cost of running electric cars, particularly those that stay in the city, is significantly less than their gas-powered predecessors.

Green architecture Which leads to the Chevrolet Volt concept car. About the size of a Chevy Cobalt compact car, it’s got a mainstream shape with a long hood, short rear deck and sporty stance, with room for four adults and

THE SATURN FLEXTREME CONCEPT CAR

THE CHEVY VOLT AT A PREVIEW EVENT IN JANUARY 2008

their luggage. Designed and packaged for the masses, Volt is intended to sell by the hundreds of thousands if people can be convinced to make the leap to electric, and if GM can deliver on its promise of bringing electric drive to market by 2010. Volt isn’t a pie-in-the-sky exercise like some other concept cars. GM product development chief Bob Lutz envisioned a lot more than a concept car, said Tony Posawatz, the engineer in charge of its overall architecture. “What we were building was an architecture that would underpin several products for many years to come.” As such, Volt is a lot more finished—a lot more engineered, you could say—than most concepts, whose fiberglass bodies are hand-formed and which have chassis that amount to a couple of metal girders supporting rudimentary running gear. Indeed, the story here isn’t so much about Volt the car, as it is about what’s underneath: an architecture called E-Flex that will support the development of dozens of electric cars over the next several years. What Posawatz recognized with E-Flex is that, despite recent advances, we’re still years away from fully electric cars that you can plug in at night and then drive all day on a single charge. GM—with a track record that stretches back to the slow short-range EV1 that was the subject of the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car?—this time sees a period of at least 10 years before battery technology

reaches a level in cost and weight where it’s practical to drive on electricity alone.

about 64km on a charge—and Volt’s gasoline engine never engages; longer trips tap the gas engine for generating duties but even that only results in consumption of 1.2 litres per 100km. You could go weeks, even months, before filling the tank. Get home at night, plug Volt in and it takes seven hours to achieve a full charge; GM is also working on a 220-volt charger that does the job in half the time. Like any good software company, GM is working hard on Volt’s user interface as well as its underlying engineering. “We want a user-friendly power plug with the ability to communicate,” Posawatz said. “Since a car like Volt will be a customer’s first introduction to the electric experience, it’ll be important that they understand exactly what’s going on.” And that’s just version 1.0. GM has already been working on evolutions of the E-Flex platform. There’s E-Flex 1.1, in the form of the GM-owned Saturn (née Opel) Flextreme, which generates electricity with a small diesel engine rather than a gasoline one; it’s perfect for European countries where diesel is more common and often has tax advantages. The Cadillac Provoq, shown at this year’s Detroit auto show, could be called version 1.2; it substitutes a fuel cell that runs on hydrogen, making for a completely zero-emissions car. Provoq is also all-wheel-drive: unlike conventional cars, which would require the addition of many large, heavy mechanical components,

E-Flex 1.0 And that’s where E-Flex plays. Think of it as an operating system for an electric car whose ultimate goal is putting power to the ground. And think of its small gasoline engine, which doesn’t drive the car itself, as simply an application program that allows it to generate power. Like the operating system and apps on your PC, E-Flex can be upgraded as technology improves, allowing GM to build better, more powerful electric cars when better gadgetry becomes available. E-Flex 1.0, as in the Volt, is a major step in electrification beyond the hybrid cars that are becoming increasingly common on our roads. The Toyota Prius, poster child for the hybrid movement and the world’s most popular two-mode car, drives on a combination of gasoline and electric power which, at its most efficient, consumes about five litres per 100km driven. It is, despite the ability to drive on electricity alone at low speeds, primarily a gasoline-powered car, with electricity providing assistance under acceleration. Volt, on the other hand, is a purely electric car: the wheels are only ever turned by the electric motor with a tiny gasoline engine there solely to top up the battery when its overnight charge is depleted on long trips. Stick to a routine of primarily urban motoring—on pure electric, the range is

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CYNDI LAUPER AND THE VOLT AT THIS YEAR’S GRAMMIES

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A U T O F O R WA R D

GM’S AUTONOMY CONCEPT CAR E-Flex simply adds a couple of extra electric motors and a little bit of wiring.

Future iterations

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This is not the first time GM has been down the road of developing an electric vehicle architecture. When it was first launched in 2002, the company’s Autonomy concept was touted as the fuel cell-powered future. Featuring a self-contained “skateboard” chassis containing the batteries, drive motors and fuel cells, Autonomy would have underpinned several interchangeable body styles: if a pickup was required instead of a regular sedan, the pickup style could be swapped in temporarily. GM even showed a couple of Autonomy versions. The glass-fronted Hy-Wire was a five-door crossover while the GMC Sequel featured a taller SUV-ish body. Autonomy was sufficiently developed that the Hy-Wire was actually drivable, but it lacked flexibility. The skateboard platform came in one size and there wasn’t enough room in it—physically or philosophically— for different electricity-generating options. Posawatz describes Autonomy as a “pure, almost artistic interpretation” of what an electric-car platform could be. “E-Flex isn’t as clear and as pure, but it’s more practical and allows us more flexibility in developing our infrastructure of suppliers.” E-Flex is also scalable in a way Autonomy wasn’t. Rather than having a fixed physical form, the propulsion system, the underlying software, is the plat2 0 0 8

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THE GLASS-FRONTED GMC HY-WIRE form. The initial design could be sold in a variety of markets in different body styles: a hatchback, perhaps, or a tall wagon. Posawatz said: “the components can go up and down in size. We could build a larger SUV or even reduce the size of the components to create a two-seat sports car.” There are still many challenges ahead for E-Flex, both on the traditional mechanical front and on the software side. Posawatz has a team of more than 100 engineers and programmers working flat-out to meet its 2010 deadline. Taking proper care of the battery, for instance, remains an issue: it’s big (located in the Volt’s central tunnel) and heavy (the first Volt will weigh several hundred more kilos than a Cobalt). Like a laptop battery, it also needs conditioning: when plugged in, some of the energy is used to condition the battery, but what happens if you leave a Volt unplugged for a few days, particularly in a cold climate? “Driving away using the on-board engine may be the only alternative,” Posawatz said. “Developing and marketing any new technology is going to be expensive,” said Dr. Peter Frise, scientific director and CEO of the Auto21 Canadian Network Centre of Excellence. “For a real market introduction (as opposed to a technology demonstration), the sales volume would need to be at least in the tens of thousands of vehicles or unit costs would be astronomical.” Even getting a basic version of E-Flex to market will involve many important

challenges. “The product must be supported in the marketplace with service expertise and parts infrastructure at the dealership level. The negative publicity of having a brand-new flagship vehicle disabled somewhere due to a lack of parts and service support is real. Bringing a whole new generation of vehicles to the market is a much bigger challenge than consumers might realize—and certainly much more complicated than merely having a lab model driving around on a test track.”

Work, challenges ahead Posawatz is already thinking of the next generation, using lightweight materials for the vehicle platform, higher-performance electric motors for more responsiveness and even eliminating the fuel-powered generator. “In certain markets,” he said, “with a better electricity infrastructure, we might be able to lose the generator set altogether and build a pure electric car.” The company still has a long slog ahead of it; answers aren’t simple or certain due to the vagaries of the car market. GM’s go-to-market plan will likely have many facets: to sell the product at a high enough price to actually pay for the R&D costs; take a hit financially in the early stages (difficult because profit margins are already slim); partner with other OEMs to share costs and risks (such as GM has already done with BMW, Mercedes and Chrysler on a two-mode hybrid system),

Showcasing green This year’s auto shows have seen many environmental initiatives.

Ethanol. Seeking, perhaps, to cover all of the environmental bases, General Motors announced a deal at the 2008 Detroit show with energy startup Coskata. Over the next few years, the companies will collaborate on a new process to make ethanol that’s far cheaper and less energy-intensive than anything being done today. The team’s proprietary process produces ethanol out of any renewable source—including garbage, old tires and plant waste— for less than $1 a gallon, about half of today’s gasoline production cost.

Plug-in hybrids. After years of trying to convince the car-buying masses that one advantage of hybrid cars is they don’t have to be plugged in, a number of manufacturers seem to have given up. On the show ﬂoor were plug-in hybrids from Toyota (testing a plug-in system in the Prius), Saturn (which will offer a plug-in Vue in 2010) and even high-end sports-car maker Fisker.

Clean diesel. For years, Europeans had access to amazing diesel-powered cars that produced enormous power and torque while sipping fuel and spewing low levels of CO2 emissions. Now, thanks to the widespread availability of ultra-low-sulphur diesel in North America, we’re starting to get access to these cars. Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen are already delivering powerful, clean next-generation diesels, but the ﬂoodgates will really open in 2009 when manufacturers like Audi, Honda and others will introduce diesels into mainstream large-volume models. Turbocharging is back. Originally used primarily as a tool to boost performance, turbocharging is also turning out to be quite handy at delivering cleaner, more fuel-efﬁcient vehicles. At the Detroit show, Ford announced its new EcoBoost initiative, which will see the introduction of smaller-displacement turbocharged engines across its model lineup, replacing fuel-sucking larger-displacement naturally aspirated engines. You’ll be able to buy an Explorer powered by, for instance, a direct-injection turbocharged four-cylinder instead of a V6, and an F150 pickup with a turbo V6 instead of a V8.

THE CHEVY SEQUEL, THE FIRST CAR TO ACHIEVE 300 MILES ON ONE TANK OF HYDROGEN and rely on public-sector incentives to buy down the costs and encourage consumers to adopt a new technology. Where E-Flex has something of an advantage over other systems is in its diversity and adaptability. “It’s flexible enough,” Posawatz said, “so that we can use it in different markets, which often have different market conditions, different

driver preferences and different infrastructures. It lets us satisfy a lot of demands. In 2006, when we first launched the project, we had advocates at GM of many different technologies: fuel cells, gasoline engines, diesel, E85. E-Flex gives us the breadth of choice to use all of these fuels, and allows us to tap into the breadth and expertise of our engineers.”

EPISODE #1…

When efficiency flirts with flexibility

Unparalleled functionality. Features to get excited about. And styling that turns heads. No wonder so many businesses have fallen in love with bizhub from Konica Minolta. Experience bizhub for yourself at konicaminolta.ca. It will leave your ofﬁce talking. All you need is Hub.

B A C K B O N E

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TEK GADGETS

Play music, use Linux, A roundup of devices that help round out your life BY PETER WOLCHAK PHOTOGRAPHY: MEEK KAPUSZCZAK

Make your iPod look even better Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin iPod dock It’s pricey at US$599 but if you need big sound and a great-looking home for your iPod then take a look at the Zeppelin. It’s a three-way stereo system with two tweeters, two mid-range drivers and a woofer. At a total 100 watts of power, the Zeppelin also offers a matched remote and video output for a TV connection.

Small. Really small Creative Zen Stone Plus with Speaker This MP3 player has a lot of features: 500song capacity, 20-hour battery, an alarm clock, FM radio, voice recorder, stopwatch and—rare in an MP3 player—a built-in speaker. And it packs all that in a tiny space: check out the paperclip in the photo. The sound from the speaker may not be symphonic and the unit does not do photos or video, but for its size and with a price tag of only US$60 it’s a lot of player in a small package.

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B A C K B O N E

Surf secretly StealthSurfer by Hushmail Your favourite coffee shop offers free Wi-Fi, so you can enjoy a nice dark roast while updating a spreadsheet and swapping IMs with friends. The only problem is surfing on an unsecured network potentially opens you up to both spies and malware. Which is where StealthSurfer comes in. The USB flash drive plugs into your notebook and encrypts your network traffic and masks your IP address. StealthSurfers also comes preloaded with a Hushmail encrypted e-mail account, Hushmail for Outlook, Hush Messenger, Tor, Firefox, Thunderbird, a password manager program, and MojoDrive, which lets you use stored programs and documents on a borrowed PC without affecting that machine. StealthSurfer comes in storage sizes of 2GB to 8GB with prices ranging from $179 to $339. A 32MB model will be out soon.

save power Want an Air? Check this out first Lenovo x300 The new Air from Apple has been getting a lot of press lately, and with good cause: it’s about as sexy as a notebook gets. But practical? Not so much. The Air has no on-board optical drive and very few ports, making it less useful than it might be. The x300, on the other hand, delivers a built-in DVD burner and multiple ports, and with a 13.1-inch screen (the same as the Air) and at less than three-quarters of an inch thick and weighing less than 3lbs., it’s still small and light enough to impress. And while the x300 is a joy to use, it’s not cheap: units start at $3,400.

Spend $30, save much more Kill A Watt power meter Gadgets and devices are fun to buy (which is why you’re reading this section) but it’s important to understand how much electricity each uses, both for environmental and bank-balance reasons. The Kill A Watt measures the electricity draw of any appliance (up to a maximum of 15 Amps) and can calculate cost by the day, week, month or year. And for US$30, available from CableOrganizer.com, it might get you to unplug a few devices.

Touch this player Samsung YP-P2 MP3 players with touch screens are hot right now, which explains the YP-P2, a Samsung offering that delivers good sound and a very bright and attractive 3-inch screen. The touch interface is intuitive and fun to use and the unit also offers FM radio and support for video and photos. The YP-P2 comes in 2GB, 4GB and 8GB models; the biggest model retails for approximately $270.

B A C K B O N E

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TEK GADGETS

Linux. For consumers. From Dell Dell Inspiron 530n desktop Linux has been gaining some real consumer cred recently as more user-friendly versions of the OS come out, but a geeks-only stigma still hangs about it. What Linux needs is a major PC OEM to offer inexpensive, accessible Linux boxes.

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Which is what Dell has just done. Available now are three laptops and the Inspiron 530n desktop (pictured) loaded with the Ubuntu 7.10 Linux distribution and Corel’s LinDVD. The desktop with a 22-inch monitor costs $749.

LCD TVs REAR PROJ TVs

PROJECTORS WHITE BOARDS DOCUMENT CAMERAS

Break-out price Brother HL-2170W monochrome laser printer The HL-2170W is a very good printer: its print quality (up to 2400 x 600 dpi) and speed (23 pages per minute) are both solid and its wide range of connection options—direct connect and wired or wireless networking— make it a versatile unit.

ORDER ONLINE AT www.AV4U.ca

But this printer rises well above the competition on price: the HL-2170W lists for $179. That’s comparable to direct-connect lasers from other manufacturers but unheard of in a networked laser printer.

WEB GEAR B ower s & W ilk ins B rother C able Organizer C reative D ell Hushmail Lenovo S amsung

w w w. bower s-wilkins .com w w w. b ro t her. c a w w w.C able O r gani zer. com w w w.c reative.com w w w.dell.c a/open w w w. hushmail.com w w w.lenovo.com/c a w w w. s amsung.com/c a

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B A C K B O N E

U P CO M I N G E VE N TS

conferences and other great events expos tradeshows forums

May BCTIA Events in May: Impact: People Power Reception Vancouver, May 13, 2008 Enterprise Architecture & Integration Summit Calgary, May 12-13, 2008 Intelligent Community Forum: Immersion Lab North America 2008 Philadelphia, New York, Cleveland, Waterloo May 12-28, 2008 Copyright in Canada Toronto, May 12-13, 2008 IIR Business Process Management Conference Orlando, FL, May 13-16, 2008 Building the Broadband Economy 2008 New York, May 14, 2008 webcom Montreal: 4th edition Montreal, May 14, 2008

Thef Backbone car at the Massive Technology show

OECD Ministerial Meeting— The Future of the Internet Economy Seoul, Korea, June 17-18, 2008

August Black Hat USA Las Vegas, Nevada August 2-7, 2008

IIR: Enterprise 3: Portals/ Collaboration/Web San Diego, CA May 19-22, 2008

Government Web 2.0 & Social Media 2008 Ottawa, June 17-19, 2008

Call Centre Week Canada Toronto, August 18-21, 2008

Vancouver International Game Summit Vancouver, BC May 21-22, 2008

July

ICCM Canada Conference & Expo Toronto, October 6-8, 2008

How can we measure ROI on social networks? Toronto, May 22, 2008

Advanced Media Forum 2008 Santa Monica, CA July 14-16, 2008 2008 Wireless & Mobile Expo and Conference Toronto, July 15-16, 2008

October

November webcom Montreal: 5th edition Montreal, November 12, 2008

June nextMEDIA: Future Digital Content Banff, Alberta, June 6-8, 2008

2008 RFID Forum Toronto, July 15-16, 2008

Infosecurity Canada Toronto, June 10-12, 2008

IndoCanadianExpo: I.T. Outsourcing Business Trade Show and Forum Toronto, July 17-18, 2008

Technology Impact Awards Vancouver, June 12, 2008

GeoWeb Vancouver, July 21-25, 2008

If you have an event you would like us to let us know about please contact: sansell@backbonemag.com For further details on these events go to: www.backbonemag.com/events

ENDGAME

Measha Brueggergosman: text-messaging junkie The Juno host and Canadian superstar needs her BlackBerry GPS and text messaging, but not an iPod

Photo: Paul Elledge/DG Deutsche Grammophone

Canadian soprano superstar Measha Brueggergosman is the new face of classical music. This 30-something, Fredericton, N.B.- born performer has a vibrant energy and a voluptuous voice that’s receiving rave reviews across the globe. She is also a developing BlackBerry addict but—perhaps not surprisingly—she does not carry an iPod. A Google search of her name turns up YouTube videos, a MySpace page and the performer’s own innovative Web site which, among other features, offers a sound-bite pronunciation of her somewhat unusual name. Chatting from her Toronto home last month, Brueggergosman described her love-hate relationship with technology, her devotion to text messaging and her adamant refusal to join Facebook. “I think Facebook is the most amazing high-tech gossip chain I’ve ever experienced, but I believe that it was created by some crazy spy and that Big Brother is watching,” said the songstress who, at the time of writing, was gearing up to host the 32nd annual Juno Gala Dinner & Awards in Calgary. Having recently replaced her Palm Treo with a BlackBerry, Brueggergosman said she realizes now why people get so addicted. “I can’t seem to figure out how to turn the e-mail function off.” Though she complains that the device is not user friendly, when asked if she’s planning to get rid of it, her response comes with a laugh: “No, I’m actually kind of in love with it. “When I’m standing in the middle of the Piazza Navona in Rome and I have no idea where my rehearsal is, the BlackBerry GPS is super helpful,” Brueggergosman said. For someone who spends so much time traveling, keeping in touch with family and friends is really important. A self-proclaimed text-message junkie, Brueggergosman uses text to communicate with her husband, her parents and her friends. Call her BlackBerry number and the voicemail recording tells

you not to bother leaving a message at all. “Just send me a text,” she said. “And, if you don’t know how, you’d better learn.” Though she doesn’t own an iPod (“I make enough noise, I don’t need music constantly playing in my ears”) she does support Apple’s iTunes, saying it has been great for the classical music industry. “It really makes classical artists more approachable,” she said. “This way you don’t have to commit to a whole album until you find something you really like.” And as for YouTube, she says she’ll love it until she finds herself on there doing something really embarrassing. — Hailey Eisen

Measha online Though she hasn’t upgraded her computer in a while (“I use my husband’s old laptop”) Brueggergosman is in the midst of a major Web site makeover. “It’s time for a new and improved site,” said Brueggergosman, who oversees all of her own content development. The current site, www.measha.com, has a friendly, casual tone and aims to introduce fans to the “real person” behind the voice. Besides the innovative name-pronunciation feature it also boasts a colourful photo gallery, a news page describing all of the songstress’ latest goings-on, and links to song clips and music videos. In the Measha’s Finds section are recommendations for some of the restaurants, bars, vintage clothing stores and hotels Brueggergosman has visited in her travels. The new site will launch soon and feature jazzed-up version of these features and provide more “fun stuff” on this All content is also on our Web site: international star. www.backbonemag.com/magazine

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