Program Item Details
TITLE: John Masters, President and CEO, Calgary Technologies Inc
SUBJECT: #144 Calgary Technologies Inc Open House
SYNOPSIS: From ice cores to hotspots, there’s a lot happening on the
wireless technology scene in
Calgary. And supporting that
innovation is Calgary Technologies
Inc.
AUDIO: Download Audio (mp3 format)
TRANSCRIPT:
#144 November 16, 2004
Interview starts at 1:04
Intro: My last trip to Calgary included a visit to Calgary Technologies Inc. which is located in the Research Park just north of the University of Calgary campus. A number of start-up businesses in the tech sector call CTI home. And on this particular day, CTI was holding its annual open house and showcase.
John Masters
JM: I’m John Masters, President and CEO of Calgary Technologies Inc.
CC: YOU’RE HAVING AN OPEN HOUSE HERE TODAY, AND ALREADY, JUST BY LOOKING AT THE PARKING LOT THERE ARE CARS EVERYWHERE, ALL AROUND THE BUILDING AND UP ON THE GRASS. HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU EXPECT AT THE OPEN HOUSE TODAY?
JM: Well we’ve got 40 companies exhibiting. We’ve got about 400 people who have RSVP’d the event and those are all people from outside the building. And then we’ve got about 400 people who live in the building. So we estimate between 600 and 800 that will walk through the doors over the next three hours.
CC: WHAT ROLE DOES CALGARY TECHNOLOGIES INC PLAY IN THE CITY?
JM: We’re the economic development agency focused on the technology sector, from information technology, life sciences and engineering sciences. We help emerging startup technology companies get off the ground. We provide mentoring and coaching. We also provide physical incubation facilities for companies to locate their offices and operations here.
CC: WHAT DO YOU SEE AS BEING AS THE EMREGING STRENGTHS FROM THE COMPANIES THAT ARE HOUSED HERE?
JM: We have a really diverse range of companies, predominantly in the information communications technology environment. But they spread across medical application software, wireless applications, geomatics, so there’s a wide variety of companies. Probably the most single largest strength would be in the wireless technology area.
CC: ONE OF THE THINGS I’VE NOTICED ABOUT CALGARY TECHNOLOGIES INC IS YOU’RE ALSO HOOKED UP WITH THE WIRELESS TECHNOLOGIES THAT ARE GOING ON AND YOU HAVE THESE HOTSPOTS FOR EXAMPLE ALL AROUND THE CITY. WHAT’S THAT ALL ABOUT?
JM: Well we’ve initiated a wireless city which is to promote the use of wireless technology throughout Calgary and really to develop that culture of use where there are wireless hotspots in public spaces in the community. And we’ve partnered with the private sector and the telecommunications operators to have relatively low cost, unencumbered access to high-speed internet.
CC: HOW WOULD PEOPLE USE THAT?
JM: So people roaming , be it at the airport, be it downtown, can use their PDA’s , can use their laptops to download and to access internet, to use their email, to have a single device to be connected.
CC: WHAT’S YOUR MAIN FOCUS FOR THIS YEAR?
JM: Building our mentoring and coaching, as well as building a vision for the new University Research Park. On the mentoring and coaching side, we focus on emerging technology companies. On the building our new vision for the new Research Park, working in partnership with the U of C, Alberta Infrastructure, the City of Calgary, and ourselves, we consider that what we have here in the park is only about a quarter of what we could have in the park. So we’re developing a new conceptual master plan for the park for long term vision that we can increase the density, increase the population, and have greater connectivity with the University.
CC: THANK YOU VERY MUCH, JOHN.
JM: You’re welcome.
John Masters is the President and CEO of Calgary Technologies Inc.
FEATURED LINK: Calgary Technologies Inc