Published on January 30, 2020

Now more than ever it’s essential for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to properly leverage commercialization opportunities in Canada’s increasingly competitive tech industry to expand their business and offer their solutions on the global market. Early this month, the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE), Juniper Networks, and CENGN led an info session to talk about the future of cybersecurity in the networking industry as well as how innovative tech businesses are leveling up their company by speeding up the path to market for their tech solutions.

After some great networking, Craig Dods, Chief Architect of Security Engineering at Juniper, gave his talk on “The Evolution of Network Security.” Craig’s presentation explored the transformations in network security which have increased the demand for more powerful cybersecurity solutions. Craig delved into the next generation of security threat analysis and detection, specifically, next generation firewalls which are able to get a complete, holistic view of security vulnerabilities and better protect against security threats. Juniper Networks is a founding member of CENGN, so it was wonderful to give the organization a pedestal to discuss technology with the rising businesses in the region.

The info session also included presentations from Alex Edwards, Business Development Manager at CENGN and Chris Ritchie, Business Development Manager at OCE. They discussed the great impact the Next Generation Network Program (NGNP) can have on a tech start up or scale up. Funded through the Ontario Government and carried out in partnership between CENGN and OCE, the NGNP provides the infrastructure, expertise, and financial support for growing Ontario businesses to achieve market success.

Tim Warland, Business Development Manager at Invest Ottawa also gave a presentation focusing on the programs Invest Ottawa has in place to enable the development and global expansion of business in the Ottawa Region. Invest Ottawa, one of CENGN’s members, strives to make Ottawa the best place in Canada to start and grow a business. Together, both Invest Ottawa and CENGN work to increase economic development and entrepreneurial momentum, wealth, and jobs in Canada’s capital.

The info session concluded with a presentation from Tom Vitez, Senior Director of Technology Innovation at CANARIE, a long-time partner of CENGN. Tom closed off the event by going over their DAIR Cloud Program – a self-serve program that helps to accelerate product development and improve the market competitiveness for companies in the early stages of solution building.

Together with all our members and partners, CENGN works to strengthen Canada’s innovation economy and prosperity as well as to establish Canada as a global leader in next generation networking. By providing access to our commercial grade, multivendor testbed as well as our technical expertise, businesses can quickly validate their innovative solutions for market. These validation projects accelerate commercialization efforts in a variety of networking areas, including cybersecurity, Internet of Things, Network Applications, Cloud, and more.

For more information on working with CENGN, contact us at services@cengn.ca.

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About the Author

CENGN, Canada’s Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks, drives technology innovation and industry growth through our testbed, technical expertise, talent development, and partner ecosystem. Through our projects, CENGN enables small and medium Canadian Enterprises to test and validate promising technologies, removing barriers to product commercialization and accelerating market growth.

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