In the fall of 1964, Derek Corneil was one of the 7 initial graduate students of the Graduate Program in the Department of Computer Science (DCS) at the University of Toronto. After completing his Ph.D. in 1968, he undertook a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Technical University of Eindhoven in the Netherlands, and then returned to DCS as an Assistant Professor in January, 1970. Throughout his career at the University of Toronto, he held various administrative positions including Department Chair, Director of Research Initiatives of the Faculty of Arts and Science, and Acting Vice President of Research and International Relations. He was instrumental in the formation of the Information Technology Research Centre (ITRC) under the Province of Ontario Centre of Excellence program, and was the initial Academic Director of the Bell Emergis/University of Toronto Labs.

His research area is algorithmic graph theory; in this regard, he has supervised (or co-supervised) 34 MSc and 25 Ph.D. theses and has published over 100 refereed scientific papers. He currently serves on 3 journal editorial boards and actively pursues his research as a Professor Emeritus at DCS.

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DISCUSSION:

Interview Time Index (MM:SS) and Topic
:00:41: Describe your journey into computing from your youth up to the present. What foundational lessons did you learn from this journey? Why were you initially attracted to computing?
"....As with most of us, our life's journey is very much a series of accidents and mine was no exception....The lessons I learned: Always be ready for a surprise....Make sure you're good in mathematics....Also make sure you're good in English...."

:05:33: In those early days as an undergrad when you were programming on the side, were the languages like assembler?
"....When we started with the 1401, it was a machine language initially and then we got into SAF and Assembler language...."

:06:00: Derek shares about the very early days of programming.
"....A lot of emphasis was put on flowcharting at the time. Little did I know that this was my first contact with graph theory, vertices or points and edges. I remember I came up with the 68 page flowchart for the job I was doing...."

:07:32: Before 1964, can you describe the educational landscape for those interested in computing?
"....There were no undergraduate courses. It was not until later that I was aware that there were any computers at Queens University...."

:08:01: While an undergraduate at Queen's, what computers and computing courses were available? I guess very little.
"....Absolutely nothing...."

:08:50: You talked about your undergraduate years at Queens and you finally enter the University of Toronto because they did have programming courses in the Department of Computer Science (DCS). Can you profile your professors in the early years of the DCS?
"....There were no computer scientists but there were a couple of physics professors (Kelly Gotlieb being one of them), a couple math professors and a couple from electrical engineering and if I remember correctly, one from psychology. There was also a fellow who had been brought in from industry (but without a PhD)...."

:10:10: Can you describe those early years in 1964, as one of the 7 initial graduate students of the Graduate Program in the Department of Computer Science (DCS) at the University of Toronto?
"....In those days it was not clear if Computer Science was an academic discipline in its own right....Very few people saw what was going to happen. That was one of the key roles that Kelly Gotlieb played...."

:13:08: You just mentioned that Kelly Gotlieb was your supervisor. Can you describe the process of obtaining your Ph.D and how has it changed?
"....In many ways, not much has changed. It's still sort of an apprenticeship – one of the few apprenticeship type of relationships we have in modern society where you are working closely with an expert and you slowly somehow end up with a thesis...."

:14:49: In those early days because you are really at the birth of computing (from an educational standpoint as a science), you must have developed a close relationship with Kelly and spent a lot of time with him in many respects.
"....Kelly's style was that we would meet once a week or every two weeks with a clear understanding that if I didn't have anything to present, then don't waste his time and to postpone the meeting....The time I spent with him on the supervision was very much just on the academic work. It was only through social areas that I got to know Kelly as a person and our very strong friendship developed...."

:15:52: What were some of the notable events at the University of Toronto (U of T) in those early years of the DCS?
"....Electronic transmission to the University of Saskatchewan and early developments of programming languages and compilers and the work Pat Hume did in these areas....Kelly Gotlieb's early work in data structures....A lot of work in numerical analysis - Velvel Kahan is a Turing Award winner for establishing a lot of the numerical protocols...."

:18:27: What were the challenges that DCS had to overcome over the years and what were the opportunities that DCS enabled?
"....Developing a new department in any university is always very difficult because you've got to get resources from what is already existing and other departments are going to pay for the birth and development of the new department....Tom [Hall] did an excellent job of building up the department in the late 60's to the mid 70's at a time when other universities were saying they did not want to get involved in computer science...."

:20:12: It reminds me of a company called Fairchild and they spawned a number of other companies referred to as "Fairchildren", many years ago. I get the feeling that the University of Toronto and all of your graduates and PhD students who have finished and going off and flowering the world, in terms of setting up departments or inspiring innovations or going to different regions. Can you share any stories about that at all?
"....So much of it is anecdotal but you're absolutely right. We've done a lot of international education....A lot of students who went back to their own countries and were involved in building the computing science academic infrastructure inside their country as well as a lot of people who were going into industry...."

:22:23: From your insider perspective, describe your time with Kelly Gotlieb during the early years at DCS up to the present.
"....I can talk about all the things that he inspired academically but in many ways the most important thing he inspired in me was the possibility that you could have a very well balanced life...."

:24:34: Derek shares several additional stories of Kelly Gotlieb, as the "Father of Computing."
"....It was about 1967 where he said he envisaged the day when we could send a message electronically instantaneously around the world for free, but it would cost us 50 cents to send a postcard to our kid at camp. That just blew everybody's mind on both counts. Not only this idea of an electronic free message instantaneously but also I don't think any of us believed that stamps would ever cost 50 cents...."

:29:15: We know that Kelly was an inspiration to you but are there others whose work inspired you at that time?
"....Jaap Seidel....Edsger Dijkstra....Bill Tutte...."

:30:40: From your own personal perspective, how would you describe one of DCS's innovative achievements (you choose one that resonated with you), in terms of what specifically inspired the innovation, what were the factors that made the innovation possible, the problems being solved, and the impact it has today and into the longer term future?
"....(I will stay close to my own area, namely theoretical computer science)....Here I would turn to Steve Cook and the work he did on complexity....Steve pioneered the understanding of complexity of algorithms....Steve's work permeates computer science...."

:36:38: Derek shares some additional stories about the DCS.

:39:37: Can you share some experiences from the lecture and the dinner reception (from Kelly Gotlieb's lecture and 90th birthday dinner reception), held at the University of Toronto in March 2011?
"....It was a magical evening, a lot of the great stories – it was so wonderful to hear all of these and to have his family and his friends there. Hopefully it makes us realize what an impact he has had on our lives and of lesser importance on the field of computing itself...."

:43:31: For the audience, Mike Williams has done a series of recordings with Kelly spanning close to 20 years now. The transcripts from those would be over 70 pages. He did another interview with Kelly following the event that happened in March. The listeners are encouraged to through the IEEE, or ACM to have a look at and read the transcripts. It's amazing history captured.

:44:17: Can you profile (getting into more detail) the current work and standing of the DCS?
"....Ten to twelve years ago we developed the role of teaching faculty. These are colleagues who have at least a Masters (and some have PhD's) in computer science and they're in charge of a lot of the undergraduate teaching roles....Another thing is Professional Experience Year. In this program instead of having a 4 month co-op placement, the students either at the end of their second or third year have a full one year placement in industry which means that they get a very good project....Another area of recent innovation – we're in the process of developing a Professional Masters Program...."

:49:52: More broadly, what do you see as the top challenges facing us today and how do you propose they be solved?
"....(I'll restrict that to more academic areas and perspectives)....Our inability to attract a lot of really good undergrad students....An ongoing problem with attracting more women and retaining more women in computer science....Another ongoing problem (a lot of headway has been made), building bridges between academia and industry....Funding of research in Canada, not only in computer science but throughout research...."

:57:20: What would you say is the balance between the provincial side of it and the federal side in terms of research funding?
"....This depends on the province; most notably Alberta and Quebec have put a lot of money into their own research funding at the provincial level....The province of Ontario deserves a tremendous amount of credit for its support not only at the Centers of Excellence but also the Field's Institute...."

:01:06:28: If you were conducting this interview, what questions would you ask, and then what would be your answers?
"....Looking back on your career, any regrets?...."

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MARK MUELLER-EBERSTEIN is founder and CEO of Adgetec Corporation, whose mission is to help organizations and their leaders realize value globally.

Mueller-Eberstein is a recognized thought leader, speaker, mentor, and coach for topics as:

Leveraging IT for business success
Global consumerization of IT
Connecting people
Reducing ambiguity
Organizational culture for the next generation
Organizational leadership values

In addition to blogs, whitepapers and research papers, Mark Mueller-Eberstein is the author of "Agility - Competing and Winning in a Tech-Savvy Marketplace" and co-author of "No Fear: Business Leadership in the Age of Digital Cowboys". Mueller-Eberstein's books are written based on his over fifteen years of global experience in the IT industry, working with companies and governments to choose, adopt, roll out, and measure the impact of new technologies.

Mark Mueller-Eberstein can be contacted at www.mueller-eberstein.com
He is blogging and discussing at www.nofear-community.com

Mueller-Eberstein's career:
At Microsoft, he was responsible for the customers' value realization and deployment experience of Microsoft's Office and collaboration products, the customer and partner engagement during Microsoft's software development process, and joint research with leading academic institutions on technology adoption and its impact on business results.

He is coaching organizations' employees, customers and partners across the globe on this and other topics.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Mueller-Eberstein was at Hewlett-Packard in leadership positions in business development, marketing, and product management.

Education:
Mark Mueller-Eberstein received a Master of Business Administration from the University of Technology Berlin and studied at the University of Marburg, both in his native country of Germany. Over the last years, he worked closely and published with the researchers from Boston University.

Mark Meuller-Eberstein - Author & Consultant
"Agility: Competing and Winning in a Tech-Savvy Marketplace"
"No Fear: Business Leadership In the Age of Digital Cowboys"
LinkedIn Profile

To listen to the interview, click on this

DISCUSSION:

Interview Time Index (MM:SS) and Topic
:00:32:   Mark, you have a long career in many areas with considerable successes. Thank you for sharing your considerable expertise, deep accumulated insights and wisdom with our audience.
"....I'm really looking forward to the interview today and the follow-up questions from your audience as well...."

 
:01:46:   You expressed an interest in the IFIP World CIO Forum or WCF. Why should CIOs, senior executives, government, industry and academic leaders participate in the World CIO Forum? [Editor's note: For more information go to: www.worldcioforum.com; Call for papers; WCF news in the IFIP Newsletter].
"....Events like the World CIO forum are directly in line with what my team and I are trying to do, which is reducing the ambiguity by really explaining what is happening and developing actionable plans....Leveraging synergies, sharing ideas and eventually developing an impact that is changing organizational cultures, leadership and technology adoption makes the individuals who are participating, the organizations they are representing and societies at large more successful and more prepared for the changes that are coming and to turn those changes into opportunities...."

 
:03:57:   How do you feel the WCF will take its participants, IT executives, and the industry in general to the next level?
"....It goes beyond purely IT and really looks at the broader impact of organizational changes and the change in organizational values and brings together representatives of a vast variety of backgrounds. That's the key of what I have seen in my work over the years - the more different and diverse perspectives that you bring together, the more viewpoints you are incorporating, the more knowledge you can generate, the more effective network end results you can generate...."

 
:06:05:   Can you overview some prior roles and leadership lessons you wish to share?
"....Bringing the right people together who knew where the information was, what the business looked like and what the key concerns were, and allowing them to connect and to work with their network to drive the best plan and the best execution for the client....In our book, we call the most connected and the most energetic drivers the "digital cowboys". If they decide they own something, they are signing up to it - they are going to deliver and they will utilize the resources, find within their research environment to do what it takes to deliver the results they have committed to....We see the attitude more and more in the workplace - especially in Gen Y...."

 
:14:21:   Can you profile your last book, key tips from the book, and the success of this book?
"...."Agility: Competing and Winning in a Tech Savvy Marketplace" is based on the opportunity we had to look at IT capability data for over 15,000 different organizations, and analyze it together with universities (like MIT and Boston University) for interesting insights especially insights which would provide a direct business impact for those organizations....What was personally very gratifying was the feedback from the readers themselves. First through the website www.mueller-eberstein.com where people can engage directly with me but also on Amazon where people have the opportunity to provide reviews (we got a lot of five star reviews there). Amazon ranked: "Agility: Competing and Winning in a Tech Savvy Marketplace" as the top 20 book for business decision making...."

 
:18:58:   What led you to write your current book and the reason behind its title, "No Fear: Business Leadership In the Age of Digital Cowboys"?
"....We find that a lot of change is going on, and people at all levels are facing this change and that change is unsettling for nearly everybody. The question was how to deal with the change and often the fear....The book is not only about IT but it's really about managing an organization. It is written from the viewpoint of executives. The contributors are usually either CEOs or CIOs of large organizations, or academics who are working in that environment on a very regular basis, so it helps the current business leaders but also the people who want to be business leaders in the future to understand how to address fears, how to overcome them and how to turn them into opportunities, and also how to develop the next generation of leaders...."

 
:27:08:   Why did you write this book with your co-author, Pekka Viljakainen?
"....We realized that there was a very clear alignment on how we think and what this means for the cultures of organizations, and we share a lot of the experiences...."

 
:29:34:   Can you describe the format of the book and the target audience for the book?
"....The focus audience is business leaders of all levels that are thinking about the future of their organization. They are thinking about not only how to maintain their organization but how to expand both domestically as well as internationally, how to leverage a very changing labour market...."

 
:32:11:   Why would readers find relevance in the book?
"....By utilizing our networks, by being able to tap into thought leadership of business leaders from Russia to China to Europe and California, we have a unique perspective directly from the frontlines of leadership that usually you cannot find in any other publication I've seen so far. The ideas, thoughts and concepts are definitely relevant to the leaders of today and definitely the leaders of tomorrow (that is what we are hearing). We are seeing the excitement around this project building more and more. The book itself is the starting point but we’ve moved beyond that. We’ve created a community online. It's called www.nofear-community.com where we are building on top of the book...."

 
:36:34:   You invited global leaders to participate in the book. Why did you do this? Who are the leaders and what lessons did they provide?
"....We have eight (we call them our friends and contributing authors) from a vast variety of geographies as well as backgrounds, and they all have in common that they are true leaders in the new world, who are influencing the direct environment but also the far larger ecosystem itself as well....Arkady Dvorkovich, Victor Orlovsky, Bill Fischer, Mårten Mickos, Birger Steen, Kari Hakola, Philipp Rosenthal, Alex Lin....It makes the book a much richer experience than just Pekka and me talking about our thoughts. Having this opportunity to validate, get them challenged, then having them share their personal stories and insights contributed by those leaders make a huge difference...."

 
:41:42:   You have this tremendous community and a lot of passion, excitement and discussion occurring at www.nofear-community.com. How are other leaders contributing to a discussion on the book and why are they doing this? Who are these leaders and what lessons are they providing?
"....When we started to reach out to the people we were working within our network we got a lot of additional feedback beyond what I was able to write in the section. We got people who said, 'Yes I really want to participate in the discussion on the No Fear community site.'...We have professors from different universities, people from large mobile device manufacturers and even people from the analyst community who are traditionally try to be very neutral. They are seeing the opportunity and the insights that are delivered here in such a unique way...."

 
:47:10:   You mentioned that you are engaging leaders around the world using videos and recording them using video technology. What kinds of ways are you doing that?
"....The topic of videos has been changed dramatically over the last years and I think the two key influencers are YouTube and the next one coming is mobile technology....People are now used to getting shorter snippets of key information in a video format....So for the leaders we are using different kinds of approaches....We think it is far more important to get the message out than having a glossy video itself...."

 
:49:43:   Are you using things like Skype technology as well?
"....Skype was absolutely essential in making this book happen...."

 
:51:40:   Can you describe what you discovered in researching and then writing the book?
"....It was a hot topic for everybody. It didn't matter if you were in HR, facilities environment or if you were driving to define marketing strategies, the topics of the generational shift, the shift in work styles and communication culture was top of mind for many, many people...."

 
:54:20:   Please share some lessons from your book that have direct value to the audience?
"....The role of the leader is really changing - the leader is becoming more of a producer of a specific result than what the traditional line manager was expected to do....Being authentic and having an understanding of who you are, and then living up to that experience and being clear in your communication will be a big expectation for people and organizations to be successful in the future....The traditional leadership models will not be the roles for success. The role that will make leaders successful is what we call the helicopter style....The professional services firm culture is a good model....Technology is a key enabler of a lot of the change we are seeing and the key provider for a lot of the opportunities...."

 
:01:03:20:   How do you plan to further build the audience for the book and at what specific events do you have in mind?
"....Launch events in Helsinki, Moscow, New York, Beijing and London....Economic Forum in St. Petersburg....Frankfurt Book Trade show....Universities and Corporations for presentations and workshops....World CIO Forum....Harvard Business Review....LinkedIn....ChinaValue....Online community...."

 
:01:08:32:   You've had a chance to do additional research, especially with this book, and to engage with some of the top leaders and thinkers around the world. Has that adjusted your predictions for the future and what are your predictions now about what's going to happen?
"....Moore's Law - it has been correct for the past 40 years and there is no reason to doubt that it will not be correct for the future. What does this actually mean and in practical applications....Wireless access to information will become absolutely essential....Internet itself is transforming....Consumerization of IT....The networking effect...."

 
:01:22:56:   What are the most interesting questions you get asked related to the book and what are your answers?
"....I understand that this is important for the developing world in the emerging market, but it is it really relevant for me in the Western world?...."

 
:01:29:03:   Mark, with your extensive history of successes, we are indeed fortunate to have you come in and do this interview. Thank you.
"....I'm looking very forward to the continued feedback from the communities both from "Agility: Competing and Winning in a Tech-Savvy Marketplace" as well as the upcoming book, "No Fear: Business Leadership in the Age of Digital Cowboys" and the No Fear community at www.nofear-community.com...."

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Mr. Pekka Viljakainen, born in Finland, is a past president (leaving in October 2010) of Tieto International, a team of 8400 advisors operating in 24 countries. He studied engineering at the University of Technology in Lappeenranta. Thanks to his technical background and passion for business, Mr. Viljakainen has for 20 years worked as an ambassador between business executives and technology teams. He started as an entrepreneur in 1986, by establishing Oy Visual Systems Ltd. He joined Tieto in 2000 through the acquisition of his company. Mr. Viljakainen's reputation and track record for handling very complex governance and political topics inside large international organizations and delivering results earned him the nickname "Bulldozer". At Tieto he was one of the leading architects in building a more efficient information society.

Mr. Viljakainen is heavily involved in promoting the necessary preparations for a true revolution of services and the deep strategically role of digitalization across Europe, Russia and China. As a true partner for organizations in most industries, Mr. Viljakainen has analyzed the fundamental change in consumer behaviour and its implications for the corporate strategies in all information intensive businesses.

Pekka Viljakainen:

"No Fear: Business Leadership in the Age of Digital Cowboys"
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/bulldozer
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pekka.viljakainen
Twitter: http://twitter.com/pviljakainen
Community is now OPEN! http://nofear-community.com

To listen to the interview, click on this

DISCUSSION:

Interview Time Index (MM:SS) and Topic
:00:30:   Pekka, you have many remarkable international successes. Thank you for sharing your considerable expertise, deep accumulated insights, and wisdom with our audience.
"....Thank you it's wonderful to be here. I'm happy to tell everything that I know about these issues you have on the agenda...."

 
:00:51:   You expressed an interest in the IFIP World CIO Forum or WCF. Why should CIOs, senior executives, government, industry and academic leaders participate in the World CIO Forum? [Editor's note: For more information go to: www.worldcioforum.com; Call for papers; WCF news in the IFIP Newsletter ].
"....The world has changed to the direction that you have to understand what is happening not only in other parts of the world but also in other business domains. Leadership is all about learning...."

 
:02:22:   How do you feel the WCF will take its participants, IT executives, and the industry in general to the next level?
"....It's not good enough just to run the business. It used to be the main objective of the Chief Information Officers was to reduce costs and to get operations running, but now it's clearly to support business and business decisions....If you get some of the hints and tips from others in venues like this, you are automatically lifted to the new level...."

 
:03:39:   You are a very successful entrepreneur. What success tips can you share from your past history of starting your company, growing the company, and then having the company acquired?
"....You have to have your full heart and soul in what you are doing....Work hard and have a willingness to learn and to question your own decisions....Everything in this world becomes global – every single business model, leader, and support process – whatever you do should be globally competitive...."

 
:06:01:   Can you describe your time at your immediate past company, and some of the roles you played at that company, and what lessons you can share from this experience?
"....It's pretty much same as what I said about becoming global. You can't copy leadership from [one] country to other countries. You have to coach and educate your team in all the countries...."

 
:07:47:   Can you share some leadership success stories from your own personal journey?
"....I was born as a nerd and then this leadership came as kind of a mandatory thing. It was a tough school for me but ultimately I think I managed relatively well...."

 
:08:53:   What led you to write your current book and the reason behind its title, "No Fear: Business Leadership in the Age of Digital Cowboys"?
"....My first idea was to crystallize my leadership philosophy and what I have learned – in corporate papers – about 10 to 15 pages....But when I went through all the notes, it was actually quite a big pack of things and interconnected issues and it ended up to be a book....The title "No Fear: Business Leadership in the Age of Digital Cowboys" is clearly stating the basic idea of what I'm saying – the fear of executives of losing face, which is the single biggest factor for companies to grow and to grow their next level of leader....."

 
:11:13:   Why did you write this book with support from Mark Mueller-Eberstein?
"....I thought that he would be a good teammate for me to give a different flavor from the US standpoint, but also to have kind of a US based mega-enterprise view....I think it was a good match between our competencies and our backgrounds...."

 
:12:23:   Can you describe a few of the chapters in the book and what value they deliver to readers?
"....I think that the basic phenomena everybody can see around them. But we wanted to explain what is the combination of globalization, [the] new PlayStation generation and the rapid change of technology. What does it mean from the corporate strategy standpoint, from the leadership standpoint and also on a wider scale for the society?...."

 
:14:00:   From your own personal perspective, why would readers find relevance in the book?
"....They see the change and now after the global recession all the Chief Executives are asking where is the next growth. Suddenly the key talent pool is this PlayStation generation. So there are a lot of people who are searching for answers and tangible, concrete things of what to do and how to change their own behavior.....There is also the 3rd element and I'm referring to how the leadership should be evolving in the emerging markets like China, Russia and Latin America...."

 
:15:35:   You have personal relationships with many of the invited global leaders who are actively participating in the book. Can you describe your journey with some of the leaders and the dialogue they will spark?
"....I started on a very, very small scale in very small projects 20 to 25 years ago and I've built a personal relationship with many of these executives in enterprise as well as some politicians in the big countries....They are quite amazing people and they are quite open to sharing their concerns but also their best practices of what they have done to tackle these issues mentioned in the No Fear book...."

 
:17:22:   In your dialogues and in your travels all over the world to over 40 countries and working with this book, can you describe something unique that you discovered in this research and then writing the book?
"....The one extremely important point that I found out was that something is happening in this world where this generation, because of this 2.0 internet revolution, are behaving in quite the same way all over the world....[The differences are] much smaller than with their parents. One thing I found is if you built your strategy the right way, you could really expand your business globally...."

 
:19:41:   In all the chapters of your book you have specific lessons and actions that executives can do. Can you share some of these lessons from your book?
"....I think originally it was from MIT, about amplify simplify philosophy, meaning that originally all the big changes in a company was happening like a top-down change that you made a strategy and then you rolled it down all the way from Chief Executive to every corner of the company. While handling these new talents and being in the social media world its practically impossible to do changes like that. You have to have a very front line oriented management team and managers who are actually finding out the right elements from the very front line of the business, and then simplifying those to the very extreme before pushing them all the way down the organization...."

 
:23:37:   You travel a lot and this travelling continues. Can you describe your current and future work and how you plan to integrate your work with the promotion of the book?
"....This book project is to share what I know so promotion for me is to participate in all the events around the world to tell the message and that's important for me. Travelling is or has been part of my life. It's not all of my life but it is an important part because you cannot develop yourself as an executive if you stay home...."

 
:24:44:   With your considerable international experience, provide you provide some of your predictions for the future?
"....Globalization will accelerate in all businesses.....They [business leaders] have to open up their minds and they have to understand in depth what is happening in leadership and in business around the world.....We haven't seen not even the smallest part of all the technology innovation which are just around the corner....The market, the business will pull to those [emerging] countries. There is a lot of money, there is a lot of talent and in reality those countries with most of the talent will win the economic craze. That's why for many Western companies it is the only way going forward to build the business with those teams, with those countries, those talents...."

 
:26:33:   What are the most interesting questions you get asked related to the book and your work and what are your answers?
"....Most of the questions are very practical....I think I have covered those quite well in the No Fear book. I've really tried to share those in a very open manner in a very transparent way...."

 
:28:06:   Which resources would you recommend to support professionals in their work?
"....For me it has been extremely important to have a very open and natural dialogue with my enterprise customers....Major business schools have made a remarkable step - instead of preaching from old books published ten years back, they've actually become major hubs for sharing information in their social media way....When I was working in a big enterprise I was sharing lots of my material in our internal social media even when I knew they were not 100 percent correct and there were mistakes. It was wonderful to get 18,000 colleagues to correct my mistakes. They were not searching for answers, they were actually searching for my mistakes and I learned a lot...."

 
:31:53:   What are challenges you were not able to overcome at the time and how would you do things differently now?
"....I was quite young when I started in business and I never understood how important it is for a leader to be a coach. It [coaching] is an often systematic and sometimes brutal process and way of working to develop and to build very honest and direct feedback to the people....I was kind of weak on that when I check back twenty years....There is nothing more important for a leader and you cannot outsource that to some HR unit or external consultant. If the leader is reluctant to do that he should not be a leader...."

 
:34:33:   Past, present, and future - who inspires you and why is this so?
"....The most important people who have impacted me come mostly from the customer side or from my business partner side...."

 
:36:04:   You choose the topic area. What do you see as some top challenges facing us today and what are some solutions you would propose?
"....The world is open for complete transparency and competition. It means you have to have a very solid way of working and you have to be crystal clear what you want and how you want your team to work.....If your business model is not globally competitive, rethink it, because now you have all the sources of information available, get the best practices and openly combine it with your own domain knowledge...."

 
:37:52:   If you were asking the questions, what questions would you have asked and what would be your answers?
"....Is there something in the "New Fear: Business Leadership in the Age of Digital Cowboys" book that you would do differently?...Will there be a "No Fear 2.0" book where you would go further into certain elements?...."

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Eugene Fiume: Renowned and Distinguished Computer Science Professor University of Torontougene Fiume is Professor and past Chair of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto, where he co-directs the Dynamic Graphics Project and is Director of the Master of Science in Applied Computing Program.

Following his B.Math. degree from the University of Waterloo and M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Toronto, he was an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow and Maitre Assistant at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. He was awarded an NSERC University Research Fellowship in 1987 and returned to the University of Toronto to a faculty position. He was Associate Director of the Computer Systems Research Institute, and was a Visiting Professor at the University of Grenoble, France. He has participated in numerous boards of directors and advisory boards of start-ups and scientific institutions all over the world. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of Tucows Inc. (Toronto).

Eugene has been on many task forces and reviews of research institutes around the world. He has had a long association with the computer graphics and electronic media industries in Canada and the U.S., notably with Alias|Wavefront, where he was Director of Research and Usability Engineering while on leave from the university. He now works with several companies in an advisory capacity on both technological and business issues. He also works with venture capital companies on due diligence and strategy.

Eugene's research interests include most aspects of realistic computer graphics, including computer animation, modeling natural phenomena, and illumination, as well as strong interests in internet based imaging, image repositories, software systems and parallel algorithms. He has written two books and co-authored over 120 papers on these topics. Thirteen doctoral students and 29 master's students have graduated under his supervision. He has won two teaching awards, as well as Innovation Awards from ITRC for research in computer graphics and Burroughs-Wellcome for biomedical research. He was also the papers chair for SIGGRAPH 2001, past chair of the SIGGRAPH Awards Committee, and was General Co-chair of Symposium for Computer Animation 2008. He is currently co-chairing Pacific Graphics 2011 with Ming Ouhyoung.

His industrial interests include technology transfer in the Information Technology area, internet-based applications, digital media, wireless and multimedia systems, web-based services, large-scale computation, and the interaction of information technology and business.

On occasion, he manages to sneak a few hours of sleep.

For more information go to: http://www.dgp.toronto.edu/~elf/

To listen to the interview, click on this

DISCUSSION:

Interview Time Index (MM:SS) and Topic
:00:51:   Describe your journey in computing from your youth up to the present. What foundational lessons did you learn from this journey? Why were you initially attracted to computing?
"....I found with computers I had the opportunity to effect control over something....I loved programming for the sheer joy of creating something from nothing and playing around with computers and understanding the way you could simply convert data into information...."

 
:02:40:   What significant outcomes will you achieve with the Dynamics Graphics Project?
"....The Dynamics Graphics Project is a mixture of both human computer interaction people and computer graphics people....As a general sensibility the Dynamic Graphics Project is about doing the research and science and technology behind making useable interactive visual communication...."

 
:04:01:   Do you have industry partners who are involved in the project or who are utilizing some of that research?
"....Computer graphics has been quite fortunate in having rather a receptive community within industry....A lot of computer graphics are now very physically oriented, a lot of physical simulation now, and as a consequence we are now able to take our work and move it into areas such as biomedicine and that's an area of ongoing growth within the Dynamics Graphics project...."

 
:05:47:   What are some of the lessons that you can share from your Board and Advisory Board roles?
"....Generally speaking it is this idea of a high-level view of big, deep, rich and difficult problems being looked at by people of very diverse backgrounds from which and from whom you learn....."

 
:08:04:   Describe your work with Venture Capital and with company business challenges?
"....So really the VC thing for me was less about earning a living and more about getting exposure to a different way of understanding how technology fits in the world...."

 
:10:13:   How would you describe your top innovative achievements in terms what specifically inspired these innovations, what were the factors that made the innovations possible, the problems you were trying to solve, your solutions, and the impact they have today and into the longer term future?
"....I was one of the originators of at least the idea to look at computer graphics more mathematically, more theoretically....Another one that became more mainstream practical was that together with a PhD student Jos Stam, we developed a way to simulate the effect of fire, smoke, clouds and water....A third non-technical innovation - introducing a teaching professoriate within the computer science department...."

 
:15:15:   On the teaching side you have also won two teaching awards.
"....The kind of teaching I like to do nowadays is less about the technology and the science and more about the humanistic side, which is very hard to do. In other words things like the social implications of computing, aspects of things like computing for good, and also some of the aspects of business of computations...."

 
:17:00:   Amongst all your achievements, which three are you most proud of and why?
"....One is in the area of natural phenomena – modeling the effect of natural processes....Another is rendering or illumination....The third is more about motion – how people move...."

 
:19:22:   Can you profile your future research, its challenges, opportunities, and implications?
"....I'm planning to continue the things in rendering and natural phenomenon and expressive motion, but I'm actually moving in a couple of different directions....Biomedical applications of computer graphics....What it takes to be convinced by images. I guess we could call it the neuroscience of visual reality....The third one is the area of computing for good. Applications that enhance the quality of life for people around the world...."

 
:23:54:   From your two books and 120 papers, can you pick a few areas to spotlight?
"....If there's one thing that characterizes all of that work it's the importance of fundamental science and fundamental mathematics almost as a precursor to thinking about computations of these things....It's [focus of my research] really on the creation of visual models that can be sustained through computations...."

Now I'm going to focus on the Department of Computer Science (DCS) at the University of Toronto.

 
:26:24:   From your insider perspective, describe your time with Kelly Gotlieb at DCS?
"....When I was Department Chair, Kelly was the only person for whom I always had my door open. He could literally barge into my office at any time simply because I so valued his advice. And if he came and wanted to know something, I knew it was important...."

 
:28:51:   What’s little known is that the Department of Computer Science at the University of Toronto is one of the top ranked Computing Research institutions in the world. Why isn't the University of Toronto better known?
"....We have achieved a level of international quality, recognized virtually world-wide among those who know; that is incredibly difficult for a public university to get to and even to aspire to....As the competition for great students and resources intensifies we do need to work harder at getting the message out...."

 
:32:16:   You are the Director of the Master of Science in Applied Computing program. Can you describe this program, what differentiates your program from others, and compelling reasons for entering the program?
"....We've developed a program that allows students to synthesize their knowledge....This idea of being able to do computations within an area in which a new risky idea can be tried out and evaluated over the course of the internship...."

 
:34:41:   Where do you see graduates of your program in three years, five years?
"....There will be a spectrum of different areas....Those who may want to remain technical for their careers and that's perfectly good because it's a way to get people to have a larger awareness of the industry....The next category are those who mix technical leadership with business leadership and that's really a growth area...."

 
:37:18:   If you were to make some predictions of the future what would they be?
"....The disappearing computer....Computing as prosthetics - the idea that computers are going to be used for truly interesting things that help us in our day-to-day lives....Computing is growing in the direction of facilitating social growth...."

 
:41:01:   More broadly, what do you see as the top challenges facing us today and how do you propose they be solved?
"....We may not have a balanced outlook on the issues of humanity....It's a growing concern that we don't seem to be engaging as a global community on how we can become more universally more informed...."

 
:44:42:   If you were conducting this interview, what question would you ask, and then what would be your answer?
"....Why do you try to do so much?....."

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Stacey Cerniuk is the founder, President and CEO of Annex Consulting Group. Stacey has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computing Science from Simon Fraser University and 23 years of IT industry experience as a business analyst, project manager, management consultant and entrepreneur. He was a Forty Under Forty winner recognizing the top business people in British Columbia under the age of 40.

Stacey is actively involved in a number of IT industry associations and academic programs:

He is a member of the Project Management Institute, its Canadian West Coast Chapter and its Information Systems Community of Practice. He has been a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) since year 2000.
He is a member of the Society of PMPs of Greater Vancouver.
He has been on the Advisory Council for the University of British Columbia's Certificate in Project Management program since its inception. The program previously won the Canadian Association for University Continuing Education (CAUCE) Award of Excellence.
He is also on the Advisory Council for UBC's Certificate in Business Analysis program.
He is a mentor for S.U.C.C.E.S.S. helping new immigrants to Canada find work in the IT industry and adapt to Canadian culture.
He is a Past President of CIPS [Vancouver section], one of the largest associations of IT professionals in Canada, and served on the Board for eight years.

Stacey's company, Annex Consulting Group, is an IT consulting and recruitment company specializing in applications development, project management, network infrastructure, business analysis and management consulting services. Annex staffs its projects from the Annex Alliance, a membership of 8000 independent IT and business consultants in BC. Annex has completed 1,200 IT projects for 250 different clients since 1998 with an industry-leading 97% customer satisfaction rating.

Under Stacey's leadership, Annex has been recognized with many awards:

Annex is one of Branham Group's Top 250 Technology Companies in Canada for the last five consecutive years.
Annex is one of CDN magazine's Top 100 IT Solution Providers in Canada for the last five consecutive years.
Annex is one of Business In Vancouver’s fastest growing companies in BC, fastest growing technology companies in BC, fastest growing services companies in BC, and fastest growing private companies in BC for the past seven consecutive years.
Annex has been listed on the PROFIT 200 recognizing the fastest growing companies in Canada for the last four consecutive years.
Annex was voted by BC Business magazine in 2011 as one of BC's 20 most innovative companies.

Away from the office, Stacey has coached a boy's select soccer team for the last ten years. He also enjoys reading, exercising and goal setting.

To listen to the interview, click on this

DISCUSSION:

Interview Time Index (MM:SS) and Topic
:00:54:   Stacey, can you profile your history prior to your current role and three valuable leadership lessons you wish to share from these roles?
"....As an HR manager:....Use the 80:20 principle to look at your business and really concentrate on the key 20% in your organization....Being an entrepreneur:....Do what I did when I started and that is to join a Mastermind forum of fellow CEOs....My third leadership lesson is more around setting goals:....Define what success means to you, define your goals (make sure your write them down), then create an action plan for accomplishing them...."

 
:09:07:   Can you profile Annex?
"....We're an IT consultant and recruitment company and we serve the Pacific Northwest region of North America....What I'm very proud of is across all of the projects that Annex has done since 1998, we have a 97% customer satisfaction rating which we believe to be the highest in the industry...."

 
:11:50:   I know you have over 8000 IT and business consultants now. What are your objectives this year, in two years and in five years?
"....We're happy to see the back end of 2009 and 2010, so our objective this year is significant growth as we emerge from the downturn....Two years down the road....more geographic expansion in Western Canada and Westcoast US....Five years from now, more geographic expansion either organically or through acquisition and then making sure that we are adjusting with the market in terms of what our customers are expecting...."

 
:13:56:   What about your long term exit strategy or do you have one?
"....Everybody has that option to change careers or finish working. More interesting exit strategies for me are to have Annex acquired by a bigger company as part of its growth strategy.....We could end up grooming someone new to run the business, like an internal manager where I may stay on at a Chair level or leave the business (have someone take it over). Or perhaps the option where the employees decide to take it on themselves...."

 
:15:10:   What five attributes make for a successful developer?
"....Solid technical skills and aptitude at what they do....Lifelong learning....Problem-solving (which also includes creativity)....Attention to detail....Strong communicator...."

 
:17:18:   What five attributes make for a successful project manager?
"....Communication (verbal, written, facilitation, listening)....Leadership skills....Experience....Planning skills....A combination of problem-solving and decision-making...."

 
:20:28:   What attributes make for a successful business analyst?
"....There will be some overlap here....Verbal and written communication....Interviewing skills....Analytical thinking....Interpersonal skills are key....Industry knowledge....Attitude (get things done)...."

 
:22:18:   What attributes make for a successful management consultant?
"....Communication for sure....Being that big-picture thinker....Being strategic in nature....Leadership skills....Deep business experience...."

 
:23:16:   What five attributes make for a successful infrastructure professional?
"....Strong technical aptitude in those networking and infrastructure technologies....Lifelong learning becomes key....Problem-solving....Detail oriented....Integrity...."

 
:24:27:   Can you provide attributes for success for other roles in computing based upon your experiences at Annex?
"....I think there are some common themes around what attributes are key for success: Communication skills....Technical aptitude in the relevant technology areas....Lifelong learning....Interpersonal skills to build relationships and strong emotional intelligence, being compatible....Your hard skills will get you your first contract with the client, but it's really the soft skills that will get that person repeat business...."

 
:26:03:   In your current role, what are your top challenges and top opportunities?
"....Top challenges: The availability of talented people to do project work....To raise awareness of our services and to do marketing on a tight budget....Managing growth....Opportunities: For Annex we have great opportunity for expanding to new geographic markets....Some of the new lines of businesses that we're working on we really see a number of areas in the market that are being underserved. I recommend people read the book "Blue Ocean Strategy" by Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne...."

 
:30:00:   Can you forecast job trends this year and next?
"....There's an industry watchdog in Canada called Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) and they monitor the Canadian IT industry. They've recently come out with a labour market report and they are predicting that here in Canada, Canadian employers are going to need to hire an additional 106,000 ICT workers for information and technology workers between 2011 and 2016...."

 
:32:01:   Sometimes when people hear the stats about a labour shortage, they think about the overall field. But really it's a skills shortage in specific areas, isn't it?
"....It can be both labour and skills. 106,000 people for sure is a labour shortage in IT, but within that 106,000 – if we slice and dice that down and take a look at what are some of the key fields, there will definitely be some key areas that will be more in demand than others. What is in demand will change over time...."

 
:33:17:   For recent graduates, what areas should they focus on?
"....They definitely need to focus on technical competency in the areas that interest them the most....People need to be adaptable and open to change and to build some of those general skills like soft skills that will help them regardless of what career they choose...."

 
:35:17:   For experienced IT professionals, what areas should they focus on from a career and job standpoint?
"....I think younger workers are going to get management opportunities earlier than the baby boomers did. The experienced IT professionals who may be at intermediate levels or maybe even senior levels, they may want to focus as well on general management skills to progress their careers, because I think there are going to be a lot of opportunities in leadership as these more senior people leave industry. So general management skills like leadership, communication, negotiation, conflict resolution....even industry specialization...."

 
:36:35:   What are your current projects and what one lesson can you share from each of your major projects?
"....We have hundreds but I will try to grab a couple here. One is a software development team project - we're doing a web-based registration system....The lesson I can share is that it's important to have a dedicated project manager on the team....Project number two is more a series of engagements that we are doing for a large organization, a multi-billion dollar organization....I want to remind people, it may seem obvious to some but change management is key and don’t forget about it in large scale technology projects...."

 
:39:18:   Why would you recommend people get involved with Project Management Institute (PMI)?
"....PMI is the largest and most recognized project management association in the world. They also manage the PMP certification....PIMBOK, the project management body of knowledge, is the most widely used PM practices in the world so it's good exposure to that guideline....For me personally all that is great stuff, but I like being involved in these associations because there's a networking component with like-minded peers where you can share your experiences and collaborate and raise your personal profile and there are educational benefits as well...."

 
:40:59:   Why would you recommend people get involved with Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS)?
"....For me the big benefit and what I like about being involved with CIPS is the networking with peers and seeing others in the industry and sharing experiences. There's always an educational and learning component to associations. I am not only involved with CIPS as a member, but I was on the Board for many years and I also got involved to give back to the local IT community...."

 
:42:05:   What are the benefits of some of the advisory roles you perform?
"....A lot of it [the benefits] is around giving back to the industry that's been so good to me....Advisory Council at UBC for their Certificate and Project Management Progam: I get to help shape Project Management and project managers of the future, how the training is done and how they are being educated, based on my experience....Advisor for UBC Certificate and Business Analysis. I get to be involved to ensure that the new program at UBC conforms to industry standards in Business Analysis....Advisor to small businesses because I feel that I can, based on my experiences, accelerate entrepreneurs in their businesses....Career advisor to a number of computing students at local universities, colleges. It gives me pleasure to be involved and to help shape someone's life and hopefully add value to them....."

 
:44:26:   You are a mentor in an organization called S.U.C.C.E.S.S.; can you tell us what that involves?
"....S.U.C.C.E.S.S. is a not-for-profit organization which has a whole variety of services. One area I'm involved in is helping new immigrants adapt to life in Canada....S.U.C.C.E.S.S. knows that my expertise is in technology so what they often do is to assign me new Canadians who have technology backgrounds and then I can help to mentor them and get them ‘up to speed’ on what Canadian companies are looking for...."

 
:45:42:   Please make some predictions from a technological standpoint about where things are going in the future, their implications, and how we can best prepare?
"....My expertise is around IT consulting so I will try to make predictions around that area....The supply shortage of IT professionals in Canada will continue the future and more likely than not it's going to get worse....The consulting industry is going to continue to flourish....Small business and particularly this idea of freelance consulting is not just a trend but it's an economic powerhouse in our country and it drives the economy and jobs...."

 
:49:09:   Why should IT executives attend the IFIP World CIO Forum or WCF [Editor=s note: For more information go to: www.worldcioforum.com; Call for papers; WCF news in the IFIP Newsletter].
"....There are organizations for CIOs in various countries, for example in Canada we have CIOCAN, but it's rare to have a world CIO conference....This is a great way to increase collaboration between IT leaders....There's an education and learning component to hearing the speakers and understanding what others are doing in other countries....It's an opportunity to network and raise your personal profile...."

 
:50:29:   What are your thoughts on computing as a recognized profession like medicine and law, with demonstrated professional development, adherence to a code of ethics, and recognized credentials?
[See www.ipthree.org and the Global Industry Council, http://www.ipthree.org/about-ip3/global-advisory-council]
"....We as an industry still have some work to do to get to that point, but we are definitely making progress....Outside of healthcare, businesses in general depend on technology every day....If we're so reliant on that technology then we are also relying on the competency and the professionalism of the people who create and manage that technology. That’s why we need a recognized governing body and certification with a Code of Ethics for the body of knowledge....IP3 is taking a leadership role to foster professionalism in the IT industry worldwide...."

 
:53:51:   If you were conducting this interview, what questions would you ask, and then what would be your answers?
"....In order to get to know you better can you share some of your life goals and what’s on your bucket list?....What five people (living or not) would you invite for dinner?....What three books would you recommend?...."

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