I just heard some wonderful news that I wanted to share right away. This is a great Ottawa success story, and specifically a Carleton U. success story that can be traced back to the Foundry Program. Cognovision, co-founded by two Carleton U. students, one of whom (Haroon Mirza) was with the Foundry Program in 2003-2004 was recently recognized by the Canadian Innovation Exchange (CIX) as the “Most Innovative Company in Digitial Media” as well as the “Innovation Leader for 2009″. This is a first, and it is definitely a great moment for all of us in the community who have been building a case for talent engagement and talent empowerment. Haroon and I were in the Carleton U. Foundry program together as interns, a period during which we had many a long discussions about what will - if anything will - help create a competitive advantage for Canada when it comes to entrepreneurship. I have been chipping at it slowly, while Haroon has been working tirelessly to validate that at the end of the day it comes down to sheer gut, smarts, persistence and belief. WOW … to be recognized as the most innovative company in digital media (who would not want that) and then be recognized as the innovation leader for the whole year … Haroon you and your team have done really well … CONGRATS
I am really excited about this story not only because there is a personal joy here but also because it validates the philosophy of the Foundry Program and the TalentBridge program in that our investments in Talent and Talent development have to be seen as long term investments that will invariably create a competitive differentiator for the Ottawa community. Since the announcement, Haroon has specifically mentioned the Foundry Program and recognized the importance of the faith that Luc and the rest of the program put into him as a student on Carleton campus.
The story can be found at the following links:
http://www.techvibes.com/blog/cix-wraps-up-with-cognovision-solutions-taking-top-prize
http://www.techvibes.com/blog/cix-top-20-cognovision-solutions
Details of the company can be found at: http://www.cognovision.com/
This is a moment to take a pause and congratulate Haroon and Cognovision for their giant strides. His teams efforts and success have reinforced that what we are doing in the community with programs like TalentBridge and Foundry will definitely augur well for our community in the long term and will help catalyse more success stories like this. I am going to sleep tonight with a big smile on my face …
This entry was posted
on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009 at 9:28 pm and is filed under Entrepreneurship/Innovation, Work/Edu.
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