NEWS RELEASES
CANADIAN COMPANIES SUCCESSFUL AT CEBIT '96
March 26, 1996 No. 46
CANADIAN COMPANIES SUCCESSFUL AT CEBIT '96
The Honourable Art Eggleton, Minister for International Trade, and the Honourable
John Manley, Industry Minister, announced today that Canadian companies
participating in CeBIT '96, held in Hannover, Germany from March 14 to 20,
successfully concluded a number of significant deals.
"The 35 companies in the Canada Pavilion alone negotiated 151 distributorship and
agency agreements, 54 joint ventures and strategic alliances, and signed contracts
worth $3.7 million in short-term sales, projecting a further $81.9 million over
the next three years," said Mr. Eggleton.
"CeBIT has long been a key focus of trade promotion efforts in Europe, a major
market for Canada," Mr. Eggleton added. "Trade with Europe is flourishing, and
export opportunities there are expanding."
"Canadian companies are at the forefront of much new development in information
technology. The number of new partnerships and the dollar amount of contracts
signed are proof of that," said Mr. Manley. "CeBIT '96 was the perfect
opportunity for world-class Canadian information technology companies to display
their innovative products and services.
More than 60 Canadian information technology companies of all sizes exhibited
telecommunications equipment and computer hardware, software and services in this
year's CeBIT trade show.
CeBIT is the world's most widely attended and comprehensive showcase of
information systems, office automation products, and telecommunications products
and services. Canada has been an active participant in CeBIT since 1984. More
than 6500 exhibitors participated in this year's event, which attracted over
600 000 visitors.
CeBIT attracts more professional decision makers, distributors, wholesalers,
agents, retailers and importers than any other computer and communications trade
show in the world. Germany's place at the crossroads of Eastern, Western and
Central Europe enhances CeBIT's status as a platform for initiating profitable,
enduring partnerships.
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The attached backgrounder presents highlights of contracts signed, new alliances
formed, and new products introduced by Canadian companies at CeBIT '96. A
detailed press kit of background information about Canada's information technology
sector and CeBIT participation is available upon request.
For further information, media representatives may contact:
Media Relations Office
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(613) 995-1874
Keith Chang
Industry Canada
(613) 990-4238
Backgrounder
CANADIAN ANNOUNCEMENTS AT CeBIT '96
Industry Canada -- "Canada in Cyberspace"
Internet is a world phenomenon. Industry Canada hosted a World Wide Web site
through which visitors to the Canada Pavilion at CeBIT '96 were able to obtain
information about Canada's leading-edge Internet product suppliers and link
directly to their Web sites.
The Industry Canada Internet site, "Canada in Cyberspace," featuring 41 Canadian
providers of Internet products, generated considerable interest. More than 12
Canadian exhibitors at CeBIT requested their profiles be added to "Canada in
Cyberspace," to benefit from the international exposure this site provides. The
Industry Canada Internet site raises Canada's profile as a powerhouse of
innovations for the Internet.
"Canada in Cyberspace" features short profiles of companies seeking international
partners, and showcases Internet products including hardware, software,
information services, Web software, authoring tools, ISDN hardware, modems,
routers and firewalls. The profiles are sorted by technology and company name.
Each profile contains both Web and e-mail links, allowing direct contact with the
company.
Canadian Exhibitor Announcements
Alpha Technologies Ltd. of Burnaby, B.C., identified 10 potential distributors in
Germany. The company is a world leader in the manufacture of application-specific
powering solutions for voice, video and data communication systems.
Contact: Olga Shandersky (604) 430-1476
ANILLUSION Technologies Inc. of Quebec City, Que., introduced Mirage FX, a
stereoscopic 3D graphics accelerator board specifically designed for virtual
reality systems. Mirage FX allows PC users to access the power of virtual reality
tools. The company, introducing its first product and participating in its first
international trade show, also identified two German distributors and negotiated
joint ventures/strategic alliances with five organizations from France, Germany
and Poland. Projected sales from CeBIT activity are $200 000 over the next three
years.
Contact: Christian Plante (418) 877-6431
ARC Media Inc. of Toronto, Ont., introduced several new CD-ROM titles. The company
signed two contracts worth $4 million over the next three years, appointed an
agent/distributor, and negotiated one joint venture/strategic alliance. ARC Media
is a top Canadian multimedia CD-ROM publisher, offering more than 50 reference,
lifestyle and entertainment titles for both Macintosh and MS-Windows.
Contact: Oliver Huang (416) 410-4429
Argus Research of Burnaby, B.C., introduced the RSM 48/100 Modular Switched Mode
Rectifier, and Power System for Minicells. This three-phase 208 or 380 VAC unit is
designed for central office applications worldwide. The company identified 12
potential agents and distributors. A member of the Alpha group of companies,
Argus Research develops 12V, 24V and 48V custom DC power systems (up to 1200A
current capacity) for communications applications in central office, cellular,
CPE, PBX, fibre-optic and transmission systems.
Contact: Debbie McLeod (604) 436-5900
Caravelle Inc. of Nepean, Ont., introduced WebWATCHER, a powerful, cost-effective
tool to ensure that Web sites and other critical Internet services are up and
running by continuous real-time monitoring, and to provide notification in the
event of problems. The company also appointed a distributor in the Netherlands.
Contact: Debbie Parkhill (613) 225-1172
Cimmetry Systems Inc. of Montreal, Que., introduced AutoVue Professional Version
14, which allows fast viewing and powerful marking up of documents on the Windows,
UNIX and DOS operating platforms without the need for the originating
applications. The company is a software-development company specializing in file
viewing and markup technology, and offers a wide range of solutions that apply to
CAD, imaging and Windows environments.
Contact: Ron Goldman (514) 735-3219
Connect Tech Inc. of Guelph, Ont., expects to sign a $250 000 contract as a result
of participating in CeBIT, and projects sales from CeBIT activity of more than $3
million over the next three years. The company is a leading Canadian manufacturer
of multi-port serial and micro-to-mainframe products for ISA, EISA, MCA and PC/104
bus compatible computers.
Contact: Michael Powers (519) 836-1291
Corel Corporation of Ottawa, Ont., introduced several new products, including
Internet-related products, Ventura 6.0 (a DTP software capable of electronic
publishing) and Corel Gallery (Internet Graphics version). While traditional
paper publishing remains a strength of Corel Ventura, version 6.0 allows users to
publish information on the Internet, on CD-ROM and as Hypertext documents. To
this end, several new modules will be tightly integrated into the product
offering. Corel is a global leader in the development of graphics and multimedia
software, including CorelDRAW, a popular illustration software package.
Contact: Alison Canavan (613) 728-0826
DiscoverWare Inc. (formerly Advance Multimedia Corp.) of Calgary, Alta.,
introduced several powerful interactive multimedia education products. The
company appointed agents/distributors in Germany and identified potential joint
ventures/strategic alliances with companies from Germany and Australia.
DiscoverWare is a leading developer of multimedia education products for the PC
industry's most popular software. The company was recently selected the "High
Technology Entrepreneur of the Year" by the High Technology Management Association
(HTMA), in conjunction with the Ottawa-Carleton Research Institute (OCRI) and the
Canadian Advanced Technology Association (CATA).
Contact: Peter Lossing (403) 237-0426
Eicon Technology of Montreal, Que., introduced the Aviva Mainframe Edition, a
display and printer emulation program that enables users of Windows NT or 95 PCs
to gain fast, easy access to mainframe-based applications, while completely hiding
the complexities associated with a mainframe connection. The company also
announced expansion of its family of Multiservice Access Cards, with two new
adapters that let small branch offices or individual users access remote computing
resources through public or private wide-area network (WAN) services, frame relay,
ISDN, X.25, IBM SNA and more. Eicon Technology will be the first to provide
worldwide ISDN support for Novell's Netware Connect 2.0. Eicon Technology is a
worldwide provider of desktop and server-integrated information-access solutions
for the networked enterprise. The company develops, markets and supports hardware
and software products that enable personal computers from a wide range of
industry-standard platforms and operating environments to access corporate
internetworks, IBM SNA networks and on-line information services.
Contact: Media Relations (514) 631-2592
EveryWare Development Corp. of Mississauga, Ont., announced an OBDC upgrade for
its popular Web/database integration tool Tango to communicate with industry-standard enterprise databases. Tango is a full-featured visual development tool
enabling Web administrators to rapidly create dynamic Web-site solutions that
interact with OBDC-compliant databases without writing any HTML or SQL codes.
Contact: Jeff Hendry (905) 819-1173
Farabi Technology Corporation of St. Laurent, Que., signed a contract with Israel
and has appointed six distributors in Israel, Colombia, Germany and Italy. The
company also established a joint venture with a multinational competitor, and will
market products through a single distributor. The company designs, manufactures
and markets 5250 emulation, file-transfer and communication server software for
personal computers.
Contact: Patricia Sarji (514) 332-3455
Gainbery Computer Products of Markham, Ont., introduced the CPU MAXimizer 686
upgrade series, an integrated upgrade CPU module to replace the P5-60/66
processor. Based on a Cyrix/IBM 6X86 processor, Gainbery has provided a voltage-conversion circuit, together with pin-alignment convertor, which allows P5-60/66
users to double their system power. The company projects sales from CeBIT
activity of $3 million to $4 million over the next three years. Gainbery
specializes in cost-effective computer-enhancement products for the aftermarket.
Contact: Bruce Jenkins (905) 415-0480
Gold Disk Inc. of Mississauga, Ont., negotiated four joint ventures/strategic
alliances in Israel, Korea, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The company publishes
leading multimedia presentation software and consumer productivity packages.
Contact: David Aldridge (905) 602-4000
LANSource Technologies Inc. of Toronto, Ont., announced WINport 6.0, a major new
version of its award-winning modem-sharing software, and introduced FAXport 6.0, a
powerful client/server fax solution for LAN and corporate markets. The company
also opened a sales, distribution and support office in Bielefeld, Germany.
LANSource is a developer of network communications software for fax and data
applications.
Contact: Alex Irwin (416) 535-3555
Lanworks Technologies Inc. of Mississauga, Ont., introduced BootWare boot ROMs for
Intel EtherExpress Pro/100-B PCI LAN adapters, a product that provides centralized
booting management capability to Intel customers. The company is a world leader
in centralized booting technologies. The BootWare family of products has been
installed on more than one million work stations worldwide.
Contact: Elizabeth Williams (905) 238-5528
Lava Computer MFG Inc. of Toronto, Ont., introduced the Lava Link-650 Windows
Communications Accelerator board to the European market. The company signed
contracts with companies from the United States, Denmark, the Netherlands,
Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom. Distributors were appointed in
Germany, Sweden, Belgium and Portugal, and joint ventures and strategic alliances
were identified or negotiated with companies in Germany, France, the United
Kingdom and the United States. Projected sales from CeBIT activity over the next
three years are $290 000. The company is currently negotiating alliances and/or
contracts with every major modem and ISDN manufacturer worldwide.
Contact: Mike Wynnyckyj (416) 674-5942
Mediatrix Peripherals Inc. of Sherbrooke, Que., introduced the DVC/Phone
daughterboard for the Audiotrix Pro. With the addition of the DVC/Phone
daughterboard, the Audiotrix Pro allows users to turn their computers into long-distance telephones, without any long-distance charges. The company signed two
contracts with organizations located in Germany, appointed a distributor in
Sweden, and identified or negotiated joint ventures/strategic alliances with
companies in Israel, Turkey and Australia.
Contact: David Monty (819) 829-8749
Memory Experts International Inc. of Saint Laurent, Que., appointed three
distributors in France, Spain and Portugal, and identified or negotiated joint
ventures/strategic alliances with Benelux countries, Croatia and Germany.
Projected sales from CeBIT activity are $12 million over the next three years.
The company manufactures memory upgrades for computers, notebooks, work stations,
laser printers and plain-paper fax machines.
Contact: Guadalupe Reusing (514) 333-5010
Microplex Systems Ltd. of Burnaby, B.C., introduced the M205 and M206 single
parallel port, multi-protocol print server, aimed at the stand-alone printer
market, and also announced that it has met EMC Directive regulations, enabling its
full line of print servers to be part of the uniform technical standards for trade
in the European Union. The company identified or negotiated joint
ventures/strategic alliances with three companies in the United Kingdom, United
States and Germany. Projected sales from CeBIT activity are $3 million over the
next three years. Microplex Systems designs and manufactures innovative, high-quality, EU-approved multi-protocol network solutions.
Contact: Gerry Sawkins (604) 444-4232
Mindflight Technology Inc. of Vancouver, B.C., identified 40 distributors or
agents in France, Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom, and negotiated or
identified joint ventures/strategic alliances in Italy, Spain and France.
Projected sales from CeBIT activity are $9 million over the next years. The
company manufactures plug-and-go portable data-storage devices, mass-storage
devices and CD-ROM readers and recorders.
Contact: Mike Volker (604) 294-6465
NHC Communications Inc. of Montreal, Que., announced that its new SNMP Controller
can now manage NHC's electronic mixed-media switching products using any SNMP
(Simple Network Management Protocol) platform-management system. By integrating
NHC's physical-layer switches into the logical management layer, NHC significantly
simplifies the task of MIS professionals, and creates enhanced flexibility and
value from the existing cable and equipment infrastructure. The company's
switching products manage network resources remotely, eliminating the need to move
cables and equipment manually. NHC Communications Inc. also offers a complete
line of connectivity products for IBM AS/400 and Token Ring.
Contact: Gabrielle Ghillany (514) 735-2741
Network Sciences International Ltd. of Saint Laurent, Que., noted projected sales
from CeBIT activity of $5 million to $8 million over the next three years. The
company designs and implements cost-effective multimedia VSAT networks.
Contact: Mark Macpherson (514) 956-8880
Optical Data Systems Inc. (ODS) of Penticton, B.C., introduced CSI Express, a PC
Windows-based program that allows the user to display up to 20 full-colour, full-screen, high-resolution images from a single floppy diskette. Each screen can be
individually linked to the World Wide Web. The company also announced that it has
been selected to publish the exhibition catalogue CD-ROM for the first WorldAid 96
Exposition, to be held in Geneva September 30 to October 4, 1996. The CD-ROM will
contain a complete listing of exhibitors and organizations participating in
WorldAid 96, as well as detailed information on procurement procedures for UN and
other major humanitarian agencies. Also announced was an agreement reached with
the National Hockey League and Turner Publications to develop and produce a CD-ROM
featuring 32 of the greatest international hockey players currently playing in the
NHL. The printed version and the CD-ROM will be released this summer to coincide
with the World Cup Hockey event, to be held in August/September, 1996. ODS
develops multilingual, multimedia, CD-ROM corporate catalogues, directories and
entertainment titles.
Contact: Marilyn Eddison (604) 493-8168
Spectracom Technologies Corporation (STC) of Markham, Ont., announced a
significant international supply agreement with New Tech Corporation of Norway to
supply the Spectrum Environmental Lighting Filter to their customers, including
multinational manufacturers of fluorescent bulbs. The agreement has a projected
value of about $4 million in its first year. STC manufactures environmental
lighting filters and ergonomically engineered office products.
Contact: Edmund Cameron (905) 305-7400
SR Telecom Inc. of Saint Laurent, Que., announced the expansion of its range of
SR500-s fixed wireless telecommunications products, and introduced the 10.5 GHz
SR500-s System, radio to the building (RTTB), as well as the SR Telecom Micro II,
a briefcase-sized, low-cost, multi-functional indoor/outdoor outstation. The
company designs, manufactures and markets Point-to-Multipoint (PMP) Time Division
Multiple Access (TDMA) systems for the provision of telecommunications services.
Contact: Tim Heaney (514) 335-1210
TCT-ThunderBYTE of Cornwall, Ont., introduced its first native ThunderBYTE Anti-Virus (TBAV) Utilities version 7.0 specifically for Win95, which incorporates
heuristic technology and a unique cross-platform licensing agreement. ThunderBYTE
and NETpresenter, based in the Netherlands, announced their co-operation on the
development of higher standards in corporate security. The objective is
integration of automated computer virus protection and distribution of corporate
security information. ThunderBYTE and Caravelle Networks Corporation, located in
Nepean, Ont., announced a strategic marketing and technology partnership to
integrate and promote ThunderBYTE's anti-virus technology with Caravelle's network
monitoring and notification technologies. ThunderBYTE's projected sales from
CeBIT activity are $3.75 million over the next three years.
Contact: Sandy McIntosh (613) 930-4444
Toronto MicroElectronics (TME) of Mississauga, Ont., introduced the first
commercially available Pentium single-board computer with a PCI bus integrated
SVGA controller. The company manufactures embedded computer boards for the
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) market.
Contact: Peter Nelson (905) 625-3203
Quotes
"We've made some good contacts at the show, especially from Western and Eastern
Europe and Australia. It's been very interesting for us. Equally important, we
came here to see what the competition is doing, and I've discovered we're doing
very well compared to them."
Michel Bohbot, President, New-Lab Technologies Inc., Mount Royal, Que.
"We came here to see what people want in virtual reality products so we can
provide them with the right ones. We're not really here to sell. We also wanted
to make 10 to 15 very promising contacts, and after three days at the show, we've
already met that goal."
Christian Plante, President and CEO, ANILLUSION Technologies Inc., Quebec City,
Que.
"We came to CeBIT to promote our products in Germany and have been tremendously
successful at this, and also to fill in gaps in our European reseller network.
CeBIT's been great. It's frightfully important that we're here."
Peter Cox, Border Technologies Inc., Toronto, Ont.
"Exhibiting at CeBIT is giving us fairly good exposure to Europe. I'm quite happy
we came. We came here to see what other technology providers are doing, and to
find local representation. We've received numerous inquiries about working with
companies in several countries, including Eastern Europe."
Winston Brown, Digital Dispatch Systems Inc., Richmond, B.C.
"There's a good variety of products on display at CeBIT, and the show has a strong
business orientation. We're meeting a lot of people, getting about 40 good
prospective leads a day."
Rob Davis, Mortics Kern Systems (MKS) Inc., Waterloo, Ont.
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