CDMN Announces 2013 Moonshot Award Winners

TORONTO, May 14, 2013 /CNW/ - Today, the Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN) announced the winners of the inaugural CDMN Moonshot Awards. The four winning Canadian digital media companies were honoured at CDMN's Canada 3.0 conference, taking place today and tomorrow at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

The Awards, presented in four categories, were developed to recognize Canadian companies that create jobs and wealth for Canada through innovation in digital media. The Moonshot Awards also acknowledge companies that contribute to the Canada 3.0 "Moonshot Goal: that anyone can do anything online by the year 2017."

The Honourable Reza Moridi, Minister of Research and Innovation, was on hand to congratulate the companies. "The Moonshot awards recognize trailblazing companies who are pushing boundaries and boosting the economy with innovation in digital media. I was pleased to see so many companies from Ontario among the nominees, and proud that the four winning digital media firms are based in Ontario. I want the world's next biggest tech company to be built here — and I know we'll get there thanks to innovators like those recognized by these awards."

The winners were selected from 15 finalists from more than 30 submissions from across Canada. "It was an incredibly tough decision," said Dr. Kevin Tuer, CDMN Managing Director and Awards Judge. "The innovation and technological creativity coming out of Canada is truly inspiring. It's critical that we continue fostering and recognizing the abundance of talent in Canada with awards like these."

The CDMN Digital Media Dynamic Company of the Year award was presented to Magnet Forensics Inc., developer of the Internet Evidence Finder, used by the world's top law enforcement, military and corporate organizations to recover digital evidence like instant messaging chats, social media artifacts and web history. The award was accepted by Jad Saliba, Founder and CTO, and Adam Belsher, CEO. This award recognizes the Canadian company demonstrating the greatest increase in productivity through the adoption of digital media.

The CDMN Digital Media Globalizer of the Year award was presented to Axonify, an employee training process that is transforming the way corporate enterprises train their employees. This award recognizes a Canadian company that demonstrates the greatest increase in international sales, investments or other contributions to the growth of the Canadian digital media industry internationally.

The CDMN Digital Media Innovator of the Year award was presented to Miovision Technologies, an intelligent solution to address the challenges facing today's global transportation networks, accomplished through its Adaptive Signal Control, which automatically adjusts traffic signals based on real-time demand of vehicles and pedestrians. The award was accepted by Kevin Madill, Co-Founder of Miovision Technologies. The award recognizes the Canadian company demonstrating the greatest degree of innovation through the adoption of digital media.

Finally, the CDMN Digital Media Company of the Year award was presented to Desire2Learn, also nominated in the Globalizer of the Year category. The award was accepted by Dennis Kavelman, Chief Operating Officer. The award recognizes the Canadian company that made the greatest contributions to the growth of the Canadian digital media industry in 2012/2013.

"The winning companies and all of those nominated clearly demonstrate the creativity and competitiveness of Canadian digital media companies both at home and globally," said Sid Paquette, Director at OMERS Ventures and a Moonshot Awards judge. "At OMERS Ventures we believe in the development of valuable intellectual property to create prosperity for future generations. The Moonshot Awards provide much-deserved recognition for talented companies who are achieving this goal by creating jobs and wealth, and contributing to Canada's profile in the ICT and mobile sectors."

"It was great to be a judge on the Moonshot Awards - an awesome testament to the fact that there are a lot of exciting innovative Canadian companies out there. Our panel had a tough time selecting between the qualified opportunities," said Terry Stuart, Deloitte Canada's Chief Innovation Officer and Moonshot Awards judge. "One of the really important awards was the Globalizer of the Year rewarding companies that expand beyond our borders."

The Award winners were determined by a panel of expert judges including Kevin Newman, CTV Host, W5 Correspondent and Founder of New Man Media; Sid Paquette, Director at OMERS Ventures; Terry Stuart, Deloitte Canada's Chief Innovation Officer; April Dunford, RocketScope Managing Director and Founder; and Dr. Kevin Tuer, CDMN Managing Director.

About the Canadian Digital Media Network
The Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN), a federal Centre of Excellence in Commercialization and Research, is dedicated to establishing Canada as a world leader in digital media (ICT + mobile) by creating and enabling connections and collaboration between entrepreneurs, companies, research institutes, government and intermediary organizations across the country.  CDMN helps bring more digital media solutions to market to create more companies, jobs and wealth in Canada.

Together, the Network provides access to the knowledge, connections, services and support that digital media companies need to successfully innovate and market themselves at home and abroad. Major initiatives include an exclusive online national collaboration platform; an online Research Portal that provides one-stop access to important information about key digital media issues; the CDMN Soft-Landing Program to drive Canadian success globally; National Tour events enable companies to go global; and CDMN Canada 3.0, Canada's only national digital media conference focused on the commercialization of innovation. Learn more at www.cdmn.ca or follow @CDMN on Twitter, join the Canadian Digital Media Network Group on LinkedIn, and like the Canadian Digital Media Network Page on Facebook.

SOURCE: The Canadian Digital Media Network

Jeri Brown, Media Profile
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