Finalists announced for Canadian Digital Media Network's Inaugural Moonshot Awards

TORONTO, April 24, 2013 /CNW/ - Today, nine Canadian digital media companies have been named finalists for the Canadian Digital Media Network (CDMN) Moonshot Awards. The inaugural year for the awards, they were created 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".

CDMN's award winners will be selected from the over 30 submissions received from across Canada. The winners will be 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.

The winners will be announced at the CDMN Canada 3.0 Conference in Toronto on May 14, 2013. The finalists are presented in four categories:

1. CDMN Digital Media Dynamic Company of the Year - This award recognizes the Canadian company demonstrating the greatest increase in productivity through the adoption of digital media.

• Magnet Forensics Inc. - developer of the Internet Evidence Finder which has allowed the world's top law enforcement, military and corporate organizations to recover evidence like instant messaging chats, social media artifacts and web history.
• Vidyard - a platform designed to help organizations embrace digital media as a central resource for all marketing initiatives and transform how businesses drive growth through video.
• TalentEgg Inc. - an online job board and career resource designed to help students and recent graduates in Canada find meaningful careers with top employers.

2. CDMN Digital Media Globalizer of the Year - 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.

• Axonify - an employee training process that is transforming the way corporate enterprise trains their employees.
• Desire2Learn - an education platform helping to transform the way the world learns by helping clients break down barriers to access the highest quality learning experiences.
• Zighra - an emerging leader in the crowd-sourced mobile authentication space that builds innovative solutions to leverage the mobile technology and crowd-sourced intelligence of consumers to reduce costs associated with fraud in high-risk and high-value transaction environments.

3. CDMN Digital Media Innovator of the Year - This award recognizes the Canadian company demonstrating the greatest degree of innovation through the adoption of digital media.

• Miovision Technologies Inc. - creates intelligent solutions to address the challenges facing today's global transportation networks through its Adaptive Signal Control, which automatically adjusts traffic signals based on real-time demand of vehicles and pedestrians.
• Voices.com - a website that connects businesses like radio and television stations, advertising agencies and Fortune 500 companies to search for, audition and hire voice actors.
• Bionik Laboratories Inc. - a state-of-the-art medical technology company that provides advanced healthcare solutions for patients with restricted physical development.

4. CDMN Digital Media Company of the Year - This award recognizes the Canadian company that made the greatest contributions to the growth of the Canadian digital media industry in 2012/2013.

• Finalists for the CDMN Digital Media Company of the Year are Desire2Learn, Vidyard, Magnet Forensics Inc., Axonify and Miovision.

In addition to CDMN's award winner presentations on May 14, CDMN Canada 3.0 is also announcing several updates to the conference program:

• Jeremy Butteriss, Director, Strategic Partnerships at Google Canada (YouTube), will present the closing keynote address on May 15
• Ticket prices are now $549 (full conference pass); $499 (not-for-profit or government pass); $299 (one-day pass); and $250 (startup or student pass)
• Girls In Tech Toronto will host the opening reception on May 13 at Turf Lounge featuring special guest speaker Claudia Hepburn, Executive Director and Co-Founder of The Next 36; Register at http://gitcanada30.eventbrite.com/
• A popular monthly event for entrepreneurs, developers, and business enthusiasts, Startup Drinks will host a networking session at Hotel Ocho on May 15

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

Ashleigh Cartier, Media Profile
416-342-1826
[email protected]