MONTRÉAL, October 22, 2018 – Innovation ENCQOR Inc. (“Innovation ENCQOR”), the non-profit organization charged with the governance and administration of the ENCQOR 5G initiative, is proud to announce the composition of its Board of Directors and the appointment of Germain Lamonde, Founder and Executive Chairman of EXFO Inc., as Chairman.
ENCQOR (Evolution of Networked Services through a Corridor in Québec and Ontario for Research and Innovation) is a transformational $400-million partnership with funding from five global digital technology leaders (Ericsson, Ciena Canada, Thales Canada, IBM Canada and CGI) and the governments of Canada, Québec and Ontario. Innovation ENCQOR intends to foster 5G innovation and focus on applications through close collaboration with up to one thousand Québec- and Ontario-based companies as well as universities with the support of CEFRIO and Prompt in Québec, and Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE).
“It is a privilege to be entrusted with the chairmanship of Innovation ENCQOR’s board, and I am excited about its ambitious plan to build the first Canadian pre-commercial corridor of 5G infrastructure. This project will unlock the technological promise of 5G, IoT and low-latency network applications in the near term while driving value-creation in the fast-growing digital economy across Québec, Ontario and the broader Canadian innovation system,” said Germain Lamonde, Founder and Executive Chairman of EXFO Inc., a global leader in optical testing and network assurance. “Québec, Ontario and Canada are positioning themselves at the global forefront of 5G innovation, just like they did with optics/photonics and other key telecom areas, to help local companies thrive on the world stage.”
The Board of Directors has also appointed Pierre Boucher as General Manager of Innovation ENCQOR.
“I am extremely honoured to have been appointed General Manager of Innovation ENCQOR, and to be able to coordinate the transformational ENCQOR 5G initiative that aims to put Canada at the forefront of the global scene for the development of next-generation high-speed communications technology.” said Pierre Boucher, General Manager of Innovation ENCQOR.
Innovation ENCQOR’s Board of Directors is composed of:
Voting Board Members:
- Sue Abu-Hakima, Co-Founder and CEO, Amika Mobile
- Don Aldridge, Executive Director of the High Performance Computing Viral Laboratory, Senior Adviser, Advanced Computing and Data Analytics, Queen’s University
- Frédéric Bastien, Co-founder and CEO, Mnubo
- Michèle Boisvert, Executive Vice-President, Business Outreach, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec
- Corinne Charette, Senior Fellow, Concordia University
- Nizar Ladak, President and CEO, Compute Ontario
- Germain Lamonde, Founder and Executive Chairman, EXFO
- Jonathan Milne, Community and Strategic Partnerships Director, Klipfolio
- Peter A. Barnes, Director, Product Management, CGI
- Étienne Lemieux, Business Unit Manager, IBM
- John Luszczek, Business Opportunities Leader, Ericsson
- Benoit Pelletier, Director, Business Development, Ciena
- Mark Shorey, Director, Business Strategy, Thales
- Mike Sisto, Vice-President, Sales, Eastern Canada, Ericsson
- Rodney G. Wilson, Chief Technologist, Research Networks, Ciena
Board Observers:
- Éric Dagenais, Assistant Deputy Minister, Industry Sector, Innovation, Sciences and Economic Development Canada, Government of Canada
- Philippe Dubuisson, Deputy Minister – Economics Policies, Ministère de l’économie et de l’innovation, Government of Québec
- Bill Mantel, Assistant Deputy Minister, Strategic Programs Development and Delivery Office, Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, Government of Ontario
- Tom Corr, President and CEO, Ontario Centres of Excellence
About Innovation ENCQOR
Innovation ENCQOR Inc. brings together large companies, SMEs, and academia, to contribute to the advancement of research, innovation and demonstration of applications using a pre-commercial 5G platform based on next-generation digital, information and communication technologies.
For more information, please visit www.encqor.ca
-30-
Source: Innovation ENCQOR Inc.
Media Contact:
Guillaume Ducharme
Vice-President, Communications and Corporate Affairs,
CEFRIO
t.: 418 929-0479
guillaume.ducharme@cefrio.qc.ca