Today marks the eve of Canada’s first unofficial “National Work from Home Day.”

While this sounds like the stuff of urban legend or a blog prankster, it is actually the brain-child of Workopolis who have been working to disseminate the benefits of virtual work since they took the message to Parliament last fall. I had the fortune to participate in the event last year and I can tell you firsthand this is no laughing business. Our elected officials are doing as you’ve asked and have started to think outside the box for creative ways to address tough issues including: traffic and congestion, business competitiveness and environmental challenges.

We used to call this practice “teleworking” but that terminology is antiquated, conjuring up images of telemarketing agents and bunny slippers. We’ve replaced it with a business-friendly term that captures the practice of working where and when we’re most efficient and we’re calling it WORKshift.

As Roseabeth Moss Kanter, Harvard Business School Professor and Times of London list of 50 Most Powerful Women in the World has said

“…here’s a deceptively simple action item to put on your agenda for business growth, working families and a green future: Make it the norm for everyone to work at home at least one day a week. That single step could raise productivity, save energy, decrease pollution, reduce traffic congestion, cut household expenses, increase quality of family life, and keep educated women in the workforce."

It just so happens that Canada is a proud WORKshift leader. Consider a few of the recent successes stories:

• Calgary Economic Development (my company) which created the WORKshift program with Federal and municipal funding has worked with over 20 companies in the region. The City recently wrapped up their 2nd Annual WORKshift Week in April
• The City of Ottawa’s recent announcement to spend $20m on a mobile Workforce Solutions Project to provide mobile devices and foundation support that can be then leveraged to expand telework opportunities; and,
• The province of Quebec has launched a new program that 'certifies' employers that meet standards for encouraging work-family, where telework is  one of the options in the program.

In case you needed a more compelling argument than the old “it’s good for people and the environment and it’s great for business” (which by the way is true), perhaps the recently published WORKshift Canada: the bottom-line benefits for Telework will convince you. This report commissioned by Calgary Economic Development in partnership with the Telework Research network shows how part-time telecommuting by 4.3 million Canadians with compatible jobs and a desire to work from home could have a bottom line impact of over $53 billion per year.

Now, I don’t know about you, but when I see the word billion somewhere, you lose me- it’s just simply too big to conceptualize. Seeing this impressive data compiled into one concise document has convinced us that it’s necessary, more than ever, to work within our communities and organizations to encourage adoption of these practices in a very meaningful way. This paper not only clearly supports the bottom-line benefits for the commuter, but it also hits employers over the head with supportive facts they can no longer ignore. Every commuter in Canada should be sitting in their boss’s office tomorrow morning with this paper as a discussion point.

We want our politicians to be “fiscally conservative and socially progressive,” but we must now start holding our business leaders to those same standards. Until we “allow” high-performing Canadian employees to replace even some of their traditional commutes with one on the information highway, our country’s toughest challenges will continue to plague us.

Robyn Bews is the manager of WORKshift in Calgary.

For 55 years, Junior Achievement has been a mainstay of the Canadian business community by supporting leaders of tomorrow with learning experiences that help young people develop leadership, financial literacy, entrepreneurship and workforce readiness skills.

On May 12, TELUS announced that it will give $50 to Junior Achievement Canada for each smartphone activation by a Toronto-based business. The donation – which caps at $250,000 – is providing JA with the ability to promote and expand their youth mentorship and educational programming and increase the technology and innovation capabilities across Toronto.

We posted the first half of our interview with Matthew Sardina, JA’s chief development officer last week and complete our discussion by understanding how small businesses can get involved in their community.

Social media has grown exponentially in a very short time, yet some businesses are unsure how to optimize these tools.  Has your organization invested resources in social media as a communications tool?  What successes have you seen in this channel? 

The advantage that we have, like many other youth organizations would, is that the primary users of social media are achievers. So in some ways you could say we’re already there. What’s interesting about social media is that so much has happened so quickly. What we try to do is stay ahead of the trends and ahead of the times, but also take a responsible approach.

Our business model is bringing young people and experienced volunteer mentors together. When we look at any sort of technology or any changes in social media, the question becomes, how we participating in this space, and how are we doing it without compromise?

Business people often reference the ways in which their personal experiences inform their work. How do your personal experiences influence your professional life, or vice versa?

For me, I see it very much as a lifestyle choice, and I think if you look at the generations that we work with, the next generation of leaders, it really is a lifestyle choice in how their personal experiences and their work come together. In the last few years, we’re seeing a shift in young people towards a pursuit and search for meaningful work. They’re making choices about their lives that are connected to their values, their dreams and their general interest in making the world a better place.

I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit and Junior Achievement is an organization that nurtures entrepreneurship, not just with the youth we serve but also among our staff and our team.

What is your organizations’ greatest success in the last 12 months?  How did you make it happen?

This is a really tough question. It’s very hard to isolate one success when you look at the vast number of young people we serve. It’s easy in some ways to look at a business success or a strategic plan success, but I would be doing our youth an injustice by suggesting that that’s our success. Really it lives in the community, and it lives in every young person that we reach and that we serve every year. It’s their stories that really matter. Every day, in all parts of the country, we’re helping a young person realize their potential, achieve their dreams, and support them through mentorship they would not have otherwise received.

So, looking back at the last 12 months, I think our greatest success is still being here, and having the privilege to do the work that we do for the next 12 months.

Based on what you learned last year, what will you do differently in 2011?

We’ve been talking about globalization for years, decades, in fact, and I think that conversation is really starting to come to the surface and become a significant business driver.  This is the most globally connected generation ever. What we learned in 2011 is that we need to put that at the forefront of what we do, and of what we offer.

So as we look to 2012 and beyond, we’re really going to put global business at the forefront and ask ourselves, ‘what are the skills required for young people to be successful in global business,’ and ‘how do we use the Junior Achievement family around the world to help them achieve that.’

How can small businesses get involved with Junior Achievements?

We’re a national organization, operating in over 400 communities and reaching 10 million young people a year.  In each of those communities, there are small businesses that are helping make that community successful.  We know that small business owners care very much about their community and about growing their business.

Junior Achievement offers a wide variety of programs and experiences that small businesses can support.  We have in class and after school programs, summer camps, events, competitions.  We are always looking for volunteers and mentors, local board of directors, or sponsors for programs or events.

I would encourage any small business owner to ask how they can help and consider the mentorship and the support, guidance and encouragement you can provide a young person because you know what it takes.

To learn more about how you can support Junior Achievement, go to www.telus.com/toronto.

What’s the best advice you received as a young person and how has it impacted your business today?  Leave a comment below.

There's already a lot you need to worry about when you're traveling with your smartphone, tablet or laptop – such as keeping them powered up so they're ready for business, accidentally leaving them behind in the back of a taxi or preventing someone from snooping over your shoulder at your work.

Now you can add one more concern: free public Wi-Fi networks that are in fact "rogue" connections set up by malicious types.

"The basic idea is someone in vicinity has created a 'free Wi-Fi network' that you connect to, but in doing so, you’re allowing them to tap into your info, access your files and possibly steal your personal identity too," says Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies, a tech consultancy in Campbell, Calif.

These 'rogue' networks are really individuals – perhaps in a nearby van -- who have software to hack into your systems. And because the majority of people's laptops and other devices are not protected, they're a lot more susceptible than you think," Bajarin adds.

In fact, New York-based independent security consultant Dino A. Dai Zovi says he and a colleague, Shane Macaulay, authored a tool called KARMA to demonstrate the risk of unprotected wireless networks. "KARMA acts as a promiscuous access point that masquerades itself as a wireless network," explains Dai Zovi. "It makes the victim connect to our rogue wireless network automatically."

Rogue operators will often craft network names similar to the name of the hotel or the coffee shop where you're attempting to connect, such as "HiltonFreeWireless" or "StarbucksFreePlus," respectively. One careless click and *poof* -- your data is exposed.

So, what to do?

The first tip is to avoid free public Wi-Fi altogether, if you can. "When I go to hotel, I make sure they have a wired [Ethernet] connection,” says Bajarin. "And if I want to go wireless on my laptop or other devices in my hotel room, I bring an Airport Express with me," he adds, referring to Apple’s compact wireless router.

Or you can bring your connection via WAN-enabled laptops, USB sticks with cellular connectivity or you can create a mobile hotspot through a nearby smartphone or tablet.

If you're going to use free public Wi-Fi, be sure to have VPN (Virtual Private Network) access, says Dai Zovi. "Otherwise, everything you do can be easily monitored by anyone nearby." Citing recent Firesheep attacks, Zovi says that even password-based networks can be attacked by malicious types. Firesheep is an extension for the Firefox browser that can grab your login credentials for sites such as Facebook and Twitter. On a related note, make sure all security software on your device is updated regularly, enable firewalls and encrypt sensitive data, if possible.

Bajarin says if you must use free Wi-Fi, "get on, get what you need and get off -- and don't do any financial things until you’re back at home."

Only through secured connections and some common sense can you keep personal and professional data safe from malicious types waiting to attack through free public Wi-Fi networks.

Marc Saltzman is one of North America's most recognized and trusted technology experts. Based in Toronto, Marc currently contributes to nearly 50 publications, has authored 14 books and is the host of CTV News Channel's "Tech Talk," CNN's "Tech Time" and Cineplex's "Gear Guide" (seen in movie theatres across Canada).

For 55 years, Junior Achievement (JA) has been a mainstay of the Canadian business community by supporting leaders of tomorrow with learning experiences that help young people develop leadership, financial literacy, entrepreneurship and workforce readiness skills.

On May 12, TELUS announced that it will give $50 to Junior Achievement Canada for each smartphone activation by a Toronto-based business. The donation – which caps at $250,000 – is providing JA with the ability to promote and expand their youth mentorship and educational programming and increase the technology and innovation capabilities across Toronto.

We interviewed Matthew Sardina, JA’s chief development officer, to understand the impact Junior Achievement is having on the small business community.  This is the first of a two part series.

How do you evaluate the need for Junior Achievement within a community and how do you measure the results of your efforts over time?

Junior Achievement  is such a popular program and experience in the community, that the demand for our programs exceeds our ability to deliver them. We’ve been in operation for over 90 years worldwide and over 55 years in Canada.  When we look at the results of what we do and our mission, it really lives in the young people and the Achievers themselves, so it can be difficult to quantify our impact.

This year, we completed an impact study that was done by the Boston Consulting Group, which has been in the works for over two years, and finally demonstrates the real impact we have in quantitative terms. Not just on young people and the Achievers themselves, but on the community, on society, and on the economy overall. From keeping them in school to starting new companies and creating jobs, this is just some of the impact of JA.

What is the value for business owners or entrepreneurs in giving back to their community?

Any small business owner cares very much about the health of their local economy.  When we look at our three pillars of success, (Financial Literacy, Entrepreneurship and Work Readiness) many of the skills and experiences that we provide allows young people to realize that they can be very productive employees and citizens in their communities.

Building and contributing to your community through things like mentoring young people will have a direct impact on building their local businesses as they are helping to shape the entrepreneurial leaders and business owners of tomorrow.

Junior Achievement has been around for more than half a century. As a non-profit organization, how have you managed to maintain longevity, given the influx of organizations looking for community dollars and people/businesses having less to give?  Are you organized like a business? Is this important for a charitable organization?

Junior Achievement is a business. We are accountable to our donors, who we consider investors, because they are fundamentally building economic prosperity. Our longevity rests on the fact that our young people, who experience our programs, go on to become supporters and volunteers of our work. So we’ve almost created what you could call a virtuous circle of support. They’ve been so affected and changed by their experience that it’s their way of repaying JA, by giving back, by becoming volunteer mentors, and becoming financial supporters as well.

How have you achieved your business goals?

Our mission is always to prepare young people for their success. Our business goals are based on market principles that shift with the demands of the economy.  We want to make sure, for instance, that we’re preparing our young people to address the talent gap that’s happening right now or creating a really healthy small business community.  This is really what influences our goals every year and what defines our success.

Did technology play a role in growing your organization or making a process more efficient in the last 12 months?

Certainly technology plays a part in us being relevant by the way we share our content, engage youth, and engage our stakeholders.

Technology is also relevant in how we run our business. We have high expectations amongst supporters because we model ourselves as a business, and technology helps us to more effectively deliver on our mission. It also helps us be more effective in our accountability to donors. We have a tremendous amount of support from the corporate community, from individual donors, from past Achievers, and from many other segments of society.

Are you an achiever or participate in another successful program in your community?  If so, how has it impacted your business?  Leave a comment below.

The week in 15 Minutes, the conclusion of our two-part series with Nitin Kawale, president of Cisco Canada. Part one is here.

Nitin Kawale is responsible for all aspects of Cisco Canada's operations including sales, marketing, finance, distribution, and services.Cisco Canada employs more than 1,200 people and is a leading operation for Cisco as well as a proving ground for many of the company’s most advanced and innovative technologies.

Kawale has been an integral part of Cisco since 1995, both in Canada and globally and has served in a number of key local and international roles. His previous Cisco positions include Worldwide Sales, Strategy and Planning, where he developed and executed strategies around key issues facing the worldwide sales force. He was also the head of sales and operations for the Global Mobile Vertical team of the Worldwide Service Provider Group, where he developed and executed the global industry-specific strategy for one of Cisco's fastest growing businesses.

Question 8 - What do you envision being added over time to your core products that will expand either Cisco’s brand or its market potential?

Answer – Nitin – At Cisco we look at markets in an interesting way. We look at adjacent market – effectively new market opportunities where Cisco has the potential to be a leader for expansion – not because we just want to enter a new business, but because the adjacencies have what I would call, transformational opportunities. We want to enter markets that are in transition – changing and evolving to new business models and introducing new business function. For example, when Cisco first entered the telephony market we didn’t consider the use of PBX switches. The time was right to “disrupt” with IP telephony. When we entered the video market, it wasn’t with just another teleconferencing solution. We went in with telepresence - a radically different and disruptive approach. And now, as we enter broader computing, we come to it with a whole new approach – Unified Computing Systems, which marry computing, networking, virtualization and storage and creates a single solution.

We also looked at how technology itself can disrupt entire industries. For example, we entered the construction market because we believe the information utility must be implanted at the blueprint level, and we’re getting tremendous acceptance. If you look at the energy sector, electricity networks were designed a long time ago. We are in dire need of a “smarter” grid system to more effectively manage for more efficient resource usage. As you look at the concept of disruption in industries and technologies, you’ll continue to see Cisco expand into even more adjacent markets. We are now focused on the home because the boundaries between home and work are blurred. Home has become the workplace for many and it is transforming the way we work. As people we continually jump from being a consumer to being a business person throughout the day, and using various devices.

Question  9 - Do you foster a culture of innovation in your workplace, and if so, how?

Answer – Nitin – Absolutely. One of the things that we strive to do, regardless of where one fits in the organization, is to provide an outlet for ideas that can impact and improve the organization. We want to create an environment where ideas and innovations are encouraged and nurtured, and employees know exactly what channels are available to get their ideas heard and acted upon. It’s a culture we want to grow and one of things of which I’m proud to say we continue to do a better job. I think it’s one of the reasons we’ve been fortunate enough to be named the Number One employer in Canada in a 2011 Best Employers in Canada study by consultants Aon Hewitt. On a global level, to accelerate innovation and break down silos, we have councils and boards, which feature cross-functional and cross-geographical leadership. The structure allows us to quickly decide and act upon necessary decisions for technologies and markets.

Question 10 -  Social media has grown exponentially in a very short space of time. Yet business owners are unsure of how to optimize social media.  Has your company invested resources in social media as a communications tool, or are you waiting for a more robust success model?

Answer – Nitin – Many, years ago, Cisco recognized a trend toward consumer applications. Canadians are fully embracing the Web and online collaborative tools. In fact, Canada leads the world in social media adoption. At Cisco, we quickly created new ways to expand and utilize these tools. We created our own version of YouTube called Show and Share, which allows our employees to share, search and distribute video files. Mirroring Wikipedia, we have Ciscopedia, a comprehensive information resource for employees and built by employees. Cisco Quad is our Facebook community and collaboration platform. We’ve learned a great deal from social media success and believe it will absolutely transform the way businesses work. But, we’re not waiting. In fact, we’re pushing the envelope around utilizing social media for business benefit.

Question 11 - What book are you reading for business?

Answer – Nitin – One book that I’m finishing now is called: Outliersby Malcolm Gladwell. It caught my attention in terms of how human excellence maps into business.

Question 12 - Based on what you learned in 2010, what will you do differently in 2011?

Answer – Nitin – Last year may not have been a perfect year, but I think my most important personal lesson from 2010 was the need for and importance of driving behavioural change. Sometimes as technologists we believe that by simply putting great tools in place, things happen automatically. But you also must consider how people think and work, and how you can drive the desired behavioural change in order to really make success happen. That’s probably the most significant learning for me, if I look internally. Externally, my ‘Ah-ha’ moment came when I began to focus on how to capture the attention of Canadian business leaders and even public-sector leaders. I spoke to them about the importance of innovation and productivity for our country and the state of our standard of living. I have worked all over the world, but it is Canada where I choose to raise my family. But, my parents came to Canada from India well over 40 years ago. They came for a better way of life. But considering Canada’s declining standard of living, it’s conceivable that our children and grandchildren may go elsewhere – if this trend continues. Canada’s ability to grow productivity at a level between 3% and 5% is vital. If you can grow productivity by 5% then your standard of living doubles every 14 years. If you grow it by 3% then it doubles every 24 years. If it’s 1% then it doubles every 72 years. Canada is currently growing at the around 1% annually. Play that out over a couple of decades and it’s pretty obvious where we’ll end up – and it’s not a good place. That’s the big message I am continuing to push because as Canadians I believe we’ve been lulled into a false sense of security – of how good things are for us.

Question 13 - What do you want to be able to say about your results in 2011 if we spoke again in 12 months?

N – I hope to say that we have the ability to dramatically impact not just Cisco, but other corporations on how to utilize new technology tools for business benefit and to drive up productivity. I hope that together, with partners like Telus, we will make great strides in bringing new technologies and services into the home. I want to continue to push the whole innovation and productivity agenda across the country because it is so important.

Question 14 - What is your resolution for your business this year?

N – That we take the time to understand the cross-functional nature of our business and, more importantly, understand the parts we all play. Driving new business processes based on technologies is something I always keep my eye on. I’m not sure I would call this a resolution. Rather, it’s top of mind for me every day.

If you haven't been following the news, there's yet another techy acronym to learn: NFC.

Near-field communication, while not new, is becoming a hot buzzword among tech-savvy consumers and businesses alike, as this short-range wireless radio technology can turn a smartphone into a digital wallet – among many other uses.

Imagine a customer walks into your store, picks up a product to purchase and your sales clerk rings it up. Instead of pulling out cash or a credit card, the shopper simply swipes his smartphone near the cash register's terminal and the transaction is complete. While walking out of your shop, he swipes his smartphone against a movie poster on a nearby bus shelter and the trailer to the upcoming film is downloaded to the smartphone. He sees a friend on the street and she tells him of her new job; the two swipe smartphones to exchange up-to-date contact info.

This is the promise of NFCs – and with major smartphone platforms like BlackBerry, Android and iPhone onboard, it could be the Next Big Thing.

Note: Apple hasn't officially confirmed iPhone 5 will have NFCs, but analysts say it's more than likely.

Promising technology

Speaking of analysts, many experts agree NFC is an exciting alternative to QR codes -- but a few obstacles must be overcome before they could be deployed by the mainstream.

"NFC is the one Holy Grail-like technology most likely to make the long-held promise of the electronic wallet a reality," says Carmi Levy, a London, Ont.-based independent technology analyst. "Companies in all sectors, including retailers, financial services organizations and mobile carriers, are all salivating at the prospect of NFC-enabled smartphones that make paying for something as quick and easy as sending a text message."

Tim Bajarin, president of the Creative Strategies tech consultancy in Campbell, Calif., agrees NFC has a lot of positive buzz – especially among businesses. "There are a lot of uses for NFC -- from getting you into doors at the office, which has been around for many years, to commerce, where things really get interesting."

"Smartphones are now a ubiquitous tool we all carry on us, and NFC can turn your phone into an electronic wallet," confirms Bajarin.

Security concerns

As with all new forms of wireless connectivity, security is NFC's Achilles Heel, believes Levy. "Any time vendors add new ways to seamlessly move data on and off of a mobile device, it's only a matter of time before hackers and criminals figure out a way to exploit that new capability."

"The fact that NFC will be a staple of the next generation of smartphones -- and if you believe the rumours, the upcoming iPhone 5, which will almost certainly drive NFC mainstream -- makes it an even more likely security target, as an NFC-based attack on a smartphone opens up all sorts of avenues for identity theft," adds Levy.

NFC's saving grace, perhaps, is its relatively short range. "Because it works only within 20 centimeters [about 8 inches], it's a lot more difficult for criminals to get in position for an attack -- it's the shortest of the short-range group of wireless technologies that includes Bluetooth, and that short range limits its vulnerability somewhat."

Other obstacles

Security isn't the only challenge that could prevent NFC from catching on quickly.

Levy and Bajarin both make mention the technology lacks a unified standard. "There is no universal standard at this point, which could be another big hold up, plus it's not like you're finding terminals with NFC readers everywhere yet," says Bajarin.

"Although a number of mobile industry initiatives are currently underway, they haven't been around long enough to deliver any meaningful guidance yet," adds Levy. "That will come, but for now, NFC is a bit of a Wild West proposition in that the hardware will likely hit store shelves long before the rest of the industry is ready to deploy it in anything approaching a secure manner," says Levy.

Bajarin was asked if there are health risks in packing yet another wireless radio into our smartphone. "Conspiracy theorists would say yes, but there have been no reports of health issues related to the wireless technology."

Integrating NFC

Bajarin says the easiest way for small businesses to get going is to talk to your existing transaction terminal vendor about NFC. "If you're, say, a retailer, you need to research the cost to rent terminals with a NFC reader."

"I'd start by asking your existing credit or debit terminal vendor if they support NFC and if so, what standards are they backing and what banks are they working with," says Bajarin.

Because NFC doesn't require a PIN code, company employees with a lost or stolen NFC-based smartphone should immediately notify their bank to freeze the account -- and/or remotely wipe the device's data -- so that someone can't use the smartphone to shop freely.

Marc Saltzman is one of North America's most recognized and trusted technology experts. Based in Toronto, Marc currently contributes to nearly 50 publications, has authored 14 books and is the host of CTV News Channel's "Tech Talk," CNN's "Tech Time" and Cineplex's "Gear Guide" (seen in movie theatres across Canada).

The week in 15 Minutes, we'll begin a two-part series with Nitin Kawale, president of Cisco Canada.

Nitin Kawale is responsible for all aspects of Cisco Canada's operations including sales, marketing, finance, distribution, and services. Cisco Canada employs more than 1,200 people and is a leading operation for Cisco as well as a proving ground for many of the company’s most advanced and innovative technologies.

Kawale has been an integral part of Cisco since 1995, both in Canada and globally and has served in a number of key local and international roles. His previous Cisco positions include Worldwide Sales, Strategy and Planning, where he developed and executed strategies around key issues facing the worldwide sales force. He was also the head of sales and operations for the Global Mobile Vertical team of the Worldwide Service Provider Group, where he developed and executed the global industry-specific strategy for one of Cisco's fastest growing businesses.

This is part one of the interview.

Question 1. What's your favourite new technology?

Answer - Nitin –The first is, obviously, the phenomenon we’re seeing around tablet computers and how these are not only changing the consumer but also the enterprise space. I think these devices have captured people’s imaginations in terms of what’s possible. We have our own version called the Cisco Cius, which we’re excited about. But what’s really going to enable computing end devices in an exciting way lies in the background - cloud computing.

Cloud computing makes the network the computer. When you couple tablet systems with cloud computing, it’s going to dramatically change how we live, work, play and learn. Without a doubt, the marriage of these technologies is the most exciting innovation in technology happening today and it is my personal favourite.

Question 2. Successful business people often reference the ways in which their personal experiences enrich how they work. Is this true for you when it comes to technology and if so, how?

Answer - Nitin –Video is a great example. Whether it comes to sharing ideas, having conversations, collaborating or simply doing video chat sessions with my kids, video has become a routine part of my personal and professional life. For many years I travelled the world with Cisco. During those times I had three small children and it was important that they knew where I was, what I was doing and, most importantly, how I was doing. That was made possible through Web-based tools. Simple things like using a webcam kept all of us connected.  I might hear them say, ‘look, daddy’s in Hong Kong, here’s Hong Kong harbour’ or ‘here he is in Mumbai.’ Using simple tools and technologies showed my kids the power of video.

When Cisco aggressively moved into the greater utilization of video it was a no-brainer for me and the leadership team to embrace, adopt and accelerate business video. It has dramatically changed the way we work and has increased our productivity. It is a tremendous illustration of how to translate personal experiences into business activities.

Question 3. Did technology play a role in growing your business in the last 12 months? And, if so, how?

Answer – Nitin – Absolutely it has. One of the things we constantly focus on is how to significantly raise productivity while also ensuring our people maintain a work-life balance. We equip people with complete home/office environments, allowing and encouraging them to work with a complete set of business resources – as they would in the office. Now they can have the business tools they need where and how they want.

Layer business video on top of that – things like telepresence, multimedia collaborative tools, and social media – and we not only gain the benefits of cost reduction, but we dramatically improve business processes. We can deconstruct old business processes and reconstruct them based on new technologies, which raise productivity and improve innovation, employee and customer satisfaction. The way we work today at Cisco and the way we worked only a short time ago are dramatically different.

Question 4. If you could invent a technology to solve a current business problem that you personally experience, what is the problem and what would the technology do to solve it?

Answer – Nitin – If I consider our organization, and I suspect other enterprises likewise share my view, I conclude that technology doesn’t solve everything. There is more than enough technology to solve most challenges in business. What’s essential is business-process and human behavioural change. If there was such a thing as a technology that could drive human behavioural change quicker and easier, well I’m all for it. We all have ways in which we prefer to work and transitioning to a different and better way often takes a long time. Consider business process change from the perspective of employees who need to effect that change, and realize the productivity gain, greater efficiency and ultimately employee satisfaction. Adoption is more likely to successfully happen if those things are apparent. The  real trick is to shut down old processes so that newer processes can be completely embraced and adopted. Behavioral change is critical to that happening, but it is the hard part.

Question 5. Does your team as a whole know how to maximize the use of technologies, which are key to your business processes? What is your best training 'tip'?

Answer – Nitin – I’m certain that our team absolutely understands how to utilize technology for business benefits. I think my best training tip is to suggest that as you migrate to new processes, it is absolutely necessary to turn off old processes. If that doesn’t happen then the cost becomes accretive as do the efforts to maintain new processes, which only adds to everyone’s workload.

Let me illustrate through the simple example of Cisco’s travel costs. We previously had people shuttling back and forth between Montreal and Toronto. We asked ourselves, ”Why?” There are smart people in both cities, yet people continue to fly back and forth to solve customer and internal problems. When we introduced Cisco TelePresence into those two cities, we mandated  that travel for internal meetings should not happen. That decision compelled people to use technology to collaborate with remote colleagues. The result was that our cost structure around travel was dramatically reduced, and it also drastically improved our ongoing business processes. You need to have the management discipline to turn off old processes and drive adoption of new ones.

Question 6. In your position, are you aware of technology that has yet to come to mass market, but that you believe will eventually emerge and change lives?

Answer – Nitin – Absolutely! That’s the exciting part of our business – and what gets us excited each day. There are technologies in trials or that have been released in other parts of the world, which we are working to bring to Canada with service provider partners. For example, technology in the home is going to change dramatically. It’s already changed over the last few years. Today we have wireless access, IP telephones, set-top boxes and gaming devices that are more and more intelligent. And we have new entertainment and media distribution devices. All of these new services and technologies will require greater management – and that’s an opportunity.

Also consider energy conservation and the smart grid. Intelligent devices, like the Cisco Home Energy Controller and Cisco Network Mediator for larger buildings, allows you to manage and monitor energy use. We have new partnerships with Mike Holmes and the Holmes Group as well as others focused on changing construction standards and the way homes are built and designed. It will make a huge difference to sustainable living.

Then there is TelePresence for the home – a set-top box technology we call Cisco umi – that will use high definition televisions for home-telepresence sessions. The technology is absolutely fabulous – vastly beyond what a webcam can deliver. It will change the home and how entertainment, healthcare, educational, personal and professional services are consumed in the home. Video technology will allow us to dramatically change these services so we move from, not just having a connected home, but to living in a smart and connected community. It’s just around the corner. In fact, we have projects in Smart and Connected Communities all around the world. It’s coming to Canada and will bring a sort of Jetsons’ vision to our everyday life.

Question 7.  We've seen an incredible wave of innovation over the past 20 years. How would you describe the current state of innovation?

Answer – Nitin – I believe we are poised for a cycle of innovation, unlike the world has ever seen before. We often find that innovation cycles accelerate during challenging economic periods, and innovation has a compounding effect that fosters even more innovation. Think about how people collaborate around the world, using social media to create conversations and effect change. That brings to mind a quote from Thomas Friedman’s book, The World is Flat, where he said: ‘What can be done, will be done. Will you do it or will it be done to you?’ I think that sums up what’s happening today - if it’s in the realm of the possible, it’s going to get done fairly quickly. And, I find that exciting.

But when we look at Canada, I think a lot of people are concerned about the poor level of innovation and productivity happening in our country. We have a huge challenge ahead. The OECD ranks us 14^thin innovation and productivity. We’re 18^thin the world in the ability to absorb information through communication technology. That’s a frightening statistic because that puts us in the bottom of the G20. But as little as 10 or 12 years ago we were near the top. We Canadians have work to do if we’re to stay global competitive and not become a mere resource for the rest of the world. I think we can absolutely do it - government and major corporations are on the right track, but we ALL need to act and act quickly.

In Part 2 with Nitin Kawale: Driving behavioural change. New market opportunities. Look for it here at TELUS Talks Business on May 18.

My name is Evan Carmichael and I believe that the fastest and most effective way to build a business is to model the strategies of people who have already done what you’re trying to do. I call it Modeling the Masters. My last post was: How to Grow, Be Opportunistic, and Ignore Your Critics Like Robert Johnson (B.E.T. Founder)

Today we're going to look at how a young man, orphaned as a teenager, turned his love of aviation and created a multi-billion dollar fortune. This is the story of Howard Hughes and the top 3 lessons that you can learn from his success.

Must Watch Video

"I intend to be the greatest golfer in the world, the finest film producer in Hollywood, the greatest pilot in the world, and the richest man in the world." - Howard Hughes

Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American industrialist, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, philanthropist, and was one of the wealthiest people in the world.

When Hughes was a teenager he lost both his parents and was left with a family inheritance from money his father made by selling his inventions. Ever ambitious he was quoted as saying “I intend to be the greatest golfer in the world, the finest film producer in Hollywood, the greatest pilot in the world, and the richest man in the world.”

Hughes aggressively pursued business interests in Hollywood films, airlines, and hotels and casinos to expand his empire. He managed to turn his $1 million inheritance into a $2 billion fortune. Equivalent to $6.6 billion in today’s dollars, Howard Hughes was and still would be considered one of the richest men in the world.

Action Item #1: Surround Yourself With the Best

As entrepreneurs we can't do everything ourselves and need to recognize what we're good at and what we need to delegate to others to help us with. Getting the right team in place is one of the most important tasks you'll ever do as a business owner.

After inheriting his father's company as a teenager, Hughes recognized that he didn't have the knowhow to run the business and looked for someone who could. He hired 36 year-old Noah Dietrich to be his accountant and right-hand man on a $10,000 a year salary. For the next three decades, Dietrich eventually became director, vice-president and CEO of various branches of Hughes’ empire.

According to Robert Maheu, a chief advisor to Hughes: "Dietrich was delivering Howard profits of $50 to $55 million a year. Big bucks in those days."

Action Item #2: Don't Give Up On Your Goals

Whatever your goals are for your business you need to keep attacking them until you accomplish them. Forget about what other people say and that the odds might be stacked against you. Take consistent action every day until you reach your targets and believe that you can do it.

The Hughes H-4 Hercules was the world's largest flying boat, the largest aircraft made from wood and had the biggest wingspan of any aircraft ever built. It was contracted by the U.S. government to transport troops across the Atlantic to avoid German U-boats in the Second World War. Nicknamed the "Spruce Goose" it was three times the size of the largest plane ever previously built. Nobody thought Hughes would ever get it off the ground but he kept pushing towards his goal despite the naysayers.

According to Hughes: “This thing was a black sheep. Nobody wanted to fool around with it or become contaminated by it. We were working in a complete vacuum as to information based upon prior performance and prior design... I defy anyone today to design an airplane substantially more efficient than this one for its purpose."

Action Item #3: Be Hands On

Being an active part of your business is crucial to its success. You need to know when to hire people but you also need to know  what your job is and show people that you're dedicated to doing it and inspire them to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.

With some of the best people in the industry working for him, Hughes could have chosen to distance himself from the goings on of his various enterprises. But, instead, Hughes chose to be hands-on, involving himself in even the smallest of details. He would personally test fly all the planes that he helped design. He often even put his own life at risk to involve himself and improve his product. He was also, for the most part, adored by his staff, who appreciated his hands-on approach and were inspired by his dedication and enthusiasm.

According to Hughes: “If I have made a mistake in the design, then I’m the one who should pay for it. I certainly would not ask somebody else to fly a plane if I were afraid to do it myself.”

True Story

Hughes' love of flying first began when he attended a Yale-Harvard boat race with his father. After his father lost a bet that Harvard would win, the 14 year-old Hughes was promised anything he wanted. While his dad proposed buying him his own boat, Hughes Jr. asked to fly in the old broken down seaplane anchored in front of their hotel. With the plane’s old age and its corroded wires, Hughes’ father’s initial response was no, but Hughes Jr. proved so persistent that he could not be denied. “He finally gave in,” said Hughes. “This was the very first contact I had with flying.” Throughout his career, many more were forced to ‘give in’ to Hughes’ desires.

More Quotes

"I intend to be the greatest golfer in the world, the finest film producer in Hollywood, the greatest pilot in the world, and the richest man in the world."

"I certainly would not ask somebody else to fly a plane if I were afraid to do it myself."

"The trouble with my life is that I do not think I am cut out to sit behind a desk."

What Do You Think?

Have you hired people to surround yourself with? Are you hands on with your business? What part Howard Hughes' message impacted you the most? As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts if you leave a comment below!

Evan Carmichael

To learn more check out my list of Howard Hughes articles or my website, EvanCarmichael.com.

Yesterday marked my sixth TELUS Annual General Meeting. This is the first in memory in Hogtown and it provided a detailed bird’s-eye view on what we, as a team, are doing in this market.

There are more than 5,200 team members in the GTA including leaders Joe Natale, EVP and Chief Commercial Officer and Eros Spadotto, EVP Technology Strategy, and we’ve invested $20.1 billion in technology and operations in Ontario since 2000.

In the community specifically, we've:

• Contributed $9.8 million to charitable and community organizations in Toronto since 2000
  
• provided 198,836 volunteer hours charities and community organizations Ontario since 2000
  
• donated $600,000 to 37 community projects by the TELUS Toronto Community Board in 2010 alone
  

On paper, it’s hard to translate exactly how the time and dollars make a difference to kids and families who need it here in Toronto and the GTA. But stay with us over the next month when we’ll look at TELUS Day of Giving (May 28) our national volunteering day, and the TELUS Walk to Cure Juvenile Diabetes. They're favourite days for many of us on the TELUS team.

Photo: Rebecca Young, senior event marketing manager, community investment and engagement, with TELUS Talks Business correspondent Tasha Caruso, at the TELUS AGM tradeshow.

In business today on the AGM tradeshow floor, our tablet specialist, Hein Le, was fielding questions about how to tether a BlackBerry to a PlayBook (very simple!) and how the security protocol works. At the Optik TV display, product manager Jackie Winterfield wowed us with the ability to watch TV and Facebook at the sametime. Also, those photos that live on Facebook look awesome on the big screen (Facebook on Optik lets you play photos as a slideshow).

Photo: Hein Le with a PlayBook at the tablets station, TELUS AGM, Toronto.

Photo: Jackie Winterfield, TELUS manager of products and services, demonstrates Optik TV at the AGM. Optik TV counted more than 350,000 customers this year, up 80% over last year.

Our full Q1 results are available here. For more details on the AGM, Tasha's post on Flexible Work is available here.

The Sony PlayStation security breach has been on the front page for days. As of Monday, Sony admitted that the breach impacts more than 100 million users worldwide, and the company is now facing a lawsuit for providing inadequate security for customer information, as well as for waiting too long to disclose the breach. In addition to the lawsuit, US Senator Richard Blumenthal wrote an open letter to the President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) 'demanding answers' about why they failed to inform customers in a timely manner (Sony only informed customers about the data breach last week, after forensic investigations confirmed the breach).

Yes, those in the security industry certainly understand that forensic procedures can be lengthy and involve Legal Counsel and litigation protection measures - especially in a case of this magnitude. However what does not help the company's position is the fact that the disclosure timeline also coincides with the unveiling of their new S1 and S2 tablets. The bad news came out hours after the new devices were officially launched, and some observers are raising questions around this coincidence.

Consider the security and compliance implications of the Sony PS breach, including the number of consoles connected to the Internet, many of which use credit card data to acquire movies and games.

To try to quantify the damage caused by this incident, let's just speculate that for each of the 100+ million users affected the company could spend an average of $3-$5 in a number of ways (this is probably a very low figure).

The costs can include the litigation procedures and potential compensation to customers, credit monitoring to the customers impacted, the cost of shutting down the PlayStation Network and Qriocity services until the investigation is complete and the company is assured that the network is safe again (how long before users actually believe that, and come back?), the cost of the investigation (forensic discovery services are among the most expensive in the security industry given the highly specialized skill sets, the sensitivity of the findings, and the technology involved). Compound those costs with potential post-breach share devaluation, brand and reputational damage, questions around the new tablets potentially using the same or similar technology which can be vulnerable to the same attacks... and the list goes on.

But what happened with Sony? Doesn't the company spend millions of dollars in its IT infrastructure, including data security and privacy controls?

Of course it does. In the past Sony has invested heavily to protect itself from its own users, who tried (and succeeded) in hacking the PS system to bypass the proprietary software licensing controls. Surely, the company hires competent talent to protect customer data, and has a security program in place. The fact is, until the forensic procedures are complete and the legal advisors are satisfied with how the outcomes will be communicated to the public, there will be a lot of speculation.

It already started. One 'doomsday/worst-case' scenario (albeit an interesting one) considers the attack targeting the low-level software controlling the PS consoles. This attacker could then take control of millions of Sony devices connected to the Internet, establishing one of the largest botnets in the world, with each bot or 'zombie' being a supercomputer with 6 to 9 high-performance cores running at 3.2 GHz, plus an Nvidia GPU. This aggregation would represent a *massive* amount computational power. Interesting.

Since we want to avoid empty speculation, and we are exploring the topic of information security in the gaming industry, I would like to end this post with some food for thought on a slightly different, but very real issue: think for a moment about commercial transactions inside 'virtual life' games.

This is where millions of users spend several hours per day living virtual lives. They can acquire virtual goods, information or even virtual 'real estate' with real currency. They can also buy and sell real goods with digital currency, or just exchange the two with other players or the system's intelligent control. Now, who's paying the taxes on real goods sold, or currency exchange? What about the huge potential for money laundering? Can these transactions be traced? Which law enforcement agency has jurisdiction over virtual space? What other services are being sold there?

Virtual worlds and the gaming industry are another undiscovered territory to be explored, charted and, maybe one day, regulated. It presents its own challenges around data security and privacy, because when regulations exist they are limited by geographical jurisdiction, and a common framework on international or supranational privacy law is still beyond us.

Rafael Etges is the Director of information security solutions at TELUS.

In case you missed last week's Telus Talk Business 'Best Productivity Apps for Smartphone Owners' column, we highlighted many of our favourite free productivity-focused downloads for smartphone users – covering all the major platforms, such as BlackBerry, iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 7.

But to quote infomercial guru Ron Popeil: "But wait, there's more!"

Why settle for eight recommended apps when you can have 18?

And so the following are ten more free or inexpensive smartphone apps that can help you stay connected, organized and productive while on the go.

Magic pocket

Create one central and secure place to hold all your "stuff" and access it all on multiple devices – this is the idea behind Dropbox (for BlackBerry, iPhone, iPad and Android), the increasingly popular cloud solution to storing, accessing and sharing your digital life while on the go. Instead of emailing your info or media from one device to another, or physically copying it onto a disc or USB key, you can wirelessly upload or download your documents – and even stream music and movies right from Dropbox. Similarly, instead of clogging someone's inbox with a huge file, send them a link to access what they need. The basic (2GB) account is free, but you can upgrade to 50GB or 100GB for $9.99/month or $19.99/month, respectively.

Time saver

Add up all the time you spend searching online for something – especially when looking for local businesses, a retailer's hours of operation or where to park at a nearby office tower. Poynt – for BlackBerry, iPhone, Android and Windows Phone 7 – is an easy-to-use but powerful tool that helps you find what you want, quickly and accurately. Your phone's GPS or Wi-Fi means you don’t need to specify location – this digital concierge will find that nearby Japanese restaurant for you when you're craving sushi in a new city (and can map your route there, too). Poynt also serves as a mobile version of your white pages, including reverse look-up by name or address.

Putting the face in Facebook

If your company doesn't have a social media strategy, it should. Being on these highly-populated sites lets you interact with your customers, hear what's on their mind and connect with them in a personal and meaningful way. Plus, if you're not on social media sites, your competitors are. Facebookis easily the most popular social network in the world – with more than 500 million monthly active users, of which 50 percent log on daily – and therefore is a must-have for smartphone users. It's ideal for your employee(s) responsible for your company's presence on Facebook or to communicate with colleagues, clients and customers directly. Read or post status updates, send and view messages and wall posts, and perhaps offer contests to your customers to help increase your brand awareness.

Stay organized

All smartphone have a basic calendar, but mobile works with busy schedules could likely benefit from a more robust offering. One of the highest-rated calendar apps is CalenGoo ($6.99; for iPhone and Android), which is unique in that it also gives you access to your online Google Calendar. It also works when you have no Internet connection; any changes made on your mobile device are saved and uploaded the next time you're online. With its multiple calendar views, alarm modes and online synchronization, CalenGoo is a handy tool to help stay organized.

Pro on the go

Ideal for industries such as real estate, business services, finance or manufacturing, SalesNOWis a powerful Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool for on-the-go BlackBerry and iPhone owners. Track sales activity by keeping tabs on calls, visits, emails, signed deals and keeping an eye on the sales pipeline – all on your smartphone or Internet-connected PC (info is updated and accessible on both platforms). If you're in charge of your company's sales force, easily manage your teams in real-time, plus you can view graphs and sales reports, or export the data to Microsoft Excel. This is a free 30-day free trial of the software – after that, it's $19.95 per month.

ThinkFree Office Mobile

Leave your laptop at home. ThinkFree Office Mobilefor Android (free to try, $21.99 to buy) is a productivity tool that lets you create, view and edit many Microsoft Office files on your device – including Word (documents), Excel (spreadsheets) and PowerPoint (presentations) – plus the app supports formatting, embedded images, in-app emailing, and more. ThinkFree Office Mobile is also an effective PDF viewer, too, and works with ThinkFree Online's storage service (with Google Docs integration) to store files in the cloud, which you can access on multiple mobile devices or computers.

On the road again

There's nothing more stressful than finding yourself in bad traffic while en route to a meeting with an important client, customer or colleague. Thankfully, those in major Canadian and U.S. cities can benefit from the newly updated BlackBerry Traffic, a free GPS-based app from Research in Motion that predicts your arrival time by taking into account the real-time traffic conditions on your route. Bypass rush-hour congestion, accidents or construction – and quickly email, text or PIN your estimated time of arrival (ETA) with others. And hey, even if you're a tad late you'll impress them with this little-known tool. Requirements include a GPS-equipped BlackBerry, data plan with web browser functionality and the BlackBerry Maps app.

Say what?

Future Apps' Speak It!($1.99; for iPhone) is a smart text-to-speech application that can talk to you in a human-like voice. Simply drag and drop emails, meeting minutes, articles, websites or any other text into the window, select a male or female voice (U.S. or UK accent) and kick back on the airplane or cab ride while listening to the high-quality voice talk to you – even with your eyes closed, if you prefer. Along with the ability to adjust the speed and volume of the spoken text, you can also save these audio clips and replay them as often as you like. Now you can help prepare for an important presentation -- while waiting for your luggage.

Lost and found

Apple recently announced it is now offering a free service for iPhone 4, to help users locate their missing device. Previously a feature in the $109/year MobileMe service, the Find My iPhone app is now no charge to users, so if your smartphone is lost or stolen, simply download the free app on another iOS device (such as an iPad or fourth-generation iPod touch) and to see the missing device on a map, have it ring loudly (in case it's under a pile of clothes) or type a message on the screen, such as "Please call 555-416-1212." If there's sensitive company info on the smartphone you can also remotely wipe it clean. You can also locate the phone and perform these other features at ME.com.

Trip over this

A handy app for keeping track of all your travel itineraries, the free TripIt for Android smartphones lets you forward all your confirmation emails for flights, hotels, rental cars, and such, and TripIt will automatically organize them into detailed summaries with confirmation codes and other information. Once it's on your phone you can get instant access to all the trip info you need – including links, phone numbers and maps/directions to airlines, hotels, rental places and restaurants -- directly from your itinerary. You can also dial phone numbers on your Android phone right from within the TripIt itinerary.

Marc Saltzman is one of North America's most recognized and trusted technology experts. Based in Toronto, Marc currently contributes to nearly 50 publications, has authored 14 books and is the host of CTV News Channel's "Tech Talk," CNN's "Tech Time" and Cineplex's "Gear Guide" (seen in movie theatres across Canada).

Are there productivity apps you want to shout to the world? Leave a comment here at TELUS Talks Business.