The All New CompTIA Canadian Business Technology Community

With more than 1,100 individuals committed to promoting the expansion and growth of Canada’s $160 billion technology industry, the CompTIA Canadian Business Technology (CBT) Community helps businesses thrive through networking and thought leadership, as well as being a platform to connect with likeminded IT professionals experiencing similar challenges and opportunities. So, what has the CBT Community done for the industry lately? Here’s a look at what we’ve been up to, where we’re headed and how we can help serve your business.

A New Identity

After taking a long look in the mirror, the CBT Community realized it was overdue for change. In order to become the Canadian community of tomorrow, we had to pivot and create a new identity. As with any structure, whether a physical or organizational, when building from the ground up, you start with the foundation—the advisory board.

The CBT restructured its advisory board and appointed key board members for 2019. Ranging from industry future leaders to industry legends, these members represent 13 of Canada’s best and newest voices. Beginning our year with a visit to CompTIA’s headquarters in February, the newly formed advisory board rolled up their sleeves and started working.

A New Direction

Charlie Atkinson, president, The Winning Practice, and vital member of the CBT advisory board, shares his thoughts on where the community is heading.

Up, up and away! Let’s face it, the pace of digital disruption is unprecedented in our time. Cloud, big data and mobility have lit a veritable wildfire of innovation leading to augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles, blockchain, 5G and quantum computing. We have opportunities and challenges that are exciting and unfathomable at the same time. CompTIA’s Canadian Business Technology Community needs to come together to harness the power of change to drive Canadian innovation and propel our economy, digitally. The vast resources of CompTIA can be a force multiplier to help our industry enable Canadian business to prosper and thrive!

With that in mind, the goal of the CBT Community is to be the forward-thinking voice of the Canadian technology industry and those who influence the adoption of technology. CBT is squarely focused on understanding the active forces at work in today’s market, and how this will shape the technology industry and Canadian society of tomorrow. The purpose statement built by the advisory board shows the ambitious scope that CBT has in mind:

• Elevate the awareness of the CBT Community by restoring the impact, relevance and luster to the Canadian brand.
• Be a connector and the trusted advisors in and across the industry at all levels.
• Help the industry transition to new ways of working with technology.
• Maintaining a solid CompTIA CBT Community mantra of “Advancing the Business of Technology.”
• Hold purpose-based, outcome-focused events and community meetings.
• Build a vendor-neutral community of interest for everyone to leverage.

A New Vision

Once the CBT advisory board determined the new identity of the community, they got to work on a new vision for 2019 and through this process outlined our key pillars and objectives, all designed to best serve the broad Canadian business ecosystem. These pillars are: Advancing Business, Emerging Technologies, and Inclusive Leadership Education and Training.

These will serve as the themes for our face-to-face and virtual meetings throughout the year. However, determining the pillars for year one was only part of the story. We needed objectives—a specific list of tactics outlining exactly how we were going to change the perception of the CBT community.

Objectives

1. Brand Refresh – first and foremost, a brand refresh was in order. This is a two-pronged approach. First, with the CBT being 15+ years old, we are rolling out refreshed branding, a refreshed vision and everything in between. Second, to add substance to the brand refresh, we are building out a strong list of benefits to offer Canadian tech businesses. It’s time we stop being the industry’s best kept secret and be loud and proud!
2. Quarterly Face-to-Face Meetings – CBT will be hosting quarterly meetups for the community to come together to learn, share, network and participate in workshops that directly contribute to the health of the community. Our upcoming meetings are listed below:
   • June 6, 2019
   • August 5, 2019 at ChannelCon
   • November – TBD
3. Quarterly Virtual Meetings – We want to continue and extend the conversation with interactive virtual meetings. These virtual meetings will serve to complement the face-to-face meetings and provide a deep dive into specific topics. Virtual meetings will be interactive and open for all CBT members.
   • Next virtual meeting is May 23
4. Online Forums – With our newly energized LinkedIn CBT workgroup, it’s easy to instantly connect and share ideas with other members. Connect today!
5. Strategic Partnerships – We’re expanding our reach and teaming up with some of the largest communities and organizations in Canada to bring you new perspectives on the industry, hold joint meetups and provide networking opportunities with new faces.
6. Member Growth and Resource Consumption – We’re recruiting new members and pushing out new content through social media campaigns and newsletters.

How can we best serve your business?

CompTIA currently produces insightful industry research, relevant content, education, training and certifications, networking events and more. The reality is, CompTIA needs to expand our reach among Canadian tech companies to let our members know what we have to offer and how we can help their businesses. It is our community’s mission to let our collective voices be heard, and this means getting as many people as possible from our industry involved to help shape our digital transformation in Canada. Join the CBT Community today