With great sadness, I want to offer my tribute to John Reid, Canadian technology leader and influencer, not to mention a valued colleague and friend. John was in his 32nd year as the driving force behind the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATAAlliance) when he passed away on June 24th at the age of 69.
John Reid (Photo courtesy of CATAAlliance)
One of John’s great contributions when he joined CATA was his early support for initiatives designed to create respect and support for our small but evolving evolving high tech industry, and for the application of information technology and communications throughout our society.
Not long before John joined CATA, our Canadian Government’s Minister of Industry told me he supported the growing base of advanced technology companies but most politicians believed we were “just a few Ottawa folks trying to feather their nest” …! Those comments summarized our challenge through the seventies and the eighties.
I was CATA Board Chair at the time. To enhance our respectability, we then created the CATA National Advisory Council (CNAC), comprised of eminent Persons who were neither running high tech firms nor members of CATA. They were University presidents, business presidents … of Inco and others who used technology and eagerly became CNAC members.
Upon joining CATA as CEO, John became a big supporter of CNAC and he played a large role through the council to create Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s National Advisory Board for Science and Technology (NABST), chaired by the Prime Minister. NABST policies led to support for major new Canadian science and technology initiatives, including CANARIE Inc., the National Centres of Excellence and others. A number of CNAC members also became NABST members.
To further build support for IT systems applications and the industry, John supported the creation of The Canadian Information Productivity Awards (CIPA) in 1994 and it later became a CATA initiative. Over the next twelve years, CIPA added a lot of public credibility for ITC and the industry.
The respect and size established for CATA and the industry during John’s first sixteen CEO years allowed him to successfully focus his leadership and support over his next and last sixteen years on broader social issues like women’s roles and influence, safety and security, Smarter Cities through I-Canada and CATA’s broad positioning in the world of social media, all of which are well described by tributes from Dr Cindy Gordon and others.
We will all miss John, his humour, his leadership and his great contribution to Canada.
Many are praising John and his contributions to Canadian technology, including Sir Terence Matthews:
Sir Terence Matthews remembers John Reid from Alice Debroy on Vimeo.
The CBC reflects here on John’s accomplishments, and CATA has gathered more tributes here.