Communicasia Product Showcase III: Canadian companies in alternate energy, mobile services, Internet safety, and customer experience management

In earlier columns on the Communciasia Expo in Singapore, we presented photo galleries of some of the booths and hardware products as well as emerging companies and software products from the UK, Australia and Thailand.

In this showcase we will look at companies from Canada, covering alternate energy, mobile services, Internet safety, customer experience management, and m-health. Canada is well known as a tech hub with proximity to the US, and a product innovator in its own right.

Many Canadian companies have offerings in French and English, and are spreading their wings across the world from the Americas to Asia. What is your Canada strategy – is it a beach-head for the US, or can you partner with these companies for your local market?

1. Ballard Power Systems http://www.ballard.com/

Ballard is a specialist in hydrogen fuel cell products, promoting clean energy solutions. They have been deployed in modules powering zero-emission bus fleet in Aberdeen, Scotland. The company is a pioneer in PEM (proton exchange membrane) fuel cell technology. The company claims to have designed and shipped close to 150 MW of hydrogen fuel cell technology to date. In addition to products, Ballard offers engineering services, fuel cell material handling, and fleet services. It has alliances with Daimler AG and Ford Motor Company.

2. BTI Systems http://www.btisystems.com/

BTI Systems is a Canadian communications company offering cloud networking, data centre solutions, metro networking and mobile backhaul. It helps corporate clients explore new business models to increase revenue growth and boost margins. BTI enables companies better manage network resources, accelerate new service delivery and deliver service innovation. Its OEM partners include Fujitsu Network Communications. BTI covers fibre as well as mobile operator solutions in backhaul networks.

3. Clio https://www.goclio.com

The founders of this legal services startup met at school in Edmonton, Canada – and remained friends and partners though their earlier ventures failed. Their new startup, Clio, takes a cloud-based approach to legal practice management. They are now regarded as one of the fastest growing startups in Vancouver, their new base. The product reportedly serves thousands of lawyers millions of hours around the globe, with a team of 90 employees. Investors include Bessemer Venture Partners, Acton Capital Partners, Point Nine Capital, and Version One Ventures. They recently raised US $17.9 million in funds.

4. Dragon Wave http://www.dragonwaveinc.com/

Dragon Wave is a communications firm with offerings in all-outdoor, split-mount, or all-indoor configurations. The solutions are flexible and offer multi-gigabit scalability. Clients include government agencies such as defense and border forces. Faced with increased responsibilities but restricted budgets, the public safety agencies that protect cities, borders, ports, and infrastructure can still expand their intelligence networks by investing in Dragon Wave solutions. Beneficiaries include first responders (police, fire and medical), via video surveillance, sensor networks, and security platforms.

5. Eion Wireless http://www.eionwireless.com/

Eion Wireless is a privately owned Canadian company headquartered in Ottawa, with R&D centres in Slovenia, global customer support operations in India, and regional sales offices around the globe. It provides 4G Mobile WiMAX solutions, LTE solutions, and high speed broadband wireless products. In just over a decade, it has been acknowledged as one of the 50 fastest growing wireless companies by Deloitte and Touche. Its corporate customers include the oil, gas & natural resources industry, wireless ISPs, video surveillance applications, and remote rural networks. Its solutions have been deployed in humid rainforests in South America, the sub-zero temperatures of the Arctic, and the scorching desert heat of the Middle East.

6. Incognito http://www.incognito.com/

Aptly named, Incognito is a telecom service provider which helps companies seamlessly monitor and monetize bandwidth, plan and control distributed IP resources and deliver wireless services. Customer deployments include IPv4 and IPv6. Network conflicts and errors can be minimised and compliance with Regional Internet Registries enabled. Large organisations can manage their IP space more effectively, as per business rules and operational requirements.

7. ResponseTEK http://www.responsetek.com/

ResponseTek offers solutions in customer experience management (CEM), the practice of measuring and closing the gap between the intended customer experience and the actual customer experience. The company was founded by management consultant Syed Hasan, who noticed the disconnect customers feel from managers of large companies (the ‘aha’ moment was during a flight cancellation). The company’s offerings include customer experience metrics that are delivered continuously, accessible in real-time, and used alongside traditional performance metrics and financial data to support decision making at all levels in a corporation.

8. Reflex Wireless http://www.reflexwireless.com/

Have you ever wondered at what angle your body lies during sleep? Have you ever tried to explain to your family doctor how you felt physically two weeks ago? Enter Reflex Wireless, a provider of enterprise-grade tele-health data management and wireless sensing technology. Founded in 2010, the company won the international NYC Next Idea Competition, and now has support from the BC Innovation Council, University of British Columbia, Wavefront Accelerator and NYC Economic Development Centre.

9. NuRAN http://nuranwireless.com/

Quebec-based NuRAN Wireless offers innovative White Space radio access network (RAN) products that create new opportunities for mobile network operators and internet service providers. They can be used in indoor coverage, rural communities, isolated villages, offshore platforms and ships. Its GSM network-in-a-box solution acts as a gateway between mobile phones and a PBX for calls, and internet for data. It was recently selected by NGO Rhizomatica to connect Mexico’s rural communities. NuRAN recently joined the WhiteSpace Alliance (WSA), a global industry organization enabling sharing of underutilized spectrum.

10. NoviFlow http://noviflow.com/

NoviFlow develops high performance ethernet switches compliant with the OpenFlow protocol. They can handle large numbers of flows and network scalability. The company offers end-to-end solutions for data center operators and network operators. NoviFlow was established in 2012 and has offices in Sunnyvale, Montreal, and Seattle. It participated in the recent PlugFest by the Open Networking Foundation (ONF), which has facilities in the US and China.

11. NetSweeper http://www.netsweeper.com

NetSweeper provides web content filtering and web threat management solutions and services. Clients include telcos, education networks, school districts, corporations and government agencies. Its web filtering solutions couple a cloud-based AI categorization engine with configuration and administration tools. More recent offerings include filtering tools at the mobile device level, including offline users. Protection from phishing, malware, viruses, trojans, spyware and adware are becoming growing problems for users around the world, and regulatory compliance is requiring organisations to take tough measures in countries such as the US and the UK.

12. Windular http://www.windular.com/

Windular offers alternative energy systems for the wireless industry, such as wind turbines and solar trackers. These can be used to power telecom cells while also reducing costs and emissions. The 10KW wind turbine systems are specifically engineered to fit all types of communications towers, and tower-mounted solar trackers tap solar generating potential. Clients include tower builders and managers as well as operators. In many emerging economies, grid-tied power outages are a common occurrence, and Windular can help guarantee energy supply reliability and security.