admin, Author at Tycoon Success

Helping Canadians Know the Distant Past and Recent History

Meet Sylvain Bélanger, the Senior Director General, Chief Information Officer, and Chief Data Officer for Library and Archives Canada (LAC), which serves as the guardian of Canada’s distant past and recent history. As the CIO, Sylvain is responsible for leading and supporting LAC’s digital business operations and all aspects of preservation for access of digital and analog collections and digital transformation activities.

Sylvain started his journey at LAC in 2005 as the Chief of Staff to the Librarian and Archivist of Canada. He has also been the Corporate Secretary and Director of Collections Management. He oversaw the business side of digital before 2021 for six years as Director General of the Digital Operations and Preservation Branch. Sylvain was the driving force behind the creation of LAC’s Vision for 2030 during the first two years of the pandemic. Prior to joining LAC, Sylvain worked in several public safety agencies, private sector companies, and the Canadian Forces.

“LAC was a newly created organization from the merger of the national library and national archives. At the time, I saw an opportunity to apply the experience I had gained from my time in public safety and national defense, as well as my education in leadership, to a very different kind of organization that had a history dating to the 1800s, yet was also one of the newest organizations in the government of Canada following the merger of the two organizations,”– Sylvain remembered.

Presently Sylvain serves as the Vice-President of DPI Canada. This volunteer not-for-profit organization promotes the development of public sector professionals and the effective application of IM/IT in the Government of Canada and other public sector jurisdictions. Along with other positions, he has previously held the positions of Vice Chair and Treasurer of the International Internet Preservation Consortium, and is a a member of the IFLA Section on Information Technology.

A Unique Organization

Library and Archives Canada, more commonly known as LAC, is a federal government institution that was created in 2004 by merging the National Library and the National Archives.LAC’s unique collection now contains over 20 million books published in various languages, over 250 linear kilometers of government and private textual records, over three million architectural drawings, plans, and maps, 30 million photographic images, including prints, negatives, slides, and digital photos, more than 90,000 films, more than 550,000 hours of audio and video recordings, over 425,000 works of art, approximately 550,000 items constituting the most extensive collection of Canadian sheet music in the world, and national newspapers from across Canada, from dailies to student and community newspapers.

A Strong Team Culture

LAC has a strong professional culture of experts in the library and archival fields, conservation, information management, mass digitization, as well as digital and analog preservation. Under Sylvain’s leadership, the team has coalesced around its vision and the new digital structure. The key has been creating the proper environment for professional growth, aligning working practices across the lines of business, and having clearly defined purposes and goals that they review and emphasize regularly.

A Socially Responsible Organization

As a federal government institution, LAC always considers its impact on communities and its environmental and social responsibilities. For example, LAC’s new Gatineau 2 storage facility project is a sustainable building with objectives aligned to meet the Government of Canada’s priorities to invest in sustainable federal infrastructure and Canadian culture. It is the first Net Zero Carbon archival center in the Americas. LAC also delivers programs and projects related to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation experiences. This includes funding to support First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Nation organizations throughout Canada to identify, digitize and preserve the Indigenous language and culture recordings, and build digitization and preservation capacity in their communities.

Current Market Trends

Sylvain believes change is inevitable to meet the constantly evolving needs of Canadians. For LAC, this involves enhancing its digital capabilities and gradually altering its in-person and online services to enable Canadians to access their national history from any location. The organization released its Vision 2030 in the spring of 2022, outlining the course for the following eight years and beyond.

Vision 2030: Discover. Understand. Connect. -specifies where LAC wants to go, what it wants to achieve, and how it will get there. The concept is entirely based on inviting users to discover the collections, refining diverse voices, interacting with the community, partnering with the world, supporting Canadians, and preserving their cultural legacy.

Looking at the Future

LAC is committed to using its collections to communicate a range of Canadian cultures and experiences through the most diverse stories, and access will play a pivotal role in this.

“As CIO, I can say that collaboration across LAC, our efforts to modernize and replace our legacy technologies and infrastructure, as well as our work with our colleagues across government, the private and non-profit sectors, and key international partners will be the catalyst for change, continuous improvement, and success for us. My team is building a roadmap that emphasizes our unique needs as Canada’s premiere documentary heritage institution while looking at enterprise-wide solutions with colleagues within the government where it is the most efficient and effective way to deliver our services,”– explained Sylvain.

Leading the Charge Against Human Trafficking

Human trafficking is a form of present-day slavery involving the illegal transport of humans by force or deception for sexual exploitation, labor, or other activities that help others benefit financially. Traffickers deceive men, women, and children from every corner of the world and force them into several exploitative situations every day.

Worldwide, one in four human trafficking victims are children. However, in several poorer regions of Africa, they make up the majority of trafficked persons. Women, on the other hand, make up two-thirds of the world’s human trafficking victims. It is estimated that as many as 1,000,000 people are being trafficked each year globally.

One of the most effective ways to identify a trafficker or a criminal network is to follow the financial trail they have left behind. With proper training and guidance, financial institutions and a few non-financial businesses can identify illicit finance related to human trafficking and report potential cases. Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative (ATII) is one such organization assisting Financial Institutions, Money Services Businesses, and Cryptocurrency Exchanges with implementing Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Protection programs within their Compliance, AML (Anti Money Laundering), CTF (Counter Terrorist Financing, Sanctions Screening, KYC (Know Your Customer) Onboarding, and Risk & Fraud departments. ATII provides them with typologies, training, and assistance with integration in their daily process and procedures.

ATII also provides the necessary training to several law enforcement agencies in advanced concepts like Digital Forensics, Blockchain Forensics, Darkweb Intelligence, Open-Source Intelligence, and various other investigative techniques.

A Veteran Leader

With over two decades of experience in the technology industry, Larry Cameron is the Chief Information Security Officer at the Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative (ATII) and an OSINT Investigator for the National Child Protection Task Force.

Larry says, “I was already in the Child Protection field prior to joining the company. It just made sense to be doing it with other like-minded individuals. Anyone with a different thought process is not in it for the right reasons and should re-evaluate their career path.”

He is also a certified Digital Evidence Investigator, Mobile Device Investigator, Certified Cryptocurrency Investigator, Triage Investigator, CipherTrace Certified Examiner, and holds over 50 other Industry, IT, and Security certifications.

Larry started his career in Electronic Data Systems and worked on several contracts, including MCI/Worldcom, Hewlett Packard, and Bank of America. Then he moved on to work for Research in Motion (RIM), 2011 Canada Games, and then to Data Center, Cloud Computing (IaaS & SaaS), Consulting, Forensics, and Virtual CISO engagements. Besides serving Anti-Human Trafficking Intelligence Initiative as CISO, he also serves as the Blockchain Forensics lead for the National Child Protection Task Force, a Computer Forensics Professor at St. Lawrence College, and Head of Cyber Security for the Cyber Rights Organization at the United Nations.

Larry is a trainer at Interpol for several of their operations, including WEKA II, which rescued 700 victims and arrested over 300 perpetrators. He co-founded the Anti-Human Trafficking Cryptocurrency Consortium to foster a collaborative relationship with companies that generally see themselves as competitors like Cryptocurrency Exchanges, Bitcoin ATMs, and Blockchain Forensics & Analytics companies, as well as local, state, federal, and international law enforcement.

Team Culture

Being a non-profit, ATII promotes innovation and creates new approaches to combat human trafficking and protect the vulnerable. Many of its members have been or know someone affected by these heinous crimes at some point in their life. Everyone at ATII supports each other, the public, and law enforcement, with quite a few volunteers who want to help with investigations, projects, or operations.

Few Thoughts About CSR

ATII’s mission is: We help financial institutions promote corporate social responsibility through increasing awareness, facilitating intelligence integration & technology advancement, and encouraging strategic data collaboration – to combat human trafficking. The whole organization if formed around CSR – it’s in our DNA. Our job is to make it easy, safe, and verifiable for financial institutions to level up their CSR policies and procedures. Without actively practicing corporate social responsibility, businesses are less inclined to put people and planet first.

Working for an Equal World

In the future, ATII will create new tools, curate new data, and train law enforcement. The non-profit aims to build its Fusion Center to provide quick incident response on high-priority cases and find digital breadcrumbs that can help solve cases. It will also develop courses through a grant to train the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Forces. This will give them more advanced knowledge to investigate and respond to these crimes quickly.

Luis Hidalgo: Agrizon the most important agritech startup in Latin America growth by +200% in 2022

Agrizon is one of the most important agritech startups based in Latin America and the United States; it was born in 2018 because of the necessity to connect farmers to the widest selection of qualified agricultural products taking into account that according to the World Bank, the GDP of agriculture in the world in 2021 represented around 4%. Now, this startup is a consolidated cross-border e-commerce platform that has operations in Ecuador, the United States, and Mexico.

Agrizon was cofounded by the Ecuadorian and American entrepreneurs Luis Fernando Hidalgo and Joaquin Paz, who have demonstrated that four years of experience are the result of good leadership based on excellent relationships with business partners, quality products, affordable prices, and a friendly platform. “The relationship and impartiality with our strategic partners, from manufacturers, retailers to producers, has led us already to have +7.000 qualified inputs for crop and seed”, explains Luis Hidalgo, Agrizon CEO.

On the other hand, global manufacturers are mainly in Europe, Asia, and America; from those places, the agro products are sent to Latin America, so Agrizon becomes a strategic partner because it optimizes the logistics chain in one place. “We will continue to provide the best costs to our users, Agrizon is a window to the world for the manufacturer who wants to sell online and for those farmers who want access to global agriculture brands,” said Hidalgo.

Some of the pillars that have made the difference in Agrizon are its excellent customer service that has allowed recurrent purchases, as well as the broadest qualified portfolio in Latin America, all in one place and with fast delivery. The growth in volume that Agrizon has reached lets the company give an essential advantage for the farmers: save money with its efficient shipping service, free advice, and competitive costs; all these features will allow their clients to be more efficient in costs per hectare. In few words, even if Agrizon maintains personalized and human touch with some clients, the online purchase process through the platform is more practical and efficient than a traditional purchase in-store”.

Connectivity in agriculture grows 19%

According to FAO, connectivity in agriculture grows 19% per year, this is an important insight to understand why it is essential to adopt digitalization in agriculture. “Some reasons are that it minimizes barriers for the new generations, and that is where credit risk analysis will come in, so the producer could have access to guaranteed inputs and credit lines that contribute to their growth, including evaluating their crops for export to new markets,” explains Hidalgo.

On the other side, an evolution for Agrizon in digitalization has been the data collected from the market, such as price trends by brand, so their users could make better decisions for their productivity because they will know which brand is more convenient for their business.

All these strategies, accompanied by the leadership of a visionary team, have allowed Agrizon growth by +200% in 2022, and in 2023 with the operations in Mexico, this growth will be higher. Agrizon has created a loyal customer base and has the vision to become the number one platform in the LATAM agribusiness industry; even though “each market is different by crop, its portfolio is similar in each country,” the expert ends.

Creating Opportunities through Innovation

Meet Samit Chakravarty, the Chief Technology and Information Officer at One Point One Solutions, a market leader in business process management (BPM). Samit’s propensity for innovation has brought several technical developments to life. He oversees all technology needs for the business, including the network, customized CRM, and in-house dialer. Additionally, Samit has taken up the virtualization of all company assets to provide consistent and scalable software services delivery, business intelligence, and security systems.

“I am passionate about technology, innovation, and big challenging tasks on my to-do list, and I believe in pushing the boundaries of customer experience by leveraging tech innovations. One Point One Solutions’ vision to upscale customer experience each day with technology has been inspiring; to be part of this vision & grow together has been the driving factor,”– explained Samit.

Incepted in 2006, One Point One Solutions offer technology, accounting, skill development, and analytical solutions that help businesses build better capabilities and enable them to achieve seamless growth. It serves various industries, including Telecom and Broadcasting, Retail and E-Commerce, Consumer Durables & FMCG, Banking and Finance, Travel, Hospitality, and Insurance. The organization has five service centers across Navi Mumbai, Chennai, Gurgaon, Indore, and Bangalore, with over 5,500 seats per shift basis. One Point One Solutions also offers customer care, lead generation, content management, voice analytics, accounts payable and receivable, SME Management, predictive analytics, Chatbots, IVR, voice analytics, and E-mail management.

One Point One got listed in 2017 and currently boasts more than 40 leading clientele across several sectors. Recently it has also entered into a strategic partnership with Bahwan CyberTek (BCT) to target potential clients in the MENA region and other international geographies.

Standing Apart

One Point One’s team of more than 5,500 young and dynamic professionals is led by industry veterans with decades of experience across various sectors and verticals. This enables the company to provide solutions across industries that support and deliver realistic requirements with a great combination of people and technology. One Point One exposes itself to several different market segments, which allows it to help clients achieve increased market share, improved sales, and higher CSAT while reducing the cost of acquisition. The organisation’s contextual knowledge across industries has enabled it to implement best practices and deliver better value to its clients.

Employee Wellbeing

Samit and his team at One Point One believe employees are the true assets of an organisation, and skilled, motivated, empowered employees drive better results. Thus, One Point One strives to bring out the best in them and help align their long-term personal goals with the organization’s strategic objectives. It overhauled its performance enhancement process to provide them with augmented learning and development opportunities.

“Our employees continue to get hands-on experience in emerging technologies as they are part of our work streams. We also help them upskill or reskill in using new technologies through various training programmes. We believe these efforts will help them to upscale themselves and the organisation,”– explained Samit

Looking at the Future

“We pride ourselves as an organisation that is extremely sensitive to our clients’ goals and strives to achieve and sail through these trying times with agility and adaptability,”- said Samit. One Point One’s cognitive assets, coupled with operational excellence, have been able to map the journey in the business operations with precise segmentation. By harnessing the power of technology adaptation like Artificial Intelligence, Omni channel solutions at all touchpoints, Social Media governance, Cloud system and communication, Unified communication, Hyper automated systems, etc., One Point One optimizes product development for its clients and helps them lead on the curve of innovation. With the help of AI, the organisation can accelerate growth & achieve better results in client’s project delivery by including RPA (Robotic Process Automation), Chatbots, etc.

How To Ace Real Estate Entrepreneurship In 2023

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking for a lucrative opportunity, the real estate segment has plenty of them. The growth and profitability potential of the industry runs high. You can try your luck as a land developer or explore investment options according to your interest and resources. Either way, you can make it big, provided you do your basic groundwork well. But you must also prepare for risks because the industry is inherently risky. Although there are no shortcuts to success, you can follow these tried and tested tips to ace real estate entrepreneurship in 2023 and beyond.

Begin with a robust plan

A business plan is the mainstay of success for entrepreneurs in all verticals, and real estate is no exception. Before investing in a business, you must crunch your numbers to create a realistic budget and short- and long-term goals. Also, craft a business plan in writing so that you can show the big picture to investors. Keeping the potential challenges in mind is equally crucial as it can save you from unexpected setbacks. Real estate investing can get complicated, but a robust plan keeps you on track even as a newbie.

Research the markets

Researching the markets is a given for real estate business owners, regardless of their experience in the industry. You must check the current prices and demand in the market and go through the forecasts before buying land or investing in a project there. Dig deep into details, such as consumer spending habits, unemployment rate, mortgage rates, neighborhood development, and safety to understand the viability of investment in the market. The more information you have, the more confident you feel about your investment decisions.

Think green

Consider going the extra mile with real estate entrepreneurship in 2023 by adopting the green approach. Such properties have excellent rental potential and resale value, so you will never fall short of demand and profits. Solar projects make a high-value investment because they can help you secure the benefits of Commercial Solar Financing and tax credits. Most importantly, you can get a winning advantage with the reputation of a sustainable business. Most buyers and homeowners prefer working with such organizations, so the advantage is worthwhile.

Develop a niche

Experts recommend developing a niche early to win the real estate game as an entrepreneur. For example, you can stick with residential properties or opt for commercial ones. Focusing on a specific area gives you an advantage of better understanding even when you are new in the industry. You need not stress about managing too many properties in different locations. It makes sense for a beginner who wants to learn the ropes instead of struggling to deal with the complexities of diversification. Of course, you must diversify once you have a better foothold.

Although real estate is one of the most complex domains, you can make it big even as a beginner. You only need to adopt the right approach from the outset. Follow these tips to win the entrepreneurial game.

Top 4 Tips for Strengthening and Improving Your Branding

Branding is an important factor that contributes to the success of your business. However, it needs to be consistent and solid to create awareness of the products or services you produce. Branding also gives your business a professional and helps earn the trust of your customers. So, you should invest in branding from the beginning of your business. However, not many businesses can keep up with brand maintenance to keep it strong and relevant. The following are simple ways of keeping your brand strong and improving it all the time. 

Maintain a Strong and Targeted Message

The first thing you need to maintain a strong brand is to maintain a strong message that is well-tailored for the targeted audience. You need to ensure your brand is always talking to your audience. So, use their language and address various problems the audience faces. You also need to let your customers know that your product or service is there to solve problems. Using emotions to keep your brand strong can also be a good idea. Let the target audience know the kind of feeling that comes with your product or service. People are likely to choose a brand that connects more with them and provides solutions to their problems. 

Seek Expert Help

Great visual communication, brand consistency, and marketing are difficult, especially in small businesses. Therefore, you should put them off until you are ready. However, there is the benefit of hiring professionals to help maintain the strength of your brand. Hiring a creative agency New York will help you focus on vital things to grow your business. The professionals you hire will deliver services to improve your brand and keep it consistent. 

Know Your Audience

Your brand is what your customers and prospects see. You use it to build our relationship with them. Part of relating with your customers well is listening to them. Listening to your audience is the best way to keep your brand solid and better every day. Please take advantage of whatever platform you use to engage and interact with the customers to learn what people are saying about your brand. How do they perceive it? Ask them questions and respond to their responses. Give your audience a reason to tell them what they want. You should also ask them about the things they like about your brand and what they would like you to change about your brand. Consider their feedback as you continue to improve your brand.

Use Consistent and Quality Visual Communication

Your website, logo, photos, packaging, and everything visually representing your brand should be high quality. Never compromise on any of them. Customers judge your business based on what they see before trying out your products or services. They will look at how professional your business looks and if there is a reason to trust you. Therefore, your visuals should represent your brand in a great way. Check how they set the tone of your business. Make sure they also match the message you are conveying to the audience. In short, your visual branding should be qualified to improve your entire brand. Use a well-designed logo, images, and colors. Your typography should also be well-spread all over the business with SocketTime. 

Bottom Line 

Maintaining a strong brand should be at the top of your priorities in business. You need to ensure it is strong enough to pull in the interests of your prospects. So, work with the right professionals to understand your audience and create captivating messages. 

How To Upgrade Your Textile Business This New Year

The New Year is the best time to upgrade your business, so you may have a lot on your mind to step up your textile company in 2023. But growth should always happen strategically with proper planning and preparation. With the New Year just around the corner, you should keep your growth checklist ready to get the best results without spending a fortune. Planning is even more crucial in a competitive industry such as textile manufacturing, where others will also have a growth strategy. Let us share a few valuable insights to gear up for an upgrade to your textile business in 2023.

Go the extra mile with existing customers

This one is a no-brainer because retargeting your existing customers is far easier than acquiring new ones. Check the changing customer expectations and realign your product and service offerings to take their experience a notch higher. The good thing about impressing the existing customer base is that you get more than a sales boost. These buyers act as brand advocates and recommend your products through word of mouth, broadening your reach further.

Find a niche

Finding a niche for your business is another great way to upgrade it in the New Year. Although it narrows your market, you can actually win more customers with less effort. Moreover, the competitive pressure goes down because you have to compete with fewer brands in the same zone. The great thing about targeting a niche is that you can establish a stronghold over the market and retain it for years ahead.

Follow the industry trends

Another surefire tip to give your textile business a winning edge in 2023 is to follow the industry trends. For example, screen and digital printing are in vogue, so you can consider adding them to your portfolio. But remember to find reputable textile printing ink suppliers to deliver top-notch products to your customers. Focus on building long-term vendor relationships to get great deals on raw supplies.

Research your competitors

The textile industry is rife with competition, and staying ahead of the rest is the only way to survive and thrive in the tight market. Experts recommend researching your competitors to understand their strengths and weaknesses. You can seek inspiration from their strengths and capitalize on their weaknesses to propel your products and brand in the market. Although researching other businesses seems like a lot of work, the effort is worthwhile.

Embrace sustainability

Upgrading your textile business this New Year should also be about being more responsible. Going green with sustainable practices can set your brand apart because consumers are more eco-conscious than ever. Besides reducing your carbon footprint, sustainability can help you prevent waste, save energy costs, and even get tax credits and incentives. Moreover, it can enhance the reputation of your business in the long run.

Upgrading your textile business in the New Year need not be about investing in new technology and expensive equipment. You can embrace these easy steps to modernize and expand on a budget and make the most of the momentum in the future.

The Benefits of Using Online Surveys

Customers are always evolving. Just when you think you have gotten the hang of their needs, they can change abruptly! This is why one of the best ways to stay relevant and competitive in the crowded market is to tailor your products and services to meet their needs. The tricky bit is knowing precisely what your customers want at any given time. Well, online surveys are an excellent way to clear the fog around your business and steer you in the right direction. Here are five key benefits of using online surveys for your business research.

They save you time and effort

Imagine sifting through hundreds of survey questionnaires and trying to analyze the data within the forms. The beauty is that AI-powered data analysis takes the tedium out of your work by completing the process within mere minutes. These nifty tools will collect the data and present it to you in a digestible manner so that you can decide what next steps to take.

Online surveys are cost-effective

In the olden days, businesses would have to hire a telephone operator or an interviewer to conduct in-person surveys. Today, the cost of operating an online survey is nearly half as much as it used to be. All you need to do is invest in an excellent survey-making tool, which will do the heavy lifting for you. The next step is to share your survey questions online, even with respondents halfway across the globe.

Boosts customer satisfaction

At the end of the day, you will use the data you gathered from your survey to tweak your business to meet clients’ needs. This is part of a host of survey research strategies to attain profitability and achieve your organizational goals. Once you get the answers you were searching for, you will be better positioned to win back disgruntled clients and retain existing ones.

They promote anonymity

One of the reasons clients love participating in online surveys is that their identity will remain hidden. Your customers will give more honest answers about your brand when they know their comments will not be traced back to them. These genuine responses will help you make informed choices and address potential issues and red flags within your business.

Increased convenience for everyone involved

Modern client loves to do things at their own pace. Online surveys allow the respondents to answer the questions as fast or as slowly as possible, taking their time to think through the answers. They can also respond from anywhere, as long as their device is connected to the Internet. Since you can always get back to an online survey at any time, the respondents will be more inclined to complete it because they won’t feel rushed.

Final remarks

In a nutshell, online surveys are essential in helping you undertake quantitative and qualitative research. Once you know how to develop and ask the right questions, you will eventually crack the code and get on the highway to success. Now that you know a thing or two about the importance of online surveys, it is time to use them to improve your business!

Author: admin