News Article

Organ named Community Hero


5/21/2002 3:37:55 PM


Cyril Organ, associate district administrator for College of the North Atlantic's Bay St. George campus in Stephenville, accepts an award from Sharon McLennon, business development associate with Nati. Mr. Organ has been recognized as an IT hero.

May 21, 2002 - Cyril Organ has been named one of six Community IT Hero Award winners for Newfoundland and Labrador, sponsored by the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Technology Industries. As part of Canada’s IT week celebrations (May 3-12) Community IT Heroes were saluted from St. John’s to Vancouver.

Nati, in partnership with the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) and Industry Canada, presented the Community IT Hero Awards to recognize individuals who have assisted their community in a significant way through the innovative use or application of information technology.

Cyril Organ, is an educator with the College of the North Atlantic in Stephenville and the Associate District Administrator for the Bay St. George campus. He has been instrumental in successfully facilitating internships and employment opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic. Mr. Organ and his team continue to create events like Entrepreneurship Days and the recent Digital Showcase to promote the possibilities of creativity and technology to students and employers. His leadership in capacity-building has led to a demonstrated track record for building new economy infrastructure and learning initiatives that are shaping and responding to industry needs. These programs include Music Industry and Performing Arts (one of only two in Canada) and the Digital Animation program which represents a multi-million dollar private-public partnership.

Nati coordinated the nomination and selection process in the province. Numerous high-quality nominations were received from various sub-sectors, creating a welcoming challenge for the selection of Community IT Heroes. IT Heroes can be teachers, students, businesses, business people, local governments or community volunteers – that have made a tremendous impact through their passion for technology.

Nati has experienced steady growth and heightened recognition as the voice of the technology industry in Newfoundland and Labrador. Nati represents approximately 200 technology companies and organizations throughout the province, and focuses on several key areas for its network of companies and organizations: leadership; market development; corporate development; and networking and communications. Nati is an energetic, focused and forward-looking force that is accelerating the business of technology.

ITAC is the voice of the Canadian information technology industry. Together with its partner organizations across the country, the association represents 1,300 companies in the computing and telecommunications hardware, software, services, and electronic content sectors. This network of companies accounts for more than 70% of the 542,000 jobs, $132.6 billion in revenue, $5.3 billion in R&D expenditure and $44 billion in exports that IT contributes annually to the Canadian economy.

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For more information contact:

Stephen Lee
Communications Manager
(709) 643-7928