Krystle Chow’s Online Portfolio

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Special feature for the Ottawa Business Journal.
Published in the OBJ’s print edition and on the website.
Nov. 12, 2007

Click here to view this article on OttawaBusinessJournal.com.

Corel CEO David Dobson.
Photo by DARREN BROWN for the Ottawa Business Journal

It took a week of frantic calls and e-mails to arrange my meeting with Corel Corp. CEO David Dobson, a man who spends about 30 hours a month on a plane.

I caught up with Mr. Dobson – the OBJ’s 2007 CEO of the Year – in his sparse, white-walled Ottawa office. There are few personal trappings in the room, save for a couple of photos of his wife, Laura, and two sons.

Such minimalism is fitting, considering that the 44-year-old makes it clear that work and home are two completely separate things, and that he’s not comfortable bringing too many details of his personal life into the public eye.

“An office for me is not a place of comfort; it’s a place where you can store some things and use as a base to work out of,” says Mr. Dobson.

“I’ve never really spent a lot of time trying to make the place feel like home, because it’s not home. I tend to spend more time out of my office than in it, whether I’m in a meeting with the rest of the team in a boardroom or a meeting on any of the floors in this building, but more importantly, travelling.”

Travel is a big part of Mr. Dobson’s life. He estimates that he racks up about (more…)

By KRYSTLE CHOW
Published in the Ottawa Business Journal newspaper and website.
Nov. 5, 2007 (Nov. 7 on OttawaBusinessJournal.com)

Click here to view this article on OttawaBusinessJournal.com.

Ken Kirkpatrick is bullish on his company’s future as a supplier of electronic navigation systems. Analysts tend to be in accord, though they warn there are some hurdles to overcome.
Photo by DARREN BROWN for the Ottawa Business Journal

Software firm’s move to Ottawa brings it closer to big players and customers

With its situational awareness products already in use by navies around the world, analysts say OSI Geospatial Inc. is clearly the market leader in its space.

Chief executive Ken Kirkpatrick says OSI’s main product, the proprietary Electronic Chart Precise Integrated Navigation System (ECPINS), already has 60 per cent of a $100-million market, which is growing at 10 per cent annually. And that’s with 80 per cent of the world’s navies yet to convert from paper-based to electronic charting.

“Five years ago, we identified the warship navigation sector as the sector to go after and become market leader in, and we controlled the intellectual property to support our leadership position … we’ve been very successful in the naval navigation market and are the hands-down leader in that space,” says Mr. Kirkpatrick.

“A lot of what we do is in emerging markets, we’re changing how people do their job since the majority of warships navigate from paper charts and (are only beginning to) move to very sophisticated electronic systems. The good news is that the rest of the world has accepted the technology and the benefits it presents, so it’s a matter of when, not if.”

The company’s ECPINS product is an all-in-one navigation system which integrates various sensors on the bridge of a ship, including (more…)