Chapters

Board of Directors

Members of the CIOCAN Boards of Directors are busy executives who volunteer their time to serve as Directors of the Association. They are active supporters of this national community that advances the CIO profession and the IT industry in Canada.

Dean Doige | Director Information Services, Clark Builders

Dean Doige is Edmonton Chapter President, CIO Association of Canada.

As Director, Information Services at Clark Builders, Dean has responsibility for IS strategic planning, infrastructure, service delivery, and business solutions across the Clark Builders group of companies. Dean has overall accountability of overseeing the management of all IS related projects, assets, and people and ensuring bottom line business value is achieved through the use of technology.

Previous to this role, Dean filled several positions within the Tyco International group of companies managing IT teams and projects throughout the Americas, Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia.

Dean’s strong business acumen and his technical aptitude, coupled with his solution-driven approach has proven to be an enabler for the use of technology as a strategic direction and a competitive advantage. Dean’s forte is the ability to lead rapid business transformation as a result of technology-based business solutions.

David Booth | CIO, North American Construction Group

As NACG's CIO, David Booth is responsible for leading enterprise planning, development and implementation of technology and facility management to support the organization's overall business operations and strategy. In addition, David has served as the CIO for the Workers' Compensation Board - Alberta Director of Business Services for EPCOR Utilities and the Director of Information Technology for the Distribution and Transmission Branch of Edmonton Power.

His interest in computers began when he was 14, working on IBM 1500 at the University of Alberta. David has continued to pursue his passion for IT since then and with more than 35 years experience in information technology, David has a wide variety of experience in both the management and technical aspects of IT. He is a past president of the Canadian Information Processing Society - Edmonton and a former member of the CIPS National Executive Board.

David earned a Bachelor of Science in computer science from the University of Alberta, holds the Information Systems Professional designation and is a member of the Project Management Institute.

Dwayne Ellis | CIO, AGS Flexitallic Inc.

As the Chief Information Officer for AGS Flexitallic Inc., Dwayne Ellis is responsible for incorporating technology into the company’s operation in order to develop strategic advantages over their competitors. Prior to joining AGS Flexitallic in 2001, Dwayne was an account manager, support manager and R&D manager for a local ERP software supplier.

Since the inception of the IBM PC, Dwayne has been involved in IT related roles that allowed him to gain knowledge and experience through on-the-job training. Through certificates from the University of Alberta and job experiences, Dwayne has succeeded in advancing himself through a number of IT related positions. He has since expanded his education with a Graduate Diploma in Management and will complete his MBA in the spring of 2011.

Richard Hannah | Senior Vice-President, Information Services and CIO, The Brick Group

Richard Hannah is Senior Vice-President, Information Services and CIO with The Brick Group, a major Canadian retailer of household furniture, mattresses, appliances and home electronics. He is responsible for all strategic and operational aspects of Information Technology for the company.

He has over 27 years of Information Technology experience starting in operations, then into software development before moving into various management positions with large Canadian companies. Prior to his appointment at The Brick he was VP, Information Technology with The Forzani Group and also held various senior IT positions with Shaw Communications.

Richard holds an MBA with a major in Information Technology Management from Athabasca University, a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of New Brunswick and a technology diploma from the New Brunswick Community College.

Darrell Jones | Senior VP & CIO, Canadian Western Bank

As Vice President and Chief Information Officer at Canadian Western Bank, Darrell holds overall responsibility for the strategic planning, delivery and management of technology across the Canadian Western Bank group of companies. Prior to joining Canadian Western Bank in 2008, Darrell was a partner in KPMG’s Advisory Services practice and prior to that he held senior technology management positions at EPCOR Utilities Inc. and TELUS Communications Ltd.

Darrell holds an MBA, a CMA designation as well as a number of technology-related certifications. Darrell’s current industry and community activity includes serving as a director on the national board of the CIO Association of Canada as well as the president of the association’s Edmonton chapter, board director for Alberta Pensions Services Corporation, and chair of Concordia University College of Alberta’s Advisory Committee for its Master of Information Systems Security Management degree program. Darrell has also previously served on the Edmonton boards of the Canadian Information Processing Society (CIPS) and ISACA, which was formally known as the Information Security, Audit and Control Association.

Rita Lazar-Tippe | Director Technology Services, Northlands

Rita has over 19 years of Information Technology experience consisting of contract and full time positions within industries including IT service providers, Federal Government, Engineering, Education, Entertainment and Media. She currently holds the senior IT role at Northlands and is responsible for leading the overall IT strategy and operational management. Rita has also led various corporate-wide projects that improved efficiencies, reduced cost and provided strategic corporate alignment.

Rita was selected to the Midsize Enterprise Summit CIO 50 Group, a group of IT executives selected for their leadership in utilizing technology to help increase corporate efficiencies, decision-making ability, drive revenue, and achieve other business goals within their organization. Rita holds an Bachelors Degree (Honours) in Information Systems Technology from NAIT. She graduated from the Business Leadership Development Program at University of Alberta and completed a number of technology-related certifications.

Joe Schuldhaus | VP IT, Triple Five Group of Companies

Mr. Schuldhaus’ initiatives to date have been in the business operations of tourism, hospitality, real estate, security, medical, and dental technologies. More significantly, he has played a critical role in the development of the all-encompassing strategic information systems. Since his environment is the Triple Five Group of Companies, his instinct for opportunity is encouraged. These companies were founded by the visionaries who own two of the world’s largest retail and entertainment centers - West Edmonton Mall and Mall of America, as well as dozens of other properties. He remains instrumental in strategic planning, implementing and supporting business operations by employing state-of-the-art applications and software integration tools.

Mr. Schuldhaus is a CMA with 30 years of experience in public practice, audit, and tax, and in the technology industry. He has served on the Board of Directors of Real Estate Development Companies and has founded or held CEO positions with technology start-ups.

Paul Sorenson | Professor Emeritus, Computing Science, University of Alberta

Paul Sorenson is Professor Emeritus of Computing Science at the University of Alberta. He previously held several academic positions at the University of Saskatchewan (Professor & Head) and the University of Alberta (Professor, Chair of Computing Science, Associate Vice President of Research and Vice Provost of Information Technology). He teaches courses and has research interests in software engineering and the management and delivery of software service systems. He co-authored books in data structures and compiler design and he co-founded two start-up companies: Avra Software Lab and Onware Systems. He is co-author on more than one hundred journal and conference papers and has served on the Board of a large number of research institutes and centres. He was elected as a founding Fellow of CIPS (Canadian Information Processing Society) in 2006, awarded the 2007 CIPS Professional Achievement Award and recognized as Supporter of the Year by Alberta's Information, Communications and Electronics Technologies (ICET) Alliance in 2002. He is currently Co-Chair of IBM Alberta Centre for Advanced Studies.