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.

Jories Timmers | IT Director and CIO, Powerex

Jories is Vancouver Chapter President, CIO Association of Canada.

Jories Timmers is the IT Director and CIO at Powerex, the Energy Trading arm of BC-Hydro, where he leads a team of 50 personnel in Vancouver, Canada. He has worked as a member of a Global IT Management team as a Chief Information Security Officer for companies spanning 40 to 220 countries. His specialization in IT Strategy and Security, Project Management, Compliance, Audit and Governance has been gained over 18 years and he has worked internationally in the Netherlands, Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland and Canada. He has degrees from the Delft University of Technology in Computer Engineering, an MBA from McGill and holds the PMP, CISA, CISM and CISSP certifications.

In his spare time, Jories enjoys outdoor activities which include hiking, skiing and kayaking.

Ian Banks | Vice President, Global IT, PMC Sierra

Ian Banks joined PMC-Sierra, a leading provider of broadband communications and storage semiconductors for metro, access, fiber to the home, wireless, and customer premises equipment, in 2006 and is responsible for global networks, infrastructure, applications and information security. Bringing a diverse background of experience in Operations, Sales, Marketing and Information Technology Ian had previously led the Western Canadian IT services and software solutions team at an $8B telecommunications company, the BC-based Management Consulting Practice at Fujitsu (formerly DMR) Consulting, and was Chief Information Officer (CIO) at a major transportation services Crown Corporation. He also served as Visiting Professor in Simon FraserUniversity’s Masters in Business Administration Program.

Ian received a Bachelor in Economics degree from University of British Columbia in 1992, and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Western Ontario in 1999. He is on the Board of Directors of the CIO Association of Canada (Vancouver Chapter), and the Saint James Community Service Society – a large Vancouver-based charitable organization.

Lloyd Bauer | CIO, TransLink

Lloyd Bauer is the Chief Information Officer at the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority (TransLink). As CIO, Lloyd has overall responsibility for information technology strategy, planning, development and operations for the TransLink group of companies. Prior to joining TransLink, Lloyd held a number of senior management IT positions at WorkSafeBC, including Director of Planning, Architecture & Analysis, and acting CIO.

Lloyd holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from Simon Fraser University and a certificate in Strategic Leadership from the University of British Columbia.

Alex Buhler | Chief Information Officer, Mountain Equipment Co-op

Alex Buhler is the Chief Information Officer of Mountain Equipment Co-op. MEC's commitment to green building, community grants, ethical purchasing, product sustainability, and promotion of Canada-wide parks and protected areas demonstrates the best of what business can be in our society. Alex has 20 years of progressive expertise in several service industries in areas of IT strategy, mergers, security, ERP, applications, project management, shared services, architecture and infrastructure. He holds a Computer Science and Engineering degree from La Salle University of Mexico City. He is co-chair of the CIOCAN Program Committee, Vice-Chair of the BC ISMS user's group and member of the STA High School education committee.

Ron Cenfetelli | Assistant Professor, Sauder School of Business, UBC

Dr. Cenfetelli is Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems at the Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia. He teaches on a variety of IT management topics in Sauder's MBA and Executive Education programs. He also is the program advisor for MBA students interested in being IT leaders.

Ron conducts research into the interpersonal relationship between IT professionals and their business clients; how individuals use technology; the use of e-business for customer service; the negative impacts of technology on individuals; and human-computer interaction. His research has appeared in premier MIS academic journals as well as several practitioner outlets.

Ron has a prior career in the pharmaceutical industry where he worked in both IT and line management roles. He also served as an officer in the United States Navy on active duty and in the reserve forces. Ron holds a Ph.D. in business administration from the University of British Columbia, an MBA from Indiana University, and a bachelor degree in engineering from Purdue University.

Raman Krishnaswami | CIO, Healthcare Benefit Trust

Raman Krishnaswami has worked in the IT industry for twenty years, most recently as the CIO of Healthcare Benefit Trust in Vancouver, where he created an internal IT to bring back outsourced services. He also created and managed a PMO. Prior to HBT, he was Head of IT for Hain Celestial Canada for nine years where he leveraged IT to enable significant cost savings in manufacturing and sales. Prior to that, he was Applications Development Manager at Fletchers Fine Foods. Raman has strong expertise in IT Strategy, Program Management, Applications Development and Business Intelligence.

Raman holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Simon Fraser University and a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering.

Gary Munro | Director, Technology Services, Justice Institute of BC

Gary Munro has worked for over 30 years in the information technology sector, most recently as the Director of Technology Services at the Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC), responsible for all aspects of information technology including applications, infrastructure, educational technology, and associated services. The JIBC is ‘Canada’s Leading Public Safety Educator’, and is a dynamic post- secondary institute recognized for innovative education and applied research in justice and public safety.

Prior to JIBC, Gary was a Director at Accenture Business Services, responsible for the enterprise PMO, transformation projects and executive reporting. Prior to Accenture, Gary spent over 25 years at BC Hydro in various Information Technology positions, starting as a senior mainframe computer operator and ending as a member of the senior management team.

Gary attended the Banff Centre for Management, graduating from the program in Executive Business Management. He also attended the first offering of the Leadership program - a partnership between SFU and our CIO Association of Canada's Vancouver Chapter.

Ken Ontko | Vice President Information Systems and CIO, BCAA

Ken has worked in the IT industry for over 28 years and been actively involved in the design and implementation of various systems architecture from mainframes through n-tier SOA applications. According to IBM he implemented the first LAN in Vancouver while at Seaboard Life Insurance. At BCAA he is responsible for integrating a diverse selection of technologies. BCAA is considered to be one of the top 4 or 5 (of about 70) autoclubs in their use of technology today, especially industry standard and license neutral applications and has won Gartner and other industry awards. Prior to BCAA Ken was also one of the three primary architects for SEDAR, the first cross-country all-electronic filing, review, and disclosure system for the various Canadian security commissions. This system put all corporate lawyers and filings online and created a ‘virtual' equivalent of a single Federal security commission - the equivalent of the SEC. Ken was one of the first two SFU co-op graduates and aside from his BA holds an MBA (SFU) and a CDP designation.

Carmen Plesch | Director of Information Systems, Whitewater West Industries

Carmen Plesch is the Director of Information Systems at Whitewater West Industries, the largest and most experienced builder of waterparks and aquatic attractions in the world. Prior to her current position, Carmen spent 10 years in the marine services industry, working in Canada, Norway and the UK, holding a variety of positions with Teekay Shipping, including Director of Business Applications. She has extensive experience in IT strategy, operations, resource planning and delivery of global 24x7 IT services, mergers and acquisitions, managing complex projects, business process improvement, business analysis and information systems lifecycle management.
Carmen holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Engineering from the Polytechnic University in Bucharest, Romania and the PMP certification. She worked as a National Olympic Committee Assistant for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games and is a certified fitness instructor.

Blaize Reich | RBC Professor of Technology and Innovation, Segal School of Business

Dr. Reich worked for 15 years in Canada and Asia as an IT practitioner and consultant. Her specialities were information management, IT governance and strategic planning. As the RBC Professor of Technology and Innovation within the SFU business school, Dr. Reich’s research focuses on IT Governance and IT project management. Her research has been published in the leading journals and she speaks regularly at academic and practitioner conferences. Dr. Reich is a board member of several academic journals, professional associations and the Industrial Alliance Pacific Insurance Company. She is an academic leader within the Canadian Coalition for Tomorrow’s ICT Skills. This group will be introducing a new professional undergraduate program, called Business Technology Management, across Canada in 2010.

John Tolkamp | Director, IT, Ainsworth Engineered Canada

John Tolkamp is the Director of IT at Ainsworth Engineered Canada. Previous to his current role, John spent 17 years in the Forest Industry where he started as a process control engineer with Northwood Pulp and Timber and later moved into Information Technology where he assuming progressively greater responsibilities. In 1999 Northwood was acquired by Canadian Forest Products (Canfor) and John assumed the head information technology position. As Canfor's General Manager of I.T. John led the organization through large technology changes including ERP and E-business implementations. He was also responsible for the technology planning and integration efforts arising from numerous corporate divestitures, mergers and acquisitions.

John holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering augmented with graduate studies in computer aided design and digital controls. Outside of work, John's interests lie in travel and as a competitive cyclist where he is a multiple national champion.

Shawn Zanganeh | CIO & COO, Western Industrial Manufacturing

Shawn Zanganeh is the CIO and COO at Western Industrial Manufacturing, which specializes in designing, engineering, manufacturing and installing superior customized steel equipment for the global mining, cement, oil, gas, petrochemical industry. Shawn is responsible for all company setup, research, strategic management, information systems, and over-all operations.

Shawn's previous work experience includes Program Manager/Management Consultant at Teck Resources, Director of IT/Program Director at Intrawest Real Estate and Senior Consultant at TELUS, CEO/Managing Director at SimPoSys Solutions.

Shawn has received a Bachelor's Degree in Information Systems Management from Hartford University, an MBA in Executive Management Consulting and Leadership from Royal Roads University and a CIO Certificate from Simon Fraser University. Shawn is currently a member of the CIO Leadership Development Program affiliated with CIOCAN LDP and SFU.