This is the first year that Collision, North America’s fastest growing tech conference, is being held in Toronto, Canada. The 3-day event is expected to attract over 25,000 people. The York Link team is excited to bring the #YRtech Experience Pavilion to #CollisionConf 2019 in Toronto! Eight companies and four major innovation partners, plus a few innovation startups from across the Region will be showcasing their technology and even recruiting tech talent along the way. York Region has a thriving tech community with over 4,300 tech companies, the second largest tech cluster in the Toronto area and Canada.
In our latest #YRtech series interview we’re catching up with industry-leading intelligent-building solutions company, Mircom Group of Companies. Headquartered in Vaughan, York Region this scale-up is creating technology used across the world to improve safety, security, and functionality of buildings and homes. We caught up with their team to ask a few questions about their presence at Collision, the future of their industry, and what they are looking for in prospective tech talent.
With such a large and varied audience attending Collision, who does Mircom hope to connect with at the conference and why?
Mircom has been operating out of Toronto area’s Vaughan, York Region since the early 1990s. While Mircom started off as a 3rd party distributor of Fire Alarm products and an OEM supplier for American manufacturers, over the past three decades we’ve invested substantially to develop a complete line of Canadian manufactured intelligent building products. More recently, we are riding the IOT wave to offer integrated solutions for smart buildings and smart cities, including full after sales service and support of our installed systems.
Our newest solutions extend beyond traditional hardware and include software options including hosted services and mobile apps. As we continue to branch out to new domains, we find ourselves dealing more with non-traditional customers including IT managers, system integrators, CIOs and property managers.
We believe Collision will be a good opportunity to market our brand, products and services to a diverse and global audience. We are keen to gather user feedback on our Unified User Interface (UUI) for building systems (OpenGN), our digital twin offerings (TX3-InSuite) and our integrated smart and connected solutions (UBS) bringing together fire detection and alarm, security and building automation on one connected IP backbone.
Collision exhibitors and attendees are among the most tech savvy people on earth and validation from this “super-user” group will go a long way towards improving our mission to create safer, smarter, more livable buildings worldwide.
Can you talk about the technology Mircom will be demonstrating within the #YRtech Experience Pavilion and offer some thoughts on being part of this unique regional technology showcase at Collision?
Mircom will be showcasing our Unified Building Suite (UBS) consisting of an integrated smart building solution encompassing Fire Detection and Alarm, Security, Building Automation and Network Infrastructure.
Our UBS platform is targeting the multi-family high rise vertical market to provide exceptional value to developers and property managers with a single pane of glass viewer for all your connected building systems. Tenants living in these smart and connected communities have the most modern living experience worldwide leveraging technology to stay safe and solve problems daily. Smart buildings have more in common with starships than the brick and mortar structures of the past.
Looking into the future, how will technology continue to transform your company and industry?
Over the past 10 years the Greater Toronto Area has experienced a construction boom unprecedented in the modern age. With 255 skyscrapers (buildings taller than 100m) and 393 active or proposed high rises in the works, Toronto ranks 8th globally, trailing only New York and Chicago in North America. This “living laboratory” has allowed York Region firms such as Mircom to test out our modern building solutions at scale all from the comfort of our own city.
Mircom and Toronto area companies including York Region are leading the global innovation towards “smart condo” properties. Developers are adopting the technology at the speed of light and condo owners and residents are delighted with the investments being made in connected tech for their buildings. Large REITs are starting to understand the ROI on smart building technology where IP networks are leveraged across multi-applications which were previously siloed.
For tech talent on the hunt for a career in this area of tech what skills will set them apart?
As vertical communities become more connected, a typical smart building engineer will need to blend skills of the old world with skills of the new. During a typical on-boarding process, we spend a lot of time to bring new developers up to speed with construction basics from structural engineering (how to run conduit) to electrical and power systems (how to transmit signals and turn on equipment) to mechanical controls (heating and cooling and water movement in buildings). Developers also become savvy in the world of construction contracting, understand the cash flows from financing to performance bonds to subscription services.
A good grasp of the fundamentals of construction, excellent soft skills including oral/written communications, project management and time management are all required to succeed in what is ultimately a technical function. One of the most challenging aspects of software coding or electro/mechanical design is getting the requirements right, thus, a well-rounded background in business process, construction contracting and people management would go a long way in a successful smart city developer career.
Haven’t purchased your tickets to Collision Conference yet? Head to our #YRtech Experience Pavilion page to find out how you can save on your ticket purchase!
For more Collision Conference details: www.collisionconf.com