We’ve hit 47.
Members, that is. When we launched the CPEIA last fall, our goal was to obtain 30 founding members by the New Year. We secured 32. Our next membership target is 50 by the Canadian Printable Electronics Symposium (CPES2015) a month from now.
Our thanks to all our Members and Partners who have joined with us to build a robust Printable and Organic Electronics ecosystem in Canada.
Help us reach our next membership target by recommending CPEIA membership to any organizations in your networks with an active interest in this technology sector.
To recap, our Members include public and private sector organizations from Canada and abroad that are active in various aspects of research, development and commercialization for Printable and Organic Electronics. This includes materials, devices, prototyping, advanced manufacturing and printing. In addition, we welcome organizations that can help us reach end-users in our target market verticals – Packaging, Aerospace and Defence, Automotive, Health and Wellness, Secure Printing, Marketing and Commerce, and Consumer Electronics and Wearables.
If you know an organization that should be a member of the CPEIA, please introduce us. This is also a call to university groups across Canada as we are in the process of creating a strong university R&D network.
Highlights from CPEIA Semi-Annual Report
During our first AGM talking place on April 21 at CPES2015, Members in attendance will hear a recap of our first six months of operation from Executive Director Mark Majewski.
In advance of the AGM, here are some highlights of that report.
We have been working hard to ensure CPES2015 is bigger and better than ever before, with twice the agenda and twice the attendees. To date, we have secured eight title sponsors, along with two media partners.
As part of our media push for CPES2015, we have secured substantial coverage with Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters’ 20/20 magazine, leading Canadian industry publication Electronic Products & Technology and international publication Printed Electronics Now. Other media outlets and industry associations have provided valuable exposure to tens of thousands of readers. These include Graphic Arts Magazine, IT Business, +Plastic Electronics, the Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA) and MEDEC.
Forging strategic partnerships
As you are likely already aware, we have recently signed Memorandums of Understanding with Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters and CABA. We are in discussions with several other Canadian industry associations and government-funded research and technology organizations (RTOs) and expect to have some fresh news on this in the near future.
We are also laying the groundwork to create working groups and advisory boards to develop white papers and facilitate networking and collaboration across the Canadian industry. We will build on these efforts next quarter with our new Board of Directors, which will be voted in at the AGM on April 21.
Achieving a sound financial footing
But the foundation of all we hope to achieve through the CPEIA rests on having the resources we need to fund operations on a break-even basis. Several initiatives are already in development to ensure this.
The first is a new rate card, through which we can offer Members web-based advertising and creative design and marketing services to help them get exposure across the industry and internationally. We will soon send you more information on this new service for Members.
We have also been working with several groups to increase government R&D funding support for technology companies and universities in our sector. We hope to make announcements on this in 2015.
Together, we will achieve the critical mass to generate new economic activity, create jobs and strengthen the Made in Canada brand abroad.
A special notice about the AGM, and the call for nominations for the Board of the Directors and our Advisory Boards, will be hitting your inbox shortly.