Anyck Turgeon
5/12/2008
Chief of Market Strategy and Security
Crossroads Systems
As chief of market strategy and security for Crossroads – a leading provider of data protection solutions – Anyck Turgeon spends many hours in the air, traveling to attend data security meetings for customers, conferences and visiting regulatory organizations such as NIST, the United Nations and ASIS. As a global business traveler, Turgeon has had myriad of opportunities to experience what has been commonly referred to as the “digital divide.” She’s most surprised at the proliferation of free Internet access throughout locations with smaller population ratios such as New Brunswick, Canada, but has also noticed very slow communication networks and two-hour-long waits at computer terminals in third-world countries. More astonishingly, Turgeon reports the almost de-facto presence of motels with free Internet access in the Silicon Valley as opposed to the frequent inability for those in households to connect wirelessly as a result of reclaimed land preventing mobile carriers from installing communications towers given the lack of land stability.
“I’ve seen how computers can provide both an overwhelming and sometimes frustrating experience. For several senior citizens, the daunting task of trying to read an unfamiliar screen with many small characters can be quite overwhelming and frightening, whereas children are thrilled to get access to a computer because, as in my case, it can become their best friend and worst enemy given the limited security measures currently available and implemented!” said Turgeon. “I witnessed the power of portals when I first realized that battered and abandoned children moving from one shelter to another were still able to gain access to an education and complete homework through a really fun and animated Internet portal while still gaining education levels required to pass online required standardized tests.”
Turgeon feels computer and Internet access could help to resolve the class divide as well as offer a fuller life to many children and parents across the world including the Middle East, China and Africa. The problem, however, runs deeper as populations in different countries may have different sets of values, cultural beliefs, leadership goals and living styles. Nicholas Negroponte, founder and chairman of “One Laptop per Child (OLPC),” and Curtis Silwa, founder of “The Guardian and Cyber Angels” organizations, refer to overwhelming mountains of political barriers for causes such as worldwide abolition of child pornography, globalized education and free localized networking communications. As such, global efforts to bridge the digital divide may not be happening as swiftly as we would like, which begs the question, “Are we really ready for such a shift?”
“I believe that digital inclusion is taking place now but at a much slower pace than initially predicted,” said Turgeon. “Other factors that contribute to this ‘magic’ slowdown may include a global economic slowdown in 2008, Asia-US technological responsibility transfers, lack of cheaper technologies, limited mobile communications and a continuing global push from the financial industry towards shorter-term corporate profitability gains. This slowdown may provide us all the perfect opportunity to devise solutions that meet today’s new market trends such as social networking, virtualization and security compliance in a world facing global warming and other worldwide concerns.”
“However, are we ready for a world where our lives are stored electronically?” asks Turgeon. “Will we be prepared for the next disaster? Will the data of the less fortunate be treated as a commodity, bypassing privacy rights, depending on the social, financial and geographical status of one person? I support all ethical digital inclusion efforts and most certainly applaud AMD – another remarkable Austin-based high-tech leader – for its 50x15 efforts.”
About Anyck Turgeon
Turgeon joined Crossroads in 2005 with more than 20 years of experience in the high-tech industry. She currently leads Crossroads’ security efforts. Previously, Anyck oversaw the creation of three new departments at Oracle HQ and managed teams across many corporate disciplines for Oracle Portal, Oracle Industries and for Oracle On Demand/Outsourcing” groups. Turgeon designed revolutionary portal frameworks and technologies, architected and deployed leading data warehousing solutions and managed highly secure IT environments for corporations worldwide including Nabisco, DoCoMo, Cedar-Sinai, Ontario Securities Commission, JP Morgan Chase, Alcan, Thomson Newspaper and Crédit Lyonnais.