David Booth President, Global Sales and Marketing Computer Sciences Corporation Falls Church, Virginia

For the Telegraph-Journal, Published Monday December 17th, 2007, Appeared on page B1

Global technology boss sees New Brunswick's potential

David Booth has been an unofficial ambassador of New Brunswick's technology sector for as long as he can remember.

The Moncton native is the newly-minted president of global sales and marketing for Computer Sciences Corp., a California-headquartered company with offices in 92 companies around the world. He carries around a beat-up rental map of New Brunswick he got in Halifax over a decade ago everywhere and talks up his home province to anyone who will listen.

"I'm a huge fan of New Brunswick," says Booth, 45, who now resides in Boston.

"We can compete with anyone in the world, we have many strategic advantages."

Those advantages, Booth says, include: the existing telecommunications infrastructure "backbone" that was built for this province's call centre sector, our quality post-secondary institutions, and the laid-back, low-cost Maritime lifestyle.

New Brunswick's economy is similar to Ireland's in many ways, notes Booth, and New Brunswick should be able to duplicate Ireland's Celtic Tiger experience.

Like Ireland, New Brunswick is a former have-not region that has the infrastructure to transform itself into an economic powerhouse, says Booth.

Since the essential infrastructure already exists in New Brunswick, all this province has to do is market itself as a viable business process outsourcing destination.

The New Brunswick Ambassador Program, launched by the provincial government in mid-October, is a great way to spread the word about this province by having close to 200 mainly New Brunswick business executives who travel build new relationships on the province's behalf, and seek out business leads and partnerships for New Brunswick companies, says Booth.

Once business people in other parts of Canada, and the world, become aware of the advantages of doing business in New Brunswick, then, says Booth, local companies can start offering a range of back office outsourcing, such as billing and purchasing, and front office outsourcing, such as marketing or technical support, to a range of companies.

Booth knows a thing or two about transforming from a have-not to a powerhouse.

He grew up in a hard-working family that instilled the importance of getting an education.

After graduating from Moncton High School he went on to Mount Allison University in Sackville.

While at Mount Allison he started working for computer companies, and he eventually climbed up the executive ranks, landing a management position at Digital Equipment Corp.

Digital was taken over by Compaq in 1998, and Booth rose to the position of president of Compaq Canada in 2000.

Then, when Hewlett-Packard Co. and Compaq merged in 2001 he rose to the position of vice- president of enterprise sales for Hewlett-Packard in the eastern U.S. before retiring in 2006.

Booth has now returned to work, this time for Computer Sciences Corp., a leading global information technology company with $14.9 billion in revenue last year and more than 87,000 employees.

He gives a lot of credit for his success to his alma mater Mount Allison.

"Mount Allison offered me a high-calibre education with personal attention," says Booth.

"I'm a big fan of Mount A."

His Maritime roots have also helped him navigate the boardrooms of corporate America.

"Growing up in New Brunswick I learned exceptional values. Being good, being nice, being fair, " says Booth.

"You gotta be tough in this business, but you can also be a good person."

The high-tech expert has high hopes for New Brunswick, and his hometown of Moncton -- which has a growing information technology sector.

Booth points to the success of xwave, a division of Bell Aliant, as a prime example of a homegrown organization that now has employees in Canada, the U.S., and Ireland, and brings in over $355 million in revenues.

And with the low cost of running a business in New Brunswick he expects the IT sector to just keep on growing.

Of course, continued investment in post-secondary training and education for the next generation will be necessary if this province is to succeed, Booth adds.

As a founding member of the Mount Allison national advisory council and the university's board of regents he shows his sincere interest in the education of N.B.'s youth.

When he is not busy on the university board, or commuting from his home in Boston to his new office in Virgina, or being a husband and father to one son he plans to help grow Computer Science Corp. and improve customer satisfaction.

For now, he is out of early retirement, but still plans to visit his home province about four times a year.

"I will probably never live in New Brunswick 12 months per year," says Booth.

"But I believe I will always have a home in New Brunswick and visit often."

<< Back to Speaker Bios | Next Speaker