A new tool to advise Internet users when their favourite Web sites have been updated was one part of the winning e-business concept in the 2002 St@rt Up Challenge.
Jevon MacDonald, who owns the Charlottetown company BlogPeople, visualized and developed the document tracking technology.
"The document fingerprinting allows documents to be monitored anywhere on the Internet," said MacDonald. "We alert users to any content changes. It has become more relevant to the Internet as it becomes more and more of a space for competition as well as with the advent of personal publishing, known as blogging."
MacDonald has developed a website that features this capability www.blogtrack.com.
MacDonald says, while there are other tools that perform this function, they are delayed by one hour in reporting updates and require the owner of the site to report when any changes have been made. Blogtrack eliminates those issues.
MacDonald also plans to target the corporate sector by offering the service as a competitive information monitor. The system would monitor large information repositories including research-oriented databases, corporate Web sites, message boards and discussion groups.
Revenues would come from a subscription-based model.
MacDonald is now improving the backbone infrastructure to the Web site and plans to issue a new release of the software. "I am moving slowly to make sure this is a viable product before introducing it in the marketplace," said MacDonald.
The Honourable Mike Currie, Minister of Development and Technology says the St@rt Up Challenge is structured to help companies move from a concept to a marketable product."
"We have some great minds here in Prince Edward Island and know we can compete globally," said Minister Currie. "This competition is structured to help bring the business idea into focus, and the mentoring and assistance with the business plan is all designed to help our entrepreneurs create new products and new wealth for the province."
The St@rt Up Challenge is an e-business plan competition organized by Technology PEI Inc., the Government of Prince Edward Island's lead agency in the development adoption and use of Information Technologies in business and community in Prince Edward Island. E-business plans were submitted and reviewed by a panel of judges.
MacDonald receives financial assistance from Technology PEI Inc., a computer compliments of MicroAge and IBM, marketing assistance from Baker Consulting, legal assistance from Stewart McKelvey Stirling Scales, accounting assistance from Price Waterhouse Coopers, one-year e-commerce hosting package from Island Tel/Aliant, and one year of Internet access from Island Services Network.