OCRI has scheduled a midday press conference for Friday to introduce its new president and CEO.
While the agency will not name the individual, sources confirmed it is Mr. Lazenby, who joined Ottawa-based public-sector financial management software firm FreeBalance as a vice-president in the early 1990s and served as CEO between 2000 and 2006.
Since then, Mr. Lazenby has been a regional vice-president at The Corum Group, a global mergers-and-acquisitions consultancy specializing in privately held software and IT companies.
He had a hand in establishing OCRI's cluster system, which focuses local economic development resources on a handful of key technology sectors. Mr. Lazenby is currently the chair of the Ottawa Software Cluster.
He is also a chair with The Executive Committee, a group of 15,000 chief executives across more than a dozen countries, which helps CEOs become more effective leaders and innovators.
Mr. Lazenby's anticipated appointment comes at a time when OCRI is under pressure from several quarters to reform.
Many startups, especially in the burgeoning web and mobile app development space, feel the organization is out of touch with the next generation of tech entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, some in the broader business community resent OCRI's tech-centric focus and perceive it captures the lion's share of government economic development dollars to the detriment of other sectors.
OCRI is likely to undergo significant structural changes in the coming years as the city implements its new economic development strategy.
The centrepiece of that plan is a new investment attraction agency, dubbed Invest Ottawa, that will theoretically be under the control of OCRI, but is expected to be closely controlled by municipal officials.
In a statement announcing Friday's press conference, OCRI said its new president will discuss "cultural changes" to the organization, as well as introduce "a more inclusive (and) collaborative approach with various economic development stakeholders."
See also:
New investment attraction agency part of city economic development strategy
