Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. (Darren Brown, OBJ)

The future will be more exciting than the past, communication is essential to society and the key to all of it is continually evolving technology.

That was the message Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer tried to convey Tuesday morning at Centrepointe Theatre during a special Technology Executive Breakfast presented by the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) and the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC).

"I have a lot of enthusiasm for what the industry will do over the next 10 years," said an animated and almost acrobatic Mr. Ballmer. "That's why we talk about our mission in the company, and in some senses our mission as an industry in helping people and businesses around the world to realize their full potential."

Allowing people to access information regardless of location means better care in hospitals, higher learning in schools and more successful enterprises, he preached.

"Information is a hallmark of human creativity. We all get to participate in a very unique way in the transformation of society where hospitals can develop and deliver better health care more productively and economically and helping students to learn in new ways."

During his swing through Ottawa to attend the CAN>WIN Summit on innovation and economic prosperity, Mr. Ballmer also announced an additional $4.5 million for Microsoft Canada's Partners in Learning (PiL) and Unlimited Potential (UP) programs. Through the programs, Microsoft teams with government education departments and community organizations to make the latest computer technologies and training more accessible to community groups, students and lifelong learners.

"These kinds of grass root initiatives are vital to sustaining innovation, promoting a skilled workforce and driving economic prosperity," Mr. Ballmer said. "Through PiL and UP we work with students, teachers and lifelong learners to help create social and economic opportunities and to help transform communities."

During his morning presentation at Centrepointe Theatre, he went on to emphasize the global market shift among consumers looking to adapt the "digital workstyle."

"The other thing that exists right now is it's the right climate among the people we want to sell to. People around the world are prepared today to lead what Bill Gates often referred to as a digital lifestyle or digital workstyle. People say 'well, that's we're doing that now,' but we weren't doing that even five or six years ago."

Mr. Ballmer recounted a story of meeting a man on a plane who had a good idea, but who couldn't figure out how to exploit it.

"Software is the key to the way people communicate. Three or four years ago, I was on a plane and reading some PC magazines. The guy next to me asked if I work in the computer business. He said 'We have a lot of computers in my company, but I have a question.' He said his job was to state the cost of auto insurance. 'I have a theory that people who wait to buy insurance on New Year's Eve are thinking about drinking and driving that night.' It made sense to me. So he said: 'I know that data is in the computer. I know we have it, so why can't I find it?' "

It's simple things like that, he added that make innovation and development so important.

"Technology will make each of us more productive, it'll make our businesses more competitive," Mr. Ballmer said.