Our Company
Our History

DASH traces its beginnings to a partnership founded in 1979 with the intent of developing data collection software. In September 1982, the Toronto field company Consumer Contact became the first user of this software. Burak Jacobson Research Partners became the first CATI user a few years later, and in December 2002, Dufferin Research was the first to implement the new web survey software.

In 1987, we incorporated our company in Ontario under a new name, DASH Software Ltd. When we moved to federal incorporation in 1995, a name change to DASHcati Software was initially required because of a trademark issue, but we regained the previous name of DASH Software Ltd. in 2003.

Toronto was the original home of DASH, but the company is now located on Canada's west coast in Victoria, British Columbia.

Our Partners

There are two founding partners and company owners.

Martti Tienhaara is responsible for software design and programming. Although he initially graduated from university in Engineering Physics and did his graduate work in Theoretical Physics, Martti then moved immediately to the computing world. In his early career, he worked on software design for large-scale projects in Ottawa and Toronto. He is a great fan of open source software, the music of Bach, and sailing the remote inlets of the west coast.

Nancy Tienhaara is responsible for marketing and administration. She came to survey research in a more conventional way, starting with a BA in Sociology and graduate courses in methodology. Nancy worked with surveys in a variety of settings, including government, academia and business, before choosing to move to the 'dark side' of the research world. Her passions are gardening, local hiking, and social trends.

Our Organization

DASH Software Ltd. is a software development and support company, period. We do not provide research services, but instead focus on what we do best and work as partners with our clients who, after all, are the research professionals.

We have chosen to expand our company through a web of relationships rather than by adding a bureaucracy. Several consultants across Canada are currently providing programming services that DASH companies can select according to their preferences. DASH field organizations share their overflow work, allowing a flexible response to the normal peaks and troughs of CATI work.