A digital wave is sweeping through our economy, education, social media and politics.
Our economy - and our society - is experiencing rapid change as it adapts to the dramatic rise of new digital tools. The volumes of data in circulation are staggering - zettabytes upon exabytes - all being used by new tools that influence how we interact with each other and the world around us.
Many current issues are better understood in this light. It means we need to recognize an imperative: we need to build a digital society, where everyone benefits from data.
Thankfully, a group of Canadian industry and civic leaders are adapting their institutions to meet the demands of our digital society.
Here are 10 Canadians building the advanced digital society Canada needs:
Ima Okonny, Chief Data Officer, Employment and Social Development Canada; for her leadership in ensuring responsible data use in the Federal government’s service delivery, and in particular for attentive recognition of the perils of data bias
Colin Deacon, Independent Senator, Senate of Canada; for bringing a true entrepreneur’s experience and digital mindset into the Senate’s regulatory influence
Tobi Lutke, Founder, Shopify, for building the most powerful Canadian startup of the decade
Paul Vallee, CEO, Tehama; for his call for a new CIO code of conduct that recognizes the power of data in our digital society
Jaimie Boyd, National Digital Government Leader, Deloitte;for leading digital transformation in Ottawa and Victoria
Ilse Treurnicht Managing Partner TwinRiver Capital, for her foundational role in building Toronto’s tech powerhouse
Chris Albinson, CEO & President, Communitech; for unabashedly championing Canadian technology as a force for global good
John Baker, Founder & CEO, D2L, for building world-leading digital education software from Canada
Denise Williams, CEO, First Nations Tech Council;for advocating how Indigenous peoples can lead in building new connected economies, and for speaking to the powerful concept of indigenous data sovereignty
Chantal Guay, CEO, Standards Council of Canada; for leadership on the critical (and overlooked) concept of standard setting to build effective digital systems
Several of those mentioned will be joining us on June 3 in Vancouver, where we'll dive into how to use data, tech and talent to build an advanced digital nation, and what we can learn from the world’s best – Estonia.
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