Key Insights from Discovery 2017
A recap of panel discussions and speeches
Without a crystal ball or divination charm in sight, thousands of people were treated to a glimpse of the future at the 2017 Discovery conference and trade show hosted by Ontario Centres of Excellence. Brimming with forward-thinking panels that featured many of Canada’s leading experts and entrepreneurs, there was no shortage of ideas, excitement, or Ferrero Rocher chocolate at this year’s event. Talks at the two-day conference addressed timely topics, including artificial intelligence, climate change and the next generation of transportation. For those who missed the panels and speeches at Discovery, here are a few takeaways and videos from the event.
Premier Wynne Gives Remarks at Discovery 2017
The Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario, gave a hopeful message to the audience on Day One of Discovery 2017. She summarized how the 2017 Ontario budget incentivizes innovation while also increasing opportunity and security at a time of unprecedented change around the world.
“Ontario has always been home to brilliant minds and cutting-edge technologies. Discovery itself is a testament to that fact. We can own this space. This is who we are. We can build an innovative and fair Ontario. But we can only do that if we combine our efforts.”
- The Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Premier of Ontario
Discovery 2017 Keynote Panel — Technology of the Future
Leaders from some of the world’s most successful global corporations shared their perspectives on the next wave of technologies, how their companies are evolving to address change, and how they are adapting their hiring practices to meet future demands. The panel offered a few logistical considerations for some next-generation technologies and noted that sustainability is a major opportunity for innovation.
“Our industry is about 15 per cent of the country’s GDP. We [account for] about 30 or 40 per cent of carbon emissions. And the way we build things […] it’s disgraceful and it needs to change, and it will change. Sustainability will be baked into every aspect of what we do, or the planet won’t survive.”
- Geoff Smith, Chief Executive Officer, EllisDon Corporation
“There are a lot of assumptions being made around what’s going to happen [with transportation], but we do have to think about the practical and more common sense side of how we get everybody to work and school at the same time […] How do we make this all happen and therefore, what does the future then look like?”
- Linda Hasenfratz, Chief Executive Officer, Linamar Corporation
Moderator: Annette Verschuren, Chair and Chief Executive Officer, NRStor Inc.
Panelists:
- Linda Hasenfratz, Chief Executive Officer, Linamar Corporation
- Mark Henderson, Chairman, Ericsson Canada Inc.
- Dana (Keoki) Jackson, Chief Technology Officer, Lockheed Martin International
- P. Thomas (Tom) Jenkins, Chair of the Board, OpenText Corporation
- Geoff Smith, Chief Executive Officer, EllisDon Corporation
Scale-Ups: How Ontario Entrepreneurs are Scaling Up and Attracting International Attention
Canadian start-ups struggle to scale up globally — but success may hinge on heeding some expert advice. At Discovery 2017, three of Ontario’s leading entrepreneurs focused on what it takes to build, market, and scale successful Canadian start-ups. The panel highlighted challenges specific to early-stage companies based in Ontario, from acquiring senior executive talent, to securing investments, to attracting international attention.
“Definitely look south of the border. That’s where the most experienced and, generally, the best tech investors are. It’s always helpful to bring capital into Canada. Second, get founders to introduce you to their investors, because that’s by far the best way to do it. You have to go through an introduction. Finally, build a relationship over time. Explain to investors what your targets are and how you plan to grow, and then deliver. Once you do that, fundraising becomes easy to do.”
- Mike Silagadze, Co-Founder and CEO, Top Hat
Moderator: Bilal Khan, Managing Director, OneEleven
Panelists:
- Ali Asaria, Founder and CEO, Tulip Retail
- Carol Leaman, CEO, Axonify Inc.
- Mike Silagadze, Co-Founder and CEO, Top Hat
Going Deep on Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (A.I.), machine learning, and deep learning represent not just opportunities, but necessities for economic growth. At a standing-room-only Discovery 2017 panel, representatives from three leading A.I. institutes in Ontario emphasized the importance of A.I. for business, discussed the implications of wide-scale A.I. adoption for the province, and predicted where A.I. is headed — from an academic as well as a venture creation perspective.
“A.I. will only succeed if the abundance it creates can be shared by everybody: all humans, all machines, and everything in between. This is why I’m so excited about initiatives like the Vector Institute, the Creative Destruction Lab, and NextAI. We are working to build Canada’s capacity in A.I. so that we can continue to lead on a global scale.”
— Graham Taylor, Academic Director, NextAI
Panelists:
- Daniel Mulet, Associate Director, Machine Learning, Creative Destruction Lab
- Tomi Poutanen, Founder, Vector Institute and Co-CEO, Layer 6 AI
- Graham Taylor, Academic Director, NextAI
The Next Generation of Transportation: The Evolution of Getting There
From pressurized tubes that make travelling between cities faster than ever to connected vehicles and multi-modal, linked public transit, the future of transportation and the high-performance technologies on the horizon was the theme of this Discovery 2017 panel. Panelists laid out a vision of a transportation system that is cleaner, more connected, more varied, and more passenger-friendly. However, data availability, cybersecurity, policy standards, and consumer attitudes were cited as barriers to implementing next-gen transit technologies on a larger scale.
“We know that the future is going to be driven by urbanization around the world. We’ve got a prediction that 60 per cent of the population will be in urban centres by 2030. If you think about some of the things that it implies, [one of them] is trying to reduce congestion in urban centres. Autonomous is one of these solutions and will be part of a multi-modal network of transportation.”
— Ted Graham, Head of Open Innovation, General Motors
Moderator: Brian Kobus, Director, OMERS Ventures
Panelists:
- Ted Graham, Head of Open Innovation, General Motors
- Ryan Janzen, Co-Founder and CTO, TransPod
- Walter Kinio, Vice President, Research and Innovation, Thales Canada, Transportation Solutions
Find more videos from the Discovery 2017 conference:
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