18 BCBusiness MAy 2018
MATRIX
Conquering
the Summit
R
eturning to the Vancouver Conven-
tion Centre this month, the BCTech
Summit has tripled in size since it
launched in 2016. That means more speak-
ers, some 6,000 attendees and about qua-
druple the number of high-school students
passing through to learn about the 1,200-
plus technolo•y companies and other orga-
nizations at booths and interactive displays
throughout the concourse.
Besides giving ticket holders free access
to Science World for two weeks, this year's
gathering includes a Funding Foyer where
several provincial and federal funding
programs, like the BC Innovation Council's
Ignite, the Build in Canada Innovation
Program and Futurpreneur Canada,
will be on the lookout for new ventures.
To help attendees make the best
use of their time, the three-day
event is broken up into streams.
Here are a few worth considering.
May 15 (rooMs 118-120)
enTrepreneurs:
Building WiTh passion,
purpose and daTa
notaBle speakers: Jeff DunCan, president and ceo,
Meetingmax planning inc.; riCharD hungerforD, Vp business
and corporate development, hootsuite
topiC: starting a company is one thing, but actually, it's not one thing
at all. it involves finding a problem, developing an idea, getting
funding, testing that idea, creating a culture and building
a brand. These veterans will help guide
you–and throw in some handy
hacks along the way.
May 15 (rooMs 211-214)
BreakThrough
in The digiTal age
notaBle speakers: suzanne gilDert,
co-founder and
ceo, sanctuary ai; Jeff White, creative
director, Vancouver, industrial light & Magic
topiC: What is a breakthrough in the digital age?
autonomous cars, sure, but also humanlike robots.
Think Westworld, just without "all the horrible
parts," in the words of sanctuary
ai's gildert.
May 15 (rooMs 109-110)
daTa is The
neW econoMy
notaBle speakers: greg CaWs, president,
premier's Technology council; alan Winter,
B.c. innovation commissioner
topiC: includes "the canadian digital technology
supercluster" and "harnessing the power of
data for innovation." so, you know,
pretty simple stuff.
The third annual BCTech
Summit takes place from
May 14 to 16. use this handy
guide to navigate the conference
floor
by Nathan Caddell
