Top 5 Most Anticipated Sessions at the 2019 #BCTECHSummit

BC’s tech sector is ripe with talented entrepreneurs and fearless innovators and the #BCTECHSummit showcases BC’s vibrant technology industry builds cross-sector and cross-border opportunities for businesses and explores the latest ideas and innovations solving challenges and fuelling the global economy.

The three-day long event runs from Monday, March 11, to Wednesday, March 13 and is being held at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Hosted annually by the BC government and Innovate BC, the #BCTECHSummit brings together technology leaders, industry executives, investors, senior government officials, researchers and students to connect and share insights, experiences and opportunities.

Here are five of the most anticipated sessions at the 2019 #BCTECHSummit.

Lessons from BC’s fastest growing companies

The numbers speak for themselves: Article grew 56,581% between 2012 and 2017 and is approaching $200 million in annual revenue; Bench’s four-year growth rate is a reported 12,814.3%; and over the past year, Finn AI has doubled its staff, raised CAD$14 million from Cascadian investors, and been recognized with an award for excellence in technology innovation. They’ve graduated from “ones to watch” to “ones to watch out for.” Join this masterclass to learn the strategies they’ve employed, as well as the unconventional insights they’ve uncovered, while fuelling their unprecedented growth streaks.

When: March 12
Time: 11 am to 12 pm

Disruptive transportation and technologies on the horizon – With Kenny Hawk of Mojio and Lilly Shoup of Lyft

Kenny Hawk is Mojio’s CEO and leads the company on its mission to give every vehicle a voice. Kenny has previously led three disruptive, venture-backed companies as CEO: Ubidyne, a provider of active antenna systems for the global wireless market and winner of the GSMA Innovator of the Year Award; NemeriX (sold to Qualcomm in 2009), which set the world record for low power GPS chipsets for smartphones; and iGo, a company Kenny also founded, that has sold more than $1B in mobile power products to date.

Lilly Shoup is Senior Director of Policy and Partnerships at Lyft. With a background in multimodal planning, street design, and transit operations, she works to re-connect communities with the world’s best transportation. Prior to joining Lyft, Lilly was a Principal at Nelson\Nygaard Consulting and served in the Office of Transportation Policy at the US Department of Transportation in Washington, DC where she managed the Partnership for Sustainable Communities and related livability initiatives. She is the author of national publications including “Dangerous by Design” and “The Fix We’re In For: National Bridge Assessment”.

When: March 13
Time: 11:15 am to 12:15 pm

What will the workforce look like in 2050 – With Jake Hirsch-Allen of LinkedIn, Karen Bakker of Riipen, Gina Phillips of WeWork, and Nirajan Ravichandran of Asana Vancouver

Jake Hirsch-Allen manages the relationship between LinkedIn Learning Solutions and Canada’s Higher Education and workforce development institutions and its Economic Graph work with governments.

Dr. Karen Bakker is Riipen’s Director of Strategy as well as a Professor and Canada Research Chair at the University of British Columbia. The author of over 100 academic publications, Karen is a Rhodes Scholar with a PhD from Oxford, a Fellow of the Trudeau Foundation, and a member of the Royal Society of Canada’s New College.

Gina Phillips currently leads the business for WeWork in the Northwest US and Canada as General Manager. Since launching the Seattle market for WeWork in 2013, Gina has launched multiple new markets and grown a dynamic region undergoing hypergrowth.

Niranjan Ravichandran serves as Site Lead at leading work management startup Asana’s Vancouver engineering office. In this role, he is responsible for growing Asana’s footprint in Vancouver, in addition to the site’s product development efforts. Most recently, he led mobile engineering at Asana and was a key engineer involved in revamping the company’s mobile technical strategy.

When: March 13
Time: 1:15 to 2 pm

XR: The Infinite Potential of Virtual Worlds

XR (virtual, augmented and mixed reality) is overhauling industries and enabling completely new experiences in how we live, work and play. Formerly the purview of futurists and gamers, the uses for XR are now being realized in sectors as diverse as natural resources, retail, healthcare and real estate. It’s no wonder B.C. now has more than 230 companies developing XR applications, up from a dozen three years ago. Join this session learn about XR’s power to transform your business and life from the people and companies who are leading this virtual revolution.

When: March 12
Time: 2 to 2:45 pm

How to Thrive in the New Golden Age of Commerce – With Michael Macintyre of INDOCHINO and Selma Zafar of Best Buy Canada

Michael is a seasoned INDOCHINO executive with over eight years experience in various marketing, ecomms and operational roles. As VP of Omnichannel Strategy, Michael is charged with developing the omnichannel experience of the future. As the company doubles down on its omnichannel vision, he will work to ensure digital channels are optimized for maximum growth, with one view of the customer.

With over 18 years of experience in UX design, Selma’s breadth of work spans several industries, including e-commerce, retail, digital agency, and mobile. This diverse background has given her a holistic view of the challenges and opportunities of innovative and user-friendly solutions.

More information on the 2019 #BCTechSummit, is available on the event’s website