For its second iteration, Communitech’s annual True North conference has announced its theme will be ‘Bridges, Not Walls’ in order to examine our interconnected roles as citizens, neighbours, tech creators, and users.
The conference aims to look at the ways technology can be used to impact digital democracy, create new medical technologies, and connect global citizens. The program will include a smart city plan that puts people ahead of tech, the ongoing fight against killer robots, the rise of social enterprise, and ideas for strengthening democracy with tech.
The speakers True North’s for Bridges, Not Walls themed event includes:
- Kara Swisher, editor-at-large of Recode: Swisher is also the host of the Recode Decode podcast and executive producer of the Code Conference. A well-known Silicon Valley journalist, Swisher shines a light on the Web’s major players and the Internet policy issues that both unite and divide us.
- Tobi Lütke, founder and CEO of Shopify: Lütke has changed the way ecommerce works through the Shopify platform, and is also an advocate for computer literacy and education as the great leveler.
- Balaji Gopalan, co-founder and CEO of MedStack: Gopalan is working on a platform to protect our most sensitive personal information – our health.
- Hillary Hartley, chief digital officer and deputy minister of consumer services, Province of Ontario: Hartley focuses on the end-to-end customer experience of government to deliver government services for the people and businesses of Ontario.
- Komal Singh, engineering program manager of Google: During her day job, Singh works on tech for Google, and also wrote the bestseller “Ara The Star Engineer” to inspire kids and minorities to explore STEM by featuring real-life engineering leaders.
- Maria Cynthia Goh, professor, Impact Centre at University of Toronto: Goh is a professor of chemistry whose research impacts on nanotechnology, biomaterials, and biodiagnostics. Having co-founded eight companies with her students, she specializes in transforming scientific discoveries into real technology.
The True North conference takes place June 19 and 20 at the LOT42 Global Flex Campus in Kitchener. More than 2,500 attendees will come together to hear from leading thinkers on topics like quantum computing, AI, data privacy, and digital addiction. Registration is still available, although ticket prices will increase on May 1.
