OCE Discovery Program Updates are below:
CHINESE DELEGATION
As previously mentioned, a large delegation from China will visit Discovery this year. The delegation includes more than 75 major companies, investors and senior government officials looking to connect with Ontario life science, medical device, cleantech, new materials, ICT, energy and smart grid companies. Once a meeting schedule is available I will send to you and we can pre-book your interested clients. A full list of delegates can be found here or in the attached PDF document.
ASK AN EXPERT
Our Ask an Expert event now features more than 50 experienced experts, including investors, entrepreneurs, government representatives, innovation agents and professional services specialists. The event will run from 3:30pm to 6:25pm on day one and 10:00am to 12:00pm and 2:30pm to 4:25pm on day two of the conference, with experts available to partake in ten minute consultations. For more information, please contact greg.davis@oce-ontario.org. Please see the attached PDF document for the full list of experts scheduled to date.
INDUSTRY
We have a strong showing from large companies (and potential collaborators) at Discovery this year, with the following companies either participating in programming or showcasing on the show floor: Apple Canada, AMD, Autodesk, Bell Business Markets, BIOREM, Canadian Tire, Cisco Canada, Clearpath Robotics, Monteco, Xerox, IBM Canada, Deloitte, KPMG, Bereskin & Parr LLP, Dentons, RBC, Cosells-Dorken Products Inc., GlaxoSmithKline, Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., HP Canada, Ericsson, I-Sec Integrated Strategies (ISECIS), KeliRo Company Inc., Liricco Technologies LLC, Myplanet Digital, Corus Entertainment, OMERS Ventures, 3M, TD Bank, Telus, The Mobile Institute, and Waste Management of Canada. See attached document for an additional list of industry participants/speakers at Discovery.
PANELS
The Discovery organizing committee is in the final stages of locking in all the panelists for this year’s conference. Two panels on May 13 are now at capacity: Hyperconnectivity and the Internet of Everything and Cybersecurity – Issues and Opportunities. The Hyperconnectivity panel will examine opportunities for business, networked individualism and what it means to live in a hyper-connected world. The moderator for this panel is Michael O’Farrell from The Mobile Institute. Panel members include representatives from Cisco Canada, Bell, Wavefront and Western University. The Cybersecurity panel will explore the expertise, preparation and opportunities for cooperation across security types, services and technologies and challenge industry to think outside the box in the development of new approaches to dealing with cybersecurity. The moderator for this panel is Jeffrey Tracey from VENUS Cybersecurity Corporation. Panel members include representatives from Telus, TD Bank Group, and ISECIS.
Other panels of interest include the Innovative Technologies for the Healthcare System panel, moderated by Dr. Anne Snowden, Chair of the International Centre for Health Innovation at the Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University. This panel will address collaboration between hospitals and the private sector. Panel representatives include senior executives from St. Elizabeth Health Care, Erie St. Claire LHIN, NexJ Systems, and PatientOrderSets.com & Think Research Corporation.
Dan Misener, Producer of CBC Radio’s SPARK will moderate our 3D Manufacturing – Beyond the Hype panel. This session includes Ryan Schmidt from Autodesk speaking to design, the practical future of 3D printing and intellectual property implications of downloadable manufacturing. Attendees at Discovery will also be able to 3D print a souvenir of the event courtesy of U of T’s Critical Maker Lab.
We are also pleased to welcome the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics to Discovery. Chief Operating Officer, Michael Duschenes, will provide an overview of the Institute and Dr. Damian Pope, Senior Manager of Scientific Outreach, will talk about our quantum future. The Vision Theatre at Discovery will host Open Innovation – The Executive Sessions. C-level executives from GlaxoSmithKline, Bell, Cisco, Canadian Tire Hoffman-La Roche and others will present their organization’s innovation goals and opportunities for potential collaboration with researchers and industry.
See the online agenda for more information.
SINGULARITY UNIVERSITY
Following the success of last year’s keynote address by Peter Diamandis, Singularity University (SU) returns to Discovery with Salim Ismail, Global Ambassador and Founding Executive Director of SU and Brad Templeton, Chair, Networks and Computers at Singularity University delivering the keynote address on May 12th speaking to the business opportunities of exponential technologies including Big Data and Autonomous Vehicles followed by presentations in the Discovery Theatre on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Bio- and Nanotechnologies, Energy, Environment and how disruptive and exponential opportunities can address Grand Challenges.
MOBILE GUIDE
As per last year, we have engaged EventMobi, one of the most popular mobile platforms in the event industry, to create a Discovery mobile guide with some enhanced features. The mobile guide allows users to create a personalized agenda, explore presenter profiles, including bios, session documents and social media links, arrange meetings in advance with attendees, speakers, sponsors and exhibitors, participate in live polls and connect directly with the Discovery organizing team. You can access the mobile guide and bookmark it to your mobile device home screen at www.eventmobi.com/discovery. We encourage you BD’s to log-in and fill out your profile. Watch this video to learn how or review the attached PDF with detailed instructions.
INNOVATION PARTNERS THEATRE
This theatre, which is fully booked, will provide an opportunity for federal and provincial government organizations to speak to their individual program offerings. Presenters include MRI, MEDTE, Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund and Ontario Capital Growth Corporation (OCGC), MaRS, the NRC-IRAP Concierge Service, Build in Canada Innovation Program (BCIP), NCE, CRA, FedDev Ontario, BDC, EDC, NRC-IRAP, NSERC, CIPO, and FedNor. Bob Civak will be presenting on behalf of OCE.
CONNECT @ DISCOVERY (FORMERLY BOOK A MEETING)
This year, Discovery attendees will be able to engage with speakers, experts, delegates, exhibitors, and sponsors on the day of, or in advance, of the conference with a new feature in our mobile guide called Connect @ Discovery. This platform builds on the ‘Book a Meeting’ feature we’ve hosted on our website in previous years. Connect @ Discovery will allow you to search a list of other conference attendees and exhibitors, find individuals you would like meet with, read their profiles, and send them a private message before, during and after the event. Download the event mobile guide to begin. We will be launching with the Discovery attendees on Monday.
