Thought Leaders
INNOVATE™ Atlantic Canada
ANNE SPENCE
REGIONAL DIRECTOR, ATLANTIC CANADA, MITACS
We have 16 world-class universities and outstanding community colleges here in Atlantic Canada. Our quality of life is second to none. This region is home to hundreds of welcoming communities, abundant natural resources, an exceptionally strong entrepreneurial spirit –and governments that recognize these innate strengths and invest strategically to support...
INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2
CLAUDE MARINOWER
ALDERMAN FOR ECONOMY, INNOVATION AND DIGITALISATION
In 1906, riots broke out in Verviers, Liège, caused by lamplighters protesting the electrification of city lighting. Today, Antwerp is experimenting with smart street lighting using software and smart sensors. This is just one example of how a twenty-first century city is in full digital transition. As alderman for the...
INNOVATE® Maryland
DR. ELIZABETH CLAYBORNE
CEO & CO-FOUNDER AT NASACLIP
I am an ER doctor, a mom, a Black woman, and the CEO of a medical device company. These roles are not separate – they intertwine and fuel my vision for impact. My journey into entrepreneurship started in the chaos of the emergency room, where I treated countless patients for...
INNOVATIONS in Pharmaceutical Development®
Bob Kain
Co-Founder and CEO - LunaPBC
Bob Kain Co-Founder And CEO – LunaPBC I’ve been fortunate enough to live a life distinguished by constant progression, from understanding to impacting, particularly in my career. Trained as a physicist, I was fueled by a deep drive to understand some of the most complex “whys” of our world. Quickly...
INNOVATE™ Alberta
DR. TERRY ROCK
PRESIDENT AND CEO - PLATFORM CALGARY
In 1988 Calgary hosted the Olympic Winter Games. For sixteen days in February, the rest of the world was introduced to a small prairie city that would continue punching above its weight for years to come. We still hold the remnants of those Olympic Games, but today we have new...
INNOVATION Quebec
ISABELLE CAYER
DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE CENTER FOR DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH IN DIGITAL INTELLIGENCE
By 2030 , Quebec will witness the emergence of a tidal wave of new skills and therefore new companies in digital intelligence. Technical, professional and scientific profiles will be revisited, merged, transmuted into workforce profiles combining creative genius and advanced techniques that more effectively integrate the benefits of research. The...
INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2
Kris Bogaerts
Co-Founder & Engineer, Cellows
As long as I can remember, I have always wondered how things work and how I could improve them. At ten years old, I came up with an electrical motor with magnets, only to discover a few years later that the damn thing already existed! This made me realize that...
INNOVATE® Minnesota
Keith Tanski
CTO - Optum
Innovation to me is working to never settle… and to continually be obsessive over creating a continued better experience and product. This means that status quos need to continually obsess over all spectrums and that we need to realize that the greatness that got us to this point will not...
INNOVATE® San Diego Vol.1
Jim Filanc
Intelligent Cities Associates, LLC
Jim Filanc Intelligent Cities Associates, LLC Back in 2012, I wrote a White Paper entitled EnLighten San Diego when I had an insight into the strategic value of “power and perch,” two unique characteristics of streetlights. Streetlights are everywhere in most cities, but in San Diego, we envisioned attaching Small...
INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition
SEEMA ALEXANDER
PRESIDENT & CO-FOUNDER, VIRGENT AI
We are amid society’s most unprecedented era of technological innovation – the next industrial revolution driven by the mainstream adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). For CEOs, founders, and organization leaders, this period surpasses the advent and rise of the internet. New business categories will emerge, while many companies that resist...
INNOVATE® Minnesota
Teddy Bekele
Chief Technology Officer - LAND O'LAKES, INC.
Teddy Bekele Chief Technology Officer – Land O’ Lakes Inc. At its very heart, farming is filled with uncertainty. Just ask any farmer here in Minnesota who has ever wrapped up harvest amid a list of nearly endless variables, from trade to prices to weather and beyond. But there’s one...
INNOVATE® Georgia
PAIGE NEEDLING
CEO, NEEDLING WORLDWIDE
As organizations look to innovate and stay ahead of the competition, it’s becoming increasingly clear that building a nurturing team and environment is key to driving innovation. A nurturing team is one that feels supported, encouraged, and empowered to take risks and try new things. A nurturing environment is one...
INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports
KAROL SEVERIN
SENIOR ANALYST AND CO-FOUNDER AT MIDIA RESEARCH
For an activity (like playing video games) to turn into a publicly-observed competition (like esports), first there needs to be a demand to know who is best. Then, for the competition to grow a mainstream appeal and audiences to expand beyond the initial enthusiasts, it needs to have entertainment value....
INNOVATE® Maryland
CYNTHIA RIVARDE
CEO OF ROCKVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, INC. (REDI).
In an era where uncertainty is the new normal, the greatest asset a community can cultivate is not just data or infrastructure – it is creativity. And creativity does not emerge from a vacuum. It is nurtured in spaces where art, culture, and innovation intersect. Rockville is one of those...
INNOVATE™ Antwerp Vol.2
Alex Van Breedam
CEO, TRI-VIZOR
Logistics is facing important sustainability and capacity problems. The changing buying behaviour of the consumer, predominantly accelerated by the steep growth of e-commerce, is leading to increasingly smaller, but more frequent and ever faster deliveries. This fragmentation of deliveries is heavily boosting the need for transport capacity, while the shorter...
INNOVATE™ South Africa
MIKE SHARMAN
RETROVIRAL
Every brand has its genesis as a challenger. Forbes details how a business lifecycle evolves from startup, to growth; it then progresses to its maturity phase, and finally, is faced with the crossroads labeled ‘renewal’ or ‘decline’. B R A N D A L I S M is a phrase...
INNOVATION Quebec
VINCENT ROUSSON
RECTEUR, UQAT
Cependant, pour une université en région comme l’AbitibiTémiscamingue, l’innovation peut jouer un rôle encore plus important dans son développement et dans celui de ses territoires d’attaches. Tout d’abord, l’innovation peut aider à attirer et à retenir les étudiants et les professeurs. En développant des programmes innovants et en offrant des...
INNOVATE™ Estonia
MARKUS VILLIG
CEO & FOUNDER, BOLT
At 19, Markus Villig founded Bolt with a €5,000 family loan, turning a small taxi app into a global mobility platform spanning ride-hailing, scooters, and deliveries – while championing sustainability and lean growth from Estonia to 50+ countries. Markus Villig launched Bolt (then Taxify), turning it into one of the...
INNOVATE® Utah
The early seventies saw the launch of the pocket calculator. As a kid at that time growing up in Palo Alto, I went door to door selling the Litronix 1100, one of the early pocket models. My father, an attorney who represented many startups including Litronix, would bring them home for me to sell....
INNOVATE™ Estonia
TAAVI KOTKA
ESTONIA’S FIRST CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
Before stepping into government, Taavi had already made his mark in the tech sector. He co-founded and led the software company Webmedia (later Nortal), growing it into one of the region’s largest IT firms. His background as a developer and entrepreneur gave him a rare mix of technical skill and...
INNOVATION Quebec
SOPHIE D’AMOURS
RECTRICE, UNIVERSITÉ LAVAL
The word innovation is used in many ways. However, it is clearly defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as « the use of new ideas and methods ». Beyond the idea, a new solution must be used, commercialized, purchased or deployed to be innovative. In a world where knowledge evolves at...
INNOVATE® Nashville
LARISSA MARSHALL
DIRECTOR OF PRACTICE INNOVATION AT POLSINELLI
Innovation in the legal industry can often feel counter-intuitive. After all, law is built on precedent, on looking backward to go forward. A cornerstone of the profession is to manage risk and reduce uncertainty, adding additional tension to innovation and experimentation. And yet, the legal industry finds itself amid some...
INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition
ANGEL RICH
CREDITRICH - FOUNDER
Don’t die broke. This mantra is at the heart of everything I do, demonstrating the power of financial literacy and justice. Growing up in Washington, D.C., with roots tracing back to sharecroppers in South Carolina, I’ve always been connected to the Black community’s history and struggles. My great-grandparents were among...
ANNE SPENCE
REGIONAL DIRECTOR, ATLANTIC CANADA, MITACS
We have 16 world-class universities and outstanding community colleges here in Atlantic Canada. Our quality of life is second to none. This region is home to hundreds of welcoming communities, abundant natural resources, an exceptionally strong entrepreneurial spirit –and governments that recognize these innate strengths and invest strategically to support...
CLAUDE MARINOWER
ALDERMAN FOR ECONOMY, INNOVATION AND DIGITALISATION
In 1906, riots broke out in Verviers, Liège, caused by lamplighters protesting the electrification of city lighting. Today, Antwerp is experimenting with smart street lighting using software and smart sensors. This is just one example of how a twenty-first century city is in full digital transition. As alderman for the...
DR. ELIZABETH CLAYBORNE
CEO & CO-FOUNDER AT NASACLIP
I am an ER doctor, a mom, a Black woman, and the CEO of a medical device company. These roles are not separate – they intertwine and fuel my vision for impact. My journey into entrepreneurship started in the chaos of the emergency room, where I treated countless patients for...
Bob Kain
Co-Founder and CEO - LunaPBC
Bob Kain Co-Founder And CEO – LunaPBC I’ve been fortunate enough to live a life distinguished by constant progression, from understanding to impacting, particularly in my career. Trained as a physicist, I was fueled by a deep drive to understand some of the most complex “whys” of our world. Quickly...
DR. TERRY ROCK
PRESIDENT AND CEO - PLATFORM CALGARY
In 1988 Calgary hosted the Olympic Winter Games. For sixteen days in February, the rest of the world was introduced to a small prairie city that would continue punching above its weight for years to come. We still hold the remnants of those Olympic Games, but today we have new...
ISABELLE CAYER
DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE CENTER FOR DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH IN DIGITAL INTELLIGENCE
By 2030 , Quebec will witness the emergence of a tidal wave of new skills and therefore new companies in digital intelligence. Technical, professional and scientific profiles will be revisited, merged, transmuted into workforce profiles combining creative genius and advanced techniques that more effectively integrate the benefits of research. The...
Kris Bogaerts
Co-Founder & Engineer, Cellows
As long as I can remember, I have always wondered how things work and how I could improve them. At ten years old, I came up with an electrical motor with magnets, only to discover a few years later that the damn thing already existed! This made me realize that...
Keith Tanski
CTO - Optum
Innovation to me is working to never settle… and to continually be obsessive over creating a continued better experience and product. This means that status quos need to continually obsess over all spectrums and that we need to realize that the greatness that got us to this point will not...
Jim Filanc
Intelligent Cities Associates, LLC
Jim Filanc Intelligent Cities Associates, LLC Back in 2012, I wrote a White Paper entitled EnLighten San Diego when I had an insight into the strategic value of “power and perch,” two unique characteristics of streetlights. Streetlights are everywhere in most cities, but in San Diego, we envisioned attaching Small...
SEEMA ALEXANDER
PRESIDENT & CO-FOUNDER, VIRGENT AI
We are amid society’s most unprecedented era of technological innovation – the next industrial revolution driven by the mainstream adoption of artificial intelligence (AI). For CEOs, founders, and organization leaders, this period surpasses the advent and rise of the internet. New business categories will emerge, while many companies that resist...
Teddy Bekele
Chief Technology Officer - LAND O'LAKES, INC.
Teddy Bekele Chief Technology Officer – Land O’ Lakes Inc. At its very heart, farming is filled with uncertainty. Just ask any farmer here in Minnesota who has ever wrapped up harvest amid a list of nearly endless variables, from trade to prices to weather and beyond. But there’s one...
PAIGE NEEDLING
CEO, NEEDLING WORLDWIDE
As organizations look to innovate and stay ahead of the competition, it’s becoming increasingly clear that building a nurturing team and environment is key to driving innovation. A nurturing team is one that feels supported, encouraged, and empowered to take risks and try new things. A nurturing environment is one...
KAROL SEVERIN
SENIOR ANALYST AND CO-FOUNDER AT MIDIA RESEARCH
For an activity (like playing video games) to turn into a publicly-observed competition (like esports), first there needs to be a demand to know who is best. Then, for the competition to grow a mainstream appeal and audiences to expand beyond the initial enthusiasts, it needs to have entertainment value....
CYNTHIA RIVARDE
CEO OF ROCKVILLE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, INC. (REDI).
In an era where uncertainty is the new normal, the greatest asset a community can cultivate is not just data or infrastructure – it is creativity. And creativity does not emerge from a vacuum. It is nurtured in spaces where art, culture, and innovation intersect. Rockville is one of those...
Alex Van Breedam
CEO, TRI-VIZOR
Logistics is facing important sustainability and capacity problems. The changing buying behaviour of the consumer, predominantly accelerated by the steep growth of e-commerce, is leading to increasingly smaller, but more frequent and ever faster deliveries. This fragmentation of deliveries is heavily boosting the need for transport capacity, while the shorter...
VINCENT ROUSSON
RECTEUR, UQAT
Cependant, pour une université en région comme l’AbitibiTémiscamingue, l’innovation peut jouer un rôle encore plus important dans son développement et dans celui de ses territoires d’attaches. Tout d’abord, l’innovation peut aider à attirer et à retenir les étudiants et les professeurs. En développant des programmes innovants et en offrant des...
MARKUS VILLIG
CEO & FOUNDER, BOLT
At 19, Markus Villig founded Bolt with a €5,000 family loan, turning a small taxi app into a global mobility platform spanning ride-hailing, scooters, and deliveries – while championing sustainability and lean growth from Estonia to 50+ countries. Markus Villig launched Bolt (then Taxify), turning it into one of the...
The early seventies saw the launch of the pocket calculator. As a kid at that time growing up in Palo Alto, I went door to door selling the Litronix 1100, one of the early pocket models. My father, an attorney who represented many startups including Litronix, would bring them home for me to sell....
TAAVI KOTKA
ESTONIA’S FIRST CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER
Before stepping into government, Taavi had already made his mark in the tech sector. He co-founded and led the software company Webmedia (later Nortal), growing it into one of the region’s largest IT firms. His background as a developer and entrepreneur gave him a rare mix of technical skill and...
SOPHIE D’AMOURS
RECTRICE, UNIVERSITÉ LAVAL
The word innovation is used in many ways. However, it is clearly defined by the Cambridge Dictionary as « the use of new ideas and methods ». Beyond the idea, a new solution must be used, commercialized, purchased or deployed to be innovative. In a world where knowledge evolves at...
LARISSA MARSHALL
DIRECTOR OF PRACTICE INNOVATION AT POLSINELLI
Innovation in the legal industry can often feel counter-intuitive. After all, law is built on precedent, on looking backward to go forward. A cornerstone of the profession is to manage risk and reduce uncertainty, adding additional tension to innovation and experimentation. And yet, the legal industry finds itself amid some...
ANGEL RICH
CREDITRICH - FOUNDER
Don’t die broke. This mantra is at the heart of everything I do, demonstrating the power of financial literacy and justice. Growing up in Washington, D.C., with roots tracing back to sharecroppers in South Carolina, I’ve always been connected to the Black community’s history and struggles. My great-grandparents were among...