Thought Leaders

INNOVATE™ Montréal

Alan MacIntosh

Alan MacIntosh

Partner, Real Ventures Chairman, OSMO Foundation

The Future Starts Here An entrepreneurial endeavor of consequence is provocatively described as the pursuit of an opportunity beyond the resources you currently control combined with challenges you have yet to imagine. Ten years ago when the Notman Project was conceived, it had many such hallmarks from the discouraging skeptics...

INNOVATE® Gaming & Esports

KATHRYN DE SHIELDS-MOON

KATHRYN DE SHIELDS-MOON

CO-FOUNDER, DIVERTEGA

My ideal future for this industry is one rich in diversity and equality, from developing games and the content within them to more comprehensive professional representation in gaming and esports for minorities and gender minorities. It will take all of us working together to make this reality, and there is...

INNOVATE™ Stockholm

ROLAND WILLIAMS

INNOVATION PIONEERS

When people talk about innovation, it’s often described as a breakthrough moment — the spark that changes everything. In practice, it usually looks very different. Progress tends to come from the smaller steps: listening carefully, sharing experiences openly, and being willing to test something, learn from it, and try again....

INNOVATE™ Stockholm

AMIR ELION

THINK BIG LEADERS - CEO, INNOVATION AND AI ADVISOR, SPEAKER

Many years ago, when I was facilitating internal innovation workshops at Motorola, word got out, and executives would ask me to run “The Innovation Workshop” for their teams. I told them that I don’t have an innovation workshop, and that they should tell me what they aiming to achieve, and...

INNOVATE® Seattle

LAURA RUDERMAN

CEO, TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE

One of the most pressing challenges is the need for an educated workforce, particularly amid a changing understanding of what that means. Over the last 20 years, creating that workforce centered on STEM fields and getting a bachelor’s degree. It is time to move beyond the “hard hats vs. high...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

JEAN C. ACCIUS

PHD, PRESIDENT & CEO, CHC: CREATING HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES

Time is our most valuable asset. Once you lose it, you never get it back. Yet, millions of people across our country are robbed of priceless time. A Tale of Two CitiesIn the United States, there’s a strong likelihood that a person in one city might live 20 years longer...

INNOVATE® Minnesota

Shaye Mandle

Shaye Mandle

President & CEO - The Medical Alley Association

You might say modern healthcare was invented in Medical Alley more than 150 years ago when the Mayo Clinic set the standard for care delivery. The medical device industry was born here with Medtronic’s founding in 1949. When the relationship between payers and providers needed to change, HMOs were invented...

INNOVATE® Minnesota

Reed Robinson

Reed Robinson

Founder - BETA

Nearly 150 years ago, General Cadwallader Washburn and Charles Pillsbury set up mills along the Mississippi, introducing scalable food-processing and global food distribution. A short time later, William Worrall Mayo moved to Rochester, and with the help of his two sons and the Sisters of Saint Francis, they would invent...

INNOVATE® Washington DMV Edition

RACHEL KORETSKY

FOUNDER & CEO UPACE, CO-FOUNDER & DIRECTOR OF DC STARTUP & TECH WEEK

Embracing Community: A Founder’s Journey Through Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship often carries an aura of glamour and excitement, but beneath the surface lies a challenging journey demanding resilience, creativity, and—perhaps most importantly—a strong community of support. As the Founder & CEO of Upace and Co-Founder & Director of DC Startup Week, I’ve...

INNOVATE™ Alberta

REG JOSEPH

CEO, HEALTH CITIES

I have spent most of my career in health sciences and innovation in both Canada and the United States. As we grapple with the challenges in our health systems across Canada, it is clear to me that while there are several areas that need attention (including policy and new funding...

INNOVATE™ Oeiras

Jose Rui Marcelino

CEO - Almadesign

From an early age, I was fascinated with the possibility of materializing, through images or objects, what is created by our imagination and which, without the proper communication tools, exists only in our heads: whether to satisfy a need, solve a problem or just because its beauty inspires us. It...

INNOVATE™ Bristol & Bath

POKU OSEI

FOUNDER AND CEO, BABBASA

Bristol has a reputation for the high-tech industry, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. However, the city is marked as the 7th worst of 348 districts in England & Wales for black and ethnic minority communities to live and thrive. The issue has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. So what...

INNOVATE™ Adelaide

HON. CHRIS PICTON

MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Taking hold of the opportunities derived from research excellence and innovation will help us to build a resilient, efficient, and informed health system that supports the future health and wellbeing of all South Australians. Research excellence and innovation will also play a vital role in our ability to proactively respond...

INNOVATE® Georgia

BRIAN ALBERTSON, PRESIDENT AND PHILLIP LEE, VICE-PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS

ISACA ATLANTA CHAPTER

Developing innovation is a dynamic and ongoing process essential for advancing human knowledge, solving critical problems, and driving progress across domains. It requires creativity, strategic thinking, and effective execution to transform new ideas into tangible benefits. Innovation creates opportunities, fuels growth, and drives development across diverse fields, passing the torch...

Global Innovation Spotlight

CRISTÓBAL VIEDMA

CRISTÓBAL VIEDMA

CEO, LINGOKIDS

Esta ciudad, Madrid, lo supo bien durante la crisis del coronavirus, que no solo tuvo que parar con su ritmo ferviente tan característico, sino aprovechar la dificultad para reinventarse. En nuestro caso, como empresa afincada en Madrid, ¿qué hicimos para que en tan solo dos años, llegáramos a los hogares...

INNOVATE® Gainesville

Juan Segarra

Innovation Starts with Culture-BuildingThe greater Gainesville area is abuzz with growth, development and activity. From the expansion of major entertainment, restaurant and retail hubs, to the launch of technology start-ups, to the relocation of major biotechnology and life science firms to our area, it’s an exciting time. Innovation is at...

INNOVATE® Utah

Scott Petty

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™ Antwerp Vol.2

PROF. DR. BERT LAUWERS

PROF. DR. BERT LAUWERS ACADEMIC DIRECTOR AT KU LEUVEN

ACADEMIC DIRECTOR AT KU LEUVEN

Innovative ecosystems are a lever for prosperity. Their strength lies in the collaboration between partners, in joint creativity, mutual trust and the willingness to bring together information and insights. It’s no coincidence that we, KU Leuven, have found these qualities to be strengths of the Kempen-Mechelen region. Our two fast-growing...

INNOVATE™ Bengaluru

Dana Kursh

Israel Partners in Innovative Progress - Innovation Hub India

Partners In Innovative Progress

Israel prides itself in being an Innovative Nation, and has long term diplomatic presence in New Delhi and Mumbai. It chose Bengaluru, with its futuristic ethos, as its third destination to reinforce its economic connection with India. “The bigger economic diplomacy is in creating the right ecosystem involving the best...

INNOVATE® Georgia

JEFF UPHUES

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AT DC BLOX INC.

My journey in the technology and data center industry has been shaped by a relentless commitment to tenacity, teamwork, and trust. At DC BLOX, these principles are the driving force behind our approach to the industry. Tenacity has been the cornerstone of our success at DC BLOX. We started as...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

JENNIFER TWINER MCCARRON

THUNDERBIRD CEO

As a leader, people and culture need to be a priority. You need to tangibly demonstrate what a culture of excellence looks like. I believe that attitude and outlook are everything. What you bring to the table (or zoom meeting) directly impacts those around you — personally and professionally. True...

INNOVATE® Orlando

Duncan J Wardle

ID8 & INNOV8

Duncan J Wardle ID8 & INNOV8 In this brave new world, four of the traits we are all born with will rise to the top if we are to compete and find solutions to challenges big and small. We are all born creative, with an amazing imagination. We were once...

INNOVATE™ Vancouver Vol.2

Michael Volker

Michael Volker- CEO WUTIF CAPITAL

CEO WUTIF CAPITAL, ANGEL INVESTOR, WEST VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA

  I’ve been doing angel investing since the early 1980s after I took my first venture, a computer terminals manufacturer in Waterloo, public on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Since then, I’ve invested in well over 200 startup ventures. I often hear entrepreneurs complain about the lack of funding. One of...

INNOVATE™ Estonia

PRIIT ALAMÄE

NORTAL, CEO

CHALLENGING THE “BUT” IN DIGITALIZATION Nortal’s story began at the same time the second government of prime minister Mart Laar decided to go all in on digital transformation in 1999, followed by the accession to the European Union in 2004. There was an unwritten societal and political understanding that a...

Alan MacIntosh

Alan MacIntosh

Partner, Real Ventures Chairman, OSMO Foundation

The Future Starts Here An entrepreneurial endeavor of consequence is provocatively described as the pursuit of an opportunity beyond the resources you currently control combined with challenges you have yet to imagine. Ten years ago when the Notman Project was conceived, it had many such hallmarks from the discouraging skeptics...

KATHRYN DE SHIELDS-MOON

KATHRYN DE SHIELDS-MOON

CO-FOUNDER, DIVERTEGA

My ideal future for this industry is one rich in diversity and equality, from developing games and the content within them to more comprehensive professional representation in gaming and esports for minorities and gender minorities. It will take all of us working together to make this reality, and there is...

ROLAND WILLIAMS

INNOVATION PIONEERS

When people talk about innovation, it’s often described as a breakthrough moment — the spark that changes everything. In practice, it usually looks very different. Progress tends to come from the smaller steps: listening carefully, sharing experiences openly, and being willing to test something, learn from it, and try again....

AMIR ELION

THINK BIG LEADERS - CEO, INNOVATION AND AI ADVISOR, SPEAKER

Many years ago, when I was facilitating internal innovation workshops at Motorola, word got out, and executives would ask me to run “The Innovation Workshop” for their teams. I told them that I don’t have an innovation workshop, and that they should tell me what they aiming to achieve, and...

LAURA RUDERMAN

CEO, TECHNOLOGY ALLIANCE

One of the most pressing challenges is the need for an educated workforce, particularly amid a changing understanding of what that means. Over the last 20 years, creating that workforce centered on STEM fields and getting a bachelor’s degree. It is time to move beyond the “hard hats vs. high...

JEAN C. ACCIUS

PHD, PRESIDENT & CEO, CHC: CREATING HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES

Time is our most valuable asset. Once you lose it, you never get it back. Yet, millions of people across our country are robbed of priceless time. A Tale of Two CitiesIn the United States, there’s a strong likelihood that a person in one city might live 20 years longer...

Shaye Mandle

Shaye Mandle

President & CEO - The Medical Alley Association

You might say modern healthcare was invented in Medical Alley more than 150 years ago when the Mayo Clinic set the standard for care delivery. The medical device industry was born here with Medtronic’s founding in 1949. When the relationship between payers and providers needed to change, HMOs were invented...

Reed Robinson

Reed Robinson

Founder - BETA

Nearly 150 years ago, General Cadwallader Washburn and Charles Pillsbury set up mills along the Mississippi, introducing scalable food-processing and global food distribution. A short time later, William Worrall Mayo moved to Rochester, and with the help of his two sons and the Sisters of Saint Francis, they would invent...

RACHEL KORETSKY

FOUNDER & CEO UPACE, CO-FOUNDER & DIRECTOR OF DC STARTUP & TECH WEEK

Embracing Community: A Founder’s Journey Through Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship often carries an aura of glamour and excitement, but beneath the surface lies a challenging journey demanding resilience, creativity, and—perhaps most importantly—a strong community of support. As the Founder & CEO of Upace and Co-Founder & Director of DC Startup Week, I’ve...

REG JOSEPH

CEO, HEALTH CITIES

I have spent most of my career in health sciences and innovation in both Canada and the United States. As we grapple with the challenges in our health systems across Canada, it is clear to me that while there are several areas that need attention (including policy and new funding...

Jose Rui Marcelino

CEO - Almadesign

From an early age, I was fascinated with the possibility of materializing, through images or objects, what is created by our imagination and which, without the proper communication tools, exists only in our heads: whether to satisfy a need, solve a problem or just because its beauty inspires us. It...

POKU OSEI

FOUNDER AND CEO, BABBASA

Bristol has a reputation for the high-tech industry, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. However, the city is marked as the 7th worst of 348 districts in England & Wales for black and ethnic minority communities to live and thrive. The issue has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. So what...

HON. CHRIS PICTON

MP, MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND WELLBEING

Taking hold of the opportunities derived from research excellence and innovation will help us to build a resilient, efficient, and informed health system that supports the future health and wellbeing of all South Australians. Research excellence and innovation will also play a vital role in our ability to proactively respond...

BRIAN ALBERTSON, PRESIDENT AND PHILLIP LEE, VICE-PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS

ISACA ATLANTA CHAPTER

Developing innovation is a dynamic and ongoing process essential for advancing human knowledge, solving critical problems, and driving progress across domains. It requires creativity, strategic thinking, and effective execution to transform new ideas into tangible benefits. Innovation creates opportunities, fuels growth, and drives development across diverse fields, passing the torch...

CRISTÓBAL VIEDMA

CRISTÓBAL VIEDMA

CEO, LINGOKIDS

Esta ciudad, Madrid, lo supo bien durante la crisis del coronavirus, que no solo tuvo que parar con su ritmo ferviente tan característico, sino aprovechar la dificultad para reinventarse. En nuestro caso, como empresa afincada en Madrid, ¿qué hicimos para que en tan solo dos años, llegáramos a los hogares...

Juan Segarra

Innovation Starts with Culture-BuildingThe greater Gainesville area is abuzz with growth, development and activity. From the expansion of major entertainment, restaurant and retail hubs, to the launch of technology start-ups, to the relocation of major biotechnology and life science firms to our area, it’s an exciting time. Innovation is at...

Scott Petty

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....

PROF. DR. BERT LAUWERS

PROF. DR. BERT LAUWERS ACADEMIC DIRECTOR AT KU LEUVEN

ACADEMIC DIRECTOR AT KU LEUVEN

Innovative ecosystems are a lever for prosperity. Their strength lies in the collaboration between partners, in joint creativity, mutual trust and the willingness to bring together information and insights. It’s no coincidence that we, KU Leuven, have found these qualities to be strengths of the Kempen-Mechelen region. Our two fast-growing...

Dana Kursh

Israel Partners in Innovative Progress - Innovation Hub India

Partners In Innovative Progress

Israel prides itself in being an Innovative Nation, and has long term diplomatic presence in New Delhi and Mumbai. It chose Bengaluru, with its futuristic ethos, as its third destination to reinforce its economic connection with India. “The bigger economic diplomacy is in creating the right ecosystem involving the best...

JEFF UPHUES

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AT DC BLOX INC.

My journey in the technology and data center industry has been shaped by a relentless commitment to tenacity, teamwork, and trust. At DC BLOX, these principles are the driving force behind our approach to the industry. Tenacity has been the cornerstone of our success at DC BLOX. We started as...

JENNIFER TWINER MCCARRON

THUNDERBIRD CEO

As a leader, people and culture need to be a priority. You need to tangibly demonstrate what a culture of excellence looks like. I believe that attitude and outlook are everything. What you bring to the table (or zoom meeting) directly impacts those around you — personally and professionally. True...

Duncan J Wardle

ID8 & INNOV8

Duncan J Wardle ID8 & INNOV8 In this brave new world, four of the traits we are all born with will rise to the top if we are to compete and find solutions to challenges big and small. We are all born creative, with an amazing imagination. We were once...

Michael Volker

Michael Volker- CEO WUTIF CAPITAL

CEO WUTIF CAPITAL, ANGEL INVESTOR, WEST VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA

  I’ve been doing angel investing since the early 1980s after I took my first venture, a computer terminals manufacturer in Waterloo, public on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Since then, I’ve invested in well over 200 startup ventures. I often hear entrepreneurs complain about the lack of funding. One of...

PRIIT ALAMÄE

NORTAL, CEO

CHALLENGING THE “BUT” IN DIGITALIZATION Nortal’s story began at the same time the second government of prime minister Mart Laar decided to go all in on digital transformation in 1999, followed by the accession to the European Union in 2004. There was an unwritten societal and political understanding that a...

INNOVATE® Ecosystems