Thought Leaders

In Spring 2019, two of our team – Charlie Widdows and Rob Sheffield – discussed how to create a network that would focus on innovation across Bristol. They had an intuitive sense that this was needed, but lacked the time and resource to turn the idea into reality. Then in...

If there’s one leadership skill that’s quietly shaped every success I’ve had, it’s flexibility. Not intelligence. Not experience. The ability to adapt and lead change is what matters most. That mindset has carried me from blue-collar beginnings in Michigan to manufacturing plants in Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, and now Tennessee. I’m...

As a newcomer to the Tampa Bay region, I’ve had the opportunity to spend the past year immersing myself in the entrepreneurial community that has been growing here. Locals understand that Tampa Bay is a great place to live and get to experience that life each day. However, beyond the...

If I had to distil my years in science, innovation and entrepreneurship into a single lesson, it would be this: real progress happens at the intersection of curiosity and practical need. My journey — from analysing heavy metals in water samples as a young chemist to establishing Estonia’s Applied Research...

Innovation alone does not guarantee market success. Many promising technologies fail to gain traction because companies struggle to translate technical breakthroughs into commercially viable products. This is where Tech Translation—a structured framework for bridging the gap between technology development and market adoption—becomes essential. The Tech Translation Framework Tech Translation integrates...

FOUNDER AND CEO, BOUNCE CHILDREN’S FOUNDATION CHANGING OUR MINDSET WILL MOVE THE PRIVATE AND SOCIAL SECTORS CLOSER TOGETHER – ENHANCING BOTH. If you still say “Non-Profit”, it’s time to upgrade your thinking to “Not for-Profit”. Why? It conveys purpose and intention, without placing limitations on outcomes. For social service organizations,...

Montréal présente la plus forte concentration d’étudiants universitaires de toutes les villes d’Amérique du Nord. Offrant un mélange unique de français et d’anglais, elle attire des étudiantes et étudiants de plus de 155 pays du monde entier. Montréal n’est pas seulement le principal centre de recherche universitaire du Canada, elle...

As more women reach out for leadership positions within the proliferating innovative companies, mentorship plays a crucial role in nurturing their talent. We spoke to Geetha Panda who contributes as a mentor in her dual roles as the Global Director, Service Desk & Large Platform Security Capability, DXC Technology and...

Rob Panepinto is an innovator who has always challenged the status quo of “good enough.” He is President of Florentine Strategies, CEO of Entrepreneurs in Action, and he recently joined UCF’s Partnership and Innovation team, serving as a Senior Strategic Advisor and Director of the Downtown Innovation District. Rob is...

Leadership matters. That’s an undeniable truth — the quality and type of leadership we cultivate and practice are paramount. From my journey in big consulting fi rms to my own innovation advisory practice, from startups to Global 500 companies, the critical success factor remains: leadership is the foundation of open...

Looking back on Atlantic Canada’s fintech sector, I remember being impressed by the stark resilience of the entrepreneurs in the region. Incredible innovation was happening across the four provinces to revolutionize and digitalize under-developed technologies, particularly in back-end solutions of all industries—from banking and aviation to communications and human resources....

Struggle and EmergeFor as long as I can remember, I’ve had a passion for building high-tech imaging products. This passion has been the driving force of my professional life, and while I’ve managed to parlay it into a long, varied and rewarding career, it hasn’t always been easy. My successes...

Historically, electronic payments solutions have been delivered by most banks as a secondary offering – often living in the bowels of the bank’s basements or tucked away into treasury as a secondary offering. Frankly, the early evolution of the payments landscape caused such posturing. Electronic payments and deposits were miniscule...

When I started working at TPR in 1998, transport and logistics was mostly a phenomenon split up according to the modes, not featuring that much public attention, and not that innovative. All that has changed a lot over the past two decades. Multimodality has changed into intermodality and more recently...

Innovation in technology often conjures images of sprawling metropolises like Silicon Valley—a beacon of transformation where ideas scale into industry-defining movements. But technology thrives where it’s least expected, and I am proud to say Newfoundland and Labrador has earned its place in that conversation. With a population of just 545,000,...

“We have little evidence that we are achieving success in one of the core challenges in Australia and internationally – breaking intergenerational cycles of disadvantage in all its forms.”(BetterStart, 2023) The quote above is from a submission by Dr. Rhiannon Pilkington and Professor John Lynch to our Royal Commission into...

Most of my career has been spent working within the visitor economy in some form or other; events, hotels, and venues but for the last 21 years, this has been within Destination Management Organisations (DMOs). There are forms of DMOs across the UK and the world, with all of us...

Challenging the status quo requires a brave voice, one that resounds with a clarity and vision that slices through the din to shape the contours of tomorrow. My conversation with Dr. Abir Haddad, a luminary in the realm of legal transformation, unfurls a narrative rich with rebelliousness, innovation, and a...

  Prof./Dr. Susan R. Madsen, Founding Director – Orin r. Woodbury Professor of Leadership & Ethics Dr. Susan R. Madsen is the Orin R. Woodbury Professor of Leadership & Ethics in the Woodbury School of Business at Utah Valley University and also the Founding Director of the Utah Women &...

Brandon spends his time traveling the world from the back of a BMW motorcycle and adventuring with his family. When he’s not adventuring, you will find him running a marketing agency that serves mid market manufacturing companies, working with high school kids exploring entrepreneurship, teaching marketing strategy courses at Washington...

My father was less than impressed with Andy Warhol’s art but as a furniture manufacturer competing against international businesses with much lower input costs he knew his business lived or died on its ability to continually innovate, to improve, to change. I took that lesson to heart and into government...

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...

IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE“It’s cancer.” That’s not a sentence you want to hear your doctor say when you’re only 23 years old. Seven days earlier having graduated with my degree in opera, and now I was sitting in a hospital. They say thyroid cancer is the “best” kind...

The business day begins in New Brunswick an hour before our colleagues in Montreal and Toronto get started. I think that’s appropriate, because from the age of sail to today’s AI revolution, our entrepreneurs have been working at the forefront of innovation, international trade and technological change. New Brunswick has...