The New Digital Reality | Megatrends & Your Future Outlook
In the era of ever-evolving digital technologies and buzzwords around AI, the cloud, blockchain, and nanotech getting a clear understanding of this new landscape and what it means for your organization can seem like an impossible proposition. A lack of understanding of the impending change can erode public trust and prove crippling to your organization. As one of the rare executives experienced in leading both enterprise software and government organizations, Alex Benay is uniquely positioned to offer technological guidance for organizations across sectors. In this customized presentation, Alex will explore some of the megatrends in this space, what they mean for business models, how to compete on the international stage and what it takes to win. He will challenge you to make the cultural change required to enable a shift to better digital business models, policies and laws. Audiences will leave empowered to conquer the digital challenges facing the future of their organization.
Key Takeaways:
• How digital is impacting the institutions who deal in public trust as a business model.
• How to cut through the hype in order to focus on real concrete digital actions your institution should be most concerned about getting right.
• A roadmap for where Canada and its businesses should be heading in the next few years.
Digital Economy
Most institutions aren't ready for the shift towards the digital economy. How can you build public trust in our ever-changing digital landscape? It requires a very different approach from that of a decade ago. Identity management, privacy, machine-to-machine communication, quality standards, and a shifting geopolitical climate are just some of the areas Alex Benay explores in this presentation. Taking a big-picture approach to issues around identity and policy, he provides audiences with a clear understanding of what coming & how they can position themselves for future success. Customized for each audience, Alex will show your organization how change isn't a risk when moving forward in the digital economy.
Key Takeaways:
• The techniques used by foreign countries who have successfully accelerated their digital economies.
• The current state of Canada’s policy and transition to a data-driven economy, and where gaps can be turned into opportunities.
• The tangible steps your institution can take to get ready for our future digital economy.
The Machines are Here: Ethical Artificial Intelligence
Today’s headlines are filled with articles on the challenges government face in regulating big platforms such as Google, Facebook, and others. Alex Benay argues this the battle was lost a decade ago. We are now faced with a new battle, one which our institutions are once again ill-equipped to fight: the battle to manage the machines. In this presentation, Alex explores the most pressing AI and data battles taking place, while bringing to life some of the important real-world scenarios we too often ignore either as corporate citizens or everyday individuals. From for-profile companies making decisions without human intervention to certain governments controlling ISO standards processes on AI, Alex will draw from his personal experience developing the worlds first Algorithmic Impact Assessment tool to show how we can mitigate risk. Audiences will walk away with a clear understanding of how their organizations can better prepare themselves for the algorithmic battles to come; how to choose ethical technology suppliers; the role corporate values plays in automation & more.
Key Takeaways:
• The primary threats in this space, and what the battles being waged by the data & AI giants mean to you.
• What steps organizations can take to prepare themselves for the rise of algorithms within their institutions.
• How ethical automation can be be used in tangible ways to help organizations achieve goals.
Canada’s Digital Future
Alex Benay applied a different lens to the technology landscape of government with a goal to create a government that is more exponential, rather than linear, in order to meet Canadians' needs for digital services. Alex's keynote address will discuss the ways in which the public sector must strive to engage with citizens in a way that is open and digital by default first. Alex will also touch on how the Government of Canada, among others, must embrace the technologies needed to operate in a digital world and promote innovation in the public sector - in order to bring government services into the information age.
Learning from Failure
Humans are a dominant species that has thrived on a history of striving for success. And yet, an individual, organization or nation that prides itself only on its success is not prepared to face the challenges of the future. A nation should face its failures, accept them, and in certain cases even celebrate them, in an effort to become greater than it is. In a world that is often described as entering a new"disruptive" phase of existence, complete with disruptive technologies, disruptive economies, and so forth, and at a time when the innovation economies of the world are seen as a critical next step in our human evolution, not failing often and fast seems counter-intuitive to any innovation agenda. Failures define us as much as successes; they shape our national DNA, our culture, and our creative spirit. Benay explores the stories of individuals who have both failed and succeeded, and how, through time, failures have helped to shape our national identity.
Social Leadership & Intrapreneurship
In this presentation, Alex looks at the organizational and human dimensions of leadership. He will deliver experience-based, practical ideas and approaches that audiences can implement for themselves, in their own organizations, and specifically within the public sector.
Platform Plus
Panelist/In Conversation
From AI to the IoE, from open government to building innovation, Alex brings fascinating insights to a wide range of discussion topics.
Keynote Presentations:
The New Digital Reality | Megatrends & Your Future Outlook
Digital Economy
The Machines are Here: Ethical Artificial Intelligence
Canada’s Digital Future
Learning from Failure
Social Leadership & Intrapreneurship
Platform Plus
Panelist/In Conversation