Influencers of 2022 in Canadian tech – IT World Canada

Merriam-Webster defines an influencer as somebody who evokes or guides the actions of others, and all through this yr, we’ve lined a mess of them on IT World Canada, IT Enterprise, Channel Day by day Information and Course Informatique.
One of many joys of being a journalist is the chance to talk with and write about these attention-grabbing and galvanizing folks. We requested the writers who produce the content material for all 4 of our websites to every select a few people who’re having an influence on the Canadian tech world. It was onerous to pick just some, however listed below are their picks, in alphabetical order.
Jim Balsillie – co-founder of BlackBerry (previously Analysis in Movement): Amongst his many tasks since having retired as co-CEO of BlackBerry, Balsillie has devoted quite a lot of time and power to 1 which will by no means be a family identify, however which can have a big effect on Canada’s aggressive place.
The CIO Technique Council is a gaggle that develops requirements for the implementation and administration of know-how that are vital to its improvement and innovation. The Requirements Council of Canada has accredited the CIO Technique Council to develop Nationwide Requirements of Canada. And simply because the TCP/IP customary made the broader web doable, different requirements can gasoline collaboration within the improvement of a variety of recent applied sciences from synthetic intelligence (AI) to digital identification, and a number of others.
Establishing requirements in Canada and sharing these the world over is a large catalyst for Canadian know-how firms. The council is a largely volunteer group which is gaining recognition in Canada and around the globe for its work. – Jim Love
Chris Barry, president, Microsoft Canada: Since he took over from Kevin Peesker on July 1, Chris Barry, president, Microsoft Canada: Since he took over from Kevin Peesker on July 1, Microsoft Canada‘s new president, Chris Barry, has amassed greater than 50,000 airline miles criss-crossing the nation, visiting prospects and companions. It’s his second stint in Canada since he joined the corporate greater than 20 years in the past; he spent virtually three and a half years as vice chairman, enterprise and industrial at Microsoft Canada earlier than heading again to Redmond, WA in mid-2019 to tackle a world position.
Canada, he mentioned in an interview with IT World Canada, is seen inside Microsoft as “this unbelievable exemplar of innovation” that’s doing wonderful work with prospects. “And so for me, it’s about coming again and persevering with to work on empowering our prospects and our workers and our companions on this digital transformation journey that’s clearly a multi yr journey.” – Lynn Greiner
Yoshua Bengio, AI visionary and scientist: A real pioneer in AI, Bengio based what was to change into the Mila Institute (Quebec Institute for Synthetic Intelligence) in 1983. His contribution has been basic to developments in a number of utility areas of AI. Involved concerning the moral problems with AI, he contributed to the Montreal Declaration for the Accountable Improvement of Synthetic Intelligence. This yr, Bengio was third among the many most acknowledged and influential researchers in any area, in keeping with Stanford College’s rating.
Along with this distinction, Bengio was a co-laureate of the 2018 AM Turing Award, and he ranks first amongst pc scientists worldwide when it comes to the quotation H-index. A Fellow of the Royal Society of London and of the Royal Society of Canada, he’s additionally “Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur de France” and Officer of the Order of Canada.
Lately, Montreal’s Druide informatique, maker of the Antidote suite of writing instruments, added his identify to its dictionary, recognizing a terrific scientist, a terrific humanist, and a companion whose work contributes to the evolution of Antidote. – Renaud Larue-Langlois
Alexandre Blais, scientific director of Université de Sherbrooke’s Institut Quantique: Blais, a famous scientist, leads a staff of twenty-two analysis professionals, 26 professors and 73 post-doc college students. A key focus has been on quantum engineering, which has led to the creation of a pc in a position to full in solely 200 seconds computations that conventional computer systems would require 10,000 years to finish.
The institute’s analysis additionally focuses on resistance-free energy supply, maglev trains, higher-range electrical automobile batteries, extra exact GPS monitoring, clearer medical imaging and sensors in a position to detect submarines within the best depths of the oceans.
The analysis setting itself consists of summer time colleges that appeal to college students from around the globe, in addition to weekly seminars and annual workshops on quantum supplies, quantum info, mesoscopic physics, or digital strategies.
“Developments in quantum science have already reworked our world, however the influence could possibly be far higher,” Blais mentioned in an interview with Le Devoir. “We’re shifting into excessive gear.” – Renaud Larue-Langlois
Federal Minister of Innovation, Science, and Trade François-Philippe Champagne: It’s honest to say that the fast actions he took following the Rogers outage debacle in June will result in main modifications on the subject of how Canada’s telecom panorama not solely operates, however is regulated. Describing the nationwide outage as “unacceptable – full cease,” quickly after it occurred, he rapidly ordered the CEOs of Rogers, Telus, Bell Media, Quebecor’s Videotron, SaskTel, and the Bragg Group’s Eastlink to supply a plan to make sure an outage of this magnitude would by no means occur once more. – Paul Barker
Shiza Charania: A 16-year-old highschool scholar phenom, Charania is working with pc imaginative and prescient and next-generation AI to assist determine mind tumours earlier than they seem. In August, she showcased the work she has executed with the Shiza Charania: A 16-year-old highschool scholar phenom, Charania is working with pc imaginative and prescient and next-generation AI to assist determine mind tumours earlier than they seem. In August, she showcased the work she has executed with the College Well being Community (UHN) and Toronto Metropolitan College (TMU) on the Girls in IT Channel occasion. Charania has been working internships with UHN and at TMU, the place she helps construct a novel 3D mind tumour segmentation structure.
She can also be considering Synthetic Common Intelligence (AGI) and has been exploring completely different approaches, frameworks, and views to guage AI ethics and security. – Samira Balsara
Harsehaj Dhami, machine studying researcher and founding father of Codespire: Dhami, who is just 17, heads up a non-profit group that delivers technological schooling to underprivileged youth. Specializing in creating and utilizing know-how to assist handle gaps in accessibility to schooling, Codespire works in partnership with present youth organizations and youth homeless shelters to ship schooling via workshops that cowl programming, digital design, and digital literacy.
Dhami spoke about her work on the Queer Tech convention in Toronto this yr. Through the convention she shared that Codespire initially targeted on coding and programming, however after visiting susceptible communities and seeing the necessity for different abilities, this system developed.
Previous to her work at Codespire, Dhami was a part of one of many successful groups on the Hack In opposition to Hate Hackathon for a device referred to as Pridtect, which goals to guard folks attending Pleasure Parades and assist them really feel secure. As well as, Dhami was one of many youngest audio system at Denmark’s Getting old Analysis and Drug Discovery convention this yr. – Samira Balsara
Philippe Johnston, president of the CIO Affiliation of Canada (CIOCAN): Johnston has led the group via a powerful interval of development with a imaginative and prescient and plan that has grown its membership and relevance.
CIOCAN is a volunteer group with chapters throughout the nation. Its members are CIOs and CISOs who’ve lots on their plate. Johnston himself has big obligations as CIO of a serious authorities company, but he, like his predecessors which embrace well-known CIOs reminiscent of Humza Teherany and Gary Davenport, commit their free time to the event and development of the Canadian CIO neighborhood.
Johnston’s potential to encourage a staff of volunteer executives throughout the nation has earned him respect of all the CIO neighborhood. He’s a really a terrific instance of the numerous volunteers in organizations which have labored to extend the skills, professionalism and the respect given to info know-how professionals. – Jim Love
Kevin Peesker, president of worldwide small, medium, company and digital enterprise at Microsoft: Peesker assumed his new place earlier this yr following a five-year posting as president of Microsoft Canada. He turned a real celeb within the Canadian IT neighborhood, relationship again to his days at Dell Laptop, and his potential to speak and attain any viewers has been a trademark of his profession.
Few will overlook the night when Peesker helped launch Dell’s channel in Canada carrying a satan’s costume, acknowledging that Dell’s ‘go direct’ technique didn’t win them any buddies within the channel neighborhood. However in basic Peesker trend, he gained over that troublesome viewers, as he has with so many others, by being humorous, open, and all the time genuine.
As president of Microsoft Canada, he gave a masterclass in methods to talk within the digital world. His common movies, whether or not they have been discussions with know-how leaders or a shock go to to an worker at dwelling to current an award, have been all the time attention-grabbing and sometimes a whole lot of enjoyable to observe.
Born in Saskatoon, Sask., Peesker has been a passionate supporter of the Canadian know-how trade, providing nice help for fairness, range and creating alternative for all Canadians. Whereas this new job offers him worldwide obligations, he may also be a terrific ambassador for Canada at Microsoft and around the globe. – Jim Love
AJ Rivera, managing director, Accenture Canada: Rivera’s success in IT and private expertise communicate to the brand new era. She has spent 25+ years at Accenture, throughout which she trailblazed her method to a management place, regardless of the challenges of being an overtly transgender girl in a male, cis-dominated tech trade.
Rivera was not surrounded by position fashions, and endeavored to change into one by actively empowering queer folks to decide on tech as a profession, by revamping HR insurance policies, and implementing unconscious bias coaching to foster range, fairness, and inclusion (DEI) at Accenture, and by offering the fitting help and community for queer expertise to thrive.
Nonetheless, her essential precept is loud and clear – “high quality of labor is genderless and is what will get you to be recognized.” Rivera is a visual, out-and-proud voice for queer people who find themselves keen to work onerous, get the fitting certifications and make the fitting profession decisions. – Ashee Pamma
Ian Scott, outgoing CEO and chairman, Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Fee (CRTC): Love him or hate him, throughout his tenure heading up the CRTC, Ian Scott has made an influence on the trade. A greater than 25 yr telecom veteran, Scott had beforehand been a vice chairman at Telus and govt director of presidency and regulatory affairs at satellite tv for pc firm, Telesat.
When he took on the CRTC submit in September of 2017, he was seen as being friendlier to the telecom trade than his predecessor, whose method was extra consumer-centric, and controversy ensued over his relationships with the massive telcos. Impartial web service supplier TekSavvy went as far as to lodge a grievance with the federal Integrity Commissioner, accusing Scott of breaking federal guidelines by assembly privately with lobbyists and executives from the massive telcos.
The CRTC’s rulings round cellular digital community operators (MVNOs), its flip-flopping on web wholesale charges paid to the giants by smaller firms, and, extra lately, its approval of license transfers within the Shaw/Rogers deal have cemented the notion that it’s on the aspect of the incumbents. Nonetheless, Scott’s legacy additionally consists of overseeing the launch of the Common Broadband Fund; the event of the Web Code, a compulsory code of conduct for suppliers of retail mounted internet-access companies; the launch of the 9-8-8 disaster line, a psychological well being and suicide-prevention service; the investigation of deceptive or aggressive gross sales practices; and he required that carriers implement anti-spam name know-how. – Lynn Greiner
Daniel Therrien, former Privateness Commissioner of Canada: Therrien completed an eight-year time period in June, and through that point arguably his largest position was being a extremely seen critic of the Liberal authorities’s proposed overhaul of the present federal personal sector legislation, often known as PIPEDA. In truth, he mentioned components of the proposed Client Privateness Safety Act (CPPA) have been worse than PIPEDA.
It might have been a co-incidence, however the Trudeau minority authorities let the invoice die on the order paper when the September 2021 federal election was referred to as. The federal government re-introduced the CPPA with some small modifications after Therrien left workplace. Memorable choices made by his workplace included discovering that Fb, Cambridge Analytica, Clearview AI and Tim Hortons violated PIPEDA. A steadfast protector of privateness rights, in his final public speech in Might, he repeated his name for the fitting to privateness to be enshrined in laws. – Howard Solomon
Kumanan Wilson, chief scientific officer, Bruyere Analysis Institute: Expertise was key to getting us via the Covid-19 pandemic, whether or not it was with the event of the mRNA vaccine, monitoring instances, hospitalizations, vaccination charges, discovery of recent variants of issues, or offering residents with instruments to observe their very own well being. Wilson, working with the Canadian authorities and different analysis institutes, was a driver of a number of of those improvements, together with CANImmunize Defend, ClinicFlow for delivering vaccinations, the pan-Canadian public immunization app and extra.
Lately, he spoke on the significance of sharing information and integrating our information methods to foster innovation and create a stronger public well being infrastructure in Canada. – Ashee Pamma
Maayan Ziv, founder and CEO of AccessNow: Earlier this yr, Jake Cohen, the chief working officer of The Daniels Company, a developer at present concerned within the refurbishing of Toronto’s Regent Park, Canada’s largest social housing neighborhood, said that the time period sensible is greater than only a buzzword. Good, he mentioned, “additionally means clever and perceptive practices that handle the wants of what actually makes communities thrive – folks.”
The important thing to creating that occur is an AI-based software program providing referred to as AccessNow, developed by Maayan Ziv, the corporate’s founder and CEO, who was born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), a type of Muscular Dystrophy. The teaming up of the 2 organizations to map, overview and rank the accessibility of companies and public areas in Regent Park is designed to disclose each the successes and limitations that at present exist for folks dwelling with disabilities.
Ziv’s AI-based software program is constructing what she described as “linked ecosystem – empowering folks with disabilities globally by connecting customers, firms, governments, engineers and entrepreneurs with our clever, anonymized information useful resource.”
Individuals sharing info, she mentioned, “stays the center and soul of what we do, however we will additionally now leverage that info – that information – to coach our AI fashions to begin to perceive the world from the angle of individuals with disabilities.
“We now have picture fashions; we’ve sensor information fashions; and we’re coaching them to have the ability to begin to have a look at areas with out the necessity of individuals to be there each single time.” – Paul Barker
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