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Digital Futures Symposium

May 2025

SmithToronto, 200 Front St. W.
Simcoe Place, 30th Floor

Smith School of Business Ivey Business School

The Digital Futures Symposium is a collaboration between Smith School of Business at Queen’s University and Ivey Business School at Western University to facilitate collaboration between industry and academia to advance Canada’s global position in Digital Futures.

"Digital Futures" refers to the exploration and speculation about the potential directions, impacts, and transformations that emerging digital technologies may bring about in various aspects of society, economy, culture, and individual life. Increasingly digitalization initiatives are falling short on strategic objectives and Canada continues to fall behind other countries on advancing their digital agenda.

Moving Canada forward requires new and innovative approaches to knowledge creation and mobilization. As such, uncovering opportunities is the purpose of this symposium.

2024 Keynote Speakers

Michael Raynor

Author & Co-Founder of Canary Medical and Scope 3 Markets

Jerry Kane

C. Herman and Mary Virginia Terry Chair in Business Administration
University of Georgia

Stephanie Woerner

Principal Research Scientist; Executive Director, CISR
MIT Sloan School of Management

Gordon Sandford

Partner - Transformation
EY

Ola Henfridsson

Professor Schein Family Endowed Chair Associate Dean, Online Business Programs
University of Miami

2024 Event Details

The symposium is a two-day event designed to encourage collaboration between industry and academia in two distinct ways.

By attending, you will not only influence Canada’s Digital Future, but you will also learn how your organization or academic institution can contribute to thought leadership, advancing practices, and making improvements to digitalization efforts across different sectors.

Event Agenda

Day 1: Building Industry Academic Partnerships to Drive Digital Futures in Canada

Thursday May 9th – 8:30-5:30 pm (ET)

This is a full day conference where digital leaders in academia and industry will come together to discuss how we can promote collaboration in research and development to advance technology innovation and digital transformation in Canada.

Day 2: Digital Futures Paper Development Workshop

Friday May 10th – 8:30-3 pm (ET)

The second day of the conference will focus on a collaborative research event where thought leaders in industry and academia will provide feedback and guidance on works in progress. Short versions of papers, research projects, and journal articles will be submitted and those accepted will be discussed by a team of mentors who will offer constructive criticism, suggestions, and insights to help authors enhance the quality and impact of their work.

  Download the full event agenda

Event Organizers

  • Abayomi BaiyereAssociate Professor & Distinguished Research Fellow of Digital Technology, Smith School of Business
  • Kathryn BrohmanE. Marie Shantz Fellow of Digital Technology, Smith School of Business
  • Isam FaikAssistant Professor of Information Systems, Ivey Business School

2024 Workshop Mentors

(Mentors are subject to change)

  • Shamel Addas, Smith School of Business, Queen’s University
  • Abayomi Baiyere, Associate Professor & Distinguished Research Fellow of Digital Technology, Smith School of Business, Queen’s University
  • Kathryn Brohman, E. Marie Shantz Fellow of Digital Technology, Smith School of Business, Queen’s University
  • Burcu Bulgurcu, Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management, Toronto Metropolitan University
  • Jim Denford, Royal Military College
  • Isam Faik, Ivey School of Business, Western University
  • Khaled Hassanein, Professor of Information Systems, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University
  • Milena Head, Professor/Wayne C. Fox Chair in Business Innovation, Director Digital Transformation Research Centre at the DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University
  • Ola Henfridsson, University of Miami
  • Mayur Joshi, Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa
  • Ojelanki Ngwenyama, Professor of Global Management and Director of the Institute for Innovation and Technology Management, Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto Metropolitan University
  • Chief Michael Nolan, Vice President & Co-Chair of the Ontario Community Paramedicine Knowledge Exchange, Paramedic Chief at County of Renfrew
  • Yasser Rahrovani, Ivey Business School, Western University
  • Gregory Vial, Associate Professor, Department of Information Technologies, HEC Montreal
  • Gongtai Wang, Smith School of Business, Queen’s University