Long View EVP Dave Frederickson Raises The Canadian Innovation Flag

This is the fourth article in the Spotlight Series of posts by Canada’s top IT Executives who will be at what I consider to be a must-attend event, the Long View Systems’ #ActivateDigital2018 Conference on February 27th in Guelph, Ontario.

In today’s post, Long View Ontario’s Executive Vice President Sales & Strategic Business Solutions Dave Frederickson raises both the Canadian flag and awareness of why it is vital for our nation to take the leadership role when it comes to innovation.

It’s Time To Wave The Canadian Innovation Flag

In a recent interview newly appointed Microsoft President Kevin Peesker said: “How cool is it to be Canadian and how cool is it to have these technological innovations happening (here)?”

Kevin, who is one of the featured keynote speakers at Long View’s ActivateDigital2018 conference in February, is enthusiastic about innovation in this country especially in areas such as digital transformation, IoT, and AI.

I, of course, could not agree more with Kevin and the other industry leaders who will be joining me in Guelph in February to talk about the direction that Canadian innovators will be taking over the coming months and years.

Canada, as Kevin’s Microsoft colleague Toni Townes-Whitley, so aptly put it “is the place to be.”

However, and beyond recognizing our innovative strengths, being able to act upon the opportunity both individually and collectively to assume our nation’s rightful place as a global high-tech thought leader is not only a call to action but a responsibility. This responsibility is the reason why the conference is so important, as it brings together the right people at the right time to provide the insights the market needs to hear.

From my standpoint, the responsibility to capitalize on emerging technological advancements and breakthroughs requires us to get in front of innovation through the implementation of a sound strategy. In other words, we must go to the edge, without falling over it.

What this means is that the fastest and most effective way to implement a strategic “digital” vision while minimizing risk is dependent on having the proper insight to make informed, proactive decisions instead of ones based on reaction. It is through this kind of vetting process that you will be able to minimize risk while streamlining implementation timelines to achieve superior outcomes.

In the coming weeks leading up to the conference, #ActivateDigital2018 keynote speakers including Cisco’s new President Rola Dagher, BlackBerry’s Margaret Stuart, and of course Microsoft’s Kevin Peesker will be writing a series of articles through which they will share their vision of the digital future and what it will mean to Canadian business.  Hewlett-Packard Enterprise’s John Dathan’s article Extending HPE’s Heritage Of Innovation To Bring Our IoT Vision To The Edge And Beyond is now available through the following link.

Seating for the conference is limited, so be sure you secure your place at ActivateDigital2018 today.

You can follow this series as well as other stories relating to the conference on Twitter using the hashtags #ActivateDigital2018 and #TakeTheLongView

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