Executive Cohort 2024

Online introduction October 18th, in-person sessions October 24th and 25th.

Where Canada’s leaders converge to learn, connect, and recharge.

In late 2022, following our annual event in Ottawa, we met with training representatives from five of the biggest departments in the Federal Government, as well as a number of CIOs and CDOs. Their unequivocal feedback was that they need our help teaching existing leaders to think digitally. As candid conversations leak into the world through AI and livestreams, we recognize the value in curating a safe, exclusive space for senior folks in government to speak freely, and learn fast. You can expect the Executive Cohort to be candid and authentic discussions on digital government's most pressing topics.

Learn more about the program and speakers below.

APPLY NOW

Eligibility Criteria

Hold a senior executive position in a government department or agency: For the Canadian Federal government, this typically means EX-1 level or one level below. Other tiers of government are evaluated based on organizational size and role seniority.

Have purchased an in-person ticket to FWD50 2024 before applying for admission to the Executive Cohort.

Complete the application form below before October 1st.

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Program

The program kicks off with an online introduction on October 18th, followed by intensive in-person sessions on October 24th and 25th. 

Senior folks in government had asked us to put together a track focused on their unique challenges, and put them face-to-face with experts and their peers. We expect executives to learn about:

  • Accountability: The author Dan Davies warns that many of the systems we've created to scale society become so complex and impersonal that nobody's responsible for them. As a result, they turn into accountability sinks. Any system must begin with rules for how to update it, but giving everyone recourse to appeal an automated decision will undermine the system. How do we make systems accountable to those they serve in effective, but fair, ways?
  • Resiliency: Digital systems must withstand three kinds of disaster: External accidents, such as a forest fire or Internet outage; intentional harm, including cyberattacks from foreign adversaries; and internal mistakes, from bad processes to clumsy employees. Since there's no such thing as a perfect system, how do we build reliable digital systems efficiently?
  • Generative AI: There's no doubt that AI advances will upend the nature of work in a few short years. But before those wholesale shifts, there are plenty of immediate consequences to consider. For example, the ease with which non-coders can build software will give rise to a Shadow IT unseen since the dawn of SaaS. Since AI makes some hard things (like content creation) easy and some easy things (like knowing what to trust) hard, any process that relies on those things needs to be adjusted for this new world.

For each of these topics, we’ll bring in experts, letting them share their ideas and answer questions in a candid setting. Time for network and one on one discussions will also be carved out in a structured way.

Speakers

Dominic Rochon

Deputy Minister, Chief Information Officer of Canada, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS)

Kristel Van der Elst

Director General, Policy Horizons Canada

Cori Zarek

Vice President, North America, Apolitical

Shingai Manjengwa

Head of AI Education, ChainML

Shaifa Kanji

Assistant Deputy Minister, Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada

Anna Wong

Director, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS)

Sandy Kyriakatos

Chief Information Officer, National Research Council of Canada (NRC)

Erica Vezeau

Director General, Digital Academy and GC Data Community, Canada School of Public Service, Government of Canada

Kate Arthur

Partner & co-founder , Comz

Tanya Woods

Managing Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs & Policy Counsel, Questrade Financial Group

André Côté

Director, Policy and Research, The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University

Liam Whittington

Senior Program Manager, Forum of Federations

Tanya Coyle

Director of Communications, The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University

Ryan Androsoff

CEO & Founder, Think Digital

Vanessa Thomas

Senior Advisor, Technology Review, Government of Canada

Melanie Miles

Director, Enterprise Risk Office, Bank of Canada

Silvana Santos Gomes

Instructor and PhD Candidate in Public Administration , University of Ottawa

Jamie M. Thomas

Program Officer, Forum of Federations

Stephanie Gauthier

Manager, NC3 Implementation Team, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

Eric Champagne

Full Professor, University of Ottawa

Alistair Croll

Co-founder & Chair, FWD50

Executive Cohort Agenda 2024

October 18

3:30 PM EDT

Inspiring & Interacting

Welcome to the FWD50 Executive Cohort!

Join the rest of the 2024 Executive Cohort for an online preamble. We'll get to know one another, discuss the following week's agenda, and chat with some invited guests. See More.
Deputy Minister, Chief Information Officer of Canada
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS)
Co-founder & Chair
FWD50

October 24

1:00 PM EDT

Where we are now

Welcome to the FWD50 Executive Cohort!

Join Host Alistair Croll as he kicks off the second edition of our Cohort. This year we're focusing on Accountability, Resilience and Generative AI. See More.
Co-founder & Chair
FWD50

1:25 PM EDT

Where we are now

Doing digital differently? Digitalization and governance in federal systems

In this session, experts from the Forum of Federations and the University of Ottawa Centre on Governance will present the key takeaways from their upcoming book on the dynamic intersection of digital public administration and federal governance. Digitalization poses challenges for governments at all levels, and better understanding how federal and multilevel countries face and address these challenges can support future policy development in this rapidly developing area of governance practice. See More.
Senior Program Manager
Forum of Federations
Program Officer
Forum of Federations
Instructor and PhD Candidate in Public Administration
University of Ottawa
Full Professor
University of Ottawa

1:55 PM EDT

Where we are now

How federal tech workers stack up

Technology is reshaping both the public and the private sector. How can we compare them? See More.
Director, Policy and Research
The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University
Director of Communications
The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University

2:25 PM EDT

Artificial Intelligence

Innovating in uncertain times

Changing the world is risky. It means putting yourself out there, trying unproven things, and often, speaking truth to power. Challenging the status quo is hard at the best of times—and often, in the worst of times, gets shut down. With budget cuts, austerity, and caution at an all-time high, we're innovating less when we need it most. See More.
Partner & co-founder
Comz
Managing Director, Government and Regulatory Affairs & Policy Counsel
Questrade Financial Group

2:55 PM EDT

Networking

Networking break

Take this opportunity to talk to your colleagues and guests about what you've learned and keep the conversation going! See More.

3:25 PM EDT

Artificial Intelligence

How AI-ready is your government?

With the rapid evolution of Generative AI, governments worldwide face the challenge of not just understanding—but effectively implementing—AI across public services. This workshop explores a new AI Readiness Framework designed specifically for government leaders, focusing on the three pillars: People, Strategy, and Governance. See More.
Vice President, North America
Apolitical

4:25 PM EDT

Artificial Intelligence

AI, rights and recourse - A rich conversation (not a literature review)

What does recourse actually mean? See More.
Head of AI Education
ChainML
Co-founder & Chair
FWD50

4:55 PM EDT

Artificial Intelligence

Wrapping up the day

Join Alistair as he recaps the day and talks you through what you can expect from tomorrow's content. See More.
Co-founder & Chair
FWD50

October 25

10:00 AM EDT

Resiliency and Accountability

Welcome back!

Join Alistair as he outlines the themes for day two: Resiliency and accountability. See More.
Co-founder & Chair
FWD50

10:10 AM EDT

Resiliency

Digital governance redefined: Building the next-Gen C-Suite

The 2024 FWD50 content survey highlights digital preparedness and resiliency as top priorities, along with a pressing need for enhanced management and organizational structure. It's clear: the old ways won't cut it anymore. It's time to take the leap into the future. See More.
Assistant Deputy Minister
Innovation Science and Economic Development Canada
Chief Information Officer
National Research Council of Canada (NRC)
Director
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS)

10:50 AM EDT

Resiliency

Building cyber resilience: Challenges and opportunities facing Canada's digital transformation

Every day, institutions in Canada fall victim to cyber attacks. For many of those institutions, recovering from data breaches is a difficult and costly path. For example, it took over six months for the Toronto Public Library to recover from its 2023 ransomware attack, and the recovery costs were estimated at nearly $1 million. The City of Hamilton was also hit by a ransomware attack in February 2024, and was See More.
Senior Advisor, Technology Review
Government of Canada
Director, Enterprise Risk Office
Bank of Canada
Manager, NC3 Implementation Team
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)

11:20 AM EDT

Resiliency

Everything right can still go wrong

In this presentation, you'll learn from a personal story and leadership reflections on a failed government digital transformation project and consider how things can go wrong even when it seems like everything is going right. See More.
Director General, Digital Academy and GC Data Community
Canada School of Public Service, Government of Canada

12:00 PM EDT

Networking

Lunchtime!

Enjoy some lunch while you catch up with your colleagues and talk through the morning's learnings. See More.

1:30 PM EDT

Accountability

Navigating the disruptions on the horizon

In our hyperconnected world, decision-makers grapple with a pivotal question: What disruptions lie ahead? See More.
Director General
Policy Horizons Canada

2:10 PM EDT

Networking

Networking break

Take this opportunity to talk to your colleagues and guests about what you've learned and keep the conversation going! See More.

2:35 PM EDT

Accountability

What I wish my boss knew about digital

What does it take to be an effective public service leader in today’s digital world? How have your own experiences shaped what you see as the leadership gaps when it comes to understanding how the digital world works? What do you wish your boss knew about Digital? What do you wish you knew? See More.
CEO & Founder
Think Digital

3:35 PM EDT

Accountability

That's a wrap

That's a wrap on our cohort! Join Alistair as he fills you in on what you can expect at FWD50 this year. See More.
Co-founder & Chair
FWD50

Apply Now

Fill in the application form below by October 1st.  

Since the cohort is offered at no additional price to qualifying attendees, you must first purchase a ticket before applying for admission. We cannot pre-approve admission to the cohort prior to ticket purchase.