Montreal event & Municipal AI

July 6-7th - In-Person in Montréal & Virtual

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This summer, we’re bringing two days of digital government content to Montreal, and combining our international focus on national modernization with the hard work of municipal technology. In this two-day hybrid event held in Montreal’s Old Port, attendees will hear inspiring keynotes and interviews, and join afternoon sessions on public sector tech at all levels of government.
There couldn’t be a better time to bring together federal, provincial, and municipal leaders from Canada and around the world. 
 
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Speakers

Pia Andrews

Senior Advisor, Digital Transformation, Personal Capacity

Kesone Phimmasone

Chief Digital Strategy Officer, Office of Technology and Innovation

Greg Lindsay

Urban Tech Fellow, Cornell Tech

Ana Monroe

CEO, Ishmael Interactive

Teri Green

CEO, Lite Technology Solutions, LLC

Ron J. Williams

Founder, ScamHERO // Co-created

Jacklynn Pham

Design Lead, New Practice Lab

Dea De Jarisco

Senior Product Manager, Government of British Columbia / Ministry of Citizens' Services

Iain Montgomery

Founder, Challenger Cities

Lucie Bergeron

Director, Boating Safety, Marine Safety and Security Service Modernization, Data and Systems Management, Transport Canada

Harper Reed

CEO, 2389 Research, Inc

Dr. Mechie Nkengla

Chief AI & Data Strategist, Data Products

Ben Sanders

Hyper, Founder & GM, Motorola Solutions

Derek Alton

Host & Chief Explorer, Civic Punks

Brenton Caffin

Co-founder, States of Change

Jacqueline Lu

CEO & Founder, Helpful Places

Jake Hirsch-Allen

Director Partnerships and Advocacy, The Dais

Lisa Fast

AI/UX Architect, Vation Inc.

Yannick Newton

Director of Intergovernmental Cooperation, Institute for Citizen-Centred Service

Hillary Hartley

FWD50 Co-Chair / Founder, OpenPublic

Alistair Croll

Co-founder & Chair, FWD50

Travis Hoppe

Chief AI Officer, GroundVue

Eugene Chen

Principal, ideaowl Labs

Greg Judelman

AI Transition Advisor, Independent Consultant

The Grand Quay of the Port of Montréal

The FWD50 July 6-7 Event will take place at Montréal’s Grand Quay at 200 De la Commune Street West. With its panoramic view of the vibrant city, this waterfront venue creates the perfect backdrop for two days of learning and inspiration.

Travel Assistance from the National Capital Region 
To help you make your way to Montréal, , attendees with purchased passes are eligible to receive a $125 VIA Rail gift card to go towards their travel expenses. This travel assistance is available up until 2 weeks prior to the event, so be sure to secure your ticket and claim your card early! Eligible attendees will receive a direct email upon registration.

Getting to the Venue

By VIA Rail (Travel Assistance):

Coming from the Ottawa/Gatineau area? We want to help get you here. PAID ticket holders can receive a $125 VIA Rail gift card to assist with their travel to the July 6–7 event.

  • Deadline to Claim: This offer is strictly available up until 2 weeks before the event.
  • How to Claim: Instructions on how to request your gift card will be emailed directly to paid registrants upon ticket purchase.


By car:

There is 24/7 paid parking lot available at the venue and that can accommodate up to 250 cars. Reduced mobility and electric charging stations are available. Vehicles with trailers and motor-home-type vehicles are not allowed on the site. Please follow directions to 200 De la Commune Street West, Montréal.

By Public Transportation:

  • Metro: Take the orange line to Square-Victoria or Place-d’Armes stations. The metro departs every 3-10 minutes depending on the time of day. From the station, it is approximately a 10-minute walk to the venue, or you can catch a bus.

  • Bus: Take the bus lines 715, 35, 61, or 75. For additional information on public transit, schedules, and fares, please visit www.stm.info/en.

  • By taxi or Uber:​ ​​​You can direct your driver to the Grand Quai du Port de Montréal. We will be located at 200 De la Commune Street West, Montréal.

By Bike:

Bicycle parking spaces are available at the venue. Please bring your own lock for your bike. There are also bike-sharing BIXI stations nearby, view the map here

Agenda for July 6-7th

In PersonVirtual

July 06

9:00 AM EDT

FWD50

Welcome to Montreal!

Join co-hosts Alistair Croll and Hillary Hartley as they welcome our community to Montreal! See More.
FWD50 Co-Chair / Founder
OpenPublic
Co-founder & Chair
FWD50

9:15 AM EDT

FWD50

Are you earning or demanding compliance?

As we automate digital services, we risk losing the legitimacy on which government operates. When a government system (or an AI) cannot explain its constraints, effectively saying, "I cannot do this, and I am forbidden from telling you why," it is inherently autocratic. It demands compliance without earning consent. See More.
Co-founder & Chair
FWD50

9:40 AM EDT

FWD50

How to make government work in our hybrid reality

Our governments were created in an analog era and we are seeing them struggle to govern in our hybrid reality. Kesone Phimmasone, an American technologist who has worked in the incredibly successful and bureaucratic organizations in the world, shares practical advice on how to create government policy and technology to meet the needs of our technology-saturated era. See More.
Chief Digital Strategy Officer
Office of Technology and Innovation

10:05 AM EDT

FWD50

AI strategy is not the hard part

Governments are not short on AI strategies. They are short on the execution capability those strategies assume. See More.
Chief AI & Data Strategist
Data Products

10:30 AM EDT

FWD50

Fireside chat

Details coming soon See More.

10:55 AM EDT

FWD50

More interestingly less wrong: A challenger cities guide to municipal AI

Most cities are trying to build the future by implementing someone else’s present. They call this behaviour "best practice." Iain Montgomery, the host of the Challenger Cities podcast, would call it copying someone else's homework. See More.
Founder
Challenger Cities

11:20 AM EDT

FWD50

The transformation stack

Pia will present her work on the "transformation stack" required for public institutions to become fit for purpose in todays changing world. From the minimum viable legal and operational authorities and decision making, to workforce, culture, capabilities and structure. Pia will also provide an evidence-based digital public infrastructure for an AI nation, one capable of activating the benefits while also mitigating the very real threats, especially from weaponization of AI by bad actors. See More.
Senior Advisor, Digital Transformation
Personal Capacity

11:45 AM EDT

FWD50

What's in store?

Alistair and Hillary will break down the afternoon so you know where you want to be and when! See More.
Co-founder & Chair
FWD50
FWD50 Co-Chair / Founder
OpenPublic

1:30 PM EDT

Municipal Innovation

Municipal AI

Details coming soon. See More.
FWD50

The messy middle: What it takes to go from problem discovery to delivery

Most case studies gloss over the parts of a project that don’t fit a neat narrative. This session doesn't. A Senior Product Manager and Service Designer go beyond the polished retrospective, into the hard conversation with leadership and the moments where walking away can be a good thing. See More.
Senior Product Manager
Government of British Columbia / Ministry of Citizens' Services
Design Lead
New Practice Lab

2:15 PM EDT

Municipal Innovation

Your call is important to us: Why government AI keeps getting stuck

Governments say they want innovation. Most founders quickly learn otherwise. See More.
Hyper, Founder & GM
Motorola Solutions
FWD50

Ghosts & zombies: The spooky side of change management

Impact isn't generated from quality alone. Impact depends on quality multiplied by acceptance. But in complex organizations, acceptance is severely limited by two policy specters: Ghosts, policies nobody can source but everyone follows and Zombies, outdated policies outdated that still shackel themselves to workflows. Together, they drag on every modernization initiative you've ever tried to run. See More.
CEO
Ishmael Interactive

3:30 PM EDT

Municipal Innovation

How to get from here to there

Details coming soon. See More.
Chief AI Officer
GroundVue
FWD50

Between polycrisis and singularity: the case for courageous public innovation

There is no lack of complex challenges facing our governments around the world today. The dramatic escalation of geopolitical insecurity, climate collapse and the rapid advances of AI are just a few of the accelerants of change facing society today. Discontinuity is the new normal and social cohesion is under threat. See More.
Co-founder
States of Change

4:15 PM EDT

Municipal Innovation

Using AI to address a five-figure problem: Practical insights for municipal innovation

Municipal software is somewhat niche. Licenses can cost tens of thousands of dollars while the software is outdated. But municipal staff use it anyway, because they have few options and lack the budget and resources to build custom apps that would serve their communities better. That's changing, and quickly. See More.
Principal
ideaowl Labs
FWD50

Deep dive

Details coming soon. See More.

July 07

9:00 AM EDT

FWD50

Welcome back!

Join co-hosts Alistair Croll and Hillary Hartley as they kick off day 2 of FWD50 in Montreal! See More.
Co-founder & Chair
FWD50
FWD50 Co-Chair / Founder
OpenPublic

9:15 AM EDT

FWD50

Hillary's opener!

Details coming soon. See More.
FWD50 Co-Chair / Founder
OpenPublic

9:40 AM EDT

FWD50

Tech is there. Data matters. But people still lead the way.

Modernizing government isn’t just about tech. It’s really about getting the fundamentals right, with a human touch. In this session, discover how a simple three-step strategy is transforming marine services at Transport Canada. A practical, people-first approach that proves real change happens when strategy leads, and technology follows. See More.
Director, Boating Safety, Marine Safety and Security Service Modernization, Data and Systems Management
Transport Canada

10:05 AM EDT

FWD50

The good, the bad, and the weird

The good news is that agentic AI offers governments an opportunity to dissolve​ the silos and​ legacy systems that have throttled public service for years. Urban futurist Greg Lindsay sees​ new capabilities for planning, operations, and​ adaptation. Done right, this may be how the state​ finally gets better at being itself. See More.
Urban Tech Fellow
Cornell Tech

10:55 AM EDT

FWD50

The AI risk framework

Details coming soon. See More.
CEO
Lite Technology Solutions, LLC

11:20 AM EDT

FWD50

The critical infrastructure you can’t see - Trust as the missing line item in the next 50 years of building Canada

Canada is about to spend over $100 billion on roads, hospitals, transit, and homes. Every one of those investments depends on something the budget never names: Trust. See More.
Founder
ScamHERO // Co-created

11:45 AM EDT

FWD50

What's in store?

Alistair and Hillary will break down the afternoon so you know where you want to be and when! See More.
Co-founder & Chair
FWD50
FWD50 Co-Chair / Founder
OpenPublic

1:05 PM EDT

FWD50

Letters from the AI frontier

For most people in the world, AI is a search engine. The majority of government use is prompting Copilot. Some countries are pushing the edge of what's possible: Singapore has a public servant sandbox for safely experimenting with new apps, and one of its ministers build a personal assistant on a a tiny computer. But to really understand the world of agents, harnesses, and loops, you need to get right up to the coal face. See More.
CEO
2389 Research, Inc
Municipal Innovation

Making AI legible: How Canada is building the nutrition label for cities AI use - and why your city should be in the room

Cities everywhere are deploying AI — optimizing traffic, allocating services, making consequential decisions — while most residents have no idea it’s happening, let alone how to question it. See More.
CEO & Founder
Helpful Places
Director Partnerships and Advocacy
The Dais

1:50 PM EDT

FWD50

Panel session

Details coming soon. See More.

3:05 PM EDT

FWD50

Deep dive

Details coming soon. See More.
Municipal Innovation

Build Canada’s digital future… or watch it fall apart

What happens when you put residents, municipal CIOs, local businesses, service managers, privacy advocates, and elected officials in the same room and ask them to build the digital foundations of a modern city? See More.
Host & Chief Explorer
Civic Punks
Director of Intergovernmental Cooperation
Institute for Citizen-Centred Service

3:50 PM EDT

FWD50

Build experts into AI. Don't bolt audits on

Most government AI gets an audit layer bolted on after launch — a review committee, a red team, a periodic check. Canada.ca AI Answers took a different path: subject matter expert (SME) evaluation is built into the architecture as load-bearing infrastructure, not added as oversight on top. That choice was forced by scope. Canada.ca is the digital front door for 200+ federal institutions, and most government AI is built department by department, topic by topic. Designing for an entire government's digital ecosystem from the start surfaces governance problems that don't appear at single-topic scale — and bolt-on audits aren't an answer to any of them. See More.
AI/UX Architect
Vation Inc.

4:40 PM EDT

FWD50

Closing keynote

Details coming soon. See More.