Canada tech business intelligence systems related to the energy sector and several data-based decision-making companies , including Ambyint , BDO IT Solutions , Bow River Solutions , Cadeon , Core Data , Dakota Analytics , HiFi Engineering , Braintoy , IBM , Simplicity Business Intelligence , Tugboat Logic , Veerum , Verdazo and White Whale Analytics are providing world-class solutions and services to clients in the energy space .
IBM ’ s Natural Resources Solution Centre is based in Calgary and delivers support to energy companies looking to adopt its IBM Watson tool , which uses AI and ML-based technology to improve the efficiency of producers and help them make smarter decisions .
Having adopted innovative processes early , Calgary technology companies are leaders in using AI for data analysis within the energy industry and local companies are using data analytic processes , machine learning and artificial intelligence to seek out solutions in other industries including marketing , construction , agriculture , transportation , insurance , retail , aerospace and digital media .
According to a 2019 IDC Canada forecast , nearly CAD $ 7.5bn will be spent by Calgary businesses on digital transformation between 2019 and 2022 . This averages to a compound annual growth rate of 20 %. The top three sector investors will be energy ($ 1.9bn ), creative industries ($ 1bn ) and life sciences ($ 627m )
Calgary companies will lead the $ 20bn spend on digital transformation in Alberta from 2021 to 2024 .
And a Calgary home-grown fintech firm was Morgan Stanley ’ s biggest acquisition since the 2008 financial crisis when it paid $ 1.1bn for Solium Capital . Solium , now Shareworks by Morgan Stanley , has grown steadily and provides technology and services to support stock-based incentive plans . Its 3,000 corporate clients employ one million workers .
COLLISION : Safe course for tech knowledge exchange in Toronto
he Toronto region ’ s tech industry embraces 24,000 firms and employs 290,000 professionals . These tech titans and cool coders work in sectors ranging from enterprise computing to transformative technologies in AI , and digital currencies .
MaRS is North America ’ s largest urban innovation hub . Occupying 1.5m sq . ft . downtown , its 120 tenants represent research labs and global tech companies , each selected to collaborate on solutions to important problems .
The city is able to provide a creative platform for prestigious tech-related meetings and events and Toronto has three times hosted the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference , which has brought in 16,000 delegates from 135 nations .
The COLLISION tech conference is one huge annual global event the city is proud to host . “ When the team from COLLISION was looking for a new North American home , Toronto rose to the top due to our surging tech sector and because our convention and hospitality sector has the capacity and expertise to deliver a conference of this size and complexity ,” said Toronto Mayor John Tory .
The team behind Web Summit , the
Below : The Toronto skyline world ’ s largest tech conference , put together a digital edition of COLLISION this year , and that event ran 20-22 April , attracting 38,000 people across three days . Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave described COLLISION as “ riding the wave of Toronto ”.
Speaking at the digital event were a range of celebrities , including David Beckham and Nicole Kidman . On the business front there was co-founder of Twitter Biz Stone , CEO of Wikipedia Katherine Maher and CEO of Paypal Dan Schulman .
There were also representatives from the events industry – SISO chair Doug Emslie and UFI CEO Kai Hattendorf were part of a panel titled ‘ What does recovery look like for the events industry ?’ Hattendorf said that testing was not a one size fits all solution to bringing events back . Instead , the key was “ having a series of protocols in place that make our show environment safe for our customers .” He added that “ we ’ re building a volume of evidence that people can run safe events . We ’ re showing that people can turn up to an exhibition and fill up their order book with no medical issues .”
“ COLLISION landed in Toronto in 2019 and exceeded expectations … It is only going to grow . People came and saw that this is a great city , not only to work in but also to explore and enjoy ,” was how Sunil Sharma , co-host of the conference and MD of TechStars Toronto Accelerator , described the experience .
Tara Gordon , VP , global sales and services at Destination Toronto added : “ We ’ re confident that meetings and events – and the many benefits that come with them – will thrive once again and do what they do best – bringing people together and experiencing everything this great city has to offer .”
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