What does a sustainable future – a future that includes everyone – look like? Elevate Festival, Canada’s largest homegrown tech and innovation festival, unites leaders and thinkers who are answering this exact question.
Interac is a proud founding sponsor of Elevate Festival. Through our sponsorship, we bring together creators and innovators to foster knowledge sharing and collaboration in order to promote more inclusive digital solutions for all Canadians.
This year we facilitated conversations with industry leaders about digital trust, verification, women in technology and diverse talent. Our InLife activation space demonstrated the ways Interac solutions help make life more convenient for Canadians. We provided educational resources for Canadian small- and micro-businesses through our From Dollar One resource hub. Plus, we helped keep Festival goers hydrated in our space by hosting Barbet, a woman-owned elevated sparkling water company founded in Toronto.
Didn’t attend Elevate Festival this year? We’ve got you covered with key learnings from our thought leaders and industry partners:
Breaking down barriers for women in tech and building your financial confidence with Jessica Lerro, AVP, Technology Business Management and Rhiannon Rosalind, CEO & Founder of Conscious Economics
At Elevate, Jessica Lerro, AVP, Technology Business Management and Rhiannon Rosalind, CEO & Founder of Conscious Economics, discussed the crucial role women play in the tech ecosystem. However, through the HeArtwork Advancing Women in Leadership Project, research uncovered 10 main issues preventing women from advancing at work, including mental health stigma, burnout, the invisible load women often carry, and work/life imbalance.
“The heavy invisible load, which also expands beyond women, reaches anyone who is systemically minoritized. It’s the burden of feeling unsafe, unheard, and undervalued,” Jessica said. “Individuals are the most productive and energized when they can just show up as their authentic selves.”
Being able to show up authentically everyday drives innovation and creativity, which in turn drives forward this extremely innovative technological landscape we are building.
“We are in a different space, and it’s designed to break,” Rhiannon said. “Don’t be afraid as you watch it break, because to break it is to create something new.”
In partnership with Conscious Economics through the Mindfulness and Money Program, Interac helps women break down barriers preventing them from feeling financially confident and achieving financial well-being.
Exploring the nuances of digital trust in healthcare with Debbie Gamble, Chief Officer, Innovation Labs & New Ventures and Zayna Khayat, Ph.D., Health Futurist at Deloitte Canada
Can a digitized healthcare system better serve its patients? The foundation of this conversation is rooted in trust, with the most basic question being how can people trust healthcare providers in a virtual setting?
“In a physical world, we have trust and authenticity through visual cues. You saw the lab coat, you went to a place called a hospital. You saw nurses buzzing around, you saw your clinician’s degree on the wall,” Zayna Khayat, Ph.D., Health Futurist at Deloitte Canada said. “If we move into this digital realm, we need completely new anchors to convey trust. And those have not been yet created. There’s lots to do — for example, digital credentials.”
Building trust in the digital age is a question that extends beyond healthcare into business, finance, innovation and other sectors. For Debbie Gamble, Chief Officer, Innovation Labs & New Ventures at Interac, the answer is rooted in three key principles: transparency, authenticity and relevance.
“At the intersection of authenticity and inclusivity lies opportunity. When we are inclusive and relevant, we create access to information and data. And when we embrace authenticity and relevance, we provide the user with more control over their data,” Debbie said.
Debbie Gamble and other industry leaders cover the importance of trust in a changing technological industry through our Everyday Trust Series.
Raising the recruiting bar by combining diversity, talent, and growth with Voula Vasilopoulous, Director, Talent Acquisition
The power of people and brand brings hiring to a whole new level.
“People are our number one capital,” said Voula Vasilopoulos, Director, Talent Acquisition at Interac. “The future of work relies on building a strong talent pipeline and diversifying the workforce to nurture your team, retain talent, and drive growth.”
Voula gave some tips to do just that, including instilling trust and confidence on her team, challenges and incentives, rewards and recognition, and maintaining a leadership style that works for all.
The power of digital government engagement with Giles Sutherland, VP, Business Development, Interac Verified
How can accessibility in digital transformation help bridge the digital divide in Canada? To discuss, Giles Sutherland, VP, Business Development, Interac Verified, was joined by Viet Vu, Manager of Economic Research, The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University, Jaimie Boyd, Partner & National Digital Government Leader at Deloitte Canada, and Tyler Meredith, Founding Partner of Meredith Boessenkool Policy Advisors.
A central aspect of enabling access is digital verification. And while Canada’s public sector has made strides in terms of infrastructure and governance, the collaboration with the private sector will be an important piece to achieve future digital transformation.
And for Giles, Interac has a key role to play in that.
“When we rolled out Interac Debit and Interac e-Transfer, they were new. Now, those solutions are second nature to Canadians. If we continue rolling out digital transformation the right way, it will over time become second nature.” said Giles. “We know Canadians have increasing expectations about accessing government services online and as government works to meet this demand, it can turn to partners like us to speed progress and deliver great accessibility.”
