Our Guest Speakers

Donald Soulsby

With a nod to my shipbuilding ancestors, I am a practitioner who deals with abstractions & high-level analysis (meta) and creates, builds, or repairs the models (wright)

A recognized industry expert on Enterprise Architecture, Data Management and Metadata Management. Broad technical experience is balanced by a strong business acumen. An educator and implementer who is a quick study and effective listener with excellent facilitation and communication skills.

• Created and have used as a practice a meta-model know as Enterprise Architecture Prime6™ for the last 25 years.
• Certified as an Enterprise Data Management Expert by the CMMI Institute.
• Consulting practice for Enterprise Architecture, Data Warehousing and Metadata Management.
• Analyzed and developed recommendations for Data Management best practices and process improvement for large multinational enterprises.
• Developed and delivered information sessions for Enterprise Architecture, Data Governance and Business Intelligence to clients and public speaking engagements (MIT CDO Conferences, DAMA Chapters and Enterprise Data World).
• Developed and taught courses on Data Modelling and Metadata Management to private & public organizations.

EVENTS:

DAMA NCR-RCN Lunch & Learn Series - September 12th, 2024, "Trust & Traceability - Moving metadata out of the backroom"

Martin McGarry

First and foremost, Martin is passionate about Data! He is President of Bronson Analytics and has over 25 years of project management and consulting experience within many of the largest and most complex organizations in the world, across a broad range of sectors. A true agent for change, Martin excels at bringing multi-disciplinary teams together in a knowledgeable, collaborative and candid manner.

EVENTS:

DAMA Days Canada Conference (Ottawa) - November 2-3, 2023, "How Do You Know You Have a Great AI Use Case? Identify, Assess, Implement and reap the rewards!"

Jody Cundy

Jody is the Lead Analyst for Events and Engagement with the Government of Canada Data Community. She brings more than 15 years experience in academic research, course design and delivery to her role building data capacity across the Federal Public Service. Creative problem solver, curious human, and advocate for life-long learning, innovation, and data-informed decision making.

EVENTS:

DAMA Days Canada Conference (Ottawa) - November 2-3, 2023, "Supporting Data Governance in the public service through community"

Benoit Deshaies

Benoit Deshaies is the Director of Data and Artificial Intelligence for the Office of the Chief Data Officer of Canada, located within the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS). In this role, he oversees the development of the Directive on Automated Decision-Making the Algorithmic Impact Assessment (AIA). These policy tools aim to ensure that the use of automated decision systems by the federal government prioritizes transparency, accountability and fairness, leading to more efficient, accurate, consistent, and interpretable decisions. Additionally, his team publishes the Guide on the use of generative AI which offers guidance to federal institutions regarding the use of generative AI tools.

EVENTS:

DAMA Days Canada Conference (Ottawa) - November 2-3, 2023, "Canadian federal government’s approach to​ Responsible AI"

Mark Malkowski

Mr. Malkowski is an Data Architect with over 20 years of professional experience in the Data Management field Mr. Malkowski holds a Bachelor of Science degree and has a Computer Programming Analyst Diploma. Mr. Malkowski has been engaged by various Public-Sector departments throughout his professional career for his expertise. Some of the projects he has worked include establish data governance through the implementation of Data Glossary/Catalog by using DAMA DMBok. As well possess advanced knowledge of data architecture and data modeling principles. He has worked as a Business Intelligence Architect and Technology Architect in the implementation of data warehouses, data integration and Cognos Reporting solutions. Responsible for building data-mart from data-warehouse or mainframe extracts for efficient and fast reporting and analytical business needs. He has developed ETL integration application from either structure or unstructured data sources to populate analytical reporting data marts

EVENTS:

DAMA Days Canada Conference (Ottawa) - November 2-3, 2023, "Consultant's Panel: Ask Me Anything"

C. Lwanga Yonke

C. Lwanga Yonke is Founder and President of Padouk Consulting, LLC. In that capacity, he helps organizations boost their business results by improving the quality of their most important data.

Over the years as a practitioner, Lwanga has successfully designed and implemented projects in multiple areas, including information quality, data governance, business intelligence, data warehousing, data architecture and building a data culture. His initial experience is in petroleum engineering and operations.

EVENTS:

DAMA Days Canada Conference (Ottawa) - November 2-3, 2023, "Chaos or Opportunity? A 2023 Perspective on Data Management and Information Quality"

Justin Osmond

Justin Osmond is a Sr. Policy Analyst in Regulatory Affairs at the Standards Council of Canada. He is responsible for supporting federal government stakeholders in the use of standards and conformity assessment for policy and regulatory objectives. His work includes analysis and project management for the development and implementation of standardization tools. He specializes in digital credentials, artificial intelligence, TBS Regulatory Reviews, and regulatory experimentation. Before joining the Standards Council of Canada, Justin worked in project management and regulatory affairs for the in vitro diagnostics industry. He supported product development and global regulatory market authorizations for human and environmental genetic testing platforms.

EVENTS:

DAMA Days Canada Conference (Ottawa) - November 2-3, 2023, "Developing an accredited certification program for digital credentials and digital trust services in Canada"

Boris Bogatirev

I am helping organizations to better manage their data assets, solve their daily data frustrations, and generate additional value from their own data. I have 20+ years of progressive executive experience within the entire spectrum of business intelligence, data integration and warehousing and big data.

EVENTS:

DAMA Days Canada Conference (Ottawa) - November 2-3, 2023, "Consultants Panel: Ask Me Anything"

Peter Aiken

I am really old but I have seen lots of stuff - that gives me a good basis for comparing things. I like working with inspired individuals. I am a horse-husband and a musician. I’m great with deadlines and agreements. I have deep expertise in IT-related areas and am happy to share it.

EVENTS:

DAMA Days Canada Conference (Ottawa) - November 2-3, 2023, "$1.5 Billion US: Yes it can be done!"

Dominic Parent

Dominic Parent is a passionate data and business leader who makes data sexy wherever he goes. He enjoys making complicated things relatable and exciting by developing pragmatic solutions. Dominic earned a bachelor's degree in Commerce from the University of Ottawa, is a certified data management professional with DAMA, a certified change management practitioner with Procsi, and an avid Lean practitioner. Dominic is currently the Chief Data Officer at Environment and Climate Change Canada.

EVENTS:

DAMA Days Canada Conference (Ottawa) - November 2-3, 2023, "Data - The Sleeping Giant Within Organizations"

Trevor Banks

Trevor is a well established Information and Data Management (I&DM) professional, change manager, marketer and adult educator with over 28 years of experience in federal public service specializing in the management of information with a proven track record of leading teams, creating products and advising senior management on sound I&DM planning, and for infusing projects and practices with modern practices within all varieties of system implementations.

Trevor is presently the Manager of Organisational Design for the Digital Talent and Leadership sector at OCIO, TBS in charge of creating interdepartmental standardized job descriptions for all GC organisations.

EVENTS:

DAMA Days Canada Conference (Ottawa) - November 2-3, 2023, "Growing the work streams for a Digital Community. Organisational Design for data, information and technology."

John Walsh

John Walsh is a former Chief Data Officer at the Department of National Defence and Environment and Climate Change Canada. He retired from government in April 2022 and is with Bronson Analytics. He advises clients on how best to leverage their data assets to meet business objectives.

EVENTS:

DAMA Days Canada Conference (Ottawa) - November 2-3, 2023, "Top 10 Lessons Learned as a Government of Canada (former) Chief Data Officer"

Éric Gagné

Éric Gagné has been recently appointed as the first CDO of Infrastructure Canada (October 2022). Evidence based decision making, and modernizing business and services has been a thread in his 20+ years career in the Federal Government. Data is the heart and at the core of his interest and expertise.

For the last 14 years, Éric held several executive positions in GoC, notably at Environment and Climate Change Canada as the Director General (DG) Digital Strategies and IM, A/DG Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, and DG Science Policy. He also worked at Public Services and Procurement Canada as a Senior Director in the Federal S&T Infrastructure Initiative. In this time, he was at the ground floor setting the stage for open science and data, catalyzed regulatory data modernization, and launched modern enterprise data and information services.

Éric has a M.Sc. in Environmental Sciences from the Louisiana State University and a BA, Human Environment Relations from the Concordia University.

EVENTS:

DAMA NCR-RCN Lunch & Learn Series - June 7th, 2023, "Can a CDO lead his organization by leapfrogging or by wearing seven-story boots?"

Alison Paprica

Alison Paprica is Professor (Adjunct) and a Senior Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Institute for Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. Separately, she is Principal of the boutique consultancy Research Project Management, a Senior Fellow at Massey College, and a member of the International Advisory Board for Health Data Research UK.

Alison’s previous roles include inaugural Vice President, Health Strategy and Partnerships at the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence; serving as a founding member of Health Data Research Network Canada’s Executive Team and chairing its Public Engagement Working Group, Director, Strategic Partnerships at ICES. From 2010-2103, she was Director of the Planning, Research & Analysis Branch at the Ontario Ministry of Health where she was responsible for up to $60 million annual applied health research investment and in-house knowledge translation activities to bring research findings into policy and practice. Prior to working in the public sector, she held scientist and R&D management positions at three different international pharmaceutical companies.

Alison holds an Honours Combined BSc in biochemistry and chemistry (McMaster), a PhD in organic chemistry (Western University). Her main research interests are data governance and research data infrastructure, public involvement in data-intensive health R&D, evidence-informed policy, and the leadership and management of research as a topic in its own right.

EVENTS:

DAMA NCR-RCN Lunch & Learn Series - May 31st, 2023, "What do members of the public want from data access and use policies?"

Erica Ren

In October 2022, Erica Ren was appointed Chief Data Officer (CDO) at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).  Before the appointment she was the Director General of Modernization at Canadian Heritage.

With nearly 20 years of experience in the Federal Public Service, Erica Ren has developed expertise in a variety of fields such as data analytics, information management, business intelligence, application development, systems analysis, enterprise architecture, application architecture, portfolio management, and project management. Her experience spans various departments and agencies, including Canadian Heritage, Canada Border Services Agency, Correctional Service of Canada, and Transport Canada.  As the Director of Open Government and Data Analytics at the Canada Border Services Agency she was responsible for supporting the Agency’s analytics program and Open Government initiative and promoting the use of data as a strategic asset to make better business decisions.

Erica holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering, a Master of Engineering, and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Ottawa. 

EVENTS:

DAMA NCR-RCN Lunch & Learn Series - April 26th, 2023, "Chief Data Officer at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)"

Derek Gould

Derek Gould is the co-founder of SCI Resource Software (now NetBenefit) and has led the deployment of 20+ systems to track the socioeconomic impact of major industrial projects. Derek has an Information Systems and Statistics background which he has applied to the management of software systems over the last 30 years.

EVENTS:

DAMA NCR-RCN Lunch & Learn Series - February 21st, 2023, "Using Imperfect Data to Track the Socioeconomic Impact of Mega-Projects"

Matt Adams

Matt Adams has worked in enterprise software for the last 10 years and is currently the CEO of NetBenefit Software. Matt is versed in process design and data collection and is now focused on positioning NetBenefit to become the category leader in the socioeconomic impact software space.

EVENTS:

DAMA NCR-RCN Lunch & Learn Series - February 21st, 2023, "Using Imperfect Data to Track the Socioeconomic Impact of Mega-Projects"

Dr. Gregory Richard

Dr. Gregory Richards is the Vice Dean, Graduate Professional Programs at the Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa.

Gregory conducts research into organizational performance management, Business Intelligence and Business Analytic practices and outcomes in public and private sector organizations. He leads the Centre for Business Analytics and Performance that explores emerging technical and social issues related to analytics, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence.

Prior to his academic appointment, Gregory worked at Transport Canada and at Consulting and Audit Canada as well as with Cognos Incorporated. He is a Certified Management Consultant, a Fellow of the CMC-Ontario Institute of Management Consultants, and an Academic Fellow of the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes.

EVENTS:

DAMA NCR-RCN Lunch & Learn Series - January 24th, 2023, "Adapting data governance to the modern enterprise: a case study"

Barbara Cohn

Barbara Cohn is a senior consultant/Chief Data Officer with Xentity Corporation, and former Chief Data Officer of New York State and Colorado Department of Transportation. An expert in public policy, data strategy, data governance, and Open Data, Barbara has held multiple leadership roles in state and local government, and has worked in an advisory role to multiple federal agencies. Barbara has been nationally recognized as one of Government Technology Magazine’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers, & Drivers and as one of CDO Magazine’s Global Data Power Women. Barbara has an extensive background in developing strong and sustainable data foundations - advancing the utilization of data as a strategic asset with the objective of turning raw data into actionable knowledge. Operating at the intersection of business, data, policy, technology, and people, Barbara creates dynamic data environments which inspire innovation, maximize business insights, facilitate interoperability, and advance data governance, data quality, data standards, and data literacy.

EVENTS:

DAMA Days Canada Conference - October 21st, 2022, "CDO Panel Discussion"

Jagoda Walny

Jagoda Walny is a Technical Specialist in Data Visualization and Design at the Canada Energy Regulator (CER), where she works to enable and support new ways to see, interact with, and explore data. She was Design Lead and Postdoctoral Fellow during the then-National Energy Board's Data Visualization Initiative, which produced engaging visualizations of regulatory and energy data for the Canadian public. Jagoda holds a PhD in Computer Science in the field of information visualization from the InnoVis/Interactions Lab at the University of Calgary. Find her at http://jagoda.ca.

EVENTS:

DAMA NCR-RCN Lunch & Learn Series - June 15th, 2022, "Beyond Bar Charts: How to Make Creative Data Visualizations (and Why)"

Mario Cantin

Mario has worn many hats in his career: programmer, analyst, architect, DBA, information technology manager, project manager, framework developer, entrepreneur, and strategist. Before founding Prodago, Mr. Cantin held a variety of data leadership positions with notable companies such as Hydro-Quebec, Cirque du Soleil, Standard Life, National Bank of Canada, Schering, Desjardins, Bell, Gaz Metro, Government of Canada, CSN, FTQ, Alcan, and Rogers. A respected expert in his field, Mario is a sought-after speaker and a passionate communicator.  His thought leadership on data and analytics governance and data management has left its mark with many audiences and influenced key actors over the years. His focus for the past ten years has been on Data and Analytics Governance, and more recently, on the use of governance to mitigate the risks created by the pervasive application of Advanced Analytics and Artificial Intelligence. Working with international organizations like Gartner and other industry thought leaders, he developed the Lean Data Governance approach and the subsequent Data and Analytics Governance Operating Model.  Mr. Cantin holds a Master in Business Administration (M.B.A.) from HEC Montréal and a B.A. in Mechanical Engineering from École Polytechnique. He is a Certified Information Privacy Manager from IAPP.

EVENTS:

DAMA NCR-RCN Lunch & Learn Series - May 11th, 2022, "Use Case on AI Governance"

Karen Lopez

Karen is a senior project manager and architect with an extensive background in development processes and information management. She specializes in taking practical approaches to systems development. She has 20+ years of public speaking (keynotes, speeches, and demonstrations). She wants attendees to have fun, gain insights and take away inspiration for working with new technologies and methods.

She's known for her slightly irreverent and practical approach to IT training and speaking. She wants you to be part of #TEAMDATA.

•   Twitter - @datachick
•   LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/karenlopez
•   Blog - datamodel.com
•   Company - datamodel.com 

EVENTS:

DAMA NCR-RCN Lunch & Learn Series - April 13th, 2022, "Who's Pissing in your Data Lake?"