Talent and innovation are brewing in the True North. Collision, considered to be one of the biggest tech conferences in North America and most notably recognized as the sister conference to Web Summit, has recently pronounced Toronto, Canada as its new home for the next three years.
This year, Collision Conference attracted more than 25,000 attendees from over 125 countries. For the first time in its five years of existence, a record-breaking number of women attended the conference, with approximately 45% of conference attendees identifying as female. Over a span of three days, Colission demonstrated thought leadership through a series of diverse talks, panels, vendors, and workshops that discussed city planning, digital marketing and quantum computing technology. The line-up of keynote speakers included a youth entrepreneur pitching their billion dollar idea and Grammy Award winner Timbaland talking about ‘Masterclass’ .
Technology is a broad term these days, covering everything from artificial intelligence (AI) and startups to design and development. While the conferenced excelled in big picture ideas from all over the globe, there was a shortage of niche topics focused on startups and entrepreneurship from Toronto-based and Canadian-based speakers. That said, local Canadian entrepreneurs such as Jean-François Gagné, CEO of Element AI, shared the stage with internationally recognized leaders such as Facebook’s former chief security officer Alex Stamos.
Toronto is quickly being recognized internationally as an innovative and inclusive tech hub. Collision Conference is worth attending and has great potential for the Toronto and Canadian tech market. We’re excited to see what’s in store in the future and what impact the conference will have on our innovation. We’ll see you next year!
Authors: Hanieh Khosroshahi (UX Designer) & Lucia Davenport (Account Manager)
