The Alberta Technology Symposium is taking place in downtown Calgary Wednesday and Thursday this week and brings together expert speakers and other subject matter experts on all things currently abuzz in the realm of digital technology in the province..The symposium is hosted by the Canadian Blockchain consortium and provides a two-day discussion forum and speaker schedule that aims to facilitate debate, networking, and education opportunities for professionals in Alberta’s fast-evolving digitech sectors..The Canadian Blockchain Consortium was founded in order to bring together Canada’s diverse and expanding community of blockchain technology business leaders, developers, adopters, and all other digital technology industry stakeholders interested in exploring the technology’s transformative potential..“The last few challenging years have demonstrated the power of Alberta’s emerging technologies to overcome obstacles, reshape our economy and build a more resilient future. From disruptive development in blockchain and crypto to a strong startup ecosystem of companies digitally transforming sectors, like healthcare and energy, Alberta is home to more than 3,000 technology companies innovating world-class solutions and is first in the country for inclusive participation in tech leadership,” the Canadian Blockchain Consortium said on its website..Businesses from all over the province within various digital sectors including the internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and digital finance joined to collaborate..The ambience at Calgary’s Grand Theatre on 6 Avenue in the city’s southwest was heavy with the industry of loud, purposeful conversation. The Western Standard was able to ask Dave Bradley, chief revenue officer at Bitcoin Well, a digital currency operation, what he believes is necessary to get more Canadians interested in becoming a part of the digital currency revolution..“I don’t think we need to convince people to buy bitcoins necessarily. I think that the world, the way it’s going right now, with this unlimited government spending, fuelled by money-printing, we’re all starting to feel the pinch of inflation right now. And Bitcoin is a hedge against that inflation,” Bradley said..Bradley said that skyrocketing inflation facing Canadians will essentially force people to seriously consider alternative financial arrangements in terms of protecting the buying power of their wealth..“I think most people are going to start moving some of their savings into Bitcoin, just to get away from that long-term erosion of [their] purchasing power. I don’t think we need to sell Bitcoins, what we need in terms of selling the value proposition of Bitcoin. I think what we need to do is make it as easy as possible for people to get into Bitcoin. People that are new to Bitcoin are like, ‘a steak costs triple what it did two years ago and my purchasing power is diminishing, and I’d like to protect myself from that’ — people who already have reason to distrust what the government is doing with their money and Bitcoin is the hedge to that,” Bradley said..Bradley’s colleague, Adam O’Brien, CEO of Bitcoin Well, presented to the audience at the symposium in the run-up to lunch. He was questioned by UCP candidate and Western Standard show host Danielle Smith, who MC’d the event. Smith said she found it remarkable how far the digital currency sector had evolved in the last several years..“I’ve been doing this nine years and I’m still learning things about Bitcoins. It’s evolving daily. There have been over 170 changes to the Bitcoin code, all democratic and all done in a beautifully democratic process. And that’s a ton of change… Regulators, understandably I think, put their put their brakes on it, really,” O’Brien said. “.O’Brien said the regulators were having a hard time keeping up with developments in the digital finance sector and were ready to learn, just in order to understand what they were regulating..“I’m really thankful [the regulators] wanted to be educated. They were open to educating. But it was across the line, right — our auditors, lawyers, board members had to be educated. So it was like teaching people the principles of Bitcoin, giving them the tools,” said O’Brien..The Western Standard asked Bradley if he could see headway being made in education in the province’s schools in terms of whether students are getting the training, knowledge, and experience necessary to hit the ground running in the digitech sectors on graduation..“We’ve created a curriculum with the University of Athabasca called Bitcoin Academy. That’s a micro course that you can take for free and learn about a Bitcoin,” Bradley said..Dan Olesen, senior program coordinator with CAREERS, an Alberta-based foundation working with Alberta schools to connect students to employers for internships, as part of their career education development..The Western Standard asked Olesen what he was seeing happen in Alberta’s high schools around digital technology training and education. He said work experience for students was a primary focus..“Having the students experience work-integrated learning at the high school level actually opens up their door to the variety of career opportunities that exist, and so essentially [having] experience before post-secondary training could simply expedite talent to industry. Now the students are choosing their post-secondary with fit-for-purpose experiences, and [relying] less on hope. This works because one of the primary ways that individuals learn is trial-and-error. We’re reducing the amount of time it takes for a student to [get some] experience and pivot accordingly,” Olesen said..Alberta government representatives were present at the symposium and their opinions on the topic of digital technologies evolving in the province was in high demand..The Western Standard asked minister for Service Alberta Nate Glubish what he thought the Alberta Technology Symposium can do to advance the province’s digital sector..“I think anytime you can get this many brilliant folks in a room to talk about exciting technology and its applications — that’s a really exciting thing. And so I’m just looking forward to meeting with so many of these bright Alberta innovators to learn more about their expertise and their vision for the future and to find out how Alberta and Alberta is government can work with them to make that a reality,” Glubish said..The symposium continues through Thursday at the Grand Theatre. Tickets and information can be found here..Amanda Brown is a reporter with the Western Standard.,abrown@westernstandard.news,.Twitter: @WS_JournoAmanda
