CSPS Digital Academy Events/Adopting a Multidisciplinary Approach to Working in the Digital Era - Speaker Biographies

Speaker Biographies for Adopting a Multidisciplinary Approach to Working in the Digital Era

September 7, 2022 | 1:30 pm – 3:00 PM (ET)

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Speaker Biographies

	Dr. Joel David Martin Chief Digital Research Officer, National Research Council of Canada Dr. Joel Martin is the NRC's Chief Digital Research Officer and Chief Science Officer. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science, Machine Learning, from the Georgia Institute of Technology and completed post doctoral studies at the University of Pittsburgh. Since joining the NRC in 1994, he has been a researcher and served in multiple leadership roles in the Digital Technologies Research Centre. Under his leadership, the Research Centre has created digital technologies to detect disease outbreaks, some of which are now used worldwide, and digital technologies that promote Indigenous languages in Canada. In addition, Dr. Martin has established research and development programs drawing interest and collaboration from universities and other government departments. These initiatives include the NRC's Data Analytics Centre, the Multimedia Analytic Tools for Security program, and the AI for Design Challenge program. They have increased both scientific output and impact of the NRC's Digital Technologies Research Centre.
	Teresa D’Andrea Director General, Service and Data Modernization, Transport Canada As the Director General of the Service & Data Modernization team at Transport Canada, Teresa leads several of the federal government’s signature initiatives aimed at transforming the Government of Canada to a digital-first, data-driven organization. Internationally recognized for her leadership in managing digital service solutions at scale, Teresa remains a champion for the average user and is committed to ensuring technology’s evolution is driven by humanity.
	Abhishek Gupta Senior Responsible AI Leader & Expert, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Founder & Principal Researcher at the Montreal AI Ethics Institute Abhishek Gupta is the Senior Responsible AI Leader & Expert with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) where he works with BCG's Chief AI Ethics Officer to advise clients and build end-to-end Responsible AI programs. He is also the Founder & Principal Researcher at theMontreal AI Ethics Institute, an international non-profit research institute with a mission to democratize AI ethics literacy. Through his work as the Chair of the Standards Working Group at the Green Software Foundation, he is leading the development of a Software Carbon Intensity standard towards the comparable and interoperable measurement of the environmental impacts of AI systems. His work focuses on applied technical, policy, and organizational measures for building ethical, safe, and inclusive AI systems and organizations, specializing in the operationalization of Responsible AI and its deployments in organizations and assessing and mitigating the environmental impact of these systems. He has advised national governments, multilateral organizations, academic institutions, and corporations across the globe. His work on community building has been recognized by governments from across North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. He is a highly sought after speaker with talks at the United Nations, European Parliament, G7 AI Summit, TEDx, Harvard Business School, Kellogg School of Management, amongst others. His writing on Responsible AI has been featured by Wall Street Journal, Forbes, MIT Technology Review, Protocol, Fortune, VentureBeat, amongst others. He is an alumnus of the US State Department International Visitors Leadership Program representing Canada and has received The Gradient Writing Prize 2021 for his work on The Imperative for Sustainable AI Systems. His research has been published in leading AI journals and presented at top-tier ML conferences like NeurIPS, ICML, and IJCAI. He is the author of the widely-read State of AI Ethics Report and The AI Ethics Brief. He formerly worked at Microsoft as a Machine Learning Engineer in Commercial Software Engineering (CSE) where his team helped to solve the toughest technical challenges faced by Microsoft's biggest customers. He also served on the CSE Responsible AI Board at Microsoft. You can learn more about his work here.
	Dr. Courtney Doagoo Director, Management Consulting Practice, KPMG LLP; AI and Society Fellow, Centre for Law, Technology and Society, University of Ottawa Courtney is a Director in KPMG in Canada’s Management Consulting practice. She is currently working on public policy, regulatory, and industrial analysis and responsible technology services. She brings extensive training and expertise in legal research and public policy in fast-moving fields, and is developing frameworks for understanding the broader social implications associated with technology. She has experience in the private, NGO, and academic sectors and within an international organization. She completed her PhD in Law at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, and her Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, where she was engaged in policy research, and multi-sectoral discussions on formal and informal regulatory mechanisms for technology law and policy.
	Kate Borowec Director, Policy and Integration Directorate, Treasury Board Secretariat Kate Borowec has almost 20 years of experience working with the Federal Government. Since 2018 she has been the Director of the Surge Team at the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS). Surge operates like an internal policy consultancy for TBS, focusing on high priority, high-impact, sensitive, and complex files. As a leader, Kate has a reputation for establishing a team-driven culture of high-performers who are professional and authentic, and trusted to advise and partner with teams across the organization. She is deeply interested in organizational culture, group dynamics, team building / design and all of the very human issues that can either stall progress or drive it forward. Beyond being a part of the Surge team, her career highlights have included: • Supporting staff through times of crisis, by providing supports that allow staff to balance unexpected life events and to then find their way back to being their best selves without fear of failure, disappointment, or career regression • Supporting the pandemic response as a member of the COVID-19 Secretariat at Health Canada at the onset of the pandemic Kate has a Bachelor of Arts (English) from the University of Ottawa and is currently undertaking a Masters of Human Systems Intervention through Concordia University in Montreal. She lives in Ottawa and shares her home with her husband, a few bikes, and a very cute, very small dog.