UCalgary to host conference focused on helping businesses leverage new technologies

To support the vision of being Canada’s entrepreneurial university, the University of Calgary is hosting the Canadian Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (CCSBE) conference this year, with the goal of helping a vital part of the country’s economy thrive. 

“The conference theme this year is Technological Convergence – Bringing a New Energy to Small Business and Entrepreneurship,” says Dr. Chad Saunders, PhD’06, associate professor in the Haskayne School of Business.

The event’s intent is to reflect on the opportunities offered to entrepreneurs and society by platform technologies such as artificial intelligence, blockchain and quantum, etc., while simultaneously discussing how to deal with these innovations and the challenges that may arise. 

Saunders is chair for this year’s CCSBE conference and hopes it will help academics, educators, entrepreneurs, support-providers and policymakers leverage and scrutinize these technologies.

“This is a comparatively small conference that attracts the transdisciplinary group of key influencers and policymakers needed to impact change,” he says. “UCalgary is providing a safe space to explore the future of small business and entrepreneurship in Alberta and beyond.”

The international conference, now in its 42nd year, is hosted in different cities each time. This year, with the UCalgary Centre for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Haskayne School of Business and the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking, Saunders intends to show Calgary as an example of a successful place for small business and entrepreneurship. 

Featured presenters include three unicorn firms — startups valued at more than $1 billion — headquartered in Calgary, along with the Price Family, founders of Sunterra Farms, as keynote speakers.

“Part of my motivation for wanting to bring this conference to Calgary was the opportunity to highlight some of the great things that are happening right in our own backyard,” Saunders says.

Saunders believes building inclusive ecosystems is a pressing issue that needs addressing.

In partnership with the Diversity Institute at Toronto Metropolitan University, invited panelists will discuss critical topics affecting small business and entrepreneurship in Canada. Entrepreneurship can be especially challenging for Indigenous people, LGBTQ2S+ individuals, immigrants and women due to unique systemic barriers they often face. 

“We know that there is differential access to resources and support for entrepreneurs depending on their background, origin, gender, age and a whole range of factors that make it unnecessarily challenging for these individuals,” says Saunders.

“These issues need more attention, and this conference is providing a forum for change.”

Network-building and connection-making are just some of the takeaways Saunders hopes attendees can gather from the conference.

“I hope those presenting, and especially the students, get great feedback and build their networks in a way that would not have been possible without this event,” he says.

“For attendees in general, I hope they learn something new about Alberta and Calgary.”

Registration is open for the three-day event, with an online and a main campus option available. 

Hosting events like CCSBE is what Saunders thinks will further support UCalgary’s goal of being Canada’s entrepreneurial university.

“Through this conference, UCalgary is providing leadership for small business and entrepreneurship scholars, support providers and policymakers, so that small business owners and entrepreneurs have more equitable opportunities,” he says. 

“Events like this provide a forum for conversations that need to happen to deliver on being Canada’s entrepreneurial university.”