Collision Conference Finds a New Home in Toronto Canada

While I love having conferences close to home, I was really excited to see the news that the Collision Tech Conference, considered to be one of America’s fastest-growing tech conference, is moving to Toronto, Canada in 2019. Traveling internationally for conferences always provides a more diverse perspective on where we are headed in business and technology.

Canadian Government Sees Economic Potential

The announcement was made by Paddy Cosgrave, CEO of Web Summit, and Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada. This illustrates the growing understanding by governments around the world that they need to partner with business to find the solutions they need to local, regional, and national issues.

In return, Toronto is set to reap a significant economic benefit in the form of nearly $150 million over the course of the next three years thanks to almost 100,000 attendees during that time.

Why Toronto?

In the case of this conference, the move was prompted by Canada and Toronto’s focus on tech, its depth of diversity, and focus on inclusion that made it an ideal location for what Collision Tech represents and values. Also, the Collision team chose the city because it is considered to be a metropolitan hub with state-of-the-art infrastructure and one of the most vibrant tech and startup sectors in North America.

In Toronto, there is a world-class AI hub headed by the godfather of AI, Geoffrey Hinton. Toronto’s tech sector employs 401,000 people in 18,000 tech companies. This accounts for 15% of all jobs in the region. At the rate it’s growing, Toronto will have more technology jobs than Silicon Valley within the next two years.

Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, noted in a press release on the move, “Toronto is a key global tech hub and an example of the diversity that is our strength. Here in Canada, we know innovation and inclusion go together and the rest of the world has taken notice. Tech talent is coming to our country in record numbers and with our skills and innovation plan our government is making it easier for innovators to succeed and for investors to support them. Whether it’s thanks to the global skills strategy, the innovation superclusters or the women entrepreneurship strategy, we know Collision will bring even more energy and vision to Toronto’s tech scene.”

Growing with Tech Trends

I plan to be there May 20-23, 2019 when Collision Tech kicks off at the Enercare Centre in Toronto. It will be the sixth year that the conference will have been held. There will be over one million square feet of exhibit space to house even more tech startups.

Starting with just 5,000 attendees in Las Vegas, it is expected to host more than 25,000 tech executives, entrepreneurs, investors, and media from approximately 120 countries in New Orleans this year. With the move to Canada, next year’s conference is set to become even bigger.

The four-day international conference format has expanded to include 12 other tech-specific conferences. These include relevant tech segments, such as AI, automated and connected vehicles, data, security, design, investment, software development, marketing, music, and sustainability.