Advantage Canada Summit - Ottawa on May 29, 2007

Advantage Canada Summit - Ottawa The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATAAlliance), in collaboration with its partners, is holding the Advantage Canada Summit - Ottawa on May 29, 2007. The Summit will bring together a Pan-Canadian assembly of recognized public, private, academic and labour leaders to develop a Canadian Brand: a defining statement that clearly describes Canada's value proposition as a global sourcing destination of choice and differentiates the Country from competing Nations. The Summit is the second in a series of national consultations planned to take place later this year. The first Summit was held in Halifax in November 2006. A complimentary copy of the summary report on the Halifax Summit held this past November is available here. As preliminarily defined in the Global Sourcing Action Roadmap, summit attendees will be asked to further define the strategies, challenges, and opportunities required to implement the Advantage Canada Campaign with a particular focus on developing the Canadian Brand. I'm thrilled the Advantage Canada Summit has come to Ottawa," stated Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien, who will launch the Summit. "There is no better way to showcase the business advantages Canada has to offer than to have a summit in Canada's national, and high-tech capital." While the Summit is expected to address a broad range of issues as described in greater detail below, there are three ‘kitchen table’ discussion groups planned for the day. These discussions will revolve around three key themes: Defining Ontario’s Advantages and the Importance of Globally Competitive Cities Defining Canada’s National Advantages in the Global Sourcing Industry and How to Best Leverage Them Strong Leadership Drives a Strong Brand – Success Stories The Summit will be facilitated by The Access Group using their unique 'kitchen table' format: whereby a moderated table of notable and recognized subject matter experts set the stage for discussions that identify the burning challenges, opportunities and obstacles in defining the Canadian Brand. Break out groups, comprised of the entire assembly, are then formed to address a specific issue and define solutions which are shared and ratified in final plenary session. From these, an Action Plan will be formulated and published shortly after the event. "Holding the summit in Canada's capital will help us to obtain a national collective consortium of ideas on how to promote the strategic advantages Canada has to offer," says Kevin Wennekes, VP Research CATAAlliance and author of the Global Sourcing Action Roadmap. "We have an opportunity to bring government and private sector leaders into the same room to establish how to best work together to promote Canada as a strategic global sourcing destination." Some of the areas identified for discussion and information exchange include: Identifying unique regional strengths, programs, offerings Sharing promotion strategies - seeking to collaborate/join forces to create stronger Canadian presence at international events Identifying needed partnerships - seeking out means for most effective private/public partnerships Sharing event and research priorities - seeking to collaborate/join forces to avoid duplication and overlap Addressing and seeking solutions to the challenges/opportunities to developing the brand i.e. high Canadian dollar, FDI impacts, needed/existing skill sets and labour pools; taxation, competition among regions - how to implement fair and equal promotion from a National portal A limited number of invitations are available through CATAAlliance. If you are a member and wish to attend, please contact Kevin Wennekes at kwennekes@cata.ca to express your interest.	Sponsors Limited Invitations Available Participation in the Summit is free but admission is by invitation only and must be issued through one of the Summit's supporting organizations. A limited number of invitations are available through CATAAlliance. If you are a member and wish to attend, please contact Kevin Wennekes at kwennekes@cata.ca to express your interest. Due to the limited number of invitations and anticipated high response, apologies are offered in advance that not all requests will be accommodated. Event Speaker and Discussion Leaders Chris Atkins VP, Global Marketing, CGI Clare Barnett Manager, Science Technology Services, Ontario Ministry of Economic Development and Trade Orrin Benn President, Canadian Aboriginal and Minority Supplier Council Bob Daigle VP BusinessDevelopment, Nova Scotia Business Inc. Mike Darch Executive Director, Global Marketing Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation Bill Elliot Director, Business Development, Canada's Technology Triangle Larry O'Brien Mayor of Ottawa Gerry Pisarzowski Vice President, Business Development, Greater Toronto Marketing Authority Sandra Pupatelo (TBC) Ontario Minister of Economic Development and Trade John Simke President, Centre for Outsourcing Research and Education Honourable Sinclair Stevens President, Commonwealth Advantage Kevin Wennekes VP Research, CATAAlliance - Action Roadmap Author