ESTEVAN — The Innovation Conference for Economic Development (ICED) in Rural Areas will be returning to Estevan this fall.
The Southeast Techhub has announced the event will happen Sept. 23 and 24 at Affinity Place. The conference is being hosted in partnership with the Saskatchewan Indigenous Economic Development Network.
Southeast Techhub executive director Gordon More said the shift from the Southeast College's Estevan campus to Affinity is expected to allow the conference to accommodate more people and have more to offer.
"We're getting excellent traction nationally and internationally on what we're doing, so now we can bring more people in," said More in an interview with SaskToday.
The speakers offered at this year's conference will also help attract more people, he said.
"This year the conference's focus is on energy and on education, energy because if you think of every molecule of energy – gas, natural gas or every electron – where does it originate in Canada? Almost always it will originate from a rural community," he said.
The southeast is on the front line of all the talk about changes in energy, he said.
When it comes to education, More said there is a digital divide in Canada that is defined by access to technology-based education, and he said bridging that gap is why he took the job.
"If we can address the digital divide, so that the oilfield workers who are on the front line, so that the SaskPower workers who are on the front line, have that additional information and additional education and additional training, imagine what amazing, innovative, energy ideas we can generate in our region," More said.
Economic development is also a big part of the conference, and the Techhub will unveil its foreign investment website, which showcases southeast Saskatchewan as a place to do business for those in the energy sector.
"Of course we have to keep coal and we have to keep oil and gas growing and innovating, but also new additional types of energy, whether it be battery production or solar or what have you," said More.
The conference begins in the morning of Sept. 23. After opening remarks and greetings, there will be a panel discussion on Creating a Successful Rural Techhub, featuring More, Tania Hlohovsky-Andrist from the Southeast College, Aaron Genest with Siemens and SaskTech, and energy entrepreneur Steven Hensen.
Lisa McBride with GE-Vernova-Hitachi will discuss small modular reactors; the Government of Saskatchewan has said previously the first such reactor would be in the Estevan area if SMRs proceed.
The Saskatchewan Indigenous Economic Development Network and Keith Taylor from Enbridge will speak in the afternoon.
Supper will be served, and then a Saskatchewan rural pitch competition will take place. More said the pitch competition is similar to what was hosted by the Techhub in November 2023, in which entrepreneurs shared their innovative ideas for prizes. The Techhub currently has $15,000 available as a prize, and is looking for more sponsors.
The competition is open to anyone who has an idea ready to be commercialized, More said. It is open to anyone in Saskatchewan from outside Regina and Saskatoon.
Speakers the following day will include Dr. Michael Wagner with George Washington University, who will talk about turning coal to graphite; Dr. Phillip Choi, who will discuss the University of Regina's new Energy Systems Engineering Program and energy transition; Alesia Malec from Suncrest College, who will talk about a data in a new way project; Mitchell Beer will discuss real world rural community energy projects; and the Southeast College will explain how training elevates Métis tech entrepreneurship.
Networking breaks will be spread throughout the conference.
Rural innovation exhibits will talk about data centres, communication, agriculture, Indigenous entrepreneurship and other topics.
More pointed out that with SaskPower and GE-Vernova-Hitachi on board as title sponsors, the conference can move to Affinity Place. Given the success of last year's ICED rural conference and a critical minerals conference earlier this spring, More said there was never any doubt the conference would return this fall. He hopes to see 300-500 people this year, and he believes this conference could happen for the next 20 years, creating an economic spinoff in the process.
Interest for this year's event has been strong, he said.
"We have a lot of traction, both in the provincial and federal government levels, to the point where they really want to attend. Obviously … we're really getting the national exposure from industry, which is what we want to create jobs," he said.
