Last week, I attended the Brainstorming Settlement Solutions event organized by Datafest Ottawa. This one-day event brought together a diversity of people interested in leveraging technology to help solve issues related with immigration (specifically, immigrant settlement).
It was very meaningful to see CIC collaborating at this event, and several of their representatives participated in the brainstorming groups. There was even a discussion on Social Innovation, which was my personal favourite.
Less technical than a hackathon, we spent the day mostly discussing possibilities for technology-based solutions, their feasibility, and the challenges around implementing them.
Some of the topics brought to the table were:
- Information access for new immigrants about services and benefits available to them
- Awareness and discussions around native heritage
- Empowering SMEs to work with international talent
Overall, I am very happy to see these kinds of events happen more often in different areas of social concern. And I would love to see more of these, with a stronger focus on technical collaboration and continuity.
These are the seeds that innovation can use to produce wonderful solutions to the service of those who truly need them to make a meaningful impact in their lives.