Blockchain - Transforming Accounting and Finance

What is BlockChain technology? Why is it being touted as one of the most disruptive technologies of the next decade? What will it mean to the professions of accounting and finance? Should I be scared or excited?

If you are a Mount Royal accounting and/or finance student, faculty, alumni or a professional and don't know the answers to the above questions, this intimate one-day conference will offer answers to these and many other questions.

CPA members can earn up to 6 hours of verifiable CPD for attendance at this conference

Purpose:

The focus of this one day conference is to examine the most recent developments within the blockchain environment as it is anticipated to influence accounting and finance practices. The goal is to develop an educational starting point for MRU accounting graduates and faculty members reflecting the specific needs of the CPA profession.

You will hear from experts from PWC, ATB, IBM, GuildOne and others, be exposed to blockchain projects that are being built right here in Calgary, and gain a unique perspective of what this means specifically for the future of accounting and finance.

Why Attend:

1. Education: The educational objective is to begin the process of learning about BlockChain Technology and to develop an understanding of the impact of this technology on Accounting and Finance in the business environment.

2. Network Development: This conference brings together a number of individuals interested in BlockChain Technology at a professional level and allows the development of first level network connections.

3. Develop New Business Model Ideas: The conference and learning environment will provide the potential to ignite new ideas and business opportunities within the BlockChain accounting ecosystem.

4. Employment Advancement: Industry and specifically CPA firms are recognizing the need for skill development within the BlockChain environment. This conference will be the foundational step in skill development and employment advancement opportunities.

5. Educator Development: One of the key focuses of the conference is to enable University-level educators to begin to introduce the BlockChain Technology into their mainstream classroom environment.

Agenda:

8:30 Meet and Greet

9:00 Eric Kryski | Bullish Ventures & Bidali

10:00 Jacques Radder | PWC, James Graham | GuildOne

11:30 Michael Brown | ATB Financial

12:15 Lunch Provided

1:00 Panel

1:45 Dr. Daniel Ford | IBM

Speakers:

Dr. Daniel Ford is a Principle Research Staff Member at the IBM Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York. Prior (re-)joining IBM Research, he was the founder of Keoja LLC, a start-up focused on developing provenance solutions for Blockchain. Previously, Dr. Ford was Executive Director of Dell Research in Santa Clara, CA., and Dell's Chief Scientist for Mobility and The Internet of Things (IoT). Dr. Ford also spent 19 years in various research and management positions with IBM Research at its Almaden Research Center in San Jose, CA. Daniel has dozens of peer-reviewed publications and dozens of issued US Patents. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo in 1991.

James Graham serves as President and CEO at GuildOne. James co-founded the company in 2001 and has since been innovating the energy industry by delivering complex data management and business intelligence solutions to the market. During the last two years, James has researched emerging technologies including blockchain, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to capitalize on these trends and position GuildOne as a pioneering technology company.

Eric Kryski is the CEO of the venture studio Bullish Ventures, and Co-Founder of Bidali - a company that has built tools to bridge the gap between blockchain and the real world. He is also the co-creator of Feathers, one of the most popular real-time web application frameworks and has shipped code used by startups to Fortune 100s all over the world.

Jacques Radder is a Chartered Professional Accountant and member of PwC’s Capital
Markets Accounting Advisory Services (CMAAS) team. He is also the lead senior manager
on PwC’s National Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act (ESTMA) team, and was
part of a team that developed a technology solution to streamline oil & gas companies’
reporting for ESTMA. Jacques also has experience working on similar projects to transform
business processes through the use of technology. Prior to joining the CMAAS team, Jacques spent 7 years with the PwC Audit and Assurance group in South Africa, the US and Canada, where he lead audits of small, medium and large companies across a broad range of industries. His experience includes providing his clients with pragmatic advice and solutions on complex accounting matters, and reviewing and commenting on design of internal controls as well as testing the effectiveness of internal controls.

Mike Brown - As Director of Innovation within ATB Financial, Mike and the Innovation team are reimagining the future of ATB and how it can make banking work for Albertans. Mike currently leads ATB’s efforts around blockchain, where he actively identifies and manage opportunities to pilot and evaluate blockchain use cases with a vision to transform areas of our industry that are prime for disruption. In 2017, Mike joined the Advisory board for Blockchain Canada and leads ATB’s involvement in the R3 Lab and Research Centre - a global industry consortium of over 80 banks collaborating on distributed ledger solutions. Mike’s 20+ years of experience managing various technology-focused initiatives in both the energy and digital marketing sectors, and degrees in engineering and computer science from the University of Saskatchewan, plus an MBA from Queen’s University allow Mike to bring a unique perspective to ATB’s innovation journey. Twitter: @mike_brown_yyc