This event is by invitation only.

If you are interested in attending, please reach out to Derek at derek@digitalnovascotia.com. Proceed to registration if you have received an access code.

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In partnership with DeepSense, We are excited to bring together senior leaders from industry, government, and research to explore how Nova Scotia’s technology sector can support Canada’s defence priorities and national sovereignty.

As defence, security, and commercial innovation increasingly overlap, dual-use technologies, solutions with both civilian and defence applications are becoming critical to Canada’s economic resilience and security strategy. This executive-focused event creates a space for meaningful dialogue, relationship-building, and practical insights into how companies can engage with Canada’s defence ecosystem.

Hosted at The PIER in Halifax, this Executive Lounge will feature expert panel discussions, short presentations, and curated networking opportunities designed to connect decision-makers with defence expertise and government partners.

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Special guests for this event include:

Shan Gu | Founder and CEO @ Foci Solutions

Shan leads a boutique software engineering and applied AI organization with team members located across Canada from Halifax to Vancouver. Foci has been working with public and private sector clients around the world to build market leading software solutions since 2015. Prior to founding Foci, Shan was a technology executive with a large global consulting organization, holding several leadership positions in the Cyber Security and Enterprise Architecture practices.

Chris Curtis | Chief Business Officer @ Syncrasys.ai

SyncraSys was founded to address a problem that security and operations teams face every day: turning large volumes of visual data into clear, timely decisions when stakes are high and time is limited. Chris is a commercial leader and cofounder with 25 years of business development experience in construction and telecommunications across North America, the Middle East, and the High Arctic. Leads revenue, partnerships, and market expansion at Syncrasys Actively supports the skilled trades through committee work with the Nova Scotia Construction Sector Council.

Vince Myers | Defence Innovation Secure Hub (DISH) Implementation Lead @ Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC)

Dr. Vincent Myers is leading the implementation of the Defence Innovation Secure Hubs (DISH) within the newly established BOREALIS Joint Program Office at DRDC. He is working on a number of initiatives, including the establishment of Defence Innovation Secure Hubs which will permit government, academia, industry as well as Allied partners to collaborate in a secure environment to accelerate the delivery of advanced capabilities to DND/CAF. He previously spent four years with NATO’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) in Italy before returning to DRDC’s Atlantic Research Centre (ARC) in Halifax, where he led the Naval Mine Warfare group. In 2017, he became Head of the Maritime Systems Experimentation and Analytics Section and later served as Acting Chief Scientist for ARC (2024–2025). He also led the development of ARC’s implementation plan for the $4.23B NATO Modernization S&T initiative.

George Palikaras | President & COO @ Arken

Arken was founded by engineers and domain experts who saw generic AI fail in regulated industries where trust and explainability are critical. They built Arken as a governed, multi-agent intelligence platform that analyzes complex documents, validates against domain frameworks, and provides fully traceable, evidence-backed conclusions. Today, Arken supports high-stakes teams across five regulated sectors where accountability is essential. George leads the team at Arken and has experience as a deeptech entrepreneur with Nasdaq-scale growth and $40M+ revenue experience, 11 M&A integrations, and deep operating fluency across public markets, IP, and complex legal frameworks.

Rob Smith | VP Technology, Digitization & Interoperability @ Calian

Rob is the VP Technology, Digitization & Interoperability for Calian. Rob has been working on C5ISRT integration/interoperability solutions for the last 30 years – for large system integrators and as a small business owner. Rob is one of the technical leaders for the newly announcement Calian VENTURES – Canada’s defence innovation orchestrator, focused on helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) scale their defence technologies into deployable capabilities for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and allied markets.