Digital Nova Scotia – Leading Digital Industry

Beyond the Surface: Fixing Real UX Problems
2025-08-28 10:00 - 13:00 (America/Halifax) | The PIER 1209 Marginal Road, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, Nova Scotia, Canada
This hands-on in-person workshop goes beyond surface-level UX fixes to solve real digital experience problems. Learn how organizational structure impacts user experience while gaining concrete evaluation tools to apply immediately. Through guided exercises with real examples, identify true user pain points, prioritize high-impact improvements, and align stakeholder needs with user goals. Leave with actionable methods for creating UX solutions that solve underlying problems rather than just addressing symptoms. Perfect for anyone involved in digital product decisions.
Key Takeaways

Understand why fixing UX requires a holistic approach that addresses organizational structure and design elements. Learn to identify when surface-level changes aren’t enough.
Learn practical diagnostic techniques to identify high-impact UX issues and develop a balanced improvement strategy that delivers immediate wins alongside meaningful long-term solutions.
Create an actionable framework for aligning stakeholders across your organization and overcoming common barriers to implementing effective UX improvements.

Your Presenter: Jamie Gerrard, Founder of 20/20 DIGITAL
Jamie Gerrard, Founder of 20/20 Digital, helps organizations improve digital product and service experiences. With expertise in research, design, marketing, and operations, he tackles challenges from multiple angles in the travel and tourism, financial services, healthcare, and technology sectors while sharing knowledge through speaking and coaching.

Implementing a Digital Twin of an Organization (DTO) for Manufacturing
2025-09-15 09:30 - 2025-09-18 13:00 | Online
This four-day workshop (delivered virtually over four half-day sessions) helps manufacturers define the critical success factors for designing, implementing, and utilizing a DTO. Using real-world manufacturing examples and an interactive manufacturing case study, participants learn “ready to apply” tips and techniques to model and optimize production processes, supporting operations, product costing, and overall profitability.
Key Learning Objectives

Learn how to initiate, align, and sustain manufacturing process analysis and modeling to optimize asset and/or labour capacities and utilizations, improve operational planning, and enrich costing and operational budgeting in a manufacturing setting
Understand the role of DTO modeling technology using an illustrative Canadian DTO software, Collaborative Business Planning (CBP), for process and cost flow visualization and “what-if” scenario-planning analysis
Appreciate the value of analyzing current state and simulating future state manufacturing operations in a collaborative environment to improve profitability and long-term viability of the business

Who Should Attend and Why?
This workshop provides foundational training for leveraging operational and financial data to develop highly-visual interactive DTO models for any manufacturer. Although any functional role will benefit, positions typically related to DTO implementations include:

Production managers focused on resource capacity requirements while decreasing lead times, increasing throughputs, and realizing cost reduction targets
Continuous Improvement (CI) managers responsible for executing process improvement initiatives and establishing/maintaining an organizational CI culture
Maintenance and Supply Chain managers responsible for aligning and optimizing the supporting processes for streamlining manufacturing
Financial managers responsible for resource planning, operational and financial budgeting, and/or costing and profitability analysis
Strategic managers/planners dealing with the impact of future customer needs, supply chain disruptions, sustainability initiatives, investment decisions, and other business changes

Securing Applications with Check Point and AWS: A Unified WAF-as-a-Service Approach
2025-09-16 15:00 - 15:45 | Online
As web applications and APIs continue to power modern digital experiences, protecting them from evolving cyber threats is more critical than ever.
Join us for an exclusive webinar featuring David Hill, Cloud Product Manager, at Check Point Software, and Dhanil Parwani, Senior Partner Solutions Architect, Security & AI, at Amazon Web Services (AWS), in collaboration with CheckMates, as they reveal how CloudGuard WAF-as-a-Service delivers simplified deployment, intelligent threat prevention, and continuous protection.
In this webinar, we’ll cover:

Why CloudGuard WAF-as-a-Service is the future of cloud-native application security
How Check Point and AWS deliver integrated, intelligent, and automated protection
Real-world use cases and demonstrations with expert Q&A

Don’t miss the opportunity to gain insights from industry leaders and learn how CloudGuard WAF-as-a-Service can transform your approach to application security while accelerating cloud adoption and innovation.
Register now to secure your applications with unified WAF protection.

The Rules of the Game: Competition Law and Procurement
2025-09-18 14:30 - 15:15
Whether you’re issuing tenders or submitting bids, there are rules in Canadian competition law that you need to be aware of. Join this webinar hosted by the Competition Bureau to learn about:

Why competition law matters to small businesses and entrepreneurs
How the Competition Bureau helps protect and promote competition
How competition law applies to procurement and what resources are available to businesses and procurement professionals
How to protect your business with compliance measures
How to recognize bid-rigging in order to prevent it and take action when it occurs

About the Competition Bureau
The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency that protects and promotes competition for the benefit of Canadian consumers and businesses. Our actions are guided by the principle that competition is good for Canadians. Competition drives lower prices and innovation while fueling economic growth.

Pride in Business: Workshops for 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurs
2025-09-25 13:00 - 16:00 | IGNITE Atlantic – New Glasgow, 345 Temperance St, New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, B2H 3P7, Canada
Join us for Pride in Business, hear from fellow 2SLGBTQI+ business owners and grow your network!

AI Powered Productivity Tools
2025-10-02 10:00 - 11:00
Unlock the potential of Artificial Intelligence to transform the way you work. This interactive workshop will guide participants through building a customized AI toolkit designed to address their unique challenges and goals. Together, we’ll explore how to pinpoint areas where time and energy are being wasted, experiment with powerful AI tools that can streamline processes, and learn practical strategies for integrating them seamlessly into daily routines. By the end of the session, participants will walk away with actionable insights and a personalized plan to boost efficiency, enhance creativity, and achieve more with less effort.
Key Takeaways

Discover and curate a set of AI tools tailored to your specific workflow and productivity needs.
Learn step-by-step methods to embed AI solutions into your everyday tasks for maximum impact.
Gain skills to identify inefficiencies and leverage AI as a powerful partner in overcoming challenges.

Meet your presenter: Charlotte Nurse – Director of Programs @ Canada Learning Code
Charlotte (she/they) is an educator, facilitator, and management and career development coach and consultant based in the Treaty 13 territory now known as Toronto. With over 15 years of leadership experience across various industries including fashion PR, education, and tech, Charlotte is a passionate sponsor, mentor, coach, and advocate for self-actualization and development in the workplace. Charlotte’s goal is to support her diverse clientele realize their full potential while honouring their unique lived experiences, considering their complex identities, and helping navigate the realities of living and working under capitalism.Before joining Canada Learning Code as Director of Programs, Charlotte was a member of the Senior Leadership team at Juno College of Technology, worked in corporate training and flagship management for The Ten Spot Inc, and has provided mentorship and coaching both under her own practice and as a volunteer for organizations like Accelerate Her Future. When they’re not talking to folks about their career development, Charlotte is an early adopter, horror movie lover, bad plant parent, and large body of freshwater enthusiast.
Registration:

DNS Member
An active member of Digital Nova Scotia.

Non-DNS Member – $15.00
Not an active member of Digital Nova Scotia.

POWER LUNCH: Business Interrupted: How to Prevent the Cyber Attack That Stops You Cold
2025-10-08 12:00 - 13:30
Business Interrupted: How to Prevent the Cyber Attack That Stops You Cold
Practical cybersecurity insights, without the jargon.
Cyber threats aren’t just an IT problem they’re a business problem. In this Lunch & Learn, you’ll discover the essential protections every business should have in place to reduce risk, save money, and keep operations running smoothly. Delivered in plain English, this session will cut through the technical noise and give you practical steps you can act on right away. You’ll also leave with a cybersecurity standards guide you can take back to your team and put to use immediately.

Presented By

About the Presenter:
Andrew Woodworth
President and CEO of Digital nGenuity Consulting Inc

Andrew Woodworth is the President and CEO of Digital nGenuity Consulting Inc., a managed IT and cybersecurity services firm serving businesses across Atlantic Canada and Bermuda. With more than 25 years of executive leadership in technology, Andrew has led IT strategy and operations for organizations in banking, insurance, reinsurance, government, and consulting. He has held senior roles including Vice President of IT at Butterfield Bank, and Senior Vice President and Global Head of IT at Ariel Reinsurance. In these positions, he successfully guided transformational IT projects, established centers of excellence, and built resilient technology operations supporting complex, international businesses.
Andrew’s expertise spans IT strategy, cybersecurity frameworks, project delivery, cloud infrastructure, and business continuity planning. He holds a degree in Information Systems along with professional certifications in project management, cloud platforms, and process improvement.
In addition to his professional work, Andrew is active in community and sports leadership. He currently serves as President of the Avon Valley Golf Club in Nova Scotia and is a past President of the Bermuda Golf Association.
Today, Andrew brings this blend of boardroom perspective and technical expertise to help business leaders understand cybersecurity in plain English and to show how the right protections safeguard not only data, but also revenue, reputation, and long-term success.

Funnels, Filters & the Future of Sales
2025-10-21 12:00 - 13:00 | Online
In today’s tech environment, traditional sales strategies are losing their edge. This session explores how sales professionals can adapt to economic shifts, AI disruption, and evolving buyer behaviours. Learn how to recalibrate your approach to drive revenue and stay competitive.
3 Key Takeaways

Understand how leaner budgets, fewer resources, and SEO shifts are reshaping the top of the funnel
Learn how to pivot sales strategies to respond to constrained buying environments and evolving markets
Discover actionable tactics to use both modern and old-school techniques to reach more prospects and close more deals

Meet Your Facilitator – Mary Jane (MJ) Leslie
Mary Jane (MJ) Leslie is the owner of Chapter 3 Ltd., a consulting company that specializes in helping start-up companies and small businesses overcome obstacles and achieve growth objectives. With a background in communications and a career spent building start-up companies, MJ works with clients to identify gaps and improve business operations within marketing, client care, sales operations, and communications.
Prior to founding Chapter 3, MJ held the role of Chief Growth Officer for LifeRaft, a threat intelligence SaaS company. She focused on how to leverage open-source intelligence for security programs from enterprise clients to investigative firms. During her tenure at LifeRaft, MJ was responsible for all aspects of revenue operations, including: Pre and Post-Sales, Customer Support, Client Success, Marketing, Communications, and Shareholder Relations.

Better Safe than Sorry, Eh: Competition Law 101 for Small Business Week
2025-10-23 14:30 - 15:15
Many small business owners don’t know about competition law. For those who do, it can be hard to know how it applies to their business. In celebration of Small Business Week, join this webinar hosted by the Competition Bureau to learn about:

Why competition law matters to small businesses and entrepreneurs
How the Competition Bureau helps protect and promote competition
How to protect your business with compliance measures

About the Competition Bureau
The Competition Bureau is an independent law enforcement agency that protects and promotes competition for the benefit of Canadian consumers and businesses. Our actions are guided by the principle that competition is good for Canadians. Competition drives lower prices and innovation while fueling economic growth.

Building Neurodivergent-Affirming Spaces
2025-10-28 10:00 - 11:00 | Online
Neurodivergent individuals (those with ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and other cognitive differences) make up an estimated 15–20% of the global population. Yet many workplaces are not designed with their needs in mind, resulting in barriers to hiring, retention, and advancement.
This workshop is for managers, HR professionals, directors, and workplace leaders who want to create environments where neurodivergent employees can thrive, not just survive.
By the end of this session, participants will:
● Understand the basics of neurodiversity and the social model of disability from an intersectional lens
● Recognize common workplace barriers for neurodivergent employees
● Gain tools to create more accessible hiring, onboarding, and management practices
● Learn how to support diverse communication, processing, and working styles
● Begin building a culture of psychological safety and belonging
This is a space for leaders to reflect, ask questions, and move from good intentions to meaningful action. Whether you’re just starting to learn about neurodiversity or seeking deeper strategies for inclusion, this workshop will provide practical tools and a strong foundation to help.
MEET YOUR PRESENTER:
Taylor Yeomans (she/her) uses her extensive background in employment support and accessibility to advocate for inclusive workplaces. Taylor has an academic background in sociology, gender studies, and disability studies and has worked in the support sector for over 8 years. Taylor has a particular interest in creating and maintaining neurodiversity-affirming workplaces, a passion that comes from lived experience.

Multi-generational Workplaces and Disability
2025-10-29 13:00 - 15:00 | Online
During this skill builder, we will:

Define generational perspectives on disability and explain differences in how disability is understood and experienced across age groups.
Explain how generational mindsets and intersectionality influence disclosure, inclusion, and access in the workplace.
Identify inclusive leadership practices that support accessibility and psychological safety across generations.
Apply inclusive strategies to create or strengthen disability-inclusive practices in your own workplace or team.

AI in Cyber Warfare: The Double-Edged Sword
2025-10-30 10:00 - 11:00
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly reshaping the cybersecurity landscape, presenting both unparalleled opportunities for defence and formidable new weapons for adversaries.
This panel will delve into the escalating “AI arms race” in cyber warfare, exploring how threat actors are leveraging AI to execute more sophisticated, autonomous, and scalable attacks – from hyper-realistic deepfake social engineering and AI-powered phishing to adaptive malware.
We will examine how defenders are harnessing AI for advanced threat detection, predictive analytics, and automated incident response, pushing the boundaries of proactive security. The discussion will also navigate the critical ethical considerations, the “black box” problem of AI decision-making, and the urgent need for robust AI-specific security frameworks to balance automation with human oversight in this evolving digital battlefield.

The Rise of the Humans: Learning to Thrive in a Generative AI World
2025-11-04 10:00 - 11:00
Generative AI is changing how we work, learn, and create. In this session, Dave Coplin explores how organizations and individuals can move beyond fear to harness AI’s potential, reimagining how we deliver value, support people, and build a human-centred, future-ready world.
Discover the Four Big Opportunities: Learn how generative AI can boost productivity, unlock insight, drive innovation, and elevate human quality in any organization.
Understand the Four Essential Shifts: Explore the mindset and structural changes firms must embrace to move from automation to true transformation.
Get Practical Steps for Success: Gain actionable strategies to prepare your data, empower your people, strengthen governance, and build a future-ready, human-centred approach to AI.
Meet Your Presenter – Dave Coplin
Dave Coplin is a futurist, author, and former Microsoft Chief Envisioning Officer. As founder of The Envisioners, he helps organizations reimagine their relationship with technology to unlock human potential in an AI-driven world.

Craft a 360 Customer Journey using the 5E method
2025-11-18 10:00 - 11:00
Most businesses focus on engaging customers, but true loyalty starts long before, and continues long after that moment.
In this interactive online session, Roger Mader, Chief Client Officer at Myra Media and former Global CMO of Subway, will introduce the 5E Customer Experience Model: Entice, Enter, Engage, Exit, and Extend.
You’ll learn how to map the full customer journey from first contact to long-term loyalty, create smooth transitions between each stage, and identify the often-overlooked touchpoints that make the biggest difference. Whether you’re a business owner, marketer, or customer experience leader, this session will give you a practical framework for building lasting customer relationships and increasing lifetime value.

Sales Truths: What I Wish I Knew Early in My Career (and What to Do Instead)…Oh Yeah, and Now AI
2025-11-24 09:00 - 12:00 | The PIER, 1209 Marginal Rd, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 4P7, Canada
Some of the best sales lessons don’t come from books or courses—they come from messing it up, learning the hard way, and hearing how others handled the same challenge. This session is built around that idea.
Join an interactive workshop led by seasoned sales expert, Ed Grant. Bring your toughest sales challenges—stuck deals, tricky calls, or persistent client questions. We’ll share experiences, tackle common early-career pitfalls, and create a practical “Do This, Not That” guide for today’s sales landscape.
3 Key Takeaways

Uncover common sales pitfalls—and how to handle them more effectively.
Learn how others have navigated similar challenges through group discussion.
Build your sales instincts through collaborative learning and peer feedback.

Meet Your Presenter – Ed Grant
Ed has spent the last 25+ years helping businesses grow – whether from the driver’s seat of a national sales team, or from behind the counter of a specialty coffee shop he co-owned for 7 years. Ed’s path has taken him through enterprise IT sales, professional services, recruiting, and small business leadership, and all of it has shaped who he is today.

Employer Essentials: Hiring and Retaining Temporary Foreign Workers
2025-12-03 10:00 - 11:00
As Canadian employers continue to face labour shortages and skills gaps, immigration has become an essential strategy for attracting and retaining top talent. In this session, Suzanne Rix, KC, and Laura Hanusiak of Cox & Palmer will provide a clear and practical overview of the immigration pathways available to employers hiring foreign workers. The discussion will explore key programs such as the Nova Scotia Nominee Program (NSNP), the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP), the Global Talent Stream (GTS), and the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) process, as well as cross-border hiring options under the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA).
Employers will gain insight into how to choose the right immigration pathway based on position requirements, wages, and worker qualifications, along with an understanding of residency and citizenship requirements and potential challenges such as inadmissibility. Whether you are new to international recruitment or looking to refine your approach, this session will equip you with the knowledge and confidence to navigate Canada’s immigration system effectively—helping your organization access global talent, strengthen your workforce, and support long-term growth.
