Welcome to Digital Nova Scotia, Song!

Song Pho recently joined our team as a summer co-op Project Coordinator. We are excited to welcome her to Digital Nova Scotia! Song, can you tell us a little about yourself? I am currently a third-year student in Applied Computer Science at Dalhousie. Beside my major, I am working towards a minor in Innovation and a certificate in User Experience. My ultimate career goal is to create sustainable technology solutions, which require collaborations between economics, computer science and social studies. Therefore, I look forward to working with Digital Nova Scotia – one of the most active factors in the growth of Nova Scotia’s tech industry – to learn about their meaningful projects and keys to success. Before the pandemic, I volunteered to teach children about circuits, Scratch games and 3D printing at the Discovery Centre. I really enjoy it because no matter how familiar I am with a topic, I can always learn from the fresh observations of visitors. Song, can you tell us something about yourself that isn’t in your bio? There was a time I was really into cryptography. I spent hours doing research on common types of ciphers and their histories. I remember being fascinated by the battle between the Enigma machine (an encryption device used by the Germans in World War II) and the Bombe machine of Britain, so I spent an evening figuring out how each’s components worked together to create a cipher and decode it in the brief time allowance of wars. What do you love most about your program at university? What I love most about Applied Computer Science at Dal is that I can focus on gaining management knowledge while learning programming. Having the extensive knowledge about both fields and opportunities to complete three practical co-op work terms is truly what I need to fulfill my long-term career goal – building sustainable solutions. The tech sector in Nova Scotia is thriving, what are you most looking forward to about working in this industry? One thing that Nova Scotia has been known for is its ocean industry, of which innovations are increasing steadily. Sobeys – Canada’s second largest food retailer with its headquarters in Nova Scotia – also has a strong IT department that collaborates with external companies to provide more convenient, innovative shopping experience for consumers. I believe that technology is invented to support our lives, so I most look forward to the opportunities for partnership between industries in the province. Just like “support local”, collaborations between the tech sector of Nova Scotia and other industries will contribute to the province’s economy growth and attract talents from local post-secondary institutions. With the province’s thriving tech industry, I am excited to see how it can support other sectors and what may come from our potentials. So, it’s your first day, what do you hope to accomplish while you’re with us? I look forward to meeting everyone because they all play important roles in the success of Digital Nova Scotia. Understanding their responsibilities will help me reach out to the right person and get to know how each team contributes to the operations of each project. What’s something you’re really interested in that might surprise us? I really enjoy detective novels, especially those that give readers all the hints because they allow me to be a part of the story. That satisfying “aha!” moment motivates me to pay attention to small details, their connections, which eventually forms the habit of observation for me. If you were given a plane ticket to anywhere in the world, where would you want it to be? It has been a long time since I last visited my hometown Vietnam, and it is tougher to go now due to COVID-19. Beside my family, I really miss the taste of our world-famous street food. Quick hitters!Spring or fall? Spring Android or iPhone? Android Comedy or thriller? Comedy Coffee or tea? Tea Star Wars or Star Trek? Star Trek Laptop or desktop? Laptop Breakfast or dinner? Dinner Ocean or lake? Ocean