Outsourcing Economics Takes Center Stage at New Toronto ICT Conference

TORONTO, Jan. 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A new economic reality is taking shape in North America. A historic U.S. election, a spiking U.S. dollar, intense demand for labor in newly emerging areas of digital and IT services, the introduction of automation, and an uncertain outlook for cross-border trade – including NAFTA's future – are shaping up to bring profound change to the global enterprise outsourcing industry.

The new Sourcing Decisions 2017 conference, coming to Toronto March 2, 2017, is just the right conference to get a handle on these major shifts. Conference organizers are proud to announce that Chief Economist at HSBC Canada, Mr. David Watt will keynote the first annual Sourcing Decisions conference. Mr. Watt is one of the leading voices in North America economics – highly regarded for his economic forecasts and interpretations of the impacts on global trade and commerce in the Canadian, U.S. and Latin America markets.

Sourcing Decisions 2017 is designed to meet U.S. and Canadian enterprise business, IT and finance leaders where they are today – wrestling with complex issues and varied pressures to align resources so their enterprises can thrive. In acknowledging the outdated nature of traditional 'outsourcing,' the conference will spearhead a 'next-generation' dialogue on global sourcing by more sharply defining how global IT, business-process, cloud service providers, and country partners can assist in achieving better outcomes for customers and investors.

We also begin 2017 with a new president and a new agenda in the United States, disrupting a series of cornerstone assumptions around the stability of trade and economics between the U.S. and Canada. The conference will feature a series of panel discussions and presentations from some of the leading minds in North American enterprise ICT procurement, sourcing and vendor management – and chief among the topics will be an examination of the real impact of robotics and automation.

"Our goal is to help decision-makers become smarter about how to use these new automation  tools to increase efficiency and dramatically reduce the cost of operations, while minimizing exponential levels of risk," says Kirk Laughlin, content director of Sourcing Decisions 2017, who is also managing director of U.S.-based business media group, Nearshore Americas.

The conference will also feature a special Q/A discussion with RBC's Vice President of Innovation Mr. Gabriel Woo – who will share insights on how the Canadian bank partners with fintech startups to deploy cutting-edge artificial intelligence solutions. In the session, "Inside RBC's A.I. Strategy of Tapping Fast-Rising Fintechs", Woo will discuss a new procurement paradigm that looks to foster relationships with this dynamic set of young companies.

The conference will also feature discussions on the following topics:

• New Models that Support Third-Party Sourcing
• Managing Risk in Robotics Process Automation
• Customer Engagement in the New Era of Digital
• New Vendor Management Tools for 2017
• Nearshore (Latin America and Caribbean) Partner Strategies
• Toronto Rising: Centre of Global Tech
• Sourcing's Role in Managing Big Data

Speakers include:

Allison Sagraves, Chief Data Officer, M&T Bank
William Ramos, Vice President, Finance and Regulatory, Enbridge
Gabriel Woo, Vice President of Innovation, RBC
Linda Tuck Chapman, former Chief Procurement Officer Bank of Montreal
Tim Norton, Director, Vendor Management, UPS
Shannon Burch, Head of Contact Center Sales Engagement, ScotiaBank
Fabiano Rosa, Consultant, PwC Canada
Sandy MacLeod, Chief Operating Officer, Print, Star Media Group
Chris Lord, Global Head and Founding Leader, HGS DigiCX
Peter Ryan, Principal, Ryan Strategic Advisory
Kirk Laughlin, Managing Director, Nearshore Americas
Vivion Scully, Consul, Jamaica Trade and Invest (JAMPRO) DigiCX
Dr. Ron Babin, Global Outsourcing Researcher and Expert, Ryerson University
Lynda Arsenault, International Trade and Business Consultant

For more information and to register for Sourcing Decisions 2017 visit: www.sourcingdecisions.com

Sponsorship information can be obtained by reaching Kirk Laughlin at [email protected]

General information can be obtained by reaching Nichole Bernard at [email protected]

SOURCE Sourcing Decisions 2017

Related Links

http://www.sourcingdecisions.com