Our way of working is changing; technology is adapting how we interact with everything. We are now challenging our work patterns; the standard 9-5 desk job, sitting in the same cubicle, is now becoming extinct, and flexible working with the assistance of technology is creating a new way of working.

Recently a video emerged online of a man sitting in Germany controlling an articulated truck in Korea. As the way we work changes and embraces technology, our workspace must do the same. To this end, smart buildings and the Internet of Things (IoT) are emerging in how we design and operate a building.

With flexible working we can create a more efficient and more collaborative workspace. "Hot desking" is becoming the norm in offices around the world. For example, the Edge building in The Hague in the Netherlands is one of the smartest buildings in the world. They use a series of data capturing tools so that they can manage their almost 1,200 members of staff with half the amount of desks, which opens up the space for meeting rooms, collaborative spaces, and hubs. The workplace also uses data to become more efficient with energy, waste, heating and cooling, among other aspects of a building.

So how can data help? How is all this achieved?

Any appliance gives off data, almost every piece can be attached to a sensor to record this data, but what we do with this data is the key. Having an understanding of representing and reporting this data in a way that can be digested by everyone will be shared along with examples of:

• How do we capture this data?
• How do we benefit from this data?
• How do we adapt and use this data?
• How do we get accurate and efficient reporting using this?

One of the case studies will provide an overview of an office building with 300 desks and 400 staff. In simple math this does not add up. The client was spending a lot of money on 100+ desks at a desk subscription provider. With a data interrogation and smart reporting the client was able to stop its 100+ desk subscription and could still satisfy all of its desk needs with staff. How? Understanding and using data to efficiently and effectively manage their space.

Douglas McNeill, Director, Turner & Townsend

Eoin Kiely, Technology Consultant, Turner & Townsend
Eoin Kiely is an expert in building and technology, specializing in Building Information Modelling (BIM). He is well versed in working in a digital environment and has in-depth industry knowledge of design solutions that can enable firms to maximize their investment in physical space, from a technology standpoint. Eoin supports clients and project delivery teams with digital integration to enhance the delivery of a digital asset that can use technology throughout a full lifecycle of a building.

Innovations in technology are having a dramatic effect on all aspects of our lives, but in particular on how we work and our workplace environments. Technologies such as next generation mobility, cognitive collaboration and workplace sensing are allowing organisations to successfully shift to dynamic and flexible workspace strategies. These innovations are providing real-time visibility of space availability and usage, metrics and trends on workplace utilisation and will enable new smart connected workforce experiences. This session will explore some of these technology innovations and what enhanced experiences they will deliver today and in the future.

Vanessa Sulikowski, Distinguished Systems Engineer, CISCO
Vanessa Sulikowski is a Distinguished Systems Engineer and has been working in the ICT industry for over 29 years joining Cisco as a Systems Engineer in 2000.

Vanessa is an evangelist for workplace transformation, working with customers on their transformations as well as presenting at Workplace focused events. She has also presented at many technology events, including Cisco Live, internationally since 2001 and she has been recognised repeatedly as a Distinguished Speaker.

Vanessa holds a Bachelor of Computer Science (Hons) degree from the University of Newcastle and has achieved CCIE Collaboration.

This session will walk participants through a brief history of the Indigenous Peoples in what we now know as Canada. We will discuss historical events many Canadians have never learned and the impacts of these events on Indigenous Peoples. The session will wrap up with a discussion on how these impacts may show up in the workplace, and the kind of tactics professionals can put in place to support Indigenous Inclusion at work.

Gene Jamieson, Managing Director, Turtle Clan Management Consulting
Gene Jamieson is a sought after speaker on Indigenous inclusion. As an Indigenous professional himself, with a twenty year corporate career, Gene shares his personal experience working in industry while educating others on the centuries-old plight of Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Gene is an academically decorated professional, with CHRL and PMP designations and an MBA from the Rotterdam School of Management in The Netherlands.

The Centre Block Program has adopted an Integrated Lean Program Delivery (ILPD) approach to improve decision-making, integration, and generate project efficiencies. A key aspect of ILPD is a co-located office environment that encourages collaboration and integration of stakeholder’s experiences to improve the planning and execution of design and construction strategies.

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) project implementers, the design consultant, the construction manager, and parliamentary partners all share this Integrated Project Office (IPO). The office is based upon PSPC’s Activity Based Working model and promotes transparency visibility, and sharing an open office configuration.

This includes a large flexible open space to co-create in real time vs. the traditional “create then review” process. The innovation of BIM will be fully leveraged to support client engagement and review processes throughout design and construction. The energy within the IPO drives innovation and creativity. The objective of this space is to integrate individual mandates and diverse priorities into a project first culture – a culture that will foster a healthy workplace and continuous learning.

Jennifer Garrett, Director General, Centre Block Program, Public Services and Procurement Canada
Jennifer Garrett has been the Director General of the Centre Block Rehabilitation since May 2016. As the Director General, Jennifer is responsible for overseeing the renovation of Centre Block and construction of Phase Two of the Visitor Welcome Centre. This endeavour is the largest and most complex program carried out on Parliament Hill to date.

Jennifer has been working as an executive in the federal public service for over 10 years in various roles, including real property, information management/information technology and procurement, the execution of major programs in both the Department of National Defence and Public Services and Procurement Canada.

The Government of Canada is committed to a barrier-free environment that creates optimal conditions for all employees, with or without disabilities, to succeed, and that ensures equality of opportunity in support of the public service as an employer of choice. Programs and measures within the federal public service demonstrate leadership as both an accessible and inclusive employer and service provider.

In the framework of the proposed Accessible Canada Act (Bill C-81), Public Services and Procurement Canada’s (PSPC) mandate is to develop a world-class standard for accessibility for the built environment. PSPC Real Property Services – Technical Services is responsible to implement an Accessible Government Built Environment Initiative through technical accessibility assessments on a portion of its Crown-owned portfolio to identify incremental improvements and estimate construction costs required to meet and to exceed new accessibility obligations. Specifically, accessibility standards for its federal properties are based on section 5 of the Treasury Board Accessibility Standard for Real Property, which confirms the Canadian Standards Association B651 - Accessible Design for the Built Environment as the technical reference for accessibility.

PSPC’s commitment is to not only meet these standards, but to exceed them. In doing so federal buildings and facilities are accessible and usable by all people, responding to the evolving demographic landscape where approximately 1 in 5 Canadians aged 15 to 64 identify as having one or more disabilities (Canadian Survey on Disability, 2017). In putting the user first, PSPC is seeking feedback through an advisory panel composed of members from the disability community as well as client department/agency disability networks to review technical accessibility assessment results/products and provide comments from the user perspective, and to evaluate, validate assessment methodology and foster continuous improvement in the assessment process. Lessons learned and recommendations will be integrated into future accessibility technical assessments throughout the portfolio. This approach is consistent with the principle of “nothing without us.”

The Real Property Services Accessibility Team’s activities entail the establishment of a priority list of buildings to be assessed, the procurement of third party stakeholders to implement technical accessibility assessments, the coordination and dissemination of information with regional offices and other partners such as property and facility management; client relationship and demand management; and the Real Property Contracting Directorate. The Accessibility Team is involved as well with Employment and Social Development Canada – Accessibility Secretariat to participate to the interdepartmental committee on disability issues; and with Shared Services Canada – Accessibility, Accommodations & Adaptive Computer Technology (AAACT) Program to acquire lived-experience knowledge of most suitable accessibility practices and tools to integrate to the built environment.

Paola Zurro, Senior Director, Architecture and Engineering Services, Public Services and Procurement Canada
Paola Zurro is the Senior Director, Architecture and Engineering under Technical Services Service Line (TSSL), Real Property Branch (RPB), Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC). Her Accessibility team is leading the Accessible Government Built Environment Initiative.

As co-chair of the Federal Public Service Accessibility Strategy Technical Working Group on the Built Environment, she has also participated in the co-design and co-creation of the Public Service-Wide Accessibility Strategy.

Examples from across the globe and within the Canadian federal government real property community who are employing technology to achieve this state with efficient, streamlined, responsive and interactive and collaborative workplaces. Understand what is in it for: the employees, directors, executives, managers and stakeholders. Join this presentation for a vision of what can be, what is... and what you will need to understand know to adopt/adapt!

Innovation and transformation strategies will be discussed.

Iana Ciatti, Program Manager, Horizant Inc
Iana Ciatti has over 25 years of industry sales experience with the last six focused specifically on integrated workplace management systems consulting. Iana has been involved with dozens of federal, provincial and municipal clients, partnering with them to navigate options, plan and achieve their organizational goals in the areas of portfolio planning, asset and capital project management, building operations and sustainability.

The sustainability movement has led to a new awareness of how to design buildings to be more sustainable. But what are we doing for the occupant? How is their wellbeing? Robert Frost once wrote, “Good fences make good neighbours.” Used right, they might make better workers too. We are living in a world where we are constantly connected, and the in-flow of information seems never-ending. The inability to disconnect is causing a dramatic increase in stress levels amongst workers today. The World Health Organization (WHO) projects that ‘techno-stress’, the stress of constantly being on and overwhelmed by technology, will be one of the biggest health issues in the coming decade. To help people function at higher levels and feel refreshed we must design intentionally to achieve mindfulness in the workplace.

Kay Sargent, Director of WorkPlace, HOK
Kay Sargent, ASID, IIDA, CID, LEED® AP, MCR.W, WELL AP, brings over 30 years of experience in the interiors industry. Her work has taken her to multiple continents where she has worked with Fortune 500 companies on their global real estate strategies and designed workplaces of the future. Kay specializes in helping companies identify their unique organizational DNA and requirements, align their space with their business goals, develop the workplace of the future and deliver it across their global portfolio.

Kay is a Senior Principal and Director of WorkPlace at HOK and serves on the Board of Directors. Kay has also served on the International Boards of IIDA, ASID, NCQLP, ASID Foundation Board of Trustees, and NCIDQ. She is an active member of IFMA and co-founder of the IFMA Workplace Evolutionaries community. Kay was recently selected as a ‘POWER WOMEN’ by Bisnow and is a Founding member of the DC Chapter of Upward.

Deloitte’s inclusion journey has been both long and winding, and like most organizations, complex and individual. We have learned, shared and continue to push for, an inclusive workplace. Our stated goal of becoming the most inclusive professional services firm for people with disabilities is based upon our belief that by doing so, we will be a more successful and profitable professional services firm.

The Foundation: In the summer of 2012, Deloitte’s General Counsel, Kenneth J. Fredeen, was appointed Chair of a Federal Government Panel which studied and reported on marketplace opportunities for people with disabilities in the private sector. The Panel’s report was tabled in January 2013 and it received international attention. Since then, Mr. Fredeen and Deloitte have been recognized for their leadership around persons with disabilities. In December 2016, Mr. Fredeen was the keynote speaker at the first annual International Harkin Disability Summit in Washington DC, and his message was simple: hiring people with disabilities was not the “right thing to do”, but that it made business sense. At the 2018 Harkin Summit, Deloitte’s Inclusion Lead, Lenore MacAdam, will be presenting a workshop about disability as we move into the workplace of the future.

In this presentation, we will take the audience through Deloitte’s journey over the past few years as we’ve focused on accessibility as a national area of focus. This has been a changing landscape which has required a constant change management mentality.

Areas to be covered include:

• Creating a national accessibility strategy at Deloitte Canada;
• Engaging our employees;
• Partnering with community organizations such as CNIB and Special Olympics; and,
• Working with the Rick Hansen Foundation to collaborate on our corporate real estate projects, ensuring we are hitting a gold standard in accessibility.
• Carole Mendonca Manager, Inclusion Deloitte Canada

Carole Mendonca has been a champion of diversity and inclusion throughout her career. In her current role at Deloitte Canada, Carole leads a special project around inclusion within the Office of the General Counsel, with a dual focus on accessibility and the Indigenous space.

Carole’s professional background includes management consulting, focusing primarily on business development for international small to medium sized businesses to expand to the North American market. She has also worked for international development charities with programs focusing on education, water, health, food and economic opportunity. At Deloitte, Carole has worked in risk management, compliance, process management and employee engagement. She was also the National leader of the Accessibility Employee Resource Group for Deloitte Canada.

Outside of work, Carole is an active volunteer. She currently sits on an advisory committee for the Information and Communications Technology Council focused on employment for Albertans with disabilities and actively serves as a mentor for the Toronto Region Immigration Employment Council.

Carole’s previous volunteer experience includes projects overseas in Asia and Africa focused on women’s advancement in microfinance and youth development. She spent four years volunteering with the Elizabeth Fry Society of Ottawa focused on providing legal aid to women who have come in conflict with the law.

Carole has a BAH in Criminology and Criminal Justice from Carleton University and a certificate of Inclusion and Leadership from Centennial College.