The Accidental Innovator

The word "innovation" is popping up everywhere. Companies have Chief Innovation Officers. The Government of Canada has a Department of Innovation, Science and Economics. British Columbia has an Innovation Commissioner. But the word has become such a buzzword it has lost any clear meaning for many. However, we've been innovating for a long time we just did not necessarily call it that. This presentation will be stories from 35 years of innovative implementation of new technologies from television news to post-graduate education. What were the common elements? Why was it necessary? Prepare for a discussion of why it was innovation, why it worked and what to consider in your next "innovation".

About our speaker, Jeannette Kopak:

Jeannette Kopak is a digital media veteran with 17 years of experience at the CBC in roles that ranged from designing and implementing the corporations first local newsroom digital editorial system to facilitating and spearheading the original CBC.ca website to leading a multi-million dollar, multi-year project to catalogue, restore, digitize and preserve the CBC radio and television archives across Canada.

After leaving the CBC in 2001, Jeannette worked as a Digital Media Business consultant for the Media Solutions group at EMC Corporation in Hopkinton Massachusetts and as a management consultant & project manager for Edge Consulting in Vancouver, BC. 

In 2006, Jeannette used her varied project management and digital media experience to manage the launch of the Masters of Digital Media program and transformation of a 40-year-old tractor factory into a state of the art digital media graduate school facility, the first Centre for Digital Media. Since then her role has expanded into teaching but she is also responsible for ensuring the Centre continues to adapt to the needs of the students and digital media community by developing programs and initiating relevant projects and events. 

Jeannette has a MLIS from UBC and a BA from the University of Alberta.