Members of the Digital and Data Task Force for Ontario’s Data Strategy revealed

The provincial government announced the members of the Minister’s Digital and Data Task Force, which will provide recommendations for Ontario’s Data Strategy.

The data strategy is meant to explore new opportunities for how data is used across Ontario and will examine how to protect people’s data rights. It will aim to create economic benefits while promoting public trust and confidence.

Phase one of the data strategy revealed that nearly 80 percent of Ontarians want better personal and commercial data protection. Phase two of the data strategy will take place in the form of public consultations starting in July.

Linda Mantia has been named as the chair of the task force. She is the former senior executive vice-president and group chief operating officer at Manulife Financial. She previously worked at RBC, where she was the executive vice-president of Digital, Payments, and Cards.

Bryan Smith has been named as the vice-chair of the task force. Smith is the co-founder and CEO of ThinkData Works, which is a company that enables data processing for banks and governments.

The members

There are six members of the task force. The first member is Bilal Khan, who is the managing partner and head of Deloitte Data. The second member is Avner Levin, who is the founding director of Ryerson University’s Privacy and Cyber Crime Institute.

The next member is Maithili Mavinkurve, who is the co-founder of Sighlight Innovation, which is one of Canada’s longest-standing AI companies. The fourth member is Shyam Oberoi, who is the chief digital officer of the Royal Ontario Museum.

Next is Mark Sakamoto, who is an investor in digital health and digital media. The sixth member is Kirsten Thompson, who is the national lead of the Transformative Technologies and Data Strategy at Dentons Canada.

All of the members of the task force will be working together to provide advice regarding the Data Strategy as it nears phases two and three later this year.

The Data Strategy was originally being led by Progressive Conservative Member of Provincial Parliament Bill Walker, who was the former Ontario Minister of Government and Consumer Services. It will now be led by Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa Thompson, who took on Walker’s portfolio on June 20th.

Source: Government of Ontario