Rural innovation takes centre stage at Estevan's ICED Conference

The first ICED (Innovation Conference for Economic Development) Rural Conference kicks off today, showcasing the innovative capabilities of smaller communities. The event highlights Estevan’s role as a hub for rural innovation, featuring projects from local students and key industry insights.

Gordon More, executive director of Southeast TechHub has been promoting innovation for the past two years, and emphasized the significance of resilience in smaller communities. “Rural students learn to be resilient, and that’s crucial for innovation. To succeed, you need to be able to fail and recover,” he said.

A highlight of the conference will be a robot, created by local students, that will perform a song and dance. An AI-powered app, also developed by students, will help delegates network.

The event features presentations from speakers including Aaron Pilkington, an Arkansas House Representative, discussing rural innovation, and Jeff Sandquist, a tech leader with experience at Microsoft, Twitter and Automattic. Sandquist will be interviewed by longtime Saskatchewan radio host John Gormley, known for his 25-year tenure on CKOM and CJME.

There will also be a presentation on the cold hydrogen project and Small Modular Reactor (SMR) technology. More hopes the conference will become an annual event, building a network of rural communities focused on innovation and inspiring individuals to pursue their own innovative projects.