15 October 2016 / #Events #jobs Summit next week meant to boost local economy_ (press release) _ ** Ottawa **– Mayor Jim Watson will be joined by His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnson, Governor General of Canada, Councillor Riley Brockington, Chair of the Summit, and Jonathan Lister, VP Americas, Sales Solutions and Canada Country Manager at LinkedIn, for the Education and the Economy Summit on Friday, October 21 at City Hall. The Summit will bring together local school boards, post-secondary institutions, government and private sector partners, NGOs, and students with the goal of increasing collaboration and creating employment opportunities for students, and ultimately, more start-ups and jobs in the city. “The Summit will be an opportunity for the City to engage with key partners from the education and economic sectors in a discussion about how we can work together to better prepare and position students for success in the local job market,” said Mayor Watson. “Collaborating on education and training makes sense because it benefits our students, our workforce, our start-ups and our city’s long-term prosperity.” “The discussion will focus on how business and public and private organizations take part in the education process by providing more training, internships and employment bridging opportunities and input on curriculum needs,” said Councillor Brockington. “It will also highlight how this type of integrated approach will help meet the evolving needs of the workforce and make Ottawa an attractive place to get an education and a career.” More than 250 participants are expected to attend the Summit, where they will hear from guest speakers such as Mayor Watson, His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnson, Governor General of Canada, and Jonathan Lister, who will present LinkedIn’s workforce membership profile for the National Capital Region. “Our goal is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce,” said LinkedIn’s [ Jonathan Lister ](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanlister). “With more than 60 per cent of the workforce on LinkedIn, we have a wealth of data insights into national and local labour markets. We are proud to be partnering with the City of Ottawa to share these skills and workforce insights while encouraging further collaboration between employers and educators.” Summit workshops will be led by notable education and business community leaders, including: Dr. Jaswinder Kaur, Director, India and Emerging Markets, Kivuto Solutions Inc.; Scott Bowman, Director, Government Relations, Futurpreneur; Ritch Dusome, President and CEO, Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks; Kathy McKinley, President and CEO, Ottawa Network for Education (ONFE); Dr. Malcolm Butler, Dean, Faculty of Science, Carleton University: David Ritonja, Vice President, Broadband Access Business Unit North America, Nokia Networks; Bruce Lazenby, Head of Business Development, Regional Group of Companies; and, Christine Donoghue, Acting President, Public Service Commission of Canada. The Summit will reinforce important components of the City’s economic development strategy for maintaining growth and resiliency of local economy: · Drawing students and talent to the city from across the country and globe · Keeping talent in Ottawa · Attracting business and financial investment · Nurturing and supporting entrepreneurship and small business The Summit starts at 8:30 a.m., with the Governor General offering the first keynote remarks. In the afternoon, a panel comprised of all the workshop leads will offer insight based on the discussions from the morning workshops. Mayor Watson and Councillor Brockington will then close off the Summit by charting the next steps for increased collaboration.