Opening Ceremony, Territorial Acknowledgement & Welcome Address

Master of Ceremonies: Sandeep Sidhu, CIO, Emily Carr University of Art + Design and Pradeep Nair, CIO, TRIUMF

Welcome Address: Bala Kathiresan, President & CEO, BCNET

Sandeep Sidhu

Sandeep Sidhu

Chief Information Officer, Emily Carr University of Art and Design

With 20 years of active leadership in the technology space, Sandeep currently serves as chief information officer at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (www.ecuad.ca) in Vancouver, British Columbia, where she is advancing the university’s digital transformation strategy by developing effective organizational capabilities (people with technology) and leveraging digitalization.  

Sandeep is an innovative, collaborative leader with deep ties to higher education providing strategic connections between the university community and its technology teams. Her passion for higher education continues beyond the CIO role as a visiting professor at Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University. Sandeep has been in higher education since 2011, after a decade of working in the private sector. She has been an active volunteer at BCNET, the Canadian University Council of Chief Information Officers (CUCCIO) community, and an EDUCAUSE Board member.  

Sidhu is honoured to have the opportunity to co-host BCNET 2023, and hopes to live up to her leadership credo, “I will leave this world a little better than I found it”. 

Technology Track