60-SECOND BRIEF

BC + AI has been invited to Canada's first National Summit on AI and Culture at the Banff Centre (March 15-17, 2026). Co-hosted by the Government of Canada and Banff Centre, this invitation-only summit brings together leaders from cultural, governmental, technological, academic, and civil society sectors. Invitation facilitated by Gokhan Basaran (ISED) based on BC + AI's alignment with all three summit pillars: BUILD, EMPOWER, PROTECT.

TALKING POINTS: BUILD

• BC + AI bridges SFU's METACREATION Lab, UBC researchers, startup founders, and federal policymakers
• Community model documented in BC Studies and being replicated in Surrey and beyond
• 11 years on SXSW's advisory board — deep network across tech and culture

TALKING POINTS: EMPOWER

• Through The Upgrade AI, trained hundreds of creative professionals in human-AI collaboration
• Every Vancouver AI meetup opens with Squamish ceremony — cultural protocol as infrastructure
• 20,000+ community, 250+ paid members, sold-out meetups at Space Centre

TALKING POINTS: PROTECT

• Co-authoring research with Philippe Pasquier at SFU on how artists can train models on their own work
• Ars Electronica paper award — actual alternative systems, not theoretical hand-wringing
• CTO at Indigenomics Institute — Indigenomics AI platform serving $200B+ economic activity