Synthetikos

08/05/2026

In today's Globe and Mail, Joe O'Connor and Alex Ryan (CEO of Synthetikos) argue Canada's AI adoption plan is incomplete without an adaptation plan for workers. For this to work we need to:
1. Put conditions on public AI adoption money and measure what it buys
2. Give citizens a standing role through citizen assemblies and social labs
3. Lead by example by reinvesting government productivity dividends from AI back into the civil service
If you are working on workforce adaptation for AI, we would love to connect!

This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn

01/19/2026

For 2026, Synthetikos has updated our web site to reflect lessons from the field from Abu Dhabi to Jamaica transforming health care, innovation ecosystems and inclusive education. Check out our case studies and "innovation unscripted" stance that underpins our approach and please let us know what you think!
Case studies: https://www.synthetikos.com/case-studies
Innovation Unscripted: https://www.synthetikos.com/stance

09/19/2025

The Conference Board of Canada has partnered with Synthetikos and Shad Canada to engage Canadians on their boldest ideas for our future prosperity. I had the privilege and pleasure of interviewing The Honourable Bill Morneau at the inaugural Bold Ideas for Canada event this week. I was encouraged and inspired by the ambitious and actionable ideas that Shad alumni generated over two nights - and I am excited to see this scale into a conversation series from coast to coast to coast on Canada's future.

09/17/2024

The NorQuest Corporate Services and Finance strategy retreat is the first time I have ever facilitated in a fort built in 1846!

09/03/2024

Preparing for tomorrow’s co-design workshop with Nick Scott on mental health and addiction discharge. I just love the view over Halifax from the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub!

08/15/2024

Synthetikos is proud to be supporting the Future of Hockey Lab!

FHL team member Dr. Alex Ryan recently attended the Future of Labs retreat, which brought some of the world's top lab leaders together to explore how to design more impactful practices. Here are a few of his top takeaways:

"At the Future of Labs gathering on Cortes Island, we discussed the expectations of lab impacts. If you see labs as vehicles for scaling up innovations, they seem slow and inefficient. However, labs actually build the capacity for system transformation.

They create connections that help systems collaborate and deliberate across different areas. Labs provide examples of what’s possible, expanding our vision for a more just and sustainable future.

Instead of just scaling ideas that fit within current flawed systems, they contribute to redesigning systems to allow many new ideas to thrive - while hospicing old systems that need to die. If your impact measurement is only focused on scaling new ideas, you will miss the most important contributions of social innovation labs to systems change."

03/13/2024

Synthetikos (Alex) currently working with Kerr Smith Design and the Pacific Community doing Agriculture and Forest Strategy have created a board game for participatory experiential futures for communities and countries within the Pacific.

06/08/2023

Looking forward to my keynote presentation at the GovMaker conference in Fredericton, NB next Wednesday June 14. Let us know if you are going to be there!

Advancing open government, social innovation & public sector collaboration. Building capacity for an inclusive future.

06/08/2023

Hello everyone, we're back! Its been an interesting and busy rollercoaster ride these past 5 months and we're looking forward to helping you with your most complex and important challenges.