Vass Bednar

Executive Director, Master of Public Policy in Digital Society Program, McMaster University

Public policy, technology, regulation, regulatory structures, artificial intelligence (AI), big data, technology and public policy, future of work, data monetization, startups

Media

The Dark Side of Rewards Programs | Vass Bednar | Walrus Talks

Head of public policy at Delphia, Vass Bednar spoke about the dark side of rewards programs, and why data about our spending habits may come back to haunt us.

McKesson Canada Presents Walrus Talks The Future of Consumerism took place on September 18th, 2019 at Artscape Daniels Launchpad in Toronto. Please subscribe to our Youtube channel to view more Walrus Talks, and please check our website to find to discover a Walrus Talk in your area.

Making public policy more fun | Vasiliki (Vass) Bednar | TEDxToronto

An aggressive debater and playful inquisitor, Vass works at the University of Toronto's School of Public Policy & Governance while enjoying an Action Canada fellowship. For fun (and so she can finally play), she's designing a Canadian board game that simulates policy-making in the federation that will highlight the joys of contemporary governance. When she's not playing basketball, reading Maclean's, or blogging, the McMaster Arts & Science graduate spends a lot of time thinking about why things are the way they are and how they can be better.

Vass Bednar (Expert Panel on Youth Employment) -- Jobs & Skills Training

The Student Budget Consultation is a civic education and financial literacy program for high school students across Canada. The process gives young people an opportunity to learn about government and current affairs, debate varying viewpoints about public policy and offer their own opinion on the priorities of the federal budget.

Visit the Student Budget Consultation website: http://budgetconsultation.ca/

Radio/Podcast

URL: https://www.canadaland.com/podcast/350-loblaws-will-eat-us-all/

They own Loblaw, which is much more than a grocer. It’s an insurance company, a bank, a medical cannabis company and a media company. When you put it all together, that amounts to the largest private ownership of data in Canada.

Loblaw knows a lot about you. Isn't it time to learn more about them?

Bednar is executive director of the Master in Public Policy at McMaster University, and writes the newsletter “regs to riches.”

Loblaw’s points economy for private-health data follows Big Tech’s playbook

Digital privacy law is being updated for the first time in decades, and it's imperative we get it right

Biography

Vass Bednar is a public policy entrepreneur working at the intersection of technology and public policy. She is an interdisciplinary wonk focussed on ensuring that we have the regulatory structures we need to embrace the future of work and new ways of living. As an enthusiastic and perpetual student of the policymaking process, she has held leadership roles at Delphia, Airbnb, Queen's Park, the City of Toronto, and University of Toronto. Vass is recognized as a creative, data-driven thinker and was the Chair of the federal government's Expert Panel on Youth Employment. A graduate of McMaster University's Arts & Science Program, Vass holds her Master of Public Policy (MPP) from the University of Toronto and successfully completed Action Canada and Civic Action DiverseCity Fellowships. Passionate about public dialogue, she was also the co-host of "Detangled," a weekly pop-culture and public policy radio show and podcast that ran from 2016-2018. She currently writes a newsletter about Canadian startups and public policy called "regs to riches" and was recently recognized as an outstanding alum with a McMaster "Arch" award.

Expertise

  • competition bureau
  • competition
  • regulation
  • regulatory structures
  • artificial intelligence (AI)
  • big data
  • Public policy
  • Technology
  • Technology and public policy
  • Future of work
  • Data monetization