We want everyone who cares about technology and the public sector to be a part of our growing community. With that in mind, there are plenty of other ways to participate. We offer pairs of free tickets to every regional government in the world, as well as opportunities to speak and volunteer with the conference. Got more questions?
Attend
What's included
IN PERSON EVENTS
- In Ottawa November 3-4
- Main stage features keynotes from bestselling authors, public sector leaders, academics, and agitators
- Program includes curated panels and debates
- Workshops offered both online and in-person
- Custom tools designed to facilitate conversations and networking
- Venue and schedule structured to enable meetings with experts, mentors, and fellow attendees throughout the event
ONLINE EVENTS
FWD50 is bringing out top notch content all year round. In 2025 we've planned 4 full day quarterly events:
- An online event April 15 focused on Public Sector Product Delivery. (These talks are available on Access for free.)
- An online event June 3 that looks at Data, AI and Automation.
- An online event September 16 that tackles Designing and Communicating.
RECORDED CONTENT
What's more, all recorded sessions from the conference are available as online recordings shortly after the conference wraps, so you can catch the talk you missed or revisit a relevant topic with your team later in the year.
Ways to attend
Individual passes
- Single Event Pass – Attend a virtual or in-person event of your choice.
- Annual Pass – Get access to all events plus recordings at a discounted rate.
Bulk passes
- Bulk Pass (10+ tickets) – Save even more with grouped access to all events and recordings.
Departmental passes
- Small Department (<800 employees) – Unlimited virtual access and in-person seats for your team.
- Large Department (>800 employees) – The best value with expanded in-person access and full virtual coverage.
How to make your case
For public servants
FWD50 counts as training: For Canadian Federal employees, the conference has been
classified as a training event by the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) for IM/IT-related large information- sharing or learning session. If you're like most public servants, you need to give your manager a reason to invest training resources in your attendance.
- Perhaps you have a performance plan that includes training budget; if so, remember to include FWD50 in that budget.
- Let your department training lead know about the conference, and suggest that they contact us about bulk or departmental tickets.
- Contact us if you need help building your business case. We've got hundreds of glowing testimonials from past attendees, and many other resources to help you justify participating.
For industry partners
FWD50 isn't like other government tech conferences. There's no expo hall, and we're not a media company. What we are is the best way to join genuine conversations about digital transformation, with the people making it happen.
For the sponsors and partners who make it possible for us to run the event, we're a trusted platform for executives to share their ideas. FWD50 is a place to run breakouts that showcase the latest industry innovations and to run workshops that demonstrate real value to public servants.
For academics and civic tech organizations
Change, while necessary, is often uncomfortable. We work closely with foundations, civic tech organizations, and academics around the world who tackle some of society's most thorny problems.
On our stages you'll find leading thinkers on ethics, governance, security, culture, and psychology, all working to put resilient, human-centered design at the core of the public service. FWD50 isn't just a place to discuss the future, but also to shape it into what it can become with a global faculty of thinkers and activists.