Kenneth Irving

Kenneth Irving, 52, of New Brunswick, Canada is married with four school-aged daughters. Ken recently retired as chief executive officer of Irving Oil after a 30-year career where he started as a laborer on offshore drilling rigs, oil tankers, and seismic crews. He earned a reputation for innovative growth in building world-scale energy infrastructure vital to the eastern seaboard. Long-term relationships and joint ventures are signature traits of Ken’s business accomplishments. After a health setback, Ken hit the reset button, and left his industrial endeavours for the pursuit of his passion in the networked information economy. Ken is deeply fascinated by peer-to-peer businesses and the potential for greater good through effective self organized groups using the Internet. He has been an advocate for individuals taking possession of their personal data and creating a sanctuary on the Internet for them to safely deposit and benefit from this valuable digital age asset. Ken has a unique perspective that combines his steel and concrete infrastructure mindset with the intangible structures needed in the world of Big Data. He has been proactive in encouraging policies that protect the public interest through regulations that govern and enforce the computer code and the codes of conduct of entities that mine value from large sets of personal data. Kenneth is the owner of FORTITUDE, a proud sponsor of the Cyber Dialogue.