Fireside Chat: Advancing Sweden-Canada Innovation Collaboration

Fireside Chat: Advancing Sweden-Canada Innovation Collaboration Passed

Thursday October 8, 2026 11:50 - 12:15 Auditorium (W280)

Panelists: Charlotte Svensson, Digvijay Mehra

The fireside chat will discuss the strategic value of Sweden-Canada collaboration in research, innovation, and industry, with a focus on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed a year ago at Sweden Canada Innovation Days between the Swedish Energy Agency (SEA) and the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN)

Lecturers

Charlotte Svensson Panelist

Business Developer International Markets
Swedish Energy Agency

Charlotte Svensson is a Business Developer at the Swedish Energy Agency, where she supports the agency’s export and investment promotion initiatives. She has extensive experience assisting Swedish small and medium-sized enterprises in their expansion to India and Southeast Asia and has worked across a range of clean energy sectors, including green hydrogen, batteries, renewable energy grids, and marine energy technologies.

Prior to joining the Swedish Energy Agency, Charlotte built a strong background in international trade and business relations with China. Most recently, she served at the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Beijing from 2020 to 2023, where she worked on issues related to market access, trade, and EU-China business cooperation.

Digvijay Mehra Panelist

Director of Strategy & Programs
Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN)

Digvijay Mehra is the Director of Strategy & Programs at the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN), the Government of Ontario’s flagship initiative supporting the automotive and mobility sector. He oversees strategic programs that advance research and development, technology commercialization, and talent development, as well as OVIN’s thought leadership and ecosystem engagement, helping position Ontario as a global leader in next-generation transportation.

A former Canadian diplomat and trade commissioner, Digvijay has more than a decade of experience across federal and provincial governments, with a focus on international trade, investment, economic development, and strategic partnerships. Prior to joining OVIN, he served as Head of Ontario’s Trade and Investment Offices in India, where he led Ontario’s efforts to attract investment, support international business development, and strengthen economic ties between Ontario and India.
Digvijay holds a Master of Global Affairs from the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy and a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Political Studies and Global Development Studies from Queen’s University.

Cookie	Category	Provider	Expiry	Legal basis	Intention
_production_session_id	Necessary	InvitePeople	Session	Legitimate interest	Stores a unique ID of the InvitePeople-user session. This will allow the user to login into InvitePeople.
order_id	Necessary	InvitePeople	6 hours	Legitimate interest	Stores a unique ID of the current order (shopping cart). This allows the user to add, view, and manage items in their order during the session.
cookie_consent_[ID]	Necessary	InvitePeople	6 months	Legitimate interest	Stores the user's cookie consent preference for a specific Optional cookie policy. The ID in the cookie name refers to the unique identifier of that policy. This ensures the user’s choice—whether accepting all cookies or only necessary ones—is remembered on future visits.
lang	Necessary	InvitePeople	1 year	Legitimate interest	Remembers the user’s selected language version.
logged_in_user	Necessary	InvitePeople	1 year	Legitimate interest	Stores a unique ID of the InvitePeople-user. This will help the user navigate.
production_auth	Necessary	InvitePeople	1 year	Legitimate interest	Stores a unique ID of the InvitePeople-user. This will help the user with future logins.