Information Technology Services (ITS)

TechKnowFile 2026: Building Tomorrow Together – Q&A with Marden Paul

Published on: March 24, 2026

How do you collaborate across several departments to launch a centralized onboarding solution? How do you create an institution-wide hub designed to support responsible, secure and human-centred AI adoption? Where can you meet colleagues whose names and emails you know but have never met in person?

These are just some of the questions that TechKnowFile, the University of Toronto’s information technology (IT) conference, will address on May 6 and 7.

TechKnowFile is a community-run forum for U of T staff and faculty to share ideas, make connections with colleagues from across the tri-campus community and learn about the latest in IT. This year’s theme is Building Tomorrow Together, with six streams covering technical wizardry, institutional collaboration, supporting students, digital trust, wildcard sessions and artificial intelligence. Registration will open at techknowfile.utoronto.ca in April.

Marden Paul, a TechKnowFile organizer and frequent chair since its inception, and director of Planning, Governance and Assessment in the Office of the Chief Information Officer, explains the history of the conference, why it has become a highlight event that U of T members look forward to each year and why they should attend.

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TechKnowFile has been running since 2003. How did it all start?

TechKnowFile started after four U of T staff members went to an EDUCAUSE conference in Atlanta and met each other there for the first time. They began swapping stories about the interesting things their teams were doing. Returning home, they realized the value in extending their discoveries, and asked whether we could run a conference to introduce IT people from across the university to each other and to find out what people are doing. There’s so much skill around the university, and we thought that this was a very important social and professional development opportunity for the institution and for those who work within.

TechKnowFile also gave IT professionals in smaller units an opportunity to meet others and hear what they’re doing. Sometimes, staff may feel that they have to tackle issues alone, but the conference facilitated conversations and discovery of expertise around the university.

Another thing we wanted to address was that vendors tended to contact everyone at the university with sales emails. We thought TechKnowFile would give our vendors a chance to meet decision-makers in one place while also reducing scattershot outreach and bouncing around to different people.

The conference has gone by different names. Why return to TechKnowFile?

TechKnowFile built a following. After that first event in 2003, we thought we should do it again… and it kept happening. Planning for the following year’s event began almost immediately after closing the current event. The name “TechKnowFile” stuck and became part of the professional development culture at the university. The name change to “IT@UofT” happened around COVID, as a reflection of the strategic plan being developed at the time, while reinforcing the IT@UofT concept. But TechKnowFile is the conference identity. It was established as a grassroots initiative with volunteers driving the event. We’ve brought back the idea that staff from across the university create the theme, the structure, the program and run the logistics. People really appreciate returning to that ideal. This is everyone’s conference.

What kind of impact does TechKnowFile have on the university?

TechKnowFile has a very important social dimension. Getting together with peers – many of whom you don’t see during the rest of the year – and having a chance to talk, really matters. You think of people differently when you talk to them and see them in person. For new IT staff who may not know the breadth of U of T’s IT presence, it’s a great opportunity to know that there’s a very large cohort of people who do similar work and who are experts in diverse fields of IT. It’s an opportunity to appreciate the scope and capabilities of IT teams across the tri-campus community.

This year’s theme is “Building Tomorrow Together.” Where did the inspiration for that come from?

The inspiration came from a very real place. The Tech Alignment Task Force, the AI Kitchen, new student systems and cyber security are initiatives that involve everyone at the university. People at the front lines see the interactions with our clients, how processes work, and imagine ways to improve upon our foundations. Building Tomorrow Together recognises the importance of co-creation and collaboration across the community – our strength resides in the vast array of skills of our people. No unit need be an island – we will be building tomorrow together.

What can people expect from the five streams this year?

We received 65 presentation submissions this year, which is the most we’ve ever had – our previous record was 52. The talks span AI, teaching and learning, libraries, classroom tech, research administration and information security, hitting so many dimensions of the university. It’s really terrific to see how engaged people are in TechKnowFile.

For those interested in artificial intelligence, there’s much to look forward to – sessions covering everything from how to evaluate AI tools to how to build with them, including a hands-on workshop with one of our vendors on no-code AI development. One of our keynote speakers will address the philosophical dimensions of AI, and the AI Kitchen will also be featured prominently. There’s something across all six streams for everyone, from consumers of IT to those building and providing it.

For those who submit presentations that can’t be accommodated this year, we’re planning additional opportunities later – Thursdays@3 ITS or a new concept called TechKnowFile Encores. We know that people always want to see more presentations than they can attend in person, so we’ll provide opportunities throughout the year to present.

Where do you see the conference – and ITS – heading in the future?

Building community together is going to become the operating model for us. We’re facing incredible demand from across the university and the world. To compete as a country, Canada needs strong research, and universities need to be able to move quickly. One of the things that makes U of T special as a research powerhouse is the ability to bring expertise from multiple disciplines together rapidly – and to have the resources, like our supercomputing facilities, to make it happen.

I think there’s a real opportunity for IT professionals at U of T to connect more closely with the university’s mission. When you make a virtual server environment work, you’re enabling a scientist to discover the origins of dark matter, or to find the molecules that could cure a disease. We are the facilitators of those resources. And no one can do it alone. The more we break out of silos, the more we can bring economies of scale to the big-picture items.

As for the conference, I hope it goes for another 100 years. I’ll have to hand the torch off sometime before then – but I’m very much looking forward to this one.