The turning point
By the time Roundtable 3 convened on January 14, 2026 at COAST Victoria, the process had generated a detailed picture of the regional data and AI ecosystem: its assets, its gaps, its barriers, and its opportunities. Nineteen participants gathered for this final consultative session, conducted once again under Chatham House rules.
The mandate for this session was different from the first two. Mapping and analysis had done their job. The task now was refinement and decision-making: sharpening the five strategic priorities, selecting a governance model, and identifying quick-win projects that could generate early momentum.
Refining the five priorities
Each of the five emerging strategic priorities was examined in detail. Participants brought their experience to bear on questions of sequencing, feasibility, and dependency. Which priorities needed to come first? Which could run in parallel? Where were the risks of moving too fast?
The consensus that emerged was that the Data Services Foundation needed to come first, not because it was the most visible or exciting priority, but because it was the prerequisite for almost everything else. Without shared infrastructure and governance frameworks, sector pilots would remain isolated experiments rather than building blocks of a coherent cluster.
Literacy and Adoption was identified as the second immediate priority. The Cisco AI Readiness Index puts North American AI-readiness at 11 to 14 percent of SMEs, a figure the consultation process found consistent with conditions across the region. This was not just a knowledge gap. It was a competitive vulnerability.
Exploring the Constellation Model
One of the most significant conversations of Roundtable 3 centred on governance. The traditional committee-based model (familiar, legible, but often inert) was set alongside the Constellation Model, which had been introduced as an alternative approach proven in complex multi-stakeholder initiatives across Canada.
The Constellation Model's core proposition resonated: rather than coordinating the ecosystem from the top down, it distributed leadership through self-organising Action Teams, a light-touch Stewardship Group, and a Secretariat that handled coordination infrastructure. This matched the actual character of the regional ecosystem, where no single organisation was in charge and where imposing a traditional hierarchy would likely drive key players away.
The model was not formally adopted at Roundtable 3 (that decision would come at the Leaders Forum), but it moved from option to front-runner based on the discussion in this room. Read more about the Constellation Model and how it now guides DAVI's operations.
Near-term opportunities
Alongside the strategic and governance discussions, participants identified two quick-win project opportunities that could demonstrate value before the formal April 2026 launch.
The first was a professional services productivity pilot: a focused initiative to help a cohort of local professional services firms adopt AI tools for specific workflow challenges. Small enough to move quickly. Significant enough to generate replicable learning.
The second was a more formal structure for the ocean and marine data cluster, building on the informal relationships that already existed between the organisations working in that space. The goal was not to create new bureaucracy but to create a shared surface area: a common place where data, problems, and solutions could meet.
Setting the stage for the Leaders Forum
Roundtable 3 closed with the working group material ready for the synthesis report and the stage set for the February Leaders Forum. The consultative phase of DAVI had done what it needed to do: validate the opportunity, surface the constraints, align the priorities, and build the relationships that would make action possible. Read the synthesis report to see how the findings from all three roundtables came together.