Gitanjali Adlakha-Hutcheon joined the School as a research faculty member in April 2025. For close to two decades, she has studied disruptions in Canada. Her research focuses on identifying disruptions, assessing them and planning for them to enhance resiliency. She has extensive experience working with the Canadian Armed Forces, NATO, and other international forums on assessing disruptions, horizon scanning, technology watch, emerging and disruptive technologies, operational research, wargaming, and strategic foresight. A highlight of Gitanjali's contributions to the field are the books Disruption, Ideation and Innovation for Defence and Security and (In)Security: Identifying the Invisible Disruptors of Security, which she co-edited.
Over the span of her career, Gitanjali has held a variety of leadership roles in several departments, studying disruptions, developing tools for countering them and developing policies for sustainable development, biotechnology, nanotechnology and innovation at Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Environment Canada, Public Services and Procurement Canada, and National Defence. Most recently, Gitanjali served as the Chief Scientist for the Centre for Security Science at Defence Research and Development Canada, leading strategic priorities for defence, safety and security. Gitanjali is an internationally recognized speaker with over 150 presentations at various conferences in the field of foresight and disruptions. She is the chair of the Five Eyes Technology Foresight Network for research and development on security.
Gitanjali considers herself to be a lifelong learner with a healthy curiosity for new ways of thinking and working. She is passionate about equipping decision-makers with tools that enable and empower them to counter disruptions.
Expertise
- Innovation and experimentation
- Strategic foresight, design, and decision-making
- Engagement and partnership development
Credentials
- Doctor of Philosophy, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia
- Master of Science, Biotechnology and Microbiology, GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, India
- Bachelor of Science, Chemistry, Botany and Zoology, Delhi University, India
- Certificates in Strategic Foresight, University of Houston, Texas, and University of Ottawa
