Some of our featured speakers include:

Fazal Husain is the director of enterprise solutions services at the City of Toronto. He has more than 25 years of experience using integrated data to drive knowledge-based management as a CFO and CIO for both public and private sector organizations. Currently, Fazal is focusing on building Toronto’s eCity Digital Business plan, which takes advantage of existing investments while building for the business needs of tomorrow.

Stephen Goldsmith is director of innovation for the American Government Program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He previously served as the deputy mayor of New York and the mayor of Indianapolis, as well as in several other distinguished leadership roles in the U.S. public sector. Currently, Stephen is directing Data-Smart City Solutions, which highlights local governments’ efforts to use Big Data analytics with community input to reshape the relationship between government and citizen. He recently co-authored The Responsive City, and he also wrote The Power of Social Innovation, Governing by Network: The New Shape of the Public Sector, and The Twenty-First Century City: Resurrecting Urban America.

Dr. Sara Diamond is the president of OCAD University, Canada's university of the imagination. She holds a PhD in computing, information technology, and engineering from the University of East London, and is a recipient of the Digital Pioneer Award from the GRAND Networks of Centres of Excellence. She is also co-principal investigator in the Centre for Innovation in Information Visualization and Data-Driven Design, an OCAD U/York University initiative, and theme leader on the ORF-E funded iCity project, as well as a member of the BRAIN alliance. In 2014, Toronto Life described her as one of “Toronto’s 50 Most Influential People.”

Alderman JP Smith is the Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, which includes the Metro Police, Traffic Services, Law Enforcement, Fire and Emergency Rescue Services, Disaster Risk Management, Health, Library and Information Services, Parks and Recreation, Events and Social Development. He is also a Proportional Councilor assigned to Manenberg and serves on the Provincial Executive of the Democratic Alliance (DA).

	Shawn Slack is the director of IT and CIO of City of Mississauga. Earlier in his career, he led the vision to bring all the city’s services online. Today, Shawn is involved in numerous IT initiatives designed to take the city to next level, with a focus on open and accessible government, research and analytics, and connected workplaces.

Chris Atkins is the vice president for digital government transformation at SAP. A seasoned thought leader in the field, Chris is a “spokesperson” for digital transformation in government, with a special focus on trends in the North American market. Additionally, he has experience in digital transformation in government as the CFO for Governor Mike Pence in the State of Indiana and the chief executive sponsor and leader of Indiana’s Management and Performance Hub (MPH) initiative, which was widely recognized as one of the most innovative public sector technology initiatives of 2014–2015 and landed Governor Pence (and Chris!) on the cover of Government Technology magazine.

Joyce Evans has had an impressive career in both Britain and Canada that encompasses the public and private sectors, including positions in manufacturing, retail, service, teaching, and municipal government. She is currently the deputy city treasurer/director of revenue for the City of Kitchener, Canada, and has been involved with several systems implementations over her career – most recently the implementation of the SAP Customer Relationship Management and Billing for Utilities. Joyce holds a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Western Ontario and a chartered director (C.Dir) designation from the Directors College. She is a Fellow Certified General Accountant (Canada)/Fellow Chartered Professional Accountant.

Alex Ahkoon joined the City of Kitchener in 2011 as manager of ERP business transformation and led the assessment of SAP Customer Relationship Management and Billing for Utilities as a potential solution to replace the legacy CIS and to develop a business case for the City Council. He has 30 years of experience in the IT industry serving both the public and private sector, 10 years as a consultant with extensive interactions with middle and senior client management, and has had extensive involvement in IT strategy development, project and project portfolio management, risk management, and ERP implementations.