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Aditya Udas
Vice President and Head, Digital Sales, Iron Mountain
Aditya Udas is the Vice President – Head of Digital Commercial where he leads complex solutions sales across various managed services and digital products. He joined Iron Mountain in 2020 and served as Head of Strategic Deals and Global Alliances until June, 2022. Aditya has over 15 years of Management Consulting experience serving as a trusted advisor to a large variety of financial services clients. Prior to his career at Iron Mountain, he was a Managing Principal at Capco and a Senior Consultant at Ernst & Young where he has had years of success in leading strong teams in operations, account management and sales. Aditya holds a Masters of Science Degree in Information Management from Syracuse University.
Aditya enjoys spending time with his wife Sruthi, daughter Dia and dog Libby. In his free time, he is either enhancing his knife skills by watching Thomas Keller’s masterclass or relearning a percussion instrument (The Tabla).
Sapana Agrawal
Director, Modernisation and Reform, Cabinet Office, United Kingdom
Sapana Agrawal is the Director for Modernisation and Reform in the Cabinet Office, responsible for the strategy and delivery of the cross-government transformation and reform and for the Evaluation Task Force. Previously she was a Director in the COVID-19 Taskforce in No10 and the Cabinet Office. Sapana joined the UK Government from McKinsey – where she was a Associate Partner supporting the firm on its own expansion in technology and innovation and supporting clients globally on operationalising reskilling programs as part of major digital transformations.
Richard Johnstone
Executive Editor, Global Government Forum
Richard Johnstone is the executive editor of Global Government Forum, where he helps to produce editorial analysis and insight for the title’s audience of public servants around the world. Before joining GGF, he spent nearly five years at UK-based title Civil Service World, latterly as acting editor, and has worked in public policy journalism throughout his career.
André Rogaczewski
CEO, Netcompany
Biography to be updated shortly.
Joyce Dimech
Permanent Secretary, Ministry for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government, Malta
Ms Joyce Dimech joined the Public Service in 1986, holding various positions within the Ministry for Gozo, the Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministry for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government. She held several positions within different sections of the Ministry for Gozo, including Education, Care for the Elderly, and EU Affairs.
In 2004 she was appointed Director Customer Services, ably leading this major public service directorate in Gozo. In March 2013 she was appointed Permanent Secretary within the Ministry for Gozo and in April 2014 she was appointed Permanent Secretary (Strategy & Implementation) within the Office of the Prime Minister heading various initiatives leading to enhanced good governance, policy development and implementation in the public administration.
In July 2020, Ms. Dimech was appointed Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government following which she was concurrently assigned the responsibilities of Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Research, Innovation and Coordination of Post-COVID-19 Strategy in November of the same year. In July 2021, the responsibilities of this Ministry were augmented with the Equality portfolio & thus Ms Dimech became also Permanent Secretary of the newly formed Ministry for Equality, Research, and Innovation. During her tenure as Permanent Secretary of this Ministry the post-COVID-19 strategy was successfully developed & launched.
Ms Dimech has a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and English, a Diploma in Management, and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Statistics from the University of Malta.
Ann Dunkin
Chief Information Officer, Department of Energy, United States of America
Ann Dunkin currently serves as Chief Information Officer at the U.S. Department of Energy, where she manages the Department’s information technology (IT) portfolio and modernization; oversees the Department’s cybersecurity efforts; leads technology innovation and digital transformation; and enables collaboration across the Department. She served in the Obama Administration as CIO of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Prior roles include Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, Dell Technologies; CIO, County of Santa Clara, CA; CTO, Palo Alto Unified School District, California; and various leadership roles at Hewlett Packard focused on engineering, research and development, IT, manufacturing engineering, software quality, and operations.
Ann is a published author, most recently of the book Industrial Digital Transformation, and a frequent speaker on topics such as government technology modernization, digital transformation, and organizational development. Ann received the 2022 Capital CIO Large Enterprise ORBIE Award, and she has been given a range of previous awards, including DC’s Top 50 Women in Technology for 2015 and 2016, ComputerWorld’s Premier 100 Technology Leaders for 2016, StateScoop’s Top 50 Women in Technology list for 2017, FedScoop’s Golden Gov Executive of the Year in 2016 and 2021, and FedScoop’s Best Bosses in Federal IT 2022.
Ms. Dunkin holds a Master of Science degree and a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering degree, both from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is a licensed professional engineer in the states of California and Washington. In 2018, she was inducted into Georgia Tech’s Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni.
Gina Gill
Chief Digital and Information Officer, Ministry of Justice, United Kingdom
Gina Gill is the Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO) at the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). She is responsible for supporting the 85,000 staff working in courts, prisons, probation services and across other, smaller agencies by providing simple, intuitive technology solutions and automating basic tasks; building and running digital services that make it easier for the public to get access to justice; and driving user centred service design and transformation.
Gina started her working life as a software developer and has had a long and varied career in technology working in programme delivery, operational and commercial roles.
She joined the Civil Service in 2017, prior to which she worked predominantly in financial services at the Financial Conduct Authority, Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays Capital. Before taking up the CDIO position in MoJ, Gina was Chief Operating Officer and Deputy CDIO.
Megan Lee Devlin,
Chief Executive, Central Digital and Data Office, United Kingdom
Megan Lee Devlin is Chief Executive of the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO), responsible for leading the government’s digital transformation from the Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) in the Cabinet Office. CDDO leads the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) function for HMG by putting the right conditions and capabilities in place to enable departments to transform through digital and technology. Megan joined the Civil Service from McKinsey & Company, where she worked with private sector and public sector organisations on technology, analytics and organisational transformation topics.
Debbie Alder
Director General, People, capability and Place, Department for Work and Pensions, United Kingdom
Debbie has been a Director General at DWP since 2014. She has 21 years private sector experience. She began her career with Marks & Spencer, and has experience in retail, manufacturing and consultancy. She specialised in Organisational Design & Development, Transformation, and Business Strategy & Performance.
Debbie has worked in group HR Director roles in Defra and then the Ministry of Justice, as well as jointly covering the Chief People Officer role for Civil Service DWP in 2015.
In her current role, she has accountability for the following:
• Full HR operating model and function, H&S, and all technical, professional and leadership Learning & Development 87,000 colleagues.
• The Estates function accountable for 970 and £1.8bn property portfolio
• DG Sponsor for Workplace Transformation Programme – driving a smaller, better, greener estate – savings of £3.5 bn over 30 years – and accountability for meeting Net Zero and Government Greening commitments.
• DG Sponsor for Synergy Programme which will move HR, Finance and Procurement ERP Systems to SaaS, for DWP, HO, MOJ and Defra – 220,000 Civil Servants. She also sponsors Reimagine Programme within DWP.
Outside of DWP, Debbie has been Trustee of a number of charities. She is a Steering Group Member of Movement to Work.
Ravi Gurumurthy
Chief Executive, NESTA, United Kingdom
Ravi is CEO of Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency for social good. In March 2021, Nesta published its ambitious 10-year strategy which aims to improve the lives of millions through mission-led innovation. Ravi previously founded and led the Airbel Innovation Lab at the International Rescue Committee where he was responsible for designing, testing and scaling products and services for people affected by crisis in over 40 countries, from reducing acute malnutrition to expanding employment for refugees. Prior to joining the International Rescue Committee in 2013, Ravi held a number of roles in the UK Government, including Director of Strategy at the Department of Energy and Climate Change and strategic advisor to the Foreign Secretary. During this period, created the Office of Climate Change that created the UK’s Climate Change Act, Ravi can also comment on how government needs to reconfigure itself to make net zero its main focus and how we need to reform the COP process as the world switches gear from a process focussed on pledges and commitments on net zero, to driving delivery. Ravi led a number of major social and environmental reforms including the development of the world’s first legally binding carbon emissions targets and the integration of children’s services. Ravi has also worked as a researcher at the think-tank Demos and in local government in London.
Sana Khareghani
Former Head, UK Office for AI, United Kingdom
Holding a BSc in Computer Science and an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sana Khareghani has over 20 years’ experience in technology and business across the private and public sectors. She has worked as a software engineer in big corporates and start-ups, as a management consultant advising senior officials throughout North America, Europe and the Middle East and most recently as head of the Office for AI, producing the UK’s National AI Strategy and assembling the UK’s AI Council. Sana is currently Chief Strategy Officer at EscherCloud looking to make sustainable compute the mainstream and is also on the Advisory Board of Tortoise Media Global AI Index and of Technovation Girls, a global tech education nonprofit empowering girls to become leaders, creators and problem-solvers.
Brian Abrahamson
Associate Laboratory Director and Chief Digital Officer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, United States of America
Brian Abrahamson is an Associate Laboratory Director & the Chief Digital Officer for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, responsible for leading the institution on a digital transformation journey that brings to bear technology innovation to differentiate PNNL as a globally recognized research institution.
Brian has the privilege of leading a diverse team of professionals that span computing, information technology, user experience design, program management, cyber security, and systems engineering. This team has a clear mandate to leverage human-centered design to re-imagine how digital technologies can simplify the research experience, enable data-driven insights for decision makers, enhance the efficiency of getting work done at the laboratory, and accelerate PNNL’s research missions through advanced computational testbeds, human centered design, DevSecOps, HPC, IoT, edge and cloud computing.
Having previously served as the CIO for San Francisco-based Pacific Gas and Electric Company, one of the nation’s largest investor-owned utilities, Brian returned to his home state of Washington in 2012 to join PNNL. Prior to PG&E he spent over 10 years with Accenture, a management consulting organization, where he worked with technology and business leaders at over a dozen Fortune 200 companies to transform business operating models and lead digital transformation efforts.
Dr Laura Gilbert
Chief Analyst, Director of Data Science, 10 Downing Street, United Kingdom
Dr. Laura Gilbert is the director of 10DS, the data science and analytics team in Downing Street. The team provides fast-paced modelling and analysis to support policy making and delivery, and runs a broader radical transformation agenda promoting the bett
er use of evidence, data and technology in government decision making. She is currently running a program of innovation and digitisation in central government including rolling out close-to-free infrastructure for data sharing to speed up modernisation (Project rAPId); and spinning out a new team for automation of critical services (i.AI).
Laura has a doctorate in Particle Physics and GRID computing from the university of Oxford, and undergraduate degrees in natural sciences from Cambridge. She held lectureships and a post-doctoral research position at Oxford and is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics. Laura spent three years as a quantitative analyst in the financial sector, working in modelling, analysis and artificial intelligence before joining a new medical technologies company as the second director. She spent the next decade working as a hands-on CTO bringing the company from start up to SME to acquisition, and has significant experience in software development, wearable technology, systems architecture, data integration and system/data security. She is fluent in seven programming languages, and is named on four patents, including lead inventor on two data security patents.
Karlo Alexei Nograles
Chairperson, Civil Service Commission, Philippines
Atty. Karlo Alexei B. Nograles is the Chairperson of the Civil Service Commission (CSC). Before being appointed to the CSC, he served as Cabinet Secretary and head of the Office of the Cabinet Secretariat. He served as close adviser to the President and ensured close coordination among the different agencies of government, such as DILG, DPWH, DSWD, DOH, among others.
As Cabinet Secretary, he led the following:
Prior to his appointment as Cabinet Secretary, he chaired the House Committee on Appropriations, which approves the national budget for the annual expenses of the government. As Chair of said Committee, he made sure that funding was provided for the following:
He served as a three-term Congressional Representative of the 1st District of Davao City and authored the following laws:
During his stint as a Congressman, Chairperson Nograles also advocated for the Cancer Care Bill, the Universal Health Care Bill, and a bill that aims to have regular officials of barangays receive a monthly salary
A lawyer by profession, he previously worked for the Nograles Law Firm in Davao City.
He is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards as an outstanding legislator. He received the Golden Globe Awards for Excellence in Public Service in 2015 and 2016 and was also recognized as an Outstanding Congressman in 2012 and 2015 by Superbrands Marketing International. He also received the TESDA KABALIKAT Award for Region XI in 2013 and in 2015.
Chairperson Nograles is a graduate of the Philippine Science High School. He holds a degree in BS Management Engineering from the Ateneo de Manila University and a Juris Doctor from the Ateneo de Manila Law School.
Frédéric Markus
Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Agence eSanté, Luxembourg
Frédéric Markus holds a Master’s degree in “Distributed Systems and Networks” and joined the Agence eSanté in August 2014 as a Health Project Manager.
Frédéric Markus obtained his Master’s degree from the University of Franche-Comté in 2007, and a university diploma “DU artificial intelligence applied to health” from the University of Paris-Cité in 2021.
Before joining the Agence eSanté, Frédéric Markus worked for the implementation of the Franche-Comté Cancer Network, as well as the Franche-Comté Regional Federative Cancer Institute, and more particularly for the implementation of RCP (Multidisciplinary Consultation Meetings) and telemedicine. Frédéric Markus has also had the opportunity to teach at the “Institut supérieur d’ingénieurs” de Franche-Comté (ISIFC) – Génie Biomédical in the context of introductory courses on telemedicine and interoperability.
Within the Agence eSanté, Frédéric Markus is responsible for the Living Lab. In this capacity, he is the contact point for innovation projects between the eHealth Agency, public bodies and industrials.
Phindile Baleni
Director General, Department of the Presidency and Secretary of the Cabinet, South Africa
The Director-General in the Presidency and Secretary of the Cabinet, Ms Phindile Baleni, (formerly Nzimande), was born in Soweto and spent her childhood and early adulthood in Katlehong, in the East of Gauteng.
Director-General Baleni has a distinguished professional career both in the public service and in the private sector. Ms Baleni is an admitted Attorney and Conveyancer holding a Baccalaureus Procurationis and a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degrees, both from the University of Witwatersrand, where she enrolled after matriculating from a high school in Vosloorus. She commenced her legal career as a Candidate Attorney at Wright Rose Innes Attorneys in Germiston, where she subsequently became a Professional Assistant. She left the firm to become a partner at Moseneke and Partners in 1993.
In 1994 she became the special legal advisor to the then Gauteng Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Local Government and Housing, specialising in constitutional and administrative law issues. During this period, she was appointed as a member of the Board of the Directors of National Reconstruction and Housing Agency (NURCHA), a lead project of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP), by former President Nelson Mandela.
She joined the Municipality of the City of Johannesburg in 1996, where she gained extensive experience in strategic planning and the management of complex and diverse projects. She spearheaded various transformation initiatives including the formation of new municipal-owned entities. As the Executive Director of the Contract Management Unit, she managed the development of the legal and governance frameworks for entities such as Joburg Water, City Parks, City Power and Johannesburg Roads Agency, and at the same time managing the shareholder interests of the city.
In July 2003, Ms Baleni joined Electricity Distribution Industry Holdings as CEO, an organisation formed by the then Department of Minerals and Energy to oversee the establishment of six financially viable Regional Electricity Distributors (REDs) in South Africa. This national project involved assets worth R270 billion then, and a staff compliment of +/- 30 000.
She was subsequently appointed as the CEO of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) in April 2011. In this capacity she became the Chairperson of the Regional Electricity Regulators Association (RERA) – a Southern African Development Community (SADC) body – and a member of the executive committee of the African Forum for Utility Regulators (AFUR) – an African Union body. These bodies were established with the aim of harmonising and integrating regulatory frameworks for African utilities as part of the African Union’s objective of creating an environment conducive to investment in infrastructure and energy specifically across the continent.
In March 2015, Ms Baleni assumed duty as the Director-General in the Office of the Premier, Gauteng Province, a post to which she brought a wealth of experience in strategic leadership and management. Highlights of her work included: leading the team that developed Growing Gauteng Together: 2030 Plan of Action; promoting innovation in the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and establishing a new Disaster Management structure as she spearheaded the Gauteng City Region Reponse to COVID-19.
Ms Baleni focused on government performance and good governance during her tenure. She led the development of a “medico-legal litigation battle plan” to reduce the financial losses arising from medical negligence claims against Government, amongst others. For this and other achievemets she was conferred the 2019/2020 DPSA Batho Pele Award for the best Provincial DG, silver and the Office of the Premier Gauteng won the best Premier’s Office award, bronze.
Ms Baleni who previously chaired the board of the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services SETA (MERSETA), and has served on the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) board, as well as on the Council of the University of Witwatersrand.
In April 2021, Ms Baleni was appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa to the post of the Director-General in the Presidency and Secretary of the Cabinet. Ms Baleni has thus made history as the first woman to be appointed as head of the highest political office in the land, and thereby, the most senior public servant. In this capacity she is responsible for ensuring the strategic coherence of the plans of the various departments and spheres of government as well as keeping government on task to deliver on its electoral mandate. The latter (is encapsulated in the National Development Plan (NDP) and the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF), which is a five year plan that incoporates each Administration’s priorities). To this end, Baleni has her work cut out and is fully ensconced in her duties which include: steering The Presidency, overseeing Cabinet processes, and heading the Forum of South African Directors-General (FOSAD), which is the planning and coordination machanism of Directors General of all government departments, provincial Offices of all the Premiers and local government through the South African Local Government Association (SALGA). She is also the first Head of Public Administration (HOPA), a position contemplated in the NDP as a necessary element towards building a professional and capable public service in the country.
Kevin Cunnington
Former Director General, Government Digital Service (GDS), United Kingdom, and Expert Advisor, Global Government Forum
Kevin was Director General of the International Government Service and Digital Envoy for the UK from August 2019, until April 2021. Prior to that, he was the Director General of the Government Digital Service from August 2016 to July 2019. Kevin left the UK Civil Service in April 2021.
Kevin has led a variety of large scale, and global, digital transformation programmes. He spent his early career in programming and IT consultancy. More recently he was the Global Head of Online for Vodafone Group and Business Transformation Group Director General at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Kevin now advises Global Government Forum, and leads the Global Government Digital Leaders’ Study.
Katherine Benjamin
Chief Digital Officer and Head of Enterprise Digital Credentials, Office of the Chief Information Officer, Treasury Board Canada Secretariat, Canada
In October 2022, Katherine Benjamin joined the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, as the Chief Digital Officer of the Government of Canada, Head of Enterprise Digital Credentials.
Previously, Katherine was the Deputy Chief Technology Officer for Digital Services for the City of New York. In that role, she advocated for a more human centered approach to bringing technology to bear on the lives of New Yorkers. She co-founded the NYC[x] Innovation Fellowship, a program that embedded digital product teams in City agencies and departments to rapidly solve COVID-19 related challenges using lean, agile, and user-centered methodologies.
Katherine’s work in digital transformation includes launching an innovation lab with the Ontario Digital Service, co-developing a service design for digital government course for Emily Carr University of Art + Design, and work with NHS England on NHS.UK.
Cat Little
Second Permanent Secretary, HM Treasury, United Kingdom
Cat started her career at the accountancy firm PwC, dedicated to Government and Public Sector finances, mainly working in assurance roles. Over more than a decade, Cat worked with clients across Health, Local Government, Higher Education and Central Government sectors.
Cat joined the Civil Service in 2013 first at the Legal Aid Agency where she worked on the digitisation of civil legal aid, and removing the long standing financial accounts qualification as the Director of Finance and Digital.
Cat went on to become the Group Finance Director at the Ministry of Justice overseeing all aspects of financial management and supporting prison reform, courts reform and transformation programmes. In 2017, Cat joined the Board of the Ministry of Defence as Director General Finance. In this role she was the primary financial advisor to ministers, the Defence Board and Accounting Officer and led the finance, commercial and analytical functions across Defence. During this time, Cat led the reform of Defence Acquisition and Procurement as part of the Modernising Defence Programme and instigated the Financial Improvement Programme. Cat led the oversight of the Defence portfolio, and was the Race Champion for the Department.
Cat joined HM Treasury in 2020 as Director General Public Spending. She took on the role of Acting Permanent Secretary in September 2022, and in October 2022 was appointed to Second Permanent Secretary. In this role Cat oversees public spending, international and national security policy. She combines this with her positions as head of the Government Finance Function and Chair of the Finance Leadership Group for Government. Cat is a chartered public finance accountant and represents the UK as a member of IFAC, PAIB and is also a co-opted member of CIPFA Council. Outside of work Cat lives in the Kent North Downs, enjoys running, cycling and walking the dog with her wife Ruth.
Mark Palmer
Vice President, Visa Government Solutions, Europe, Visa Inc.
Mark joined Visa in April 2022 bringing 35 years of experience in the technology industry across Public Sector markets. He leads the Government Solutions business across Europe, digitizing Government acceptance, disbursements, and commercial payments.
Prior to this Mark established the Public Sector business for Google Cloud across Europe, Middle East & Africa. Moving customers to the Cloud as part of their digital transformation journeys including transport, central and local government, defense, and healthcare organizations.
Mark spent 20 years at IBM, where he was their VP Public Sector, Europe. In this role he led large transformation engagements for a number of government bodies. Mark ran the UK’s Government, Health and Defense businesses over 10 years, and was a member of the IBM UK leadership team.
Mark began his career in the 1980’s as a Software Engineer designing and delivering complex real-time systems integration projects for the aerospace industry. He was one of the original start-up members of AeroSystems International; a joint venture between Sema Group and Westland Helicopters working to deliver airborne software systems.
Mark is a member of the IET and Chartered Engineer, as well as being a fellow of the British Computing Society. He has a degree in Electronic Engineering as well as an MBA. He has had business assignments in Italy and Washington D.C.
Clare Martorana
Federal Chief Information Officer, Office of Management and Budget, Executive Office of the President, United States of America
Federal Chief Information Officer Office of Management and Budget Executive Office of the President Washington, D.C. Clare Martorana is an industry leader in deploying innovative technology and human-centered design to create products, services, and experiences that improve people’s lives.
In March 2021, Clare was appointed by President Biden as the Federal Chief Information Officer. She previously served as Chief Information Officer of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management and a member of the U.S. Digital Service team at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, launching the agency’s enterprise-wide digital modernization effort to give Veterans the 21st century digital experience they deserve. Prior to joining government, Clare was a President at Everyday Health and Senior Vice President and General Manager and editor-at-large at WebMD.
Throughout her career, Clare has worked to improve and simplify the digital experiences people have when interacting with businesses – and knows the same is possible when our citizens interact with our government. As a creative leader and big thinker, she is leading government technologists and policy experts in meeting federal mandates while working collaboratively to deliver secure modern tools and services to our citizens. She looks forward to partnering with key stakeholders to maximize investments and deliver high-quality digital services to the American people.
Margot Conrad
Executive Director, Chief Human Capital Officers Council & Senior Advisor to the Director, Office of Personnel Management, United States
Margot Conrad is the Executive Director of the Chief Human Capital Officers (CHCO) Council and Senior Advisor to the Director of the Office of Personnel Management under the Biden-Harris Administration.
In this capacity, she oversees the CHCO Council and works with human capital leaders from across the federal government on the development and implementation of human capital strategies and policies. She also serves as the co-implementation lead for the Workforce Priority of the President’s Management Agenda and advises the OPM Director on topics related to the future of work and federal recruiting and hiring.
Prior to serving at OPM, Margot spent 15 years at the Partnership for Public Service, a nonprofit organization focused on making the federal government more efficient and effective. Most recently she served as Director for Government Affairs and previously led the Federal Recruiting and Hiring Programs team. Margot also spent time at the White House Office of Management and Budget on a detail during the Obama-Biden administration.
Margot is a graduate of Wellesley College. She also holds a master’s degree in Regional and Urban Planning Studies from the London School of Economics.
Kemba Hendrix
Senior Advisor, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility, Office of Personnel Management, United States
Biography to be updated shortly.
Paul Morrison
Chief Executive, Planning Inspectorate, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Paul Morrison started as Chief Executive of the Planning Inspectorate in December 2022. He comes to this role from the Ukraine Humanitarian Task Force where he helped create and lead the UK’s operation to allow Ukrainians displaced by the current conflict to find safety in this country.
He started his career by joining the Home Office in 1996 as an Administrative Officer. He has since spent time in a range of operational and policy roles across several Government departments including the Department for Levelling-up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), Food Standards Agency (FSA), Home Office, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and Northern Ireland Office.
Roles have included:
Peter Vandenbruaene
General Advisor, Directorate General of Recruitment and Development, Federal Public Service for Policy and Support, Belgium
Peter Vandenbruaene has been working at the Training Institute of the Belgian Federal Administration (now “DG Recruitment & Development”) for more than 20 years.
He is the Head of International Relations and Advisor-general managing a team of project leaders organising trainings in different fields, ranging from personal effectiveness and communication to IT, foreign languages and public service affairs.
As an expert on Human Resources Development, Peter has shared his experience during conference presentations and workshops with civil servants all over the world, from Armenia to Tunisia, from Azerbaijan to Taiwan.
Peter also teaches evening classes at Ghent University.
He represents Belgium in the Board of Governors of the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA) and in the European network of Directors of Institutes and Schools of public Administration (DISPA)
Christine Bellamy
Director of Publishing, GOV.UK, Government Digital Service, United Kingdom
GOV.UK is the digital home for the UK government and the best place for people to access government services and information. Christine joined GDS from the BBC where she held a number of roles over a ten year period (2012-2022) and most recently was Head of Product for BBC News and Sport UK and Global. Prior to working at the BBC, Christine was a Managing Director at Johnston Media (2009-2012).
Yvan Gauthier
Head, Artificial Intelligence Accelerator, National Research Council Canada, Canada
Yvan Gauthier is a senior data scientist with the National Research Council’s Digital Technologies Division and leads the AI Accelerator for the Government of Canada. The accelerator delivers impactful and responsible AI solutions to other federal departments and agencies, and supports them in their digital transformation. Before joining the NRC, he worked for 20 years as a defence scientist with the Department of National Defence (DND), where he became the first-ever Director of Data Science and established a new enterprise data science team supporting DND’s Chief Data Officer. He also chaired a NATO Specialist Team on Advanced Analytics and AI and has led several operational research projects while being embedded with various branches of DND and the Canadian Armed Forces.
Francis Trudel
Associate Chief Human Resources Officer, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Canada
Francis Trudel is the Associate Chief Human Resources Officer at TBS, a position he has held since being appointed in October 2022.
Francis joined the federal public service in January 1998 as a special projects officer at the Department of National Defence (DND). In 2006, he was appointed as Director of the Office Human Resources Business Transformation at DND.
In 2007, Francis joined Global Affairs Canada as Director General of Planning and Operations. At the request of the Associate Deputy Minister, he led a departmental task force on risk analysis on financial management and human resources.
From 2010 to 2012, Francis served as the Ambassador of Canada to the Eastern Republic of Uruguay.
In 2014, Francis was appointed as Assistant Deputy Minister of Human Resources at Global Affairs, where he played an active role in the overall HR agenda of the public service, including serving as an elected member of the HR Council for many years.
Francis holds a master’s degree in industrial relations from the Université du Québec en Outaouais.
Stephan Déry
Assistant Deputy Minister, Real Property Services Branch, Public Services and Procurement Canada, Canada
Stéphan Déry was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister of Real Property Services at Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) on August 19, 2019.
In this role, Stéphan is responsible for the delivery of the entire suite of real property services to federal departments and agencies, including office accommodation, project management, real estate services and specialty services (geomatics, environmental, architectural and engineering), the management of multiple federal engineering assets (bridges, dams, highways and dry docks), as well as the acquisition and disposal of federal real property.
Stéphan also provides leadership for the Government of Canada’s GCworkplace initiative and the development of the workplace of the future. He is passionate about the importance of providing modern, green and accessible workspaces for employees and enabling a hybrid work environment that fosters innovation, collaboration and productivity in the new post-pandemic reality.
Stéphan is the Co-Chair of the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Real Property Committee. He is also a staunch supporter of The Workplace Network, an international community of senior public sector real estate executives, of which he is the current President.
In addition, Stéphan is the departmental Champion for Official Languages and the Chair of the Council of the Network of Official Languages Champions for the Government of Canada.
Prior to his appointment as Assistant Deputy Minister of Real Property Services, Stéphan was Chief Executive Officer for the Translation Bureau, where he provided strategic and operational leadership for the Bureau. He oversaw translation and revision services offered by the Bureau in French and English and in over 100 Indigenous and foreign languages to a variety of clients, including the Senate and the House of Commons. He also oversaw terminology standardization through the management of TERMIUM Plus®, the Government of Canada’s terminology and linguistic data bank, and the provision of interpretation services for Canada’s Parliament and at national and international events.
Before his appointment as Chief Executive Officer for the Translation Bureau, Stéphan was the department’s Regional Director General for the Atlantic Region. He previously held a number of executive positions in the areas of real property, acquisitions and corporate services within PSPC and at Library and Archives Canada.
Stéphan is a certified management accountant and holds a master’s degree in public administration.
Luukas Ilves
Government Chief Information Officer, Estonia
Biography to be updated shortly.
Gal Amir
Head, Governmental Procurement Administration, Ministry of Finance, Israel
Gal Amir is the Director of the Government Procurement Administration (GPA) in the Accountant General office at the ministry of finance in Israel.
During his career he has held several key positions in the Prime Minister’s Office and since 2018 act as the director of the GPA.
Gal holds BA in Economics and Accounting from the University of Haifa and MA with honors in Executive Management in Public Policy at Tel Aviv University.
Peter Pogačar
Director General, Public Sector Directorate, Ministry of Public Administration, Slovenia
Peter Pogačar was born on 13 November 1973 in Ljubljana. He holds a Degree in Law from the University of Ljubljana and has passed the bar examination.
He started his professional career at the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities as an adviser to the Slovenian Government focusing on the development of supplementary pension insurance within the first major pension reform.
In 2004, he became Director of the Pension Insurance Department where he was in charge of the pension funds managed by the Capital Fund. From 2009 to 2015, he was Director General of the Directorate for Employment Relationships and Rights Deriving from Employment. During his mandate, he conducted and successfully concluded drafting of the pension and labour market reforms that came into force in 2013. In the international field, he was a key partner of the OECD and the European Commission in the dialogue on guidelines and monitoring of adopted measures in view of the recommendations from the Ministry.
In 2015, he was appointed State Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities where his main responsibility was regulation of labour market and social security systems in Slovenia.
In September 2019, he was designated Director General of the Public Sector Directorate at the Ministry of Public Administration and Chief Government Negotiator for negotiations with public sector. His mission is modernization of public sector in Slovenia.
Peter Pogačar regularly gives lectures or participates as a key speaker at numerous international and national events focusing on the pension system and labour market and is co-author of several publications on pension and labour market legislation.
Tom Read
Chief Executive Officer, Government Digital Services, United Kingdom
Tom Read became the Chief Executive Officer of the Government Digital Service (GDS) in February 2021. Tom joined GDS from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) where he was Chief Digital and Information Officer. While at MOJ he spearheaded reforms to modernise technology used across prisons and the legal aid service.
Tom is a digital technologist by background with experience across a range of industries including banking, media, and consulting. Tom was Head of Applications at the Guardian Media Group from 2008 before joining HMG as Cabinet Office Chief Technology Officer in 2013.
Christina Lang
Chief Executive Officer, DigitalService, Germany
Christina Lang is co-founder and CEO of the DigitalService, the internal digitalization unit of the Federal Government of Germany. Providing interdisciplinary product teams, the DigitalService builds user-centered digital public services together with the government. It also drives the digital transformation of public administration through the fellowships Tech4Germany and Work4Germany. In spring 2020, she initiated the #WirVsVirus hackathon of the German Government as a national, coordinated covid response effort. Before founding the DigitalService in 2019, Christina worked at the Federal Foreign Office and as a strategy consultant at McKinsey & Company. She is a trained lawyer and holds a Management degree from London Business School.
Martin Ledolter
Managing Director, Federal Procurement Agency, Austria
Dag Strømsnes
Division Director, The Norwegian Agency for Public and Financial Management, Norway
Dag Strømsnes is a division director and the Chief Procurement Officer in Norway. He has had this position since 2008.
As head of the Norwegian public procurement department Dag is in charge of public procurement in Norway. He is responsible for developing and implementing strategies to ensure that public procurement in full compliance with the financial regulations and rules, and for ensuring that it provides value for money and that innovation and sustainable goals are included in the public procurement.in Norway.
Dag is also responsible for the CPB, the unit in charge of negotiating framework agreements for the Norwegian government
Dag’s department works in relation to covers all kind types of procurements such as for; goods, services, ICT, works/construction and infrastructure investments, and has a remit to improve public procurement in Norway. There are 100 employees in his department.
Before Dag started as CPO in Norway, he was a director in PwC. He worked as a procurement consultant for eight years.
Kristiina Kivirand
Head, Procurement and Quality, Estonian Stockpiling Agency, Estonia
She started in her current position in Dec 2021 – the same year as ESPA was created.
Her main tasks are related to planning, execution and supervision of public procurement and purchases. She is responsible for the development and implementation of the company’s legal documentation regarding procurement and stocks.
She has created company’s quality management system and integrated it into work processes, implements the quality system and ensures compliance. Under her responsibility falls also anti-corruption activities in ESPA.
During the period 2014-2021 she worked as Procurement Project Manager in East Tallinn Central Hospital. She has also working experience from private sector (in the field of maritime) as Quality Manager 2011-2014 and in sale of medical devices as Office Manager from 2006 to 2011.
She holds a Master’s degree in Internal Security from Estonian Academy of Security Sciences.
Taimar Peterkop
Secretary of State, Government Office, Estonia
Mr. Taimar Peterkop was appointed Secretary of State in December 2018. Secretary of State is the Head of the Government Office (central government institution to support the Government and the Prime Minister in policy making and implementation).
Prior to being appointed Secretary of State, Taimar was Director General of the Estonian Information System Authority (government agency responsible for core e-government systems and cyber security of Estonia). Before that, he was the Deputy Secretary General for Legal and Administrative Affairs of the Ministry of Defence.
During the period 2000–2001, Peterkop worked as a lawyer at the Government Office and from 2001–2008, at the Ministry of Defence, the first four years of which was spent in the Legal Department as Head of the Office of International Law, and the last three years as Head of the Operations and Crisis Management Department. During the period 2008–2010, Peterkop served as Defence Counsellor at the Estonian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Taimar Peterkop is a graduate of the University of Tartu School of Law and the United States Army War College, and holds a Master’s level degree in Strategic Management.
Siobhan Benita
Event Moderator, Global Government Forum
Siobhan was a senior civil servant in the UK with more than 15 years’ Whitehall experience. She worked in many of major delivery departments, including Transport, Environment, Health and Local Government. She also had senior roles at the heart of government in the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury, including supporting the then Cabinet Secretary, Lord O’Donnell, to lead work on civil service reform and strategy. Siobhan left to run as an independent candidate in the Mayor of London election. She subsequently joined her alma mater, Warwick University, as Chief Strategy Officer of Warwick in London and Co-Director of the Warwick Policy Lab.
Alex Chisholm
Chief Operating Officer, Civil Service and Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office, United Kingdom
Alex Chisholm became Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service and Permanent Secretary for the Cabinet Office in April 2020. Prior to that he was the Permanent Secretary to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
Previous roles in government:
Andri Heiðar Kristinsson
Chief Executive Officer, Digital Iceland, Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Iceland
Andri Heiðar Kristinsson is the CEO of Digital Iceland, a cross-functional unit within the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, tasked with leading the digital transformation across the Icelandic government. Mr. Kristinsson is a product and technology visionary with over two decades of experience working in technology and entrepreneurship in Europe and Silicon Valley.
Prior to joining Digital Iceland, Andri was a product lead at LinkedIn in San Francisco and a product manager for SlideShare‘s mobile apps. Andri also served as the CEO of Travelade, a travel technology startup, as well as the founder and CEO of Icelandic Startups, the leading startup accelerator in Iceland. Andri holds a B.Sc. in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Iceland and an MBA from Stanford University.
