Speakers - Innovation

Kamal Bal

Kamal Bal,

Director, Digital, Ministry of Justice, United Kingdom

Kamal was appointed as Director of Digital at the Ministry of Justice in January 2023.

He is responsible for the 750 staff who design, run and maintain the digital services that are the bedrock of the UK’s justice system. This includes those used in His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, the Legal Aid Agency, the Office of the Public Guardian and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.

As Director of Digital, he has a crucial role in delivering on the Justice Digital strategy, to create simpler, faster and better services for the people interacting with the justice system.

Before joining the Civil Service, Kamal held a range of digital roles including Chief Digital Officer at Pizza Hut Digital Ventures, Director of Global Digital Customer Experience at Avon and Head of Digital Customer Experience at Marks & Spencer.

Andrew Goodman

Andrew Goodman

Director, Workplace Transformation, Department for Work and Pensions, United Kingdom

Andrew joined the Department for Work and Pension in April 2020 as Workplace Transformation Director. Where he is Senior Responsible Owner of the Programme and is responsible for leading the portfolio of work to deliver a workplace that will be driven by the needs of the business and will enable more flexible, effective and efficient services for customers while also making the best use of taxpayers’ money while delivering a Smaller, Green, Better workplace. The role focuses on leading a large, complex implementation of the people & cultural change required for DWP to deliver a great place to work in 2020’s and beyond. Andrew also chairs the DWP Sustainability Leadership Forum. Prior to that Andrew spent 3 years at the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) as Head of Portfolio Office in the Transformation Directorate. Andrew helped build a world class portfolio, programme and project management function, which supported the delivery of the MPS vision Met Direction. Andrew also led the Centre of Excellence and was head of profession for P3M – Project, Program, and Portfolio Management within the MPS.

Andrew is a Fellow of the Forward Institute following an 18 month ethical and responsible leadership programme, which covered a wide spectrum of social issues including wellbeing, diversity, climate change and sustainability. He is APM Chartered Project Professional, a graduate of the Cabinet Office Major Projects Leadership Academy and is a Major Projects Authority High Risk Review Team Leader. He has had a number of roles in The Home Office including Head of Data Products within Digital Data and Technology, where Andrew was responsible for managing multidisciplinary teams in maintaining, delivering and developing new data products including data analytics, data storage, data quality and management information. Prior to that he was Deputy Director, Digital Capabilities. Where he delivered a portfolio of business transformation programmes, including information digitisation and data analytics, which make use of emergent digital technology to enable the transformation to a Digital Home Office.

Andrew spent six months as Deputy Programme Manager for a major communications programme and four years within Police Information Technology (Home Office and National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA)). He has been responsibility for the project, programme delivery and service management of a range of ICT systems supporting UK Policing. In the NPIA one of Andrew’s key roles was Director of the IMPACT Programme, he was responsible for delivery of the Police National Database (PND). Pre NPIA Andrew served 23 years as a Commissioned Officer in the Royal Navy.

Andrew is a keen sailor, children’s regional dinghy event organiser, local Scout executive member and former junior rugby coach. He is married with three children (Two at University and one a Sixth Form College).

David Carroll

David Carroll,

Managing Director, Nominet

A security practitioner for over 25 years, David has experience in both military and commercial roles. He began his career in the British Army. David is Managing Director of Nominet Cyber, who deliver Protective DNS solutions for the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC). Protective DNS solutions are designed to protect public sectors at scale, enabling governments to have visibility to deliver national situational awareness.

Sam O'Neill

Sam O’Neill

Account Executive, Central Government, Rubrik

Sam works with UK Central Government departments and agencies on data security projects that aim to bolster the state of customers’ ransomware recovery posture. Prior to Rubrik, Sam has experience working with an extensive list of central and local government organisations; predominantly focusing on projects that address resilience and support critical services.

Rob Fawcett

Rob Fawcett

Account Director, NHS Central Bodies, Rubrik

Rob Fawcett is account director – NHS Arms Length Bodies at the data security firm Rubrik. He joined Rubrik earlier this year from a data platform provider at which he was an account director for UK public sector. He also previously worked for the computer security firm McAfee, again with a focus on the UK public sector. Rob has worked in IT throughout his career.

Rubrik has been working with NHS organisations to provide cyber resilience across critical frontline services that touch over 8m patients across the UK.

Ed Challis

Ed Challis

Head of AI Strategy & General Manager for Communications Mining, UI Path

Edward Challis is Senior Director, Engineering, leading AI Strategy and Communications Mining at UiPath. Ed has been working at the forefront of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in industry and academia for over 17 years. He gained his PhD and MSc in AI from leading AI research groups at UCL and Edinburgh. Ed’s research has been published in the leading AI journals and conferences including NeurIPS, AISTATs, Neural Computation, the Journal of Machine Learning Research and NeuroImage.

Lindy Cameron

Lindy Cameron

Chief Executive Officer, National Cyber Security Centre, United Kingdom

Lindy became CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre in October 2020 following more than two decades of national security policy and crisis management experience. She was previously a Director-General in the Northern Ireland Office and at the Department for International Development (DFID). After starting her career in the private sector, Lindy served across government both at home and abroad, including postings in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Ian McCormack

Ian McCormack

Deputy Director Government Cyber Resilience, National Cyber Security Centre, United Kingdom

Ian McCormack is the Deputy Director for Government Cyber Resilience within the UK National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). He is responsible for overseeing the security advice and assistance provided to improve the cyber resilience of the UK Public Sector including HM Government, Defence, Health, Local Government and the Devolved Administrations of the UK. Ian is also responsible for our Defending Democracy programme which includes cyber defence of our democratic process and VIP personal cyber security.

Ian has worked within the cyber security domain for over 20 years, with a particular focus on development of risk management and security practices that support the adoption of modern technologies and practices. This includes the development of good security practices into commodity technology services and design, in particular cloud service use.

In his over 20 years at the Department, Ian has been instrumental in changing how Government approaches and uses technology, reforming approaches to security and advising some of most significant national programmes.

Steven Boyd

Steven Boyd

Chief Executive Officer, Government Property Agency, United Kingdom

As Chief Executive, Steven leads the Government Property Agency (GPA) in transforming the way the Government’s office and logistics property portfolios are managed.

The GPA is growing rapidly with currently seven million square feet of property under its management. The GPA is transforming the future of work in the Civil Service, improving the workplace experience for civil servants across the UK, leading the largest commercial office programme in the United Kingdom, working towards halving carbon emissions from Government offices, and saving billions for the taxpayer.

A Yorkshireman who originally qualified as an engineer, Steven is a collaborator, innovator and leader of change. Prior to the GPA, Steven was HMRC’s Estates Director delivering 13 major office buildings, planning the successful drawdown of a nationwide PFI, and shrinking the size of the estate by two thirds.

Steven also served in the British Army including leading the Army’s in-house engineering design and project management consultancy, and as the Army’s Director of Infrastructure.

Nick Ward

Nick Ward

UK Public Sector Lead, Qlik

Nick has been helping Public Sector organisations harness their data for the past 5 years. He has extensive knowledge of the challenges faced within Healthcare and how to apply modern data-driven approaches to address them. More recently he has focused on the Government’s central departments and supporting them in delivering wide-spread easily accessible analytics and improving data literacy.

Alessia Sharma

Alessia Sharma

Legal Director, Workday

Alessia is a Legal Director on Workday’s Go-to-Market team as a trusted legal and business advisor to the global specialized sales team for cloud and professional services. Alessia manages matters that require her to understand and navigate evolving global laws and regulations and the digital economy. Alessia champions diversity and inclusion initiatives and is an active member of several internal committees and initiatives for Workday VIBE. Prior to joining Workday, Alessia was senior corporate counsel on Cisco’s service providers team supporting cloud technology deals for service providers in EMEAR. Alessia is qualified as a lawyer in civil and common law. Alessia has been supporting the Alzheimer’s Society since 2014 in different roles and she currently is a Dementia Friends Ambassador for the charity. Alessia’s motto is ‘be curious, always’.

Louise Scott-Worrall

Louise Scott-Worrall

Government Managed Learning, KPMG in the UK

Louise is a partner in KPMG’s People Consulting practice, she is Head of Learning Services in the UK, and Global Solution Lead. She also has a specific focus on public sector clients. She leads KPMG’s work on innovative design and technology enabled delivery of learning programmes, working with complex consortia to implement and apply change within the public sector. She brings a combination of extensive consulting experience with direct experience as both an education practitioner who understands how learning works in practice and how to implement successful change. Prior to joining KPMG in 2007 Louise was an Associate Director in Further and Higher Education and a registered allied health professional for 16 years.

KOK Ping Soon

KOK Ping Soon

Chief Executive Officer, Government Technology Agency (GovTech), Singapore

Ping Soon is Chief Executive of the Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech), the lead agency driving Singapore’s Smart Nation initiative and public sector digital transformation.

Prior to his current appointment, Ping Soon held various positions in the Ministry of Manpower, National Security Co-ordination Secretariat, Ministry of Trade & Industry, Singapore Tourism Board, Contact Singapore (CS) and Economic Development Board (EDB).

He spent six years in the United States working for CS and EDB. He serves on the Board of Info-comm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Defence Science & Technology Agency (DSTA), Institute of System Sciences (ISS) and is a member of the National Institute of Education (NIE) Council.

Ping Soon is a graduate of the National University of Singapore where he majored in Economics. He attended the Advanced Management Programme by the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), Stanford Executive Programme by the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and was also awarded the Lien Ying Chow Legacy Fellowship to pursue a research project in China.

Gerard Orrock

Gerard Orrock

Account Executive, Intelligent Spend Management, SAP

With 20 years of experience in the business software market and over 10 years focusing on business spend at SAP, Gerard works closely with the Public Sector to educate and promote how technology can automate their procurement processes and reduce their costs. SAP has been at the forefront of digital procurement transformation and has been fortunate to work with some of the world’s most innovative companies and partners to deliver exceptional outcomes.

Ryan Alvin R. Acosta

Ryan Alvin R. Acosta

Commissioner, Civil Service Commission, Philippines

A lawyer with extensive experience in administrative, criminal, and civil law; multi sports aficionado; and rock music enthusiast, Atty. Ryan Alvin R. Acosta never wastes any good opportunity to express his lofty aspirations for the Civil Service Commission.

Without conscious planning, Atty. Acosta’s career before his appointment to the Commission seemed to be a fitting preparation for his current responsibilities. Atty. Acosta was the Deputy Executive Secretary for Legal Affairs (DESLA) at the Office of the President (OP) from 01 July 2016 to 08 February 2022. As DESLA, he supervised the OP’s Legal Office, Legislative Office, and Investigative and Adjudicatory Divisions. He acted as the recommending authority to the President, thru the Senior Deputy Executive Secretary and the Executive Secretary, on matters within the OP’s jurisdiction including the OP’s exercise of its quasi-judicial functions and formulation of national government policies. An advocate of a corruption-free bureaucracy, Atty. Acosta, as representative of the OP, had also tirelessly worked with the Office of the Ombudsman in implementing the government’s flagship anti-corruption program – the Integrity Management Program – during his entire stint at the OP.

Atty. Acosta’s foray in government service actually began much earlier. Upon the encouragement of his professor in consular and diplomatic relations, Atty. Acosta pursued, immediately after college, and was accepted as a Research Specialist at the Foreign Service Institute (FSI), the research and training arm of the Department of Foreign Affairs. He stayed at the FSI for six (6) years firmly believing that government service is his modest way of paying back to the Filipino people whose sweat, blood, and tears have subsidized his education.

After leaving the FSI and before heeding once again the call of public service in 2015, Atty. Acosta honed his technical skills as a lawyer from his stints as Corporate Counsel for an energy company and an Associate of two (2) well reputed full-service law firms for more than eight (8) years.

Atty. Acosta’s appointment was confirmed by the Commission on Appointments on 02 February 2022 and he assumed office on 09 February 2022.

Derek Allison

Derek Allison

Vice President, Public Sector, Aerospace and Defence, DXC

Derek leads DXC’s UK Public Sector and Defence business, delivering mission-critical systems to strategic customers including the Ministry of Defence, BAE, Rolls Royce, Leonardo, NHS SCCL, DEFRA, AWE, Home Office and multiple local authorities.

An ex-military officer with operational experience, Derek has been with DXC for over 15 years. He has a background in large account management including key customers: MOD, DWP, Aviva and Deutsche Bank, has managed ITO operations at an EMEA level, and demonstrates a track record of delivering strategy and execution across large scale programmes and accounts.

Susan Scott-Parker, OBE HonD

Susan Scott-Parker, OBE HonD

Founder, Business Disability International

Susan Scott-Parker is an internationally recognised thought leader who has made a career from challenging outdated assumptions regarding both disability as it affects business and the potential of responsible business to adapt respectfully for human reality. She founded the first business disability network, now BDF in the UK and Business Disability International, and is the Strategic Advisor to the ILO Global Business & Disability Network

In 2003 Susan invented the concept and language of ‘Disability Confidence’ – knowing that if we can change the way we talk about the world, we make it easier to change the world. Her work is distinctive in its aim to deliver practical, tangible mutual benefit for business, people with disabilities, the global economy, and wider society.

Susan founded the ‘Disability Ethical AI’ campaign alongside Atos, IBM, Simmons & Simmons, the European Disability Forum, and New York University, to address the risks to the life chances of hundreds of millions triggered by the use of AI powered HR Technology.

Susan is Strategic Advisor to the Government of Canada’s Disability Inclusion Business Council, and has long-standing strategic alliances with the Australian Network on Disability, GIZ, the MyAbility Business Disability Network; The Valuable 500, Purple Space & it’s #PurpleLightUp movement, and The Zero Project.

Kemba Hendrix

Kemba Hendrix

Senior Advisor, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility, Office of Personnel Management, United States of America

Kemba Hendrix is a Senior Advisor to the Director at the Office of Personnel Management, under the Biden-Harris Administration. In this capacity, she advises the OPM Director and agency leadership on various initiatives with a focus on diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility policy, strategy, and best practices.

Prior to coming to OPM, Kemba served as the Inaugural Executive Director for the House Office of Diversity and Inclusion at the U.S. House of Representatives and has worked within several agencies including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and the U.S. Department of State as a legal advisor to the Chief Diversity Officer and Office of Civil Rights.

Kemba holds a Bachelor’s degree from Xavier University and a Juris Doctorate from Howard University School of Law. She currently resides in Washington, DC.

Alison Pritchard

Alison Pritchard

Deputy National Statistician for Data Capability, Office for National Statistics, United Kingdom

Alison is leading the transformation in data usage which will see ever more integrated data put to effective and safe use across the private and public sectors. She ensures ONS has the right technology and skills to meet its ambitious goals in data analytics and data science and champions safe and secure data sharing for the public good in ONS and beyond.

Most recently Alison was Director General of the Government Digital Service leading the organisation through a busy and critical period. And before that, she was Director of Transformation at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

She began her Civil Service career in 1987. She has worked across a range of departments including the Ministry of Defence, HM Treasury, Cabinet Office, Home Office and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Her career has seen her enjoy a varied and interesting range of roles, including: spending five years in Saudi Arabia with a UK defence programme; leading the independent review of Royal Family and ministerial air travel; and being responsible for gambling and the National Lottery.

Outside government, Alison has experience as Head of Operations for an IT engineering business and on secondment to the third sector as Director of Programmes for a multi-faith research body supporting counter-radicalisation.

Adam Stewart

Adam Stewart

Head of Public Sector, UKI, Google Cloud

As the UKI lead for Google Cloud in the public sector, Adam currently works with governments to help them build for a digital future. He enables digital transformation in the UK public sector and partners with government to deliver digital public services, focusing on data, security, innovation and sustainable value.

Google builds technologies that change the world, and Adam’s focus is to collaborate with public sector leaders to do the same; creating a future that is built responsibly and accessible to all. He works with business leaders and teams across the public sector, with a focus on central government, Defence, Health, Transport and other key public sector bodies in the UK.

Adam has worked in technology in the public sector for the last 19 years. He has worked on projects such as 2021 Census, UK government MOU for GCP & various education projects to improve efficiency, reduce complexity and enable public sector organisations to thrive through turbulent times.

John Park

John Park

Head, Government Affairs & Public Policy

John Park is Head of Government Affairs and Public Policy for Google Cloud in the UK and Ireland and also leads on skills policy across Europe. Prior to joining Google, John was Amazon’s Head of Labour and Skills policy for EMEA. A trade unionist by background, John was Assistant General Secretary at Community trade union and Assistant Secretary at the Scottish TUC. Between 2007 and 2012, John was a Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Mid Scotland and Fife Region – and shadow minister for skills. He began his career working for Babcock International Group as an Electrical Fitter apprentice in Rosyth Dockyard.

Thomas Beautyman

Thomas Beautyman

Deputy Director, Government Digital Capability, Cabinet Office, United Kingdom

Thomas joined the Cabinet Office in 2021, in the new Central Digital and Data Office, and is responsible for transforming how Government grows capability in digital and data. This including attracting, recruiting and building digital expertise, through to developing the many leaders in government who have specialism in other domains, but increasingly need digital and data confidence to deliver. Thomas moved to the Cabinet Office from DWP Digital, having joined Government in 2019 from BT where he led workforce planning, apprenticeships and learning transformation.

CHANG Sau Sheong

CHANG Sau Sheong

Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Government Technology Agency (GovTech), Singapore

Sau Sheong is the Deputy Chief Executive, Product Engineering, for GovTech Singapore. Prior to GovTech he was an Operating Partner, Digital for Temasek, a global investment company headquartered in Singapore and part of the AI Strategy and Solutions team.

Before that, he ran SP Digital, the digital business unit of SP Group He also headed IT, OT and digital transformation for the whole of SP Group for more than 6 years Sau Sheong was instrumental in changing SP Group from a traditional utility company to a regional energy player.

In his 28 years of industry experience, he has built and led product engineering teams at PayPal, Yahoo and HP building various software products for enterprise businesses and consumers globally.

He was previously a co founder of a software company and was involved in startups for more than 10 years He is active and contributes to many technology communities in Singapore and Southeast Asia and has written 4 programming books, currently working on a 5th book Sau Sheong has a bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, a Master’s in Commercial Law and a Postgraduate Certificate in International Arbitration.

Gayan Peiris

Gayan Peiris

Head, Data and Technology, Chief Digital Office, United Nations Development Programme

Gayan is the Head of Data and Technology with Chief Digital Office at UN Development Programme (UNDP). He leads the implementation of the Data Strategy for UNDP which includes driving the transformation of UNDP into a data-driven organisation and advising member states on their data, digital and cloud strategies. Gayan is an expert in bringing people’s voices into policy making. He has experience in digital campaigning and led data collection and analysis efforts of several global initiatives such as UN75 and MYWorld which brought in over 10 million voices worldwide through both public and private sector partnerships.

Dr Laura Gilbert

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 better 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.

André Rogaczewski

André Rogaczewski

CEO, Netcompany

André Rogaczewski founded Netcompany in 2000 and has overseen its evolution into one of Europe’s fastest growing and most successful IT services companies, with a global headcount of +7,400 talented employees across +10 countries. With his technical background, a master’s degree in computer science from Aalborg University and a true vision for societies digital future, he has led the company through tremendous growth and built a unique delivery model unmatched elsewhere in the IT industry. André was born in Poland but grew up in Aalborg, Denmark.

André is a strong advocate for digitalisation and digital competencies and holds several influential positions, including Chairman of DI Digital (Danish ICT and Electronics Federation), Executive committee The Confederation of Danish Industry and Chairman for The Technology Pact. Board member of Spar Nord one of the oldest and largest banks in Denmark. He founded and chairs ‘Digital Dogma’, a cooperation of leading Danish companies educating and upskilling employee IT and technical competency.

In addition, from 2015 he has been a key figure in delivering digital recommendations for Denmark to the Danish Government as a leading member of the Danish Disruption Council (Government-lead by previous Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen) and the Danish Government’s partnership for digitization (Government-lead by current Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen) reporting directly to Minister of Finance, Nikolai Wammen.

Luukas Ilves

Luukas Ilves

Government Chief Information Officer, Estonia

Luukas Ilves is Estonia’s Government Chief Information Officer and Undersecretary for Digital Development at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications. Most recently, Luukas was head of strategy at Guardtime, a leading blockchain company. He previously served in various positions for the Government of Estonia and the European Commission before joining the Lisbon Council, a Brussels-based think tank. Luukas is a graduate of Stanford University.

Aditya Udas

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

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

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.

Joyce Dimech

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Frédéric Markus

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

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

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.

Cat Little

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

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

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

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.

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:

The Director of Planning Transformation in DLUHC – leading the Government’s programme to digitalise the planning system, overhaul legislation, and introduce new style local plans and citizen engagement.
Director, Resettlement, Asylum Support and Integration – creating a multi-Departmental (across Home Office, MHCLG/DfID (as was)) new Directorate encompassing operations and policy. Successes included resettling 23,000 refugees in the UK by 2020.
Leading In-country Migration Casework, UK Visas and Immigration, Home Office – leading a c3,500 strong operation, serving around 600k customers. Responsible for processing applications for student, work and family visa extensions, permanent settlement and awarding British Citizenship for naturalised citizens.
Head of Counter Terrorism, Foreign and Commonwealth Office – leading the largest thematic policy Department in the FCO.
Director, Prevent, Office of Security and Counter Terrorism (OSCT), Home Office – acting as first SCS lead for Prevent across Government. Formulating the first genuine cross-Government strategy to stop people becoming terrorists or violent extremists (the Prevent Strategy) and developing a delivery infrastructure across the United Kingdom and internationally.

Peter Vandenbruaene

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

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

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

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

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.

Gal Amir

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

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

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

Martin Ledolter

Managing Director, Federal Procurement Agency, Austria

Bundesbeschaffung GmbH, BBG (Federal Procurement Agency)
Managing Director (as of June 2021)
Austrian Development Agency, ADA
Managing Director (2013 – 2021)
Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA)
Advisor to the Vice Chancellor and Federal Minister for European and International Affairs (2011 – 2013)
Austrian Association of Employees (ÖAAB)
Advisor (2004 – 2011)
IMC University of Applied Scienes Krems
Lecturer (2008 –2013)
ÖVP Parliamentary Group
Advisor (2006 – 2010)
WOLF THEISS Rechtsanwälte GmbH
Associate (2003 – 2004)

Dag Strømsnes

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

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

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

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

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:

Permanent Secretary, BEIS 2016 to 2020
Joint Permanent Secretary, BEIS 2016 to 2016
Permanent Secretary, DECC 2016 to 2016
Chief Executive of the Competition and Markets Authority 2013 to 2016
Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service
The Chief Operating Officer for the Civil Service leads the efficiency programme, working with permanent secretaries across government to put in place reforms.
Cabinet Office, Civil Service Board, and Cabinet Office Board
Permanent Secretary (Cabinet Office)
The Permanent Secretary is the head of the department, responsible for the leadership and governance of the Cabinet Office. The Permanent Secretary is also the Cabinet Office’s Accounting Officer, responsible for the financial propriety of the department.

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.

Innovation 2023 features speakers from the worlds of government and business, both in the UK and overseas

Public servants can register for free. Don't miss out! Register now to take part...

Public servants can register for free.
Don't miss out! Register now to take part...