Speakers

                     CONFERENCE CO- CHAIRS:

Carmen Plesch - Carmen is Director of Business Applications at Teekay Corporation, a recognized international leader in energy shipping, which over the last 10 years has grown from a regional shipping company into a global provider of marine services to the oil and gas industry. During her years with Teekay, Carmen has led the development and implementation of new systems, the integration of new companies into the Teekay IT structure and she currently leads the group providing business applications services to 100+ ships and offices in 15 countries. Carmen holds a Bachelor Degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the Polytechnic University, Bucharest, Romania.

Carmen is a member of the Board of the Vancouver chapter of CIOCAN.

Jories Timmers - Jories is the IT Director and CIO at Powerex, the Energy Trading arm of BC-Hydro, where he leads a team of 50 personnel in Vancouver, Canada. He has worked as a member of a Global IT Management team as a Chief Information Security Officer for companies spanning 40 to 220 countries. His specialization in IT Strategy and Security, Project Management, Compliance, Audit and Governance has been gained over 18 years and he has worked internationally in the Netherlands, Italy, France, Spain, Switzerland and Canada. He has degrees from the Delft University of Technology in Computer Engineering, an MBA from McGill and holds the PMP, CISA, CISM and CISSP certifications.

Jories is the president of the Vancouver chapter of CIOCAN.

                     SPEAKERS:

Osama Arafat joined Q9 Networks as Chief Executive Officer in 2001. Together with President and Chief Operating Officer, Paul Sharpe, Osama quickly established Q9 as the leader in the Canadian outsourced data centre services market. Responsible for Q9's growth strategy, Osama raised $115 million in two rounds of private equity financing to help fund the company's expansion. In 2004, Osama led the company in a successful initial public offering that raised a further $32 million. In 2008, Q9 reached an annual revenue run rate of approximately $68 million. In October of the same year, Q9 was acquired by ABRY Partners, a Boston-based private equity fund, for $361 million. In 2009, Osama received the Canadian Venture Capital Association's "Entrepreneur of the Year" award in recognition of his achievements.

Prior to joining Q9, Osama was a partner at J. L. Albright Venture Partners where he directed a number of emerging technology companies in Canada. Previously, Osama co-led Isolation Systems, an award-winning manufacturer of VPN solutions. In 1994, he co-founded InfoRamp, one of Toronto's largest and best-known Internet service providers.

Osama holds a Master of Engineering from McGill University and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from George Washington University.

Bob Anderson works with Microsoft’s CIO, Tony Scott, to further his "Outside In" agenda by connecting with external CIOs to bring in their perspectives and experiences on using the Microsoft stack, especially as pertains to the pursuit of new ‘break-the-box’ business innovations and solutions. In collecting feedback and sharing insights with a group of world-class CIOs, Bob’s mission is to provide an explicit conduit to Microsoft IT and the product groups. By fostering this dialog he seeks to accelerate individual customer successes while also nurturing Microsoft’s progress in business-focused solution ideation.

Bob brings 37 years of consulting experience to the role and has worked extensively with customers during this time to help drive business value via enabling technologies. He was previously the Managing Director of the Information Worker Business Strategy Consulting (IW BSC) group, having joined Microsoft through the Groove Networks acquisition in 2005, where he was Chief Evangelist and Lead for Customer Support and Services. Before that, he led the Emerging Technologies Practice at Benchmarking Partners, founded and was Managing Director of Lotus Consulting, and founded and managed a Federal Consulting Practice at Coopers & Lybrand. He holds a Master of Science from the Polytechnic Institute of NY.

Stéphane Boisvert is the president of Bell Business Markets, where he manages a dynamic unit of more than 6,000 professionals. He joined Bell in 2006 as president of the Enterprise Group, and led a major transformation, integrating it with the SMB and Western Canadian markets. Renowned for his high standards, his excellent understanding of technology and his ability to engage the members of his team with a common objective, Mr. Boisvert is a leader who believes in a culture of participatory leadership and who pays special attention to the training of emerging professionals. In 2006, he established the Canadian Coalition for Tomorrow’s ICT Skills, an initiative to foster a strong workforce in the communications technology sector.

Mr. Boisvert currently sits on the board of directors of the Montreal Heart Institute Foundation, the Sainte-Justine UHC Foundation and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. In 2000, Mr. Boisvert was named one of the “Top 40 Under 40” business leaders

Dr. Catherine Aczel Boivie is currently Chief Executive Officer of Inventure Solutions and Senior Vice-President of Information Technology at Vancity, Canada’s largest credit union. Previously, Dr. Boivie was Senior Vice-President of Information Technology at Pacific Blue Cross, and also served for eight years as Vice-President of Information Services and Chief Information Officer for the British Columbia Automobile Association. As the founding chair of the Chief Information Officers Association of Canada (CIOCAN), Dr. Boivie played an integral role in establishing and growing a network of Information Technology leaders. In recognition of her leadership work in IT, the Chief Information Officers Association of Canada, in collaboration with Ryerson University, announced the Dr. Catherine Aczel Boivie Scholarship. Dr. Boivie has been named one of Canada’s Most Powerful Women for 2009: Top 100 by the Women’s Executive Network. She received her award in the “Trailblazers and Trendsetters” category, which recognizes women who are either the first in their fields or have made a major impact on them, and who have made a great contribution to Canadian society. Dr. Boivie received a Bachelor of Mathematics in computer science from the University of Waterloo, and a Masters degree and PhD from the University of Toronto.

Paul Bellack is a Partner and National Leader of the Technology Strategy Practice for IBM Global Business Services. He brings a pragmatic and holistic senior IT executive perspective to client situations. His background features deep, diverse experience in strategy work, business transformations and major cost reduction initiatives, from the perspectives of both consultant and business executive. Paul’s personal consulting work at IBM concentrates on transforming and improving Business functions (with a concentration on IT), in terms of strategic alignment, overall effectiveness and cost efficiency. His assignments primarily address IT/Business strategy, transformational roadmaps, IT organizational structure, governance and management processes, Enterprise Architecture, benchmarking and CIO coaching/advisory work. Paul’s Technology Strategy Practice consists of approximately 75 experienced and versatile Consultants focusing on IT Strategy, Enterprise Architecture and IT Management Effectiveness.

William (Bill) Bullis is a business executive with 28 years experience at the CEO and COO level in the international food, domestic fast food, international telecommunications, insurance, travel and membership services businesses. Mr. Bullis was brought into businesses as an instrument of change. The changes were deep and fundamental and were directed at the business model, vision, strategy and culture of an organization. The necessity of much of the change was as a result of technology; either that which threatens an organization or that which gives rise to significant opportunity. In his retirement Mr. Bullis sits on several boards, consults and enjoys life with his wife and family.

Steve Cadigan (http://www.linkedin.com/in/cadigan) is Vice President of People Operations at LinkedIn, having joined the company in August 2009. With over 20 years of global human resources experience, Steve has practiced HR in the US, Canada and Asia-Pacific and has worked on acquisition integrations around the globe. Prior to joining LinkedIn, Steve served as a VP of HR at Electronic Arts for 2 years, and immediately prior to that for 4 years was the Global VP of HR for PMC-Sierra, a semi-conductor firm based in Vancouver. Before working in Canada, Steve was with Cisco Systems for 6 years. During this time he was Director of HR for Cisco’s Asia Pacific region for 2 years and before that helped build Cisco’s world-class M&A integration team as Director of the HR M&A team. While leading Cisco’s M&A HR team for 4 years, Steve’s team led over 50 acquisitions and was recognized repeatedly for world class acquisition integration practices. Prior to Cisco, Steve served in HR roles at Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company and ESPRIT. Steve holds a BA in History from Wesleyan University and an MA in HROD from the University of San Francisco.

Jim Hamilton brings more than 20 years of hands-on IT industry experience in Canada to HP Advanced Solutions. Jim is responsible for all IT business delivery and services to all HP Advanced Solution clients in his role as President.

Jim joined EDS Canada in 1985 and has played a leading role in IT activities ranging from real time systems development, to project and program manager, to divisional enterprise architect for government services across Canada. His in-depth knowledge of all major hardware, software and network platforms and all phases of the systems life cycle, ensures appropriate resource allocation to meet schedules and budgets.

Jim has an honours bachelor of applied science in electrical engineering with a minor in computer science from the University of Waterloo, Ontario. He sits on the board of directors for HP Advanced Solutions and for the Victoria Advanced Technology Council. Jim lives with his family in North Saanich, British Columbia.

Jeff Hutchinson joined Maple Leaf Foods Inc as the Global Chief Information Officer (CIO) in 2010 with executive responsibility for information technology / management and implementation of the enterprise wide ERP solution. Prior to joining Maple Leaf, Jeff was CIO - North America for the global Dannon/Danone Corporation and was also responsible for their Strategic Program office. Prior to Dannon/Danone, Jeff was a senior executive and partner with Accenture.

Jeff sits on CIO Magazine's national board of advisors, was recently honored as one of Consumer Good Technology's 2009 Visionaries and sits on CGT's Editorial Advisor Board.

Jeff has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Bryant University, MBA from the University of New Haven, Masters of Science in Software Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and is currently a Doctoral student in Computing, Pace University class of 2010.

Dr. Nancy MacKay challenges CEOs, and executive teams to raise the bar on their ability to accelerate business results. She has transformed the way CEOs, and executives are leading their organizations to win the war for talent. She serves as the executive coach and facilitator of 15 CEO and executive networks consisting of over 150 CEOs and executives across Canada. Nancy has received numerous awards, including being chosen as one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada in 2008. Her work as a senior consultant, former professor and keynote speaker has taken her from New Zealand to Europe, Asia and throughout North America.

Niel Nickolaisen is the Vice President of Strategy and Innovation at Energy Solutions, Inc. He has held technology executive and operations executive positions; typically in turnaround roles. His strategic and tactical alignment model significantly improves returns on technology and business initiatives. He holds a MS in Engineering from MIT, a BS in Physics from Utah State University, and an MBA from Utah State University. He writes an enterprise CIO column for TechTarget. He is the co-author of an Addison Wesley book on Agile Leadership. CRN Magazine named Niel one of the top 25 IT Executives of 2008. Niel is also one of the founders of Accelinnova, a think tank focused on improving organizational and IT agility.

Tina Nunno is a research vice president and distinguished analyst in Gartner's CIO Research group based in Stamford, Connecticut. Ms. Nunno is responsible for conducting research and developing publications aimed at helping CIOs and their organizations around the world improve their performance and contribution. She specializes in CIO-related management issues including working with the board of directors, executive communication strategies, change leadership and governance strategies. She also focuses on issues specific to women in technology. Ms. Nunno's most recent research deals with navigating complex CIO decisions and sensitive organizational politics issues. She focuses on specific strategies and tactics for managing IT political land mines.

Eamonn Percy is an experienced business leader with a track record of success in growing businesses in C-level leadership roles. His positions have included President & COO of Powertech, the commercial, for-profit engineering subsidiary of BC Hydro, and Vice-President Operations for Ballard Power Systems. As well, Eamonn has extensive board experience in the corporate, regulatory and academic environments, including: Governor on the Lakehead University Board of Governors, a Lieutenant Governor appointee to the Board of the Architectural Institute of BC, and a Director on the Ballard Generation Systems Board. He is also a member of a number of advisory boards, including the SFU Surrey Campus Advisory Council, the City of Surrey Clean Energy Advisory Network, the UBC School of Electrical and Computer Engineering Industry Advisory Committee, and is currently Chair of the UBC Clean Energy Research Centre Advisory Board.

Dr. Blaize Horner Reich is a leader and a teacher – she has led strategic business projects, academic departments, and research teams. She is a regular speaker at executive and academic conferences about managing risk at the Board level, delivering successful business transformation projects and using information technology to create business value.

Dr. Reich is a senior editor of several academic journals and a board director of professional associations including the Information and Technology Sector Council of Canada, Women’s Executive Network, and the CIO Association of Canada (Vancouver Chapter). She is also a current director of the board and audit committee member of Industrial Alliance Pacific Insurance and Financial Services and a past board director of Thrifty Foods.

John Thorp is an internationally recognized leader in the field of value and benefits management. A management consultant with over 45 years' experience covering all aspects of the information management field, including technical, management and executive positions, a frequent speaker, and author of "The Information Paradox", John's focus is on realizing the benefits of information technology-enabled change. Over the last ten years, John's work has extended to the broader issues of Enterprise Value Management, and Strategic Governance. John is a Certified Management Consultant, holds the Canadian Information Processing Society's I.S.P. and CITP professional designations, and is a member of the Society for Information Management (SIM) in the United States.

Richard Worzel - Leading forecaster and futurist Richard Worzel challenges organizations to examine the future and plan for it. Changes in politics, technology, leadership, demographics and economics are altering the face and pace of business. Those who are prepared will prosper, while most organizations will flounder or fall by the wayside. Worzel can equip your organization with the ability to understand the changes to be faced in the years ahead, and the tools to leverage those changes to revolutionize and dominate your industry.

Worzel studied computer science, economics and world trade in university, and has written articles on the future for The Report on Business, Canada Computes, and The Financial Post, among many others.

He started work in the investment industry as an institutional investor, and received the industry’s Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1978. Since 1979, he has run his own consulting firm, helping companies and organizations plan and prepare for the future.

He has written five best-selling books, including Who Owns Tomorrow, which reached The Financial Post’s best-seller list in the second week of publication.