Steve Biswanger | President, CISO Division, VP and CISO, ATCO Group
Steve Biswanger is Director of Information Security at Encana with accountability for cyber security risk and governance across the organization. In this role he has built a mature risk management culture laying the ground work for agility in the adoption of new technologies and processes at the root of Encana’s organization reengineering. Prior, Steve was a cyber risk consultant for over 15 years building practices and delivering services for companies ranging from specialized boutiques to multinationals like EDS. Clients during this time ranged from oil & gas, to international banking, Silicon Valley high tech, telecommunications and manufacturing. All of these have different business strategies, and risk tolerances, but the experience also highlights their Cyber risk similarities.
Steve is also a member of the Alberta Chapter Board of (ISC)2, an international non-profit membership association focused on inspiring a safe and secure cyber world, and provides consulting services in Information Security Architecture.
It’s not about security, it’s about trust.
Gwen Beauchemin | Chief Executive Officer, Tillet Consulting
Gwen Beauchemin is a management security consultant and Chief Executive Officer of Tillet Consulting. Gwen’s career spans over 30 years, and includes Bell Northern Networks, Nortel, the Canadian Federal Government, and Payments Canada. Gwen is an advisory board member to the Cyber Security programs at Northeastern University, University of Toronto, and Algonqin College. In addition, Gwen is a member of the advisory board for the Quantum Safe Canada. Gwen holds the C/CISO accreditation, and has an Honours Bachelor of Computer Science from Carleton University. She has been recognized for technical leadership, and has graduated from the Canadian Forces Leadership Program and the Government of Canada School of Public Service Direxion program.
Hugh Burley | Manager, Information Security, Thompson Rivers University
Hugh Burley is the Manager Information Security for Thompson Rivers University (BC’s 4th Largest University), in Kamloops BC and the current ISO for BCNET, BC’s Research Network, located in Vancouver BC. Hugh has been working exclusively in the area of information security since 2007 and is an active member of the CUCCIO Security Special Interest Group, the BCNET Security Working Group, a Governing Body Member of the Evanta Vancouver CXO Community, and an active proponent of building community in the Thompson/Nicola and Thompson/Okanagan regions of BC.
Omid Hamed | Senior Manager, Cybersecurity BC Hydro
Omid Hamed has gained a wide range of skills and experience over 25 years in IT, including leadership, strategy, security, project management, and service management. In addition to an engineering background, he has masters certificate in ITIL, masters certificate in Project Management from UVic, and an active CISSP. He completed the CIO Leadership Program from SFU-CIOCAN in 2009.
Omid spent approximately 17 years in the retail industry in various IT management roles, followed by 9 years at Powerex, the energy trading subsidiary of BC Hydro, where he was the head of IT Infrastructure, Operations and Cybersecurity.
Omid lives in Vancouver – BC with his wife and two sons.
Daniel Owen | Senior Manager, IT Security, BC Housing Corp
Daniel Owen is a Kiwi-Canadian who aspired to become an Electronics Engineer but reluctantly accepted that computers were the future. Over 20 years later and after experiencing almost every discipline of Information Technology, Daniel is now the Senior Manager of IT Security at the British Columbia Housing Management Commission. Daniel and his team are responsible for ensuring the protection of citizens’ personal information and the organization’s resilience to Cyber Security threats.
Prior to joining BC Housing, Daniel established the Information Security practice of London Drugs Limited as their Corporate Data Security Officer. This role afforded him the experience of creating deeply technical solutions such as enterprise data-level encryption and financial anti-fraud measures while also developing the leadership skills necessary to articulate the results in the boardroom.
Howard Plato | Manager, Information Systems, Osum Oil Sands Corp
Howard Plato is Manager of Information Systems at Osum Oil Sands Corp and is responsible for Information Systems, Services, Technology and Security. Howard brings over two decades of Information Systems management experience, with a broad range of exposure to both the public and private sectors in a variety of industries including IT Consulting, petroleum services, chemical manufacturing, energy regulation, transportation, agriculture, scientific and academic research and food safety regulation. Prior to Osum, Howard was a director with a global IT firm.
Howard received his MBA from the University of Victoria, and has an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from the University of Manitoba.
Bobby Singh | CISO and Head of Infrastructure, TMX Group
Bobby Singh, CISO and Global Head of Infrastructure, is responsible for delivering secure and highly available common technology services across TMX. As a member of the executive leadership team, Bobby is defining TMX’s cyber security and technology vision and strategy, to advance the organizational agenda. He is responsible for TMX’s corporate information and IT systems and services, as well as all aspects of security, governance, risk, and compliance. He represents TMX in key forums focused on critical infrastructure, network evolution, intelligence, and availability. With more than two decades of executive experience, Bobby brings a wide range of technical and security knowledge to his current role. He has broad expertise in developing and implementing security programs for public and private sector organizations. Prior to joining TMX, Bobby has held positions at TD Bank, Rogers Communications and eHealth, where he designed multi-year technology and culture transformation programs. He received his MBA from University of Pittsburgh and holds CISSP, CISM, CISA and CPA designations.
Jeff Stark |VP Technology Risk and CISO, IGM Financial Inc.
As Chief Information Security Officer, Jeff is responsible for all aspects of OPB’s Cyber Security. Before joining OPB, Jeff’s positions included Director of Cyber Security for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Vice President of IT and Information Security Officer at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Canada, and Head of Network Security with Tangerine Bank (formerly ING DIRECT Canada).
Jeff is a trusted leader in the IT community, known for finding innovative solutions to complex challenges that safeguard the organization while bringing the corporate strategic vision to fruition. Jeff has over 20 years of experience delivering results through building teams responsive to the organization and utilizing technology as a strategic lever in achieving growth. Jeff has accumulated a wide range of experience through his long-term affiliations with the Canadian Financial Institutes Computer Incident Response Team and top global financial companies.
Jeff’s individual strengths include strong business acumen, setting and achieving strategic goals, being a motivating leader and mentor, and talented key note speaker. Jeff thrives on change by staying on top of leading-edge technology.
Board Members (details coming soon)
Don Thompson