Arizona Digital Government Summit 2015

Jared Covili has been a professional development trainer at Utah Education Network (UEN) for 13 years. He specializes in teaching strategies for classroom integration of technology such as Google tools, geospatial learning, social media, web page design, and digital devices.  Previously, Jared was a Language Arts teacher at the secondary level. He received a Bachelor’s degree in English and a Masters in Instructional Design and Educational Technology from the University of Utah.
 
Jared is also an adjunct faculty member of the College of Education at the University of Utah, where he teaches technology integration classes to undergraduate students. He served as the president of Utah Coalition for Educational Technology (UCET) for 2011-2012 and currently serves on the UCET board. In 2012, Cowrin Press published his first book, Going Google: Powerful Tools for 21st Century Learning. His second book, Classroom in the Cloud, is set for release in Fall 2015.

Mr. Du Plooy has a proven track record in customer management, IT consulting, business development and implementation management for high-growth and established businesses in both the public and private sector. In addition, his extensive experience in IT due diligence for M&A and corporate carve-outs enabled him to achieve consistent results in complex national and international business scenarios.

Mr. Du Plooy has served as a trusted advisor to industry leading CIO, CEO and Private Equity stake holders. Mr. Du Plooy has served in senior management roles in both start-up and established software, consulting and outsourcing companies and has delivered business solution architecture and program management for large multinational ERP projects throughout the course of his career. International experience includes: United Kingdom, France, Singapore, Spain, Canada, Germany, South Africa, Tunisia and the U.S.

At Business & Decision Mr. Du Plooy is responsible for driving success through sales, marketing, customer management and business development across all business units in the firm.

Mr. Du Plooy holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pretoria in South Africa and holds qualifications in ITIL, simulation, business modeling and object-oriented modeling and Executive Education from Babson College. Mr. Du Plooy serves as a board member to CASS (Central Arizona Shelter Services) as well as Finance Committee Member for First Things First (Arizona Early Childhood Development & Health Board).

Gary Hensley is a strategic leader who brings over 30 years of industry experience.  In his previous role as the Chief Networking Officer (CNO) for the Arizona Strategic Enterprise Technology (ASET) office, Gary was responsible for program management, vendor management, contract oversight, and enforcement of the state’s outsourced voice and data services. In his new role as the Chief Enterprise Integration Officer (CEIO) for ASET, Gary is responsible for the horizontal business operations of the organization along with streamlining internal processes to improve customer experiences.

Ryan leads Unisys’ Cloud sales for North America and is responsible for developing strategy, sourcing, and selling both Unisys and 3rd party cloud services; including, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Salesforce, Google, and Verizon Terremark to both commercial and public sector markets.  In addition, he manages Unisys’ WSCA-NASPO Cloud Contract award and is deeply involved in helping customers architect and modernize their IT solutions.

Chris Infanti is an Engagement Manager at World Wide Technology, a St. Louis-based systems integrator.  He is responsible for new business development, project management, and consulting services for WWT’s Big Data practice.  Over his career, Chris has worked with state and city governments to define and deliver data analytics projects for transportation, education (K-12/higher ed), and public safety, among others. In addition, he has extensive experience working with private sector clients in financial services, corporate security, and marketing. Prior to joining WWT, Chris was a consultant at Opera Solutions and IBM Global Business Services.   Chris attended Georgetown University and graduated with degrees in Mathematics and English Literature.

Sam Knutson is the Director of Product Management for Compuware.  Sam is a long time member of the mainframe community. Prior to taking his previous position as VP of Product Management for Mainframe Performance Solutions at CA Technologies, Sam led the mainframe team at GEICO where he was also a Compuware customer. He also worked as a senior developer at Landmark Systems. Additionally, he has served on the Board of Directors for SHARE, the world's first and longest-running user computer group.

With 25 years of experience in analytics and business intelligence, Matt leads CGI’s big data and analytics practice for the global marketing group from his base in San Francisco, California. Among his previous roles he was the founder of the customer relationship analytics group at AMS that included the creation of CGI’s decision-science IP solution – Strata – and during a brief 10 hiatus from CGI, he led the client services groups at BI and analytics startup companies in Silicon Valley.

As CIO, Rob Lloyd directs the City of Avondale’s (AZ) diverse technology portfolio. His department supports projects and operations enterprise-wide, including public works, police, fire, economic development, family, parks and recreation, libraries, development, engineering, and utilities services. Avondale has been named one of the top-ten Digital Cities of America four consecutive years for its use of technology, engagement with customers, and innovative programs.  In both 2013 and 2014, the City of Avondale was named the #1 Digital City of America for its population group.
Rob has 14 years of senior management and executive experience spanning the technology, government, and utilities sectors in Arizona, Colorado, and Oregon. He serves on advisory and governing boards for the Mid-Market CIO Forum, Arizona Technology Summit, Phoenix CIO Executive Leadership Summit, Maricopa Association of Governments, KnowledgeNet, and Genesys. His civic activities include service with United Way, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and as a Girl Scouts of America Gold Award mentor.  He was named one of the Top-25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers of 2015 by Government Technology Magazine and is a 2013 Phoenix Business Journal Forty Under 40 honoree.

Jennifer is the Senior Director of Business Development for North America for Oracle Public Sector.  She manages a team of Business Development Managers across North America who work with Oracle customers to provide solid IT solutions to solve their business problems.
She was previously CEO of CipherSoft before the purchase of the company by Unify Corporation, a NASDAC publically traded company with headquarters in Roseville, California.  She managed the strategic direction of the company and drove the company’s dynamic growth.  Ms. McNeill utilizes her expertise in the Information Technology industry, which includes an emphasis on management consulting, legacy modernization, business development and management, and project planning.  She led CipherSoft to be named in Profit Magazine’s 50 Fastest Growing Companies.
Ms. McNeill has built a solid reputation as a business expert through her speaking engagements for audiences globally.  She speaks to Information Technology audiences, technology tradeshows, provides insight to numerous industry publications, and has been regularly featured in the Globe and Mail.  She also lectures regularly at the University of Calgary’s Executive MBA Program.  She has regularly presented to Senior levels of Government including the House of Commons in Canada where she presented recommendations for “Successful IT Strategies for Government".  She is a member of GTMA and ITAPs and serves as a board member for both these organizations.

Jim Pilgrim has over 20 years of IT experience ranging from application development to cloud strategy. For the past 15 years Jim has focused on managed IT services, product and services portfolio management, and defining methodologies that facilitate data center consolidation and transformation. For the past five years he has led numerous enterprise-class data center consolidation projects that included traditional IT infrastructure, virtualized environments, and Clouds (private, public and community). When working with clients he stresses the importance of comprehensive IT Governance as a precursor to any data center consolidation or transformation project and particularly whenever cloud technologies are involved. In his words, “Each application, each workload, each service has to be sufficiently secure, available, scalable, manageable, and meet cost objectives – in that order. Absence of comprehensive IT Governance represents the biggest risk for any organization moving to managed services and, especially, Cloud of any type.”  Jim is a PMP and is certified for ITIL Foundation and ITIL Service Strategy.

Overseeing application maintenance and development for public health management information systems, Ryan Sadler has 18 years of enterprise IT experience. These systems provide direct solutions for health assessments, benefit issuance, financial, and management services across a multi-state consortium spanning Arizona, American Samoa, CNMI, Guam, and the Navajo Nation. He has contributed in various industries such as transportation, health and medical, finance, and defense. Most recently, Ryan has led significant initiatives and new system implementations for the primary WIC Benefits Distribution, Vendor Management, and Clinic Search MIS solutions. These efforts have included targeted strategies for meeting the needs of modern participants in government programs including; mobile readiness, platform independence, scalability, and serviceability to meet user expectations for a modern web application. Currently, Ryan is refocusing efforts on managing the implementation of EBT for WIC in Arizona.

Jennifer is a web and new media professional with 15 years of experience in the online space. She began her work in online media as a web designer in the private sector and over the course of her career has lead teams of designers, developers, writers, and new media professionals. Jennifer is currently the Web & New Media Manager for the Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS), where she launched the agency’s social media efforts, is responsible for online community building strategy, web development and video production, and speaks and writes on the use of social media in the public sector. ADHS has been recognized as an early adopter of online social in Arizona state government and was named by MPHProgramsList.com as the #1 Most Friendly Social Media State Health Department for 2013.