Rebecca most recently served as the Chief Data Officer for New York State’s Office of Information Technology Services and has 24 years of digital, data, analytics, and decision intelligence experience in the private sector. She holds an MBA from the University of South Carolina.

Darren Cantrill has been HDOT’s IT Manager since 2020, responsible for the planning, developing, implementing, and maintaining the back-office systems at the Department of Transportation. Darren and his teams are responsible for desktop support, data center operations, application development, and network infrastructure for all HDOT locations. Darren functions as the chief information officer of the Department and works closely with the other IT coordinators in each transportation division (Airports, Highways, and Harbors).
Darren has more than 25 years’ experience in developing and implementing effective information technology strategies through data-driven decisions. Darren has served in a management role for data center operations, production control, test operations, configuration management, development operations, and helpdesk.

Stephen Courtney was appointed as Deputy Director for the City and County of Honolulu Department of Information Technology (DIT) in February 2021. He is responsible for the day-to-day management of the department which delivers Information Technology (IT) services to Honolulu’s residents, businesses, employees, and visitors as well as other City departments. The DIT performs application development with the latest languages, network design and engineering for data, video, VoIP, teleconferencing, and radio systems, cybersecurity and infrastructure support, maintenance of multiple data centers 24/7, and the running of Drivers License/Motor Vehicle Registration and Enterprise Resource Planning systems.
He was also appointed as a board member to the Hawai‘i Enhanced 911 Board in May 2022 where he performs administration of the Enhanced 911 Fund.
He previously worked in IT with the Intelligence Community and Depart of Defense contracts for over 35 years while in the Washington DC area. Stephen holds a BS Electrical Engineering degree from Drexel University and MBA-Finance from American University.

Charles Elliott is a Field CTO and Practice Lead within Google Cloud dedicated to empowering state, local, and education customers with cutting-edge AI solutions. His expertise lies in leveraging Google Cloud's vast capabilities to transform public services, accelerate research and scale development teams. With over 15 years of experience in Big Data, Analytics, and AI, Charles has a proven track record of helping clients design and implement innovative cloud-based solutions that streamline government operations, enhance community engagement, and optimize workloads.  Charles is also a trusted technical advisor to research institutions and actively champions the integration of cloud technologies in government and academic advisory boards.

Head of Mandiant Cyber Security Solutions, State, Local and Education, Mandiant / Google Public Sector

Mr. Ford is 30-year veteran in cybersecurity, crisis response, and intelligence-led cyber operations in both government and commercial sectors. Prior to joining Mandiant, Mr. Ford served in executive leadership roles for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Mr. Ford served as the responsible executive to the U.S.
Cryptologic Centers for strategic and tactical oversight of global cyber operations and key asset protection. In these roles. Mr. Ford developed the framework used by the U.S. Government to manage risk of cyber threats supporting government and critical infrastructure capabilities receiving recognition by the White House National Security Council and the United States Congress.
Currently, Mr. Ford serves as the Head of Mandiant cyber security solutions to State, Local and Education markets as well as professional service solutions. Mr. Ford leads operations, strategy and solution for our global partners, and globally leads Mandiant’s Insider Threat risk offerings. Mr. Ford coaches boards and executives on how to measure and manage enterprise risk, regularly speaks at industry conferences. Mr. Ford is a member of the Geneva Dialogue on Responsible Behaviour in Cyberspace and the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise. Mr. Ford is the founder of Mandiant's Elevate program to advance women in IT security into senior leadership and Board positions.
Mr. Ford serves as an adjunct professor teaching advanced curricula on cybersecurity and risk frameworks at St. Mary’s University. Mr. Ford is a graduate of Harvard, John F. Kennedy School on Cybersecurity Policy; and a graduate of Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Business in Strategic.

Nadia Hansen is a senior executive leading the Go-ToMarket strategy for local government across the USA and Canada at Salesforce. Nadia is a former CIO, board member, and recognized government leader who brings two decades of enterprise technology experience building a wide range of products, teams, and operations around the world across both public and private entities. As the former Chief Information Officer for Clark County, Las Vegas, the largest county in the State of Nevada with more than 2.4 million residents, 45 million annual visitors, and an $8 billion budget, Nadia spearheaded the technology innovation, strategy, and delivery of mission-critical services for the organization. She established Las Vegas as an innovation and technology hub for startups and budding businesses and is a key driver in engaging regional technology partners. Nadia created a first-ever technology strategic plan for the county with public-facing commitments, including the vision and mission for a unified customer experience 5 years out. She outlined the strategy and created a roadmap for improving public accessibility through Omni-channels - website, email, phone, and mobile and to bridge the digital divide.

Deputy Director, Department of Commerce & Consumer Affairs, State of Hawaii

Dean Hazama serves as Deputy Director for the State of Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA). Appointed in January 2023, he is responsible for the management of the department and its mission to protect Hawaii’s consumers and ensure effective and timely oversight of the regulatory environment for businesses and consumers.
Mr. Hazama has extensive institutional experience in fiscal, budget, and legislative management and brings a strong passion to serve the people of Hawaii.  He previously served in various federal positions at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard including as Technical Director of the Pacific Fleet Technical Support Center, Logistics Officer for the Pacific Defense Information Systems Agency, and Business and Material Officer for the Defense Logistics Agency Maritime Pearl Harbor. Following his federal service, he joined the State of Hawaii as Business Management Officer at DCCA and at the Hawaii Department of Transportation.
He is Chair of the Mililani Mauka/Launani Valley Neighborhood Board and former chair of the Honolulu Planning Commission and State Apprenticeship Council and is a graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in Accounting from the Shidler College of Business.

The Office of Enterprise Technology Services’ Cyber Security Program is led by State CISO, Vincent Hoang, who is responsible for securing state government information resources and infrastructure. He brings 25 years’ experience in developing and implementing effective information technology strategies, including the application of cybersecurity, network management and systems design to improve business outcomes. Vincent most recently served as the enterprise architect for Hawaiian Telcom, where he secured infrastructure for customers and conducted network architecture, performance, security risk and systems infrastructure assessments. He also worked as a senior systems consultant for Bank of Hawaii and a security engineer for Munger, Tolles and Olson in Los Angeles, CA.

Semona Houghlan is an Account Executive for the Center for Internet Security, Inc.®. She is a member of the CIS Services team, which works with our nation’s State, Local, Territorial, and Tribal (SLTT) governments and public education institutions to provide subsidized costs cybersecurity resources and services. Semona manages the CIS Services for MS-ISAC® members in the Western half of the US. Her presentation will highlight those no-cost services as well as some pertinent low-cost services and contact information for the people who can assist you.

In his Business Architect role at the State of Hawaii's Office of Enterprise Technology Services, Juha Kauhanen advises strategic IT modernization efforts. With over 25 years of experience in digital transformations, he champions a vision of accessible, user-centric government services that truly serve Hawaii's residents. In his current role, he focuses on cohesive digital approaches and solutions that effectively bridge technology with departments' internal and citizens' needs. His international experience in IT governance and management adds perspectives to Hawaii's journey toward more efficient, inclusive digital government services.

Anton Krucky is currently serving as Director of the Department of Community Services.  Before coming to the Department of Community Services, he served as the Executive Director of the Office of Housing, City and County of Honolulu. He previously was the General Manager of IBM Pacific, and President & CEO of Tissue Genesis, Inc.  Anton also consulted in Leadership Management and Strategic Planning for his company HSM Concepts, Inc.
Anton attended the University of Maryland with a degree in Criminology.

Tom Ku has over 30 years of experience in IT and has worked in a wide range of industries including Higher Education, Financial, Systems Integration, and others.  He now currently enjoys working for the State as part of the ETS Ohana. 

Mark Lennon is a senior executive and public sector digital strategist with a unique background that includes 27 years as a U.S. Navy Intelligence Officer (active duty and reserves) and 23 years serving in and supporting government at every level: local, state, federal and internationally. He is currently a Managing Director with Accenture and leads their public sector strategy and innovation business globally. Prior to Accenture, Mark was the Head of Global Public Sector Strategy at Apple, where he collaborated with government leaders worldwide to establish innovative digital mobility programs to solve pressing operational and civic challenges. This included leading Apple’s efforts to support the State of California prior to and during the rollout of the COVID vaccine.
At Accenture and Apple, Mark has been a trusted advisor to governments around the world at the highest levels, overseeing a $6B portfolio of programs and partnerships focused on reimagining government and bringing digital innovation solutions to address some of of the most intractable challenges in government in the areas of defense, public safety, health, government operations and digital identity.
As an Active Duty and Reserve Naval Officer, Mark began his career as a Japanese linguist, and has completed three tours with the Navy’s elite SEAL Teams, including a combat deployment to Iraq with SEAL Team 7. He was hand-selected by the Office of Secretary of Defense to serve in the Defense Innovation Unit, where he has led strategic engagement with allied countries’ defense organizations since 2019 to jointly accelerate the adoption of commercial solutions in the defense sphere. He recently completed an active-duty deployment to Europe in support of the war in Ukraine. While on deployment, he advised the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Digital Transformation in rapidly setting up a defense innovation organization and also led the rapid acquisition of commercial technology solutions to deploy on the battlefield.
Mark has a longstanding relationship with the government of Ukraine and serves as an unpaid advisor to the Zelensky administration, where he chairs the Defense Innovation Council and coordinates with commercial sector and non-profits to bring funding and innovative solutions to Ukraine to support the war and reconstruction.
He holds a master’s degree in public policy from the London School of Economics and a bachelors degree in political science from the University of California San Diego.

Bob manages the relationship & partnership with Hawaii and Los Angeles County for Salesforce Global Public Sector, based in Los Angeles.
He joined Salesforce in January 2014 after a 20+year public sector career in Technology Sales. From 1994 to 1998, he served as District Sales Manager for Panasonic’s Personal Computer Division, focused on Public Safety mobile use cases for Law Enforcement. Bob worked with the San Diego Police Department in transforming their mobile digital strategy for in-vehicle reporting and video. Joining GTSI in 1998 as their Western Region Manager, Bob was responsible for managing both field sales and inside sales teams for the 13-state western region, expanding GTSI’s State & Local Government footprint. In 2005, Bob became a member of the Unisys Global Outsourcing and Infrastructure Services (GOIS) team, working closely with Los Angeles County, and specifically the Department of Public Social Services (DPSS), in modernizing the County’s eligibility system, LEADER.
Bob began his concentration in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) with his move to Verint (Lagan) in 2008, continuing his work with DPSS, as Vice President of Western Sales, and broadening Verint’s account base in the western US. In 2011, he joined the Oracle team in Southern California and further expanded his portfolio in CRM to include the implementation of the City of Los Angeles’ 311 system, MyLA311, in 2013, along with other CRM projects in Arizona, California, Colorado and Utah.
An alumnus of the University of Notre Dame and Loyola University Chicago, Bob, and his wife, Kajon, have raised three daughters in Southern California, who are all on their own life’s adventures. Bob and his wife split their time between their 40’ Sea Ranger in Marina del Rey and their ranch in the San Jacinto Mountains in SoCal.

Steve Sakamoto is the Chief of the Health Information Systems Office at the Hawaii Department of Health.  In this role he provides visionary leadership and oversight for the information systems and technology, coordinating department-wide IT projects across multiple administrations for critical public health initiatives.  He is a senior-level individual with IT experience encompassing technical, operational, business, management, and leadership skills.  His expertise spans a wide range of areas including cloud and mobile computing, project management, data management, enterprise SOA, artificial intelligence, and data security.
Prior to working at the State, he held key IT positions at Aloha Airlines, Inc., where he demonstrated his proficiency in infrastructure management, network design, system integration, and project management.  Steve holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Information and Computer Science from the University of Hawaii-Manoa.

Filifotu is a telecommunications management executive with over 15 years experience in leadership roles within Internet, wireless, fixed line & ICT service providers in the Pacific region & US. Successful in driving operational efficiencies, strategy and product development, campaign planning and execution, delivering against aggressive financial & operational KPIs. Experienced in delivering Corporate rebrands across regional markets, Commercial due diligence assessment and team integration in mergers and acquisitions. Brings strong leadership skills and ability to motivate and mobilize teams to deliver shared goals.