Phil Bertolini is vice president of the Center for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. Previously, he served as deputy county executive and CIO for Oakland County, Michigan. During his 31-year tenure, Phil built a world-class IT organization in the second-largest county in Michigan, just north of Detroit. As Oakland County CIO, he oversaw more than 150 employees serving over 1.2 million residents. In 2005, he was also promoted to deputy county executive, holding dual positions until his retirement. Phil’s efforts earned the county national attention, winning numerous awards for technology innovation and excellence. He was named Governing Magazine’s Public Official of the Year and Government Technology Magazine’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers. He was also honored by the President Obama White House as a Champion of Change.

Wendy Blatt is the Area Vice President for DocuSign's State and Local team. She has been with DocuSign for four years, and leads the team, which supports the largest customers in the Western part of the United States. During this time she has helped countless State and Local entities streamline their business processes to save time, reduce risk, and provide better services to constituents and government employees. Throughout Wendy's career, she has also provided services to State and Local entities, while working for Oracle and Salesforce.

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.

Erich leads Accenture’s business and portfolio of clients in Hawai’i. He has 20 years of business consulting and technology experience working with companies across the public and private sectors. Leveraging a “glocal” approach (taking global experience and scale, and tailoring it locally), he looks to build trust-based relationships with his clients and partners and bring the innovation and thought leadership of Accenture to them. He always puts his clients’ interests first and looks for creative ways to find balance across capability, speed, and cost.
Originally from the Bay Area, Erich moved to Hawaii 15 years ago and lives in Honolulu with his wife Janalle and 2 children Cedric and Aria. Erich serves on the Executive Board of the Aloha Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and as the Inclusion and Diversity Accenture Recruiting Chair for Santa Clara University.

Alan is Executive Vice President of e.Republic and Publisher of Government Technology magazine and Techwire. In this role, Alan is involved in the annual production of dozens of events as well as the strategic direction for Governing, Government Technology, Emergency Management, the Center for Digital Government and the Center for Digital Education. Alan is also the senior executive that has overall charge of e.Republic’s research organization which includes, custom research, the Digital Government and Digital Education Navigator tool and the Content Studio (webinars and custom content).
Alan has been a guest lecturer at universities and a frequent speaker for key government and industry organizations. For over 35 years, Alan has worked with industry, education and government officials to help them better understand the importance and use of information technology. Alan received his Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration at California State University, Sacramento.

Brenda Decker most recently spent five years with IBM as a Director for Global Government Industry services. Prior to IBM, Brenda served in Nebraska state government for 37 years, 10+ years as the state's chief information officer with responsibility for state government computing, telecommunications, public safety radio, and video conferencing. Her expertise leading, transforming and managing large IT organizations has created high-performing teams and partnered cross functional public and private organizations. Her work has garnered both local and national recognition for her contributions to government technology.

Bryce Fujii is the IT Manager of the Technology Support Services Branch at the Office of Enterprise Technology Services for the State of HawaiÊ»i. He oversees enterprise shared services in the areas of Application and Cloud Services, Web Development, and Public Information Access. Bryce leads the teams that are responsible for the implementation and statewide adoption of Microsoft 365 services, Adobe electronic signature and Creative Cloud tools, Salesforce CRM solutions, Website Accessibility, and Open Data initiatives. His teams also manage a multi-cloud infrastructure, which includes both private and public environments. In addition, he leads an effort focused on elections web security, configuring a highly available and secured web infrastructure for the posting of election results. In 2012, he was involved in the State of HawaiÊ»i’s Website Modernization Project, which involved a re-platform of the State’s public facing web infrastructure, and the rebranding of a standardized web template that was built mobile-first, responsive, and accessible.

Mr. Hazama serves as the Business Management Officer for the State of Hawaii Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (DCCA). He formerly served as Chair of the Honolulu Planning Commission, State of Hawaii Apprenticeship Council and Mililani Mauka/Launani Valley Neighborhood Board. Prior to working at DCCA, Mr. Hazama worked for 35 years as Resource Management Officer at various Department of Defense agencies. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

The Office of Enterprise Technology Services’ Cyber Security Program is led by State Chief Information Security Officer, Vincent Hoang, who is responsible for securing State government information resources and infrastructure. He brings 20 years’ experience in developing and implementing effective information technology strategies, including the application of cybersecurity, network management, and systems design to improve business outcomes. Mr. Hoang 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. Mr. Hoang holds a wide variety of technical competencies and is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) Systems and Network Auditor (GSNA), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and Systems Auditor (CISA), Cisco Certified Design Professional (CCDP) and Associate (CCDA), and Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) and Associate (CCNA).

Joseph Morris is the deputy chief innovation officer for the Center for Digital Government and a national keynote speaker on issues, trends and drivers impacting state and local government and education. He has authored publications and reports on funding streams, technology investment areas and public-sector priorities, and has led roundtables, projects and initiatives focused on issues within the public sector. Joe has conducted state and local government research with e.Republic since 2007 and knows the ins and outs of government on all levels. He received his Bachelor of Arts in government and international relations from the California State University, Sacramento.

Zach Patton is the Chief Editor of the Content Studio at e.Republic and Government Technology. He has been covering the public sector for nearly 20 years. Until 2019, he was the Executive Editor of Governing magazine, where he also had served as a staff writer for more than a decade.

Burt manages a diverse NIC Hawaii team who develops and maintains over 150 digital government services through the eHawaii.gov portal program. The flexible funding models create innovation and efficiencies across the government landscape, and build viable solutions even amidst constraints in agency budgets, technical and/or staffing resources. Burt continually fosters strong, lasting relationships with nearly all state agencies and many county departments. His team works closely with man state department directors and deputies to determine appropriate use of technology and implement long term services and solutions for Hawaii citizens.

Cathilea is Chief Executive Officer of e.Republic, where she oversees operations for the company’s award-winning media platforms: Governing, Government Technology and Emergency Management. Cathilea also oversees e.Republic’s websites, conferences and events, and its national research and advisory groups: the Center for Digital Government, the Center for Digital Education and the Governing Institute.
In 2014 Cathilea directed the launch of the Governing Institute’s Women in Government Leadership Program, an innovative initiative that encourages future generations of women to participate in public service.
Cathilea is a frequent speaker for government and education organizations worldwide, including the United Nations, Harvard University, the State Legislative Leaders' Foundation, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Council of State Governments, and the World Congress on Information Technology. She has been quoted frequently in publications including the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Forbes and others.
Cathilea is a recipient of NASCIO’s National Technology Champion Award for her outstanding contributions to advance public sector information technology innovation. She is also the winner of an Outstanding Women Leadership Award from the Sacramento Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners and is a Greater Sacramento Business Hall of Fame Laureate.

Christine Sakuda is the executive director of Transform HawaiÊ»i Government (THG), a nonprofit organization established to catalyze the transformation of digital government services through people, process, and technology. We envision a digital state goverment that is accessible, accountable and responsive to the people of HawaiÊ»i and that enhances the quality of life for Hawai‘i’s citizens.
Prior to THG, Christine served in multiple non-profit leadership roles including 7 years as the executive director for the Hawaiʻi Health Information Exchange, an organization that connects the healthcare provider community across all Hawaiian Islands on a common IT network. She was also the information officer for the Hawaiʻi Primary Care Association.
Christine currently serves on the State’s Information Technology Steering Committee chaired by the State Chief Information Officer. She also is a co-host for the State’s Broadband Hui, a cross-section of more than 250 public and private stakeholders collaborating to bridge the state’s digital equity divide.
Prior Board memberships include the Hawaii Health Connector (Hawai`i Health Insurance Exchange), the Hawai’i Island Beacon Community, and the Hawai’i Health Information Exchange Board.
Christine earned a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from Santa Clara University and an MBA from the University of Hawai‘i Mānoa College of Business Administration.
Christine and her husband Mike are the proud parents of two 14-year olds.

Jussi Sipola functions as the Enterprise Architect for the State of Hawaii executive branch. In this role he oversees the state’s IT roadmap and IT portfolio management and provides consultation to the executive branch departments with their large-scale IT modernization initiatives.
Before joining the state in 2018, Jussi’s career spanned roles as a software developer, software architect, systems integrator, project/team manager, and a product manager. In these roles Jussi has launched and maintained software applications for organizations ranging from software start-ups to large organizations such as Fidelity Investments, Bank of America, Fidelity National Financial, Cheap Tickets / Cendant, Care.com, Hawaiian Telcom, the City and County of Honolulu, the State of Hawaii, the State of Michigan, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Deborah is an accomplished C-level influencer, with a broad range of experience in government, policy, cybersecurity, privacy and information technology. She is an experienced and highly respected thought leader who has held executive roles for over two decades. She recently retired from her position as New York state’s chief information security officer (CISO) after over 35 years of public service.
In that role, as part of New York state’s information technology transformation and consolidation initiative, she helped redesign how the state protects its data. As state CISO, she directed the state’s comprehensive cybersecurity governance, risk management and compliance program, providing strategic leadership and vision and assuring business-aligned, risk-based investments that maximized business opportunity and minimized cybersecurity risk. She also directed the NYS Cyber Command Center, hotline, procedures for reporting and response to cyberthreats and digital forensics.
She holds multiple industry certifications, including Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP); Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC); SANS Strategic Planning, Policy and Leadership (GSTRT) Global Information Assurance Certification; and Project Management Institute certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

Teri Takai is vice president of the Center for Digital Government, a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. She worked for Ford Motor Company for 30 years in global application development and information technology strategic planning. From Ford, she moved to EDS in support of General Motors. A long-time interest in public service led her to the government sector, first as CIO of the State of Michigan, then as CIO of the State of California and, subsequently, the CIO of the U.S. Department of Defense, the first woman appointed to this role. She then served as the CIO for Meridian Health Plan.
Teri is a member of several industry advisory boards. She has won numerous awards including Governing magazine’s Public Official of the Year, CIO Magazine’s CIO Hall of Fame, Government Technology magazine’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers, the Women in Defense Excellence in Leadership Award and the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service.

As Executive Editor at e.Republic, Steve is responsible for the coordination of editorial strategies and standards across all the firm’s media platforms. He directs the editorial teams that produce Government Technology, Emergency Management and Digital Communities and their respective Websites, in addition to developing and maintaining corporate policies and standards for editorial. Steve has over 20 years of writing and editing experience including more than 17 years covering technology in the state and local government market.
Steve joined e.Republic in 1996. During his tenure, e.Republic’s print and electronic media have received many awards for editorial excellence, including “Magazine of the Year” from ASBPE for Emergency Management in 2013, “Best New Web Site” from ASBPE for emergencymgmt.com in 2009, ”Best Overall Publication” at the Maggie awards for Government Technology in 2008 and “Magazine of the Year” from ASBPE for Public CIO in 2007.

Scott Uehara is the Director for the Department of Information Technology for the County of Hawai’i. He has over 20 years of experience in the field of programming, developing and implementing technology solutions, helpdesk management, and networking/server infrastructure. He has previously worked for US Army Garrison Hawai’i, HFS Federal Credit Union, and the University of Hawai’i at Hilo. He holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Hawai’i at Hilo.

Mark Wong began his IT career over four decades ago as a programmer/analyst with Yale University working with Unix and mainframes. In 1981, he started a consulting business specializing in Unix and TCP/IP, and incorporated it in 1986 as Commercial Data Systems. In 1989, when UH and CDS had the only official Internet networks in Hawaii, Wong installed a system at Honolulu Community College which is recognized as the first web server in the state.
Under Mark's leadership, CDS grew to be the largest local IT company in Hawaii. With a reputation for technical specialization, CDS' installations include the world's tenth fastest supercomputer. Mark sold CDS in 2012, and was appointed CIO for the City and County of Honolulu in 2013. Under his leadership, the City has undergone a major expansion of IT technology while simultaneously reducing IT spending.

As the University of HawaiÊ»i’s vice president for information technology and chief information officer (VPIT/CIO), Garret Yoshimi is responsible for UH systemwide information technology systems and services. Yoshimi provides executive leadership in collaboratively setting forth the overall vision, goals, strategies and plans for the effective and appropriate use of information technologies to advance the UH System.
Yoshimi joined UH in January 2015. Prior to serving as UH VPIT/CIO, Yoshimi was vice president and chief operating officer for eWorld Enterprise Solutions. He brings to the university more than 35 years of experience in information technology in both the public and private sectors in Hawaiʻi. He has served as the first CIO for the Hawaiʻi Judiciary, senior technology executive for the East-West Center and CIO for DTRIC Insurance.
Yoshimi also previously served as telecommunications manager before being promoted to director of technology infrastructure for the University of Hawaiʻi. He actively represented the University of Hawaiʻi in state and national venues as a member of EDUCAUSE, Internet2 and the Association for College and University Technology Advancement, which awarded him the Bill D. Morris award for individual leadership.
A native of Honolulu, Yoshimi earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University and a graduate certificate in telecommunications and information resource management from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.