Dennis has been in a creative leadership role for 25+ years. Dennis joined IBM iX as a part of the Resource Ammirati acquisition, where he held the position of Chief Creative Officer. As one of the agency’s longest-serving executives—he joined the company in 1993—Dennis has a clear, disciplined view of the evolution of creativity in all of its forms. He has been a consistent thread across the agency’s groundbreaking work, including Sherwin-Williams, The Wexner Center for the Arts, AT&T, Apple, Nestle, Hewlett-Packard, Pelotonia & Burton Snowboards. Dennis leads the Columbus IBM iX studio team of more than 80 designers, content creators, strategists & technologists who co-create with our client partners to ensure every brand experience delivers the perfect mix of emotion, utility, and usability. Dennis has also been honored to judge the One Show Awards, the Web Awards, CES Innovation Awards & the Shorty Social Content Awards. His direction has also contributed to the agency’s many awards, including ADDYs, Clios, and Webbys.
Dennis holds a BS in Industrial Design from The Ohio State University

Phil Bertolini is senior 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.

Shane Black brings 10 years of experience in human resources, management and problem solving to his position. He began his state government career while he was a student at Capital Law School as a legal intern with our Office of Collective Bargaining where he concentrated on labor relations.
He later joined the DAS Office of Legal Services as associate counsel focusing on employment law and human resources policy.

Vinod Brahmapuram is Senior Director of Security for state and local government and education markets at Lumen Technologies. With more than 25 years of information technology experience, Vinod has held cybersecurity leadership positions in three states, advising governors and legislators on key cyber issues. Before joining Lumen, he served as the State Chief Information Security Officer for the State of Washington.

Jeremy Brooks is an Associate Director for the Verizon Public Sector Team that handles all partnerships for Ohio and West Virginia. Jeremy has been with Verizon in numerous positions over the past 12 years and has always been a key member of the team that he was a part of. He is an alumni of the University of Akron, a U.S. Army Combat Veteran, and a husband to his loving wife & three sons. In his free time he helps coach youth sports and is an active member of the community in which he resides.

Jason is a Columbus-based Managing Director and certified PMP in Deloitte’s Government and Public Services Human Capital practice with over 16+ years’ experience driving large-scale program transformations in State government. Jason supports clients in harnessing the power of digital technologies, building new capabilities and achieving sustainable results through the delivery of human-centered change management solutions. As the Deloitte Human Capital Leader for the State of Ohio, Jason has spent the past 9+ years supporting Ohio Agencies on their digital enablement journeys with a focus on deploying innovative training, stakeholder readiness and communication strategies. Jason is an Ohio University graduate and resides in the Short North with his wife, Lauren and three kids.

Dave Cofer brings nearly 25 years of private sector (HR, Continuous Improvement and Entry Talent), consulting (Entry Talent Solutions) and non-profit (Community Development) leadership experience to his role as Director, Partnerships and Programs at Columbus State Community College in Columbus, Ohio. In this role, Dave is responsible for providing day-to-day program management and leadership to the College’s portfolio of earn-and-learn programming and for-credit programs designed to meet the lifelong learning and upskilling needs of incumbent workers. Dave earned a B.S. in Business (Human Resource Management & Organizational Behavior) from Miami University (Ohio), an M.A. in Education (Workforce Development; concentration in Human Resource Development) from The Ohio State University and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration from Ohio University.

Jordan Davis is Executive Director of Smart Columbus, the Columbus Region’s collaborative innovation lab, focused on advancing what is new and next at the intersection of technology and community good. Smart Columbus was founded in 2016 as the sole winner of the $50 million U.S. Department of Transportation’s Smart Cities Challenge. Jordan supported the work from vision to implementation, and, at the conclusion of the grant cycle, led the transition from a grant program to a financially sustainable organization.
In her work she has spearheaded the deployment of one of the country’s first self-driving vehicles on public roads, established an electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem that led to a 500% increase in EV adoption, laid the groundwork for affordable residential connectivity to close the digital divide, and established partnerships with over 100 different organizations—representing $720 million of aligned investment.
Jordan speaks to audiences around the world about her pioneering work and has been honored as one of the ‘Top 25 Government Doers, Dreamers, and Drivers’ by Government Magazine, ‘Top 100 Influential Young Executives’ by American City Business Journals, a ‘Rising Star’ by Automotive News, and one of ten Mercedes Benz Future of Mobility Fellows in the world.

Adam Frumkin is a results-driven leader with more than 25 years of experience in developing, directing, and executing business transformation and strategies in alignment with corporate objectives for both public and private sectors.
Mr. Frumkin was recently named as the Council Chair to the PTI Executive Committee of the City/County CIO Leadership Council and Vice President of the Ohio City/County Information Technology Association (OCITA). He is also a Certified Government Chief Information Officer (CGCIO). Previously he was a CIO for 9.5 years with an Ohio public entity and served on the board of Public Retirement Information Systems Management (PRISM). He has focused experience in strategic planning and implementation, cultural organizational development and emotional intelligence, process reengineering, enterprise system implementations and disaster recovery and business continuity planning.
Mr. Frumkin is an adjunct professor at The Ohio State University and teaches classes in Business Technology, Ethics, Project Management, and International Business.
In the past year, the Franklin County Data Center has received five awards: Nationally - Public Technology Institute / CompTIA 2020 Solutions Awards in Customer Service, Cybersecurity, and Collaboration Leads to Modern Data Analytics and Data Visualization. In Ohio - ComSpark Central Ohio Technology Power Player Awards, Winner of the Frontline Heros in Technology Award for Best Use of Technology by a Government Entity and Technology Executive of the Year.

Tommy Gardner is HP’s Chief Technology Officer for HP Federal, spanning the US Federal Agencies, Higher Education, K-12 Education, State and Local government customer segments, as well as Federal Systems Integrators. His current responsibilities include technology leadership, strategic technology plans, product and technology strategies, sales force technical support, and customer and partner relationships.
Previously, Tommy has served as the Chief Technology Officer for Jacobs Engineering, Scitor, and ManTech. Earlier in his career he was a senior technical executive at Raytheon. In the U.S. Navy he served as the Deputy for Science and Technology for the Chief of Naval Research. He oversaw the Navy’s Deep Submergence Program as well as its Advanced Technology Program. He also commanded the nuclear submarine, USS San Juan (SSN 751).
Tommy’s educational background covers multiple disciplines and fields of interest including: cybersecurity, data science, blockchain, quantum information science, artificial intelligence, high performance computing and systems integration.
Tommy holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, a Masters in Public Administration from Harvard University, an M.S. in Management of Technology from MIT and a Ph. D. in Energy Economics from George Washington University. He is a Professional Engineer, an ASME Fellow, and serves on the ASME Board of Governors, the ANSI Board of Directors and the U. S. Council on Competitiveness as the Co-chair of the Advanced Computer Roundtable.

Kristina Hagberg is the Deputy State Chief Information Officer for the State of Ohio Department of Administrative Services (DAS) Office of Information Technology.
As a key member of the State’s IT leadership team, Hagberg supports the responsibilities of the State CIO, working collaboratively to streamline and modernize State IT with a focus on digital experience, data analytics, enterprise shared services, and on premise or in public clouds.
She previously served as Chief Transformation Officer for the State of Ohio within DAS and continues to fulfill many of the responsibilities of that role.
Leading the Investment Governance Division, she develops and manages best practices and standards to ensure consistency for on time, on budget, quality and goal-focused programming and project delivery necessary to operational success. Hagberg also manages the Ohio Benefits Program, which serves more than three million Ohioans eligible for assistance through Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families Programs.
Prior to joining DAS in January 2019, she served as the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Strategy and Communications for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
Hagberg’s extensive private sector experience before joining State government included five years as a vice president for Huntington National Bank and a combined 17 years with the company. There, she served in multiple roles specializing in program and project management and leading business case development and program execution for high profile, multi-year strategic initiatives.

Kirk Herath is Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted’s Cybersecurity Strategic Advisor and Chairman of CyberOhio, the State of Ohio’s Cybersecurity Advisory Board. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Law at both Ohio State’s Moritz School of Law and Cleveland State’s Cleveland-Marshall Law School. Kirk retired as VP, Associate General Counsel and Chief Privacy Officer for Nationwide after 32 years.
For over two decades, Kirk was responsible for all legal and policy issues at a Fortune 100 financial services company impacting data governance, privacy, information security, technology and information systems, contracts and supply services management, third-party risk, confidentiality and data integrity.
He is Past President and past board member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals and is still active within the association. He also served on the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Data Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee from 2005 to 2011. He speaks regularly on a broad array of privacy, security and technology issues.
He received undergraduate degrees in political science and history from the University of Cincinnati and has a master’s degree in international affairs from the American University in Washington, D.C. He holds a JD from Capital University Law School in Columbus, Ohio, and is admitted to the Ohio Bar. Kirk is also a Certified Information Privacy Professional/US and Certified Information Privacy Professional/Government.

Kenny Holmes became the leader of go-to-market strategy for Public Sector at Fortinet in March 2019. He was selected due to extensive industry experience, expertise in a wide range of technologies, and his proven sales execution and analytics background. An advocate and speaker for the Public Sector, he has been in Information Technology for more than twenty years and held more than ten technology certifications and positions spanning from Engineering to Sales Executive. He is an expert in cybersecurity with a background in cryptography. He has worked in the Federal Government, State Governments, Research Institutions, and Universities on some of the largest security projects in the world. Kenny currently resides in the Chicagoland area with his amazing wife and ten-year old daughter. He spends as much time as possible with them including taking them along whenever possible on his business travels.

Brad is the Director of one of three regions in Google Cloud’s SLG and Higher Ed North American business unit. His Team's focus is AI, Analytics, Constituent Experience and Cyber Security. He has been working in enterprise technology for over 25 years with two decades spent at Novell and Oracle in leadership positions respectively. He is based out of Cary, NC where he lives with his wife and two small kids.

Nancy Kramer serves as the Global Chief Evangelist for IBM iX. She is the founder and former CEO of Resource/Ammirati, an award winning digital agency acquired by IBM in 2016. Recognized by Advertising Age as one of the “100 Most Influential Women in Advertising History,” Kramer has spent a lifetime as an entrepreneur in marketing and technology. In her role at IBM, she focuses on C-Suite client relationships with Chief Marketing Officers and Chief Digital Officers, as well as CEOs. She is a subject matter expert in the area of corporate vision, marketing, marketing experiences and marketing transformation.
Believing computers would change the world, Kramer launched Resource with Apple as its first client in 1981, growing the company into a multi-office, 350-associate digital marketing pioneer. Over three decades her team’s iconic work included many industry firsts, from creating Apple’s first interactive retail experience, to launching one of the internet’s first live streaming events which is memorialized in a time capsule at MIT Sloan’s School of Management to the first fully integrated social commerce experience, which received a U.S. patent.
Kramer serves on a number of boards, including Wexner Center for the Arts, The Columbus Foundation, The Columbus Partnership, The Wellington Initiative, Root Insurance and publicly traded MI Homes. Kramer is an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights, having testified in front of a Congress in support of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, and also named an LGBTQ Ally by Equality Ohio. Kramer is the founder of the FTT Foundation, which through the Free the Tampons campaign has launched a national discussion about access to feminine care products in public restrooms. She serves on the Global TEDx Council and has served as the Co-Organizer TEDx Columbus since its’ inception.

Kitty Hollingshead Mancil, SPHR, SHRM-SCP is Director of the Office of Talent Management for the State of Ohio. Kitty has a diverse and in-depth perspective into Statewide government operations through her experience at the Ohio Department of Taxation, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, and the Ohio Department of Administrative Services. In her current role, she leads the State’s Talent Management programs including Classification and Compensation, Talent Acquisition, Performance Management, and Learning and Talent Development. In this role, Kitty is energized by the opportunity to impact multi-faceted talent management at an enterprise scale. Kitty is also an MBA graduate of Franklin University and is a certified Senior Human Resources professional through HRCI and SHRM. She welcomes connections on LinkedIn.

Head of Strategic Partnerships, data.world

Patrick McGarry is currently building the thriving data ecosystem around data.world as the Head of Strategic Partnerships. He has spent the last 20 years helping to build communities and foster Open Source ideals at companies like Sourceforge/Slashdot, Alcatel-Lucent, and Perforce. Most recently Patrick served as the Director of Community for the Ceph open source project at the startup ‘Inktank,’ and later for Red Hat after a successful acquisition. Patrick also serves as the Executive Director of DataPractices.org, a community-led Linux Foundation project to promote data literacy and data best practices. Patrick enthusiastically helps companies to understand and adopt Open Source ideals and continues to be a strong advocate for building data-driven culture across organizations.

Born in Columbus and raised in Central Ohio, Sam Orth has spent the last 39 years helping government and education use technology to create value for the citizens of Ohio. He joined Mayor Ginther’s team as Chief Technology Officer and Director of Technology on July 3, 2016.
His focus at the city has been helping the Mayor, Cabinet and city modernize how IT is used to serve the citizens of Columbus and the region. His first major initiative was partnering with Public Safety to adopt the city’s first body-warn camera program.
Other major projects have included creation of the city’s first Data Analytics and Integration program, modernization of the city’s data centers and infrastructure, adoption of a new 311 platform, and expanding technology access for city employees to enable telework during the pandemic.
He is currently working with the Public Safety to adopt the city’s next generation public safety video systems and is working with the Smart Columbus and the Digital Equity Coalition to address the Digital Divide in Columbus and the region.
Prior to serving as the CTO for Columbus he served as the CTO for the Management Council of the Ohio Education Computer Network, and State Chief Information Officer for the State of Ohio. While at State CIO he worked with IT leaders across government to modernize state IT operations by fostering inter-agency collaboration, IT consolidation and shared services. While at the state, he chaired the Ohio Broadband Council and Multi-Agency Radio Communication steering committee and served on the OARNet Governing Board.
From 1997 to 2004, Sam served as the Executive Director of the Ohio SchoolNet Commission where his team implemented nearly $1B in educational technology programs - including expanding the capacity of broadband connectivity for Ohio’s schools and placing over 600,000 computers in Ohio’s classrooms. While at SchoolNet, he was a founding partner with OARNet to fund and light what was then known as the Third Frontier Network. TFN grew to become what we know as the Broadband Ohio OarNet network today.
Before joining state government in 1996, he spent 14 years in the private sector IT where he owned his own consulting company, worked for central Ohio computer resellers and served as a Systems Engineer and Market Development Executive for Apple Computer. His private sector career was focused extensively on K-12 and government.
He is passionate about information technology’s role in serving government and education, and is well known for his collaborative, team-oriented, citizen-focused approach.

Mark J. Smith began service as Chief Information Officer at the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services in July of 2021. The department is responsible for supporting Ohio’s workforce and unemployment programs, along with the programs for child protective services, foster care and adoption, cash assistance, food assistance, and child support. The agency is also responsible for the end-point support of 17,000 users in 180 county departments, administering the above statewide programs.
Prior to joining JFS, Mark served as the Chief Operating Officer at OIT in the Ohio Department of Administrative Services. Over the course of a 29-year career in state service, he has also held leadership positions at the Ohio Attorney General’s Office and Ohio Office of Budget and Management.
Mark lives in central Ohio, is a graduate of Franklin University, and carries Katrina’s coat when called upon.

Thomas Steegmann is a Principal Architect for AT&T Public Sector Solutions supporting the mid-Atlantic region. Tom has been in the telecommunications industry for 20+ years, focused on next generation, enterprise solutions encompassing data communications and complex integration across multiple environments. Tom is currently focused on helping his Government customers modernize their workforce and infrastructure via mobility and cloud technologies, including IOT, Smart Cities, and the Digital Divide.

As National Conference Director for Government Technology magazine, Zachary produces, manages and emcees government IT conferences throughout the country.

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.

Voderberg has worked in state government for many years, including in the Ohio House and Senate, and most recently served as an Assistant Policy Director in Governor Mike DeWine’s Office. He previously worked as Managing Director of Policy and Regulation for DriveOhio, which worked under the Ohio Department of Transportation to study and promote the future of smart mobility in Ohio. He received a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Dayton.

Spencer is the Chief Information Officer for the Ohio Secretary of State Office since January of 2019, focusing on Leading the Information Technology Department, Cyber Security and supporting combating Disinformation. Prior to that, Spencer served as Governor John R. Kasich’s Assistant Policy Director for Technology and Innovation. Spencer led the State’s policy development in various areas of technology, including autonomous vehicles, broadband, cybersecurity/defense, data analytics, distributed ledger (blockchain), educational technologies, robotic assistants, smart cities, technology economic development and unmanned aerial vehicles (drones). Spencer was also the Chief Operating Officer for the Ohio Department of Administrative Services and the Interim CIO for the Ohio Department of Administrative Services.
Spencer is also a member of the CISA’s Election Infrastructure Subsector Government Coordinating Council Training Working Group, National Association of Secretaries of State - IT/Cybersecurity Leadership Group and a member of the Rapid Architecture Based Election Technology Verification Project of the Center for Internet Security (CIS).

Morgan is an internationally recognized expert on cybersecurity strategy, cyberterrorism, identity theft and privacy. Morgan's landmark testimony before Congress on Healthcare.gov changed how the government collected personally identifiable information. He is currently a contributor to TheHill.com on matters of cybersecurity, national security and intelligence in addition to his national news appearances. Previously, Morgan was a senior advisor in the U.S. State Department Antiterrorism Assistance Program and senior law enforcement advisor for the 2012 Republican National Convention. In addition to 18 years in state and local law enforcement as a highly decorated state trooper and detective, Morgan has developed solutions in defense, justice and intelligence for the largest technology companies in the world including Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent/Bell Labs, Unisys and SAIC.