Washington DC: Speakers
Luis Medina, Electronic Media Marketing & Communications Analyst, GSA: Since 2000, Mr. Medina has been working for the General Services Administration (GSA). His roles include Information Technology Specialist with the Office of Governmentwide Policy, CMS Operations Manager with the Citizen Services and Communications Division, and Electronic Media Communications & Marketing Specialist with the Federal Acquisition Service. Mr. Medina holds a Ph.D in Sociology with Certification in Demographics from S.U.N.Y at Albany, a Juris Doctorate from Albany Law School, and a Bachelors in Political Science/Latin American Caribbean Studies from S.U.N.Y at Albany. Mr. Medina has a personal interest in finding ways in which the government can harness the potential of information technology as a means to increase efficiencies in the processes for affecting its business priorities. He also enjoys scuba diving; and he and his partner are expecting three babies in February 2011.
Jeff Walpole, CEO and Co-founder, Phase2 Technology: Jeff Walpole is the co-founder and CEO of the leading open source professional services firm in the Washington DC area, Phase2 Technology which focuses on clients and solutions in the online publishing, public policy, open government, and advocacy sectors. For the last nine years, Jeff has led this firm from inception to a bustling 40 person consultancy recognized as one of the most experienced and adept in the use of Drupal as a platform. Jeff has a background that includes over fifteen years in the software business including twelve in website and CMS development. Jeff holds a Masters in Business Administration, with a concentration in the Management of Global Information Technology, from the Kogod School of Business at American University and a Bachelors degree from Tulane University in Political Science.
Tom Stickle, Lead Solution Architect, Amazon Web Services: Mr. Stickle is the lead solution architect for the Amazon Web Services (AWS) partner ecosystem. His duties at AWS include assisting strategic ISV’s in on-boarding platforms and software offering to the cloud environment. Tom is also focused on promoting cloud security to support the US Federal business. Prior to joining AWS, Tom had an extensive career in information security and engineering as the VP of Engineering at Forum Systems and as a Principal Program Manager at Microsoft.
Dave Cole, Senior Advisor to the CIO, Executive Office of the President: Mr. Cole is responsible for interactive technology strategy and development, as well as the daily operation of WhiteHouse.gov —the official website of the President of the United States. Prior to this role, Dave served as the Deputy Director for Technology at the White House Office of New Media, where he led a team of designers and developers to build a new open source web platform for WhiteHouse.gov . Before joining the White House staff, Dave coordinated the redesign of WhiteHouse.gov as part of the Obama-Biden Transition team. He also worked on the Obama for America campaign in several states as a data analyst and field organizer. Dave is a graduate of Rutgers University, where he studied political science, history, and computer engineering.
Deb Moriarty, Program Manager, GDIT: Deb Moriarty has over 20 years experience serving the public and private sectors achieving their technological goals. For 12 years she has been working for General Dynamics IT (GDIT) where she has been key on several highly successful programs. Deb earned her MS in Information Technology with a CIO certification in 2005. Customers’ programs include the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission as the COTS Manager, the U.S. Senate as a Task Order Project Manager and currently with the Executive Office of the President (EOP) as Program Manager for WHITEHOUSE.GOV. At the U.S. Senate, she was responsible for the creation of the highly successful IT Catalog, a full lifecycle intranet product fulfillment experience for Senate offices. Several technology refresh task orders for the US Capitol Police and the Library of Congress were also successfully accomplished. Since November 2008, she has led the GDIT team for Managed Web Services for the EOP which includes the successful site launch on Drupal. This site debuted in October 2009 meeting the administration’s goal of increased transparency. Deb attributes the success of WHITEHOUSE.GOV to a dedicated team of professionals, excellent communications and an innovative and adaptive platform.
Brian Behlendorf, Advisor to HHS and World Economic Forum: Brian Behlendorf is an entrepreneuer and consultant focused on the intersection of Open Source software communities and public policy. As a Collaboration Advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Brian is focused on making the "NHIN CONNECT" and "NHIN Direct" projects successful examples of a new approach to public/private partnership, and effective industry-standard tools for the exchange of electronic health data. In 2009, Brian worked at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on its Open Government Initiative, which involved using idea-ranking and collaborative authoring tools to set an agenda for Open Government. From 1999 to 2007, Brian founded and served as CTO at CollabNet, a company that builds collaborative software development tools to support Open-Source-style development processes and communities. Brian continues to serve on the Board of Directors at CollabNet. Brian also serves on the Board of Directors at two non-profits, the Mozilla Foundation, and Benetech.
Dries Buytaert, Acquia CTO and Co-founder: Dries is the original creator and project lead for the Drupal open source web publishing and collaboration platform. He serves as president of the Drupal Association, a non-profit organization formed to help Drupal flourish. A native of Belgium, Dries holds a PhD in computer science and engineering from Ghent University. Dries' Blog: http://buytaert.net
Anna Murray, President e*media division, tmg-emedia: Anna's career is synonymous with the emergence of new media and the interactive space. After graduating from Summa Cum Laude from Yale, she taught English and drama, while working on her Masters degree in Journalism from Columbia University. There, her thesis won the James A. Weschler scholarship. Before founding e*media in 1996, Anna worked for NewsOne, the ABC News satellite feed service, and World News Tonight. Over the past ten years, Anna has gained national recognition as an Internet specialist for her ability to craft online programs for national and international companies. In 2004, e*media was acquired by the Technology Management Group to form tmg-e*media, inc. where she now serves as the President of the e*media division of the combined companies.
Andrew Schwartz, Senior Vice President for External Relations, CSIS: H. Andrew Schwartz is senior vice president of external relations at CSIS and is responsible for directing the Center’s media relations, congressional relations, Statesman's Forums, publications, Web site, marketing, and other external relations matters. Prior to joining CSIS, Schwartz was a spokesman for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), America’s pro-Israel lobby. Before that, he was a producer for the Fox News Channel’s Special Report with Brit Hume and subsequently served as a White House producer for the network. As a print journalist, Schwartz writes frequently for the Washington Post, Washington Times, and various national newspapers and magazines on music and culture.
Gray Brooks, FCC: Gray Brooks serves the Federal Communications Commission, integrating new media into the agency with a specific focus on the comprehensive overhaul of its web presence and unlocking the agency data to the public. He began his new media work in 2003 on the web team of Howard Dean's presidential campaign, with responsibilities including the management of Get Local, the groundbreaking social organizing tool that would evolve into the suites used by campaigns in 2008. With the launch of Barack Obama's presidential exploratory committee, he served as New Media Ombudsman, assisting the New Media Director in liaising amongst each New Media team and with other departments.