Mayor Adriano Allessandrini, City of Segrate, Italy

Tim Scott, Global Business Development, Axia NetMedia Corporation

Dr. Andrew Clement, Professor, Faculty of Information Studies, University of Toronto

Chris Cope, Economic Development Consultant City of Ottawa

Janet DiFrancesco, Director General Broadband, Industry Canada

Nancy Flam, Project Director, Broadband for Rural Nova Scotia Initiative

Joe Fournier, WISELAB, Communications Research Centre Canada

Stèphane Gallant, Director of Operations, NEOnet Inc.

Daniel Sarasa Funes, Telecom Program Manager, City of Zaragoza (Spain)

Scott Liske, Director of Technology Services, City of Appleton, Wisconsin

Bill Macdonald, VP Products and Services, Barrett Xplore Inc. (BXI)

Stanley M. Makuch, Partner, Cassels Brock

Dr. Catherine Middleton, Associate Professor, School of Information Technology Management, Ryerson University

Robert Proulx, président, Xittel telecommunication

David Robinson, VP New Business Planning, Rogers Wireless Partnership

Craig Settles, President, Successful.com
Internationally recognized industry analyst and leading broadband business strategist featured on CNN, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Time Magazine

Craig Stumpf, Network Architect, City of Mississauga

Bob Tunis, Economic Development Director, City of Sanford, Florida

Lynn Willenbring, CIO, City of Minneapolis, Minnesota

 
Mayor Adriano Allessandrini
City of Segrate, Italy

Manager in the field of information technology, Mayor of Segrate since 2005. He starts to take active part to the city political life in 2000, when he is first appointed assessor for sports and free time and then assessor to public works.
Today he is President of the Mayors Assembly of the province of Milan and administrative consultant of the study centre for the inter municipal Milanese programming (PIM), a research and planning- programming organism of the territory and of local social-economic development.
In representation of Segrate, he is Vice president for Europe and treasurer of the Global Cities Dialogue (GCD), an association of 195 cities all over the world, born in Bremen in 2000 following the “Helsinki declaration” of November 1999.
As President of the Mayors Assembly of the province of Milan, he works with the administrators of the other 188 municipalities on strategic topics as the development and management of the territory, mobility and viability, environment and energy.

In his role of Vice president for Europe of the Global Cities Dialogue, he is committed with projects on security, mobility, educational and cultural field, aimed to improve the citizen’s life quality through the sharing of experiences with other realities and organizations all over the world. In this context, one of the key passages is the fight against digital divide towards a “digital solidarity”, consisting in promoting the access of everybody to new technologies and to the services they allow to realize, removing the differences between those who can usually utilize them and those who are excluded.
Furthermore in his activity of Mayor of Segrate, e-government and e-democracy are the passwords in the field of service computerization for the citizens, of certifications and administrative procedures and the basis of the projects Segrate senza fili –wireless Segrate, for free wireless internet surfing in parks and in all public buildings, Wimax for the coverage of the territory with wireless wide band technology and the city video surveillance, E-education to promote the use of multimedia technologies between young people.
Quality, sustainability and excellence are the guidelines also as regards to government of the territory, use of clean energy such as photovoltaic and solar panels, experimentation of
environment sustainable materials at the leading edge to dull pollution, alternative mobility solutions within the project “Emissione zero – zero emission”.

Janet DiFrancesco
Director General Broadband,
Industry Canada

Janet DiFrancesco has recently joined Industry Canada to lead the team responsible for implementing the new broadband program announced in Budget 2009.  Janet has more than 18 years of public service experience at both the provincial and federal levels of government.  She has extensive policy and legislative experience, as well as significant experience in the areas of program design and delivery.  Most recently, she worked for the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) where she led the creation of a business transformation and modernization division within the Operations sector.

Nancy Flam
Project Director,
Broadband for Rural Nova Scotia Initiative

Nancy Flam is a senior Corporate Strategist with the Nova Scotia Department of Economic and Rural Development.  She played an integral role in building the provincial Internet Strategy, Broadband for Rural Nova Scotia (BRNS) that is bringing high-speed Internet to all Nova Scotians, with emphasis on speed and pricing comparable to urban centres.  In December 2007, she was appointed Project Director for implementation of the BRNS initiative.  As well as overseeing the network build, Nancy leads the change management strategy ‘Planning for a High Speed Future,’ which takes a strategic approach to community economic and social development by helping communities take full advantage the provincial investment in this powerful piece of infrastructure.

Nancy is a Certified Management Accountant and holds a Masters in Public Administration.  She has more than 20 years of experience that spans all three levels of government.

Stèphane Gallant
Director of Operations
NEOnet Inc.

Stéphane Gallant is the Director of Operations for NEOnet, a regional not-for-profit technology development organization for northeastern Ontario. Stéphane has been with the NEOnet team since 2001.  His project portfolio includes information and communications technology (ICT) initiatives including broadband and cellular expansion as well as ICT awareness building projects. He has written dozens of successful funding requests for projects and has seen them through to completion.

Stéphane holds a bachelor’s degree in arts specialized in psychology, and a master’s degree in business administration (MBA). He is also certified as a management consultant.

Stéphane is a board member for the Caisse Populaire de Timmins and sits on the Northern College business advisory panel. He is the president of the Timmins and District Canadian Red Cross as well as the Canadian Red Cross Northern Region Council and is a member of the Canadian Red Cross Ontario zone council.

Please help me welcome Stéphane…

Developing a Strong Business Case In Order to Secure Government Funding for Your Broadband Deployment Plans

Existing and newly announced funding for broadband deployments in rural/under-served regions presents a significant opportunity for Canadian municipalities to bring the benefits of a high-speed wired or wireless network to their communities.  However, it is essential to have a firm grasp of the procedure of applying for funds, presenting a viable and convincing business case and ensuring that all the necessary details of the application are addressed effectively.  
 
This workshop takes a step-by-step approach to securing government funding by analyzing the process, the requirements, how to set your proposals apart and present your case convincingly.
 
Attend and learn key strategies that will prepare you to secure funding and make your broadband vision a reality.

Scott Liske
Director of Technology Services
City of Appleton, Wisconsin

Scott is the Technology Services Director for Appleton, Wisconsin, and has been with the City since 1992 when he transferred there as a police officer. He has often been recognized for his ability to effectively promote and implement technology to enhance efficiency.  He was asked to serve as the organization’s Technology Services Director in 1999. Scott is currently responsible for the overall leadership and administration of  his department as well as all technology related programs for the City. He was instrumental in crafting a partnership with other local Cities, Counties and Schools in the area of northeast Wisconsin known as the Fox Cities. The Interactive Network of the Fox Cities (INFOCIS), which he serves as chairperson strives to maximize the collaborative, cost effective use of technology.

Scott earned his bachelor’s degrees in Criminal Justice and Business Administration in 1990, graduating Magna Cum Laude. In addition to experience in managing the technology resources of the city, and previous work in law enforcement, he retired as a Major in the Wisconsin Army National Guard in 1994 with over 20 years of service. Scott is married, has two teenage boys and the family enjoys camping, biking and traveling.

Bill Macdonald
VP Products and Services
Barrett Xplore Inc. (BXI)

Bill Macdonald is VP Products and Services for Barrett Xplore Inc (BXI).  In this role, Bill is responsible for driving profitable revenue growth through identifying, prioritizing, and implementing new internet products and solutions for Xplornet’s business and residential Internet customers.  Bill is also responsible for BXI’s Business Development and M&A activity nationally.  Prior to BXI, Bill was an independent management consultant to leading Canadian telecom providers (such as Bell West and TELUS), rural telecom providers (such as Ontera), and electric utilities pursuing telecom strategies (such as ENMAX Envision).  The focus of his work being on market planning, product planning, take to market strategies and included defining/developing commercial services that leverage the Alberta SuperNet.  Prior to his consulting work, Bill held a number of progressively senior roles within TELUS, most recently as VP Strategy and Business Development for TELUS Business Solutions.  Bill sits on various boards including WiTec Alberta - a wireless and telecom industry association; and he was co-chair and one of the initial founders of “Wireless City”, a Calgary Economic Development Initiative focused on enhancing the Wireless and Telecom industry cluster in Calgary.

Craig Settles
President
SUCCESSFUL.COM

For over 20 years Craig Settles' workshops, consulting services and books help government and other organizations worldwide understand how to use technology to cut costs, increase revenue and improve business operations. He currently is helping public and private sector organizations pursue broadband grants. His book, Fighting the Good Fight for Municipal Wireless, together with many in-depth analysis reports, established Mr. Settles as a prominent thought leader on appropriate business strategies for municipal broadband network deployments. His company, Successful.com, has consulted with various communities in the U.S., and Mr. Settles is a frequent speaker internationally on the subject.

Craig Stumpf
Network Architect
City of Mississauga

Craig Stumpf is the Network Architect for the City of Mississauga with a population of approximately 700,000 making Mississauga the 6th largest city in Canada.
 
Craig grew up and attended school in Waterloo Ontario,  graduating from Wilfrid Laurier University in 1996.  He has been active in the Information Technology sector in a number of progressive Networking based positions from local ISP's and Telco's to his current position.  The City of Mississauga IP Network supports over 70 remote buildings running on City owned dark fibre which have enabled Mississauga to be one of the first cities to deploy (2003) a Unified Communications (VOIP) solution for all buildings, call centres and staff.   For the last 4 years the city has been working on mobility solutions for staff and have been deploying a shared outdoor wireless mesh which is shared amongst all city departments and various partner organizations.

Bob Tunis
Economic Development Director
City of Sanford, Florida

As Economic Development Director for the City of Sanford, Florida (the largest city in Seminole County located just outside of Orlando), Mr. Tunis has over twenty year’s economic development experience, at the federal, state and local government levels. Prior to his arrival in Florida as the head of Economic Development for the City of North Port, Mr. Tunis was Executive Director of the Lincoln County (Montana) Economic Development Council. During the 1990’s, he worked for the Alberta Government as Director (Europe) for Trade and Investment based in Edmonton. Prior to that,  he spent twelve years as a Foreign Service Officer with postings in Germany, Thailand, Trinidad and Jamaica.

Mr. Tunis is a dual U.S./ Canadian Citizen, and has a Bachelor degree from McGill University in Montreal.

Lynn Willenbring
CIO
City of Minneapolis, Minnesota

Lynn Willenbring is the Chief Information Officer for the City of Minneapolis.  As CIO she leads a dynamic IT organization, focused on meeting the diverse needs of municipal government.  Lynn has recently overseen the completion of one of the largest wi-fi networks in the United States, ensuring broadband access for workers and residents.  In addition, Minneapolis recently received the Outsourcing Institute’s Best Partnership Award for their six year information technology outsourcing relationship with Unisys.  Prior to her position with Minneapolis Lynn served the Minnesota Department of Public Safety as Assistant Commissioner and Driver and Vehicle Services Director and the Minnesota Department of Revenue.  She also lived in Lithuania advising the government, guiding this former Soviet state to stability using industry best practices and modern, western organizational management ideas.  

Lynn has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree from Cardinal Stritch University.  In addition, Lynn is the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Minnesota Council for Quality; a non-profit that advances improvement and performance excellence in organizations, communities, and individuals.