Jeanne W. Ross

Director & Principal Research Scientist
MIT Sloan Center for Information Systems Research

Jeanne Ross oversees the research efforts of seven full-time researchers and their affiliates at MIT Sloan’s Center for Information Systems Research (CISR). Supported by over eighty global business sponsors, CISR is a forty-year initiative by the Sloan School to address the business opportunities and challenges of information technology and digitization. Jeanne’s current research focuses on how companies design—or architect—themselves for success in the digital economy.

Jeanne has published in major practitioner and academic journals, including MIT Sloan Management Review, Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, and CIO Magazine. She is co-author of three books, all published by Harvard Business School Publishing: IT Savvy: What Top Executives Must Know to Go from Pain to Gain (2009), which was CIO Insights’ #1 Must-Read for CIOs in 2009; Enterprise Architecture as Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution (2006); and IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results (2004).

Jeanne is recognized world-wide as an expert in enterprise architecture and has helped bring architecture into senior management strategy discussions at companies like Aetna, Bemis Company, China Mobile, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Maersk Lines, News Corporation, and PepsiCo. She is a founding senior editor and former editor in chief of MIS Quarterly Executive.

Peter Weill

Chairman, Center for Information Systems Research (MIT CISR) & Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management

Peter is the Chairman of MIT CISR and Senior Research Scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Peter’s work centers on the role, value, and governance of digitization in enterprises and their ecosystems.  Peter is currently working on how Boards and CEO teams make effective decisions on the impact of digitization on their business models.

His award-winning books include: IT Savvy: What Top Executives Must Know to Go from Pain to Gain (CIO Insight’s #1 must-read for 2009); Enterprise Architecture as Strategy; and IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results. Peter’s journal articles and case studies have appeared in the Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review and The Wall Street Journal. In 2008, Ziff Davis recognized Peter as #24 of “The Top 100 Most Influential People in IT” and the highest ranked academic.

Peter works regularly on digitization issues with executive teams including: Aetna, AMP, ANZ, BBVA, Banco do Brasil, BCG, BT, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, France Telecom, Itau-Unibanco, Microsoft, Oliver Wyman, Origin Energy, PepsiCo, State Street Corporation, TCS, Unibanco, Westpac, Woolworths, and World Bank. He conducts workshops for key conferences, including for Microsoft/Bill Gates’ CEO Summit and SAP’s CEO Summit.

Jane Fedorowicz

Chester B. Slade Professor of Accounting and Information Systems

Bentley University

Jane Fedorowicz, the Chester B. Slade Professor of Accounting and Information Systems, holds a joint appointment in the Accountancy and Information & Process Management departments at Bentley University where she teaches courses on enterprise system configuration, business processes and internal control. Her interdisciplinary research supports a sociotechnical perspective on organizational collaboration design in both the public and private sectors. She was principal investigator of a National Science Foundation project team studying design issues for police and government agency collaboration using public safety networks. She also served as principal investigator for the Bentley Invision Project, an international research team housed at Bentley examining interorganizational information sharing and the coordination infrastructures supporting these relationships in supply chain, government, and health care. She has just begun a funded program of research on police use of social media.

Dr. Fedorowicz has published over 100 articles in refereed journals and conference proceedings. The Association for Information Systems recognized her contributions to the Information Systems field by naming her an AIS Fellow. She is also a past recipient of Bentley’s Scholar of the Year Award. She has served in a governance capacity for a number of professional associations, including the Association for Information Systems (AIS), the American Accounting Association (AAA) and the Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). She currently holds the position of Immediate Past President of the Association for Information Systems.

Dr. Fedorowicz earned MS and PhD degrees in Systems Sciences from The Tepper School at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and a BS degree in Health Systems Analysis from the University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA.  

Russell Ambrose

Group Manager Information Technology

Vector

Russell Ambrose has been Group Manager Information Technology at Vector since 2011. Russell is accountable for aligning the information technology strategy in support of the Vector strategy plan to all areas of the business. Russell hold a tertiary qualification from Massey University and has over 25 years’ experience in senior technology leadership roles in the Energy, Transport, Justice, and Government sectors of New Zealand. Prior to joining Vector Russell was the head of technology for Genesis Energy.

Thomas Hyde

Group Director

Beca

Thomas has worked for Beca for 19 years during which he has performed a number of roles across the business.  He is currently Group Director – Delivery Strategy, responsible for how Beca supports and improves the delivery of services to its clients, and carries CIO responsibility for the business.  Thomas is a Chemical and Materials engineer by background and migrated over time into ICT and management consulting, developing skills that he uses to work on the global Beca business and to provide advice to a range of Beca’s clients.  Outside of work Thomas enjoys spending time with his family, making the most of the NZ beach and boating lifestyle.

Colin Smith

Chief Information Officer

Fisher & Paykel Finance

Colin Smith has been Chief Information Officer at Fisher & Paykel Finance Limited since November 2010. Mr Smith was Chief Information Officer of Manukau City Council from July 2006 to October 2010. Between 1987 and 2006 at 3i plc he was responsible for various Group and Business Unit Management functions such as Business Intelligence, Financial Systems, Business Operations, Customer Service and IT. He has a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree from the University of East Anglia (UK), a Masters of Business Administration degree from Aston University (UK) and is an IT Certified Professional awarded by the Institute of IT Professionals New Zealand. Mr Smith is a member of Fisher & Paykel Finance Limited’s Programme Governance Committee (Chairman).

Leslie Willcocks

Professor in Technology Work and Globalization and Director of the Outsourcing Unit

London School of Economics

Leslie Willcocks  is  Professor in Technology Work and Globalization and Director of the Outsourcing Unit at The London School of Economics and Political Science. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Information Technology.  Leslie has  a global reputation for his work in outsourcing, global strategy, organizational change and managing digital business.  He has researched, educated and advised major corporations and governments globally  on these issues for 25 years, and is co-author of 40 books and over 230 refereed journal papers on these subjects. He has recently published Outsourcing – All You Need To Know (White Plume). Forthcoming books include Nine Keys to World Class BPO (Bloomsbury, 2015) and South Africa’s BPO Service Advantage:  Becoming Strategic in  the Global Marketplace (Palgrave, 2015).

Kevin Angland

Chief Information Officer

IAG

NZ CIO of the Year 2014

Kevin is Chief Information Officer at IAG NZ and leads the Technology Services team of around 330 staff, located in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

IAG NZ is a subsidiary of Insurance Australia Group, and is New Zealand’s largest General Insurer – among its brands are State and NZI and AMI.  IAG has over 3,300 staff across NZ. Kevin has been with IAG for nearly 9 years and previously held roles leading the Project Management Office and the Software Development and Support Teams.

Following several major acquisitions and the significant impact of the Christchurch earthquake, the ICT challenge within IAG has been significant. Kevin has brought a business focus to the role of the CIO and has ensured that the ICT team has the culture and focus to deliver on the outcomes the IAG Business requires. Kevin is clearly respected for his ICT and business leadership within IAG, not only in New Zealand, but also in the Australian Group Head Office.

With a passion for coaching, mentoring and inspiring greatness in others, Kevin has completed studies with world leading Mt Eliza Business School in the area of leadership.  Kevin is a graduate of the University of Auckland, having completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Business (Information Systems Management), and a Master of Business Administration.

Kevin is an International Coaching Federation Accredited Workplace Coach and is a member of the NZ CIO Summit 2015 Advisory Council. 

Kevin Drinkwater

CIO

Mainfreight

Kevin has over 30 years in the IT industry and has been with Mainfreight for almost three decades, creating and implementing new and innovative business systems.

Kevin has also spent a considerable amount of that time working in the business in roles such as CFO, General Manager of Mainfreight Logistics and sales manager. These roles have given him a very good understanding of the needs of the business.

Mainfreight is a $1.9 billion dollar logistics and supply chain business employing over 5,700 team members worldwide. With over 75% of this revenue from offshore, Kevin spends a considerable amount of time working with his IT teams in the USA, Europe, Asia, Australia and New Zealand.

Kevin holds the Treasurer position on the board of TUANZ and was director of SPCA Auckland for over 10 years. He is also a member of the board of Duffy Books in Homes USA.

David Havercroft

Chief Operating Officer

Spark

David joined Telecom New Zealand (now Spark) in October 2009.

As Chief Operating Officer he is responsible for Sparks’s entire network and IT operations, key business operations and Spark's Wholesale and International division. In this role David as led the changes in network technology and overseen the drive to 4G and the recent purchase of 700mhz spectrum. 

UK-born, David has more than 30 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry in Europe and Asia-Pacific, with previous executive roles in business and technology functions in major telecommunications operations and in professional services and technology organisations.  David has designed and led major change programmes focused on revenue growth, cost efficiency, network rollouts and ongoing management of insourced and outsourced operations.

Gary Klein

Couger Professor of Information Systems

University of Colorado

GARY KLEIN is the Couger Professor of Information Systems at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. His research interests include project management, technology transfer, and mathematical modeling with over 200 academic publications in these areas.  He served as Director of Education for the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management, is an active member of the Project Management Institute and the International Project Management Association, and is a Fellow of the Decision Sciences Institute. He serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Information Technology Project Management, as a departmental editor for the Project Management Journal, as an SE for the Journal of the Association of Information Systems and the Pacific Asia Journal of the Association of Information Systems.

Bradley Raby

IS Solution Delivery Manager

Auckland Council

Bradley has been in the IT industry for over 25 years. He has held delivery and leadership roles in London, Singapore and New Zealand; delivering a number of change programmes to both the public and private sectors.

Bradley began working for Auckland Council in 2013 and is the IS Solution Delivery Manager. As Solution Delivery Manager he is responsible for Auckland Council’s entire IS project delivery and is a key member of the IS leadership team. In this role Bradley has led the changes in Project Delivery moving to a rapid delivery approach incorporating agile as well as more traditional project methodologies.

Bradley’s current focus is leading the wholesale technology change programmes in the application and infrastructure spaces at Auckland Council.

Simon Kennedy

Group Chief Information Officer

The Warehouse Group

Leaving Oxford with a degree in history, Simon joined Accenture in 1991 and worked on a variety of projects with retail clients such as Sainsburys, Marks & Spencer, Argos & Boots.  After roles with consulting firms in Europe, NZ, USA, Simon spent 3 years living in Mumbai, helping to set up Reliance Retail.  In 2009, he joined TW Group, taking a role in Warehouse Stationery.  In his current role, Group Chief Information Officer, Simon enjoys the mix of supporting day-to-day business across the retail brands, while also working to deliver the strategic changes that will drive sustained success for the Group.

Steve Matheson

Group COO

Datacom

Steve Matheson has over 30 years’ experience in the IT industry. He worked initially in software development and more recently has held senior management roles within Datacom. He has been involved in significant projects in both the public and private sectors both at the coal face and in governance roles. Steve has a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering from Auckland University, has undertaken executive education at Stanford University, and is a member of the NZ Institute of Directors.

Ephraim McLean

Regents' Professor, the G.E. Smith Eminent Scholar's Chair in Information Systems, and the Director of the Center for Health IT

Georgia State University

Dr. Ephraim R. McLean is a Regents’ Professor, the G.E. Smith Eminent Scholar’s Chair in Information Systems, and the Director of the Center for Health IT, all in the Computer Information Systems Department in the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University, in Atlanta, Georgia.  Prior to joining GSU in 1987, he was on the UCLA faculty for 18 years; and before that he worked for Procter & Gamble for seven years, where he began his career in computing – this is now his 52nd year in the field!

He has published over 130 papers in a number of leading journals, including his widely-cited paper in Information Systems Research on IS Success, co-authored with Bill DeLone, and is the co-author or co-editor of seven books. He is one of the founders of ICIS and of the Association for Information Systems and served as the AIS Executive Director for nine years.  He has been chair or co-chair of three ICIS conferences and one AMCIS conference. In 1999, he was named an AIS Fellow and in 2007 was recognized with the LEO Lifetime Achievement Award. 

He earned his B.M.E. and M.E. degrees at Cornell University and his S.M. and Ph.D. degrees at M.I.T.’s Sloan School of Management.  

Arron Judson

ICT Sector Innovation Manager

University of Auckland

Arron Judson is the ICT Sector Innovation Manager at the University of Auckland.

Arron helps commercialise ICT capabilities (consulting or research) from all faculties and departments of the University to industry and government.

Arron is co-owner of Astrolab, a tech focussed incubator, commercialising complex technology originating in public research organisations, and involved in several startups in the ICT space.

Prior to joining the University, Arron held several national and international roles with Toshiba and Ericsson and left to help create a San Francisco based startup GeoVector Corporation, where he was the VP Operations overseeing sales into Japan and Korea.

Candace Kinsler

Advisor and Board Director

Candace Kinser has held a number of senior executive roles in the tech sector including over a decade of experience on non-profit organisations through to listed corporate Board positions.

Candace is currently working as an Advisor and Director for a number of high growth companies such as being an Advisor to global analytics company Palantir in New Zealand, a board director for NZX listed company EROAD, a Board Director for Talent International and  McCashins Brewing. She also helps organisations in the government, university, health, agriculture and technology related fields as an Advisor, particularly in technology use and business strategy. 

Previously, Candace was the CEO of the New Zealand Technology Industry Association and she was also the CEO of scientific software start-up Biomatters from 2007 to 2011, winners of the Hi-Tech Emerging Company of the Year for New Zealand. Candace has been named as a "Top 10 Female CEO" in New Zealand she is the founder of  NZ Women Tech Execs, the national group of female executives in the technology sector.

Candace has bachelor's degrees in Anthropology & Political Science from the University of Hawaii, a Post Graduate degree in International Business and a Masters Degree in Business from Massey University in New Zealand. She has advanced qualifications in Bio-Pharma from Rutger's University in New Jersey and in Asian Business Risk & Governance from the University of Melbourne in Australia.

Chris Somogyi

General Manager Accelerator Services

Callaghan Innovations

Chris Somogyi is Callaghan Innovation’s General Manager Accelerator Services.

He has worked around the world in a career that includes starting eight businesses in areas from tissue engineering to photonics, being Senior Strategist for Intellectual Ventures and a licensing associate for Stanford University's OTL.

Chris has also been a private equity investor, responsible for investment portfolios of over US$650m, and has invested in high-tech companies in the biotech, medical devices, photonics and software sectors.

Chris has a BSE (Biomedical Engineering) from Purdue University, a MS (Biomedical Engineering) from Tulane University and a MBA from the University of Washington.

Niels Bjorn-Andersen

Professor of Information Systems

Copenhagen Business School

Niels Bjørn-Andersen has been Professor of Information Systems in the Copenhagen Business School (CBS) since 1987. He has started four different education programs within IS in CBS, including a Bachelors, Masters of Science and Executive level program. He has also been study director and director to the Executive MBA and the Global e-Management programs in CBS.

Niels has written 25 books, more than 50 peer reviewed journal articles, and more than 150 other publications within the areas of e-commerce/e-business, IT governance, inter-organizational systems, management of change using IT, strategic information systems, and organizational implementation of information systems. He has been the recipient of more than 20 international research grants, predominantly from the different research programs within the EU and Danish research councils. 

He has been a consultant or given presentations to more than 50 Danish and international private companies as well as governments and government agencies in countries like Denmark, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Sweden and Tanzania. He has been a visiting professor in Canterbury University, Christchurch, Manchester Business School, University of California Irvine, Université IX Dauphine Paris, University of Lund, and University of Tampere.

Through his career, he has gotten numerous academic awards, most notably the AIS-LEO Award for Lifetime Exceptional achievements in Information Systems in 2006. He has received best-paper award at five international conferences, including the ICIS conference. In 2003 he was knighted by the queen of Denmark.

Jonathan Iles

CIO

Carter Holt Harvey

Jonathan is Chief Information Officer of Carter Holt Harvey, based in Auckland. Graduating from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst at the age of 20 he retired from the Army after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the absence of any obvious enemy. After experience as a Police Officer and a sales role in the financial services industry, he moved to New Zealand.  In 2008 he joined one of the Rank Group privately owned companies, Carter Holt Harvey, to assist with divestments. Since 2008 Jonathan has been involved in M & A activities, business restructures and business initiatives to “make the boat go faster”. Along the way he studied at York University (Politics), Cardiff University (Education) and the University of Auckland (IT).

Vanessa Pye

Culture Change by Design

Vanessa is from Culture Change by Design and has over 15 years of experience in change transformation, technology change, business design and agile delivery. She has held senior roles at Deloitte Touché and was recently Head of Business Design and Change for Spark New Zealand. She has also led major change and transformation programmes for  Auckland Council, Auckland Transport Authority, Auckland Integrated Ticketing Programme, University of Auckland and is currently working with Fletcher Building in a global ERP roll out. She is a collaborative networker, leads the global LinkedIn Group – Culture Change & Systemic Thinking, speaks frequently at events and blogs regularly on her website http://culturechangebydesign.com/  

Ross Hughson

Managing Director

Personal Information Management Ltd

Ross is recognised as a thought leader in the IT community and has held some of the most challenging IT leadership roles in New Zealand. He has been CIO at Westpac and Inland Revenue, (where he also served as a member of Inland Revenues Management Board), and the Principal Advisor ICT for Government at the State Services Commission. Ross has also served on a number of international IT advisory boards and corporate governance boards over many years. 

Ross has etched out a successful career in Executive and General Management in the public and private sector. While he has focused primarily on IT, he also has experience in areas as diverse as Marketing, Mergers & Acquisitions, Government Policy and large project Assurance. His expertise and knowledge encompasses information and technology management (including large outsourcing projects), significant strategic organisational change, risk management and people leadership.

Ross’s leadership experience has included a career as a Territorial Force (Army Reserve) Officer rising to the rank of Major, and current roles as a Director of Optimation NZ Ltd, Chairman of Infogeni Solutions Ltd, and Managing Director of Personal Information Management Ltd a privately held company that is focused in the area of transforming the way personal information is managed in the digital world. Ross was also recognised as NZ CIO of the year in 2002 and has been a judge for this award since.

Ross has a BCA (majoring in Operations Research) and an MBA from Victoria University of Wellington, is a Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors and a member of the Institute of IT Professionals (IITP).