Greg Cross (Keynote)
Chairman and CEO, PowerByProxi

Wednesday 10:50am - 11:30am

For most, the concept of delivering power wirelessly is the stuff of science fiction - but when Fady Mishriki and Greg Cross founded PowerbyProxi in 2007, their focus was to identify real world customer pain points and match them with a solution. Now with contracts with some of the world's top technology companies, Greg will tell his story.

Mary Quin (Keynote)
CEO, Callaghan Innovation

Wednesday 11:30am - 12:10pm

In 2013 Mary Quin took the helm of the newly created Callaghan Innovation, the Government's go-to vehicle for generating commercial value from Kiwi ingenuity, science, technology and ideas. With a background in R&D in materials engineering and over 20 years' experience working in senior executive roles in NASDAQ-listed companies, Dr Quin has an impressive profile and experience in technology and engineering industries.

Alyona Medelyan
Founder, Entopix Consulting

Wednesday 2:00pm - 2:30pm

Innovating with Natural Language Processing: Alyona Medelyan gives an overview of Natural Language Processing, with a look at commercial and open-source NLP software, and an explanation of how this technology can solve a variety of business problems. Medelyan discusses how NLP can help make the right investment decisions, monitor the competitive market, and understand and predict customer behavior. More »

James Knapp
Lead Solution Architect, ViFX

Wednesday 2:00pm - 2:30pm

Evolving in the Cloud Era: The era of the cloud requires IT professionals to shift their thinking. It's not about infrastructure management, but service provider management. What may be a new concept for most professionals will be in how they look at the phenomenon. James Knapp guides us on a journey to the hybrid model of the cloud, and discusses us why the phenomenon is less about technology than people and processes. More »

Curtis Bailey and Keran McKenzie
Co-founder, SmartJobs; and API Evangelist, MYOB

Wednesday 2:40pm - 3:10pm

The Developer Ecosystem: What makes for a great application programming interface in the age of the cloud? If APIs are simply what makes systems talk to each other, there is still the devil in the details. Curtis Bailey and Keran McKenzie discuss the technical challenges their companies faced to create a new cloud-based management solution, combining SmartJobs’s scheduling, time-tracking and mobility solutions with MYOB’s cloud accounting products. More »

Mei Fern Johnson
Specialist ICT Partner, Russell McVeagh

Wednesday 2:40pm - 3:10pm

ICT Transformation: More than meets the eye: ICT transformation projects are inherently complex and risky because they overhaul an organisation’s entire technology base down to the core business processes needed to flourish. Mei Fern Johnson talks about what to do and what not to do, focusing on case studies from New Zealand and Australia. She breaks down a transformation project to its key phases and then discuss the do's and don'ts of each phase. More »

Nicolás Erdödy
Founder, Open Parallel

Wednesday 3:30pm - 4:00pm

Raising Capital in Five Minutes: Building a next great product is anything but a trivial matter. Making that idea grow into a viable business, even if it already has countless hours of blood, personal investment, and a few customers under its belt, is often the most difficult obstacle for entrepreneurs to clear. Nicolás Erdödy introduces IT professionals on the verge of the million dollar idea to the world of angel and venture capital investment. More »

Friday 10:40am - 11:10am

SKA: The Ultimate Big Data Project: The Square Kilometre Array (SKA) is a complex project involving hundreds of engineers, computer scientists, astronomers, and specialists working together toward building a powerful astronomical research tool. Open Parallel Founder Nicolás Erdödy discusses the challenges his team faces in leading the software development environment work for SKA. More »

Adrian Hendry
Site Manager, Capital & Coast District Health Board

Wednesday 3:30pm - 4:00pm

The State of the State’s ICT Programme Management: Information technology is the lynchpin of Government’s drive to make public services ever-more efficient. “Doing more with less” is not simply a mantra. Public Sector ICT consultant Adrian Hendry looks at how mature New Zealand Public Services agencies are in managing ICT programmes, where they get it right, and what can be improved. More »

Joanne Knight
Senior Business Advisor, Department of Internal Affairs Te Tari Taiwhenua

Wednesday 4:10am - 4:40pm

Identify Verification: without people, you get dogs: As the well-known cartoon caption states, “On the internet, no one knows you’re a dog”. It’s ok to be a dog when identity doesn’t matter, but if you want to ensure your customer is a real person, does IT deliver? Joanne Knight looks at identity verification, how it has moved from business process to IT functionality, why people still have to play a part, and uses RealMe® as a case study.  More »

Rob England
Managing Director, Two Hills Ltd

Wednesday 4:10pm - 4:40pm

Business Success with Supplier Engagement Models: There is much talk about engagement models worldwide, but little guidance and few examples.  How do organisations seamlessly meld with their outsourcing partners? Rob England discusses a smarter approach to outsourcing engagements by designing and documenting how two operating models mesh together.  More »

Thursday 10:40am - 11:10am

Tipu: Successful Continual Improvement: Enough theory: this is how to actually manage an IT improvement programme. This presentation looks at the huge amount of potential improvement in most organisations, and how improvement goes on as part of the professional's daily work, describing a method of breaking the task down to make it manageable, and then organising that improvement based on small increments, agile approach. More »

Ian Taylor (Keynote)
Founder, Animation Research Ltd

Wednesday 4:50pm - 5:30pm

Ian Taylor (Ngati Kahungunu) is recognised as one of New Zealand's leading Maori innovators and has  established three successful technology businesses from his base in Dunedin. Taylor revolutionalised the way the world watched sport with the creation of real-time 3D graphics for the Americas Cup. This was later expanded to cover other sports such as Golf, Cricket, Motorsport, Gliding and Aerosports, and the mobile America's Cup app last year.

John Hosking (Keynote)
Dean of Science, University of Auckland

Thursday 9:30pm - 10:10am

John Hosking was Professor of Applied Computer Science at the University of Auckland before heading across the ditch for two years as Dean of Engineering and Computer Science at the Australian National University. He recently returned to New Zealand to take up the role of Dean of Science at Auckland University and will be talking about the differences in approach to tertiary/industry engagement between Australia and New Zealand.

Henrietta Hall and Marcus Harvey
Principal ICT Advisor, and Consulting and ICT Services Manager, Infoxchange

Thursday 10:40pm - 11:10am

How Technology Profits the Non-Profits: A lack of profit-mandate does not eliminate the need for efficiencies. Technology can help non-profits make the most of staff and volunteer time, improve client outcomes, and support organisations operating effectively in the event of a disaster. Henrietta Hall and Marcus Harvey talk about their work with small-sized not-for-profits in New Zealand, with ICT reviews and development plans. More »

Dave Lane
Senior Consultant, Catalyst IT, and President of the NZ Open Source Society

Thursday 11:20am - 11:50am

Plugging IT into Life: Information Technology does not have to be a mystifying adjunct to everyday life, something that is consumed rather than utilised. David Lane discusses his vision to foster a New Zealand where experts with the time, aptitude, and passion for IT are encouraged to share their knowledge with the community at large, from the school room, to the marae, to libraries, and retirement facilities. More »

Stuart van Rij
Negotiation Coach, Negotiator-Pro Inc (USA)

Thursday 11:20am - 11:50am

Key Elements to Sealing the Deal: IT professionals face a multitude of negotiation scenarios, from dealing with scope creep and requests for discounts, through to securing the next engagement.  In the complexity and urgency that plagues many of these negotiations, what are the most important things to focus on?

. More »

Mark Pascall
Founder, 3Months

Thursday 12:00pm - 12:30pm

iBeacon and the Internet of Things: Apple quietly announced in 2013 a nerdy-sounding feature of its operating system that was said to give apps a new “level of location awareness”. Since then, the potential of iBeacon has gained attention from business users around the world. Mark Pascall discusses the prospects of iBeacon, using real world examples from New Zealand and abroad. More »

Robin Johansen
Senior Consultant

Thursday 12:00pm - 12:30pm

Raising the ICT Game for Boards of Directors: The emergence of “The third platform” of outside technology services and consulting has not rendered ICT irrelevant to the enterprise. Research, nevertheless, indicates that boards of directors suffer from a lack of competency in governing enterprise technology. This presentation explores the challenges and problems facing boards of directors and what role ICT professionals can play. More »

Joshua Vial
Founder, Enspiral

Thursday 2:30pm - 3:00pm

Coding Bootcamps: Growing the tech talent pool: Coding bootcamps have spread like wildfire around the tech centres of the world, making junior developers out of raw talent by the thousands. These programs typically run for nine to 15 weeks, scoring high post-graduate placement rates, filling a niche in IT education. Joshua Vial explores how bootcamps work, their strengths and weaknesses, and how bootcamp graduates differ from other graduates. More »

Peter Salmon
Consultant, Manning Charles & Associates

Thursday 2:30pm - 3:00pm

ICT Project Failure: The Human Factor: The reason a lot of ICT projects fail comes down all too often to human nature. Peter Salmon looks at the root cause of project failure, why they continue to fail despite our best efforts, methodologies, and governance. He provides some common sense steps IT professionals can take to reduce the chance a project will fail, while poking holes in the conventional wisdom. More »

Keith Lightfoot
Account Manager, Wired Internet Group

Thursday 3:20pm - 3:50pm

Depression "To Be or not To Be": The number of New Zealanders on antidepressants has doubled in the last six years and depression is clearly a more commonly recognised disease than at any other time in New Zealand history, impacting IT professionals as much as anyone else. Keith Lightfoot talks about the types of mental and physical actions that make up a tested method, Positive Psychology, to deal with depressive thought patterns. More »

Stephen Coates
Information Security Manager, Waikato District Health Board

Thursday 3:20pm - 3:50pm

Just how critical was your Criticality Assessment?: A quick criticality analysis at the start of a system, application, or process you undertake could save you quite a bit of time and trouble down the road. These days, apps make almost everything easier, including criticality assessments. Stephen Coates gives an overview of good criticality assessments and the tools you can use to assure the best outcome of a project. More »

Rodger Perkins
Client Manager, Assurity Consulting

Thursday 4:00pm - 4:30pm

The Digital Revolution: If you thought technology underwent a revolutionary change over the past ten years, wait until you hear what’s coming in the next decade. Rodger Perkins takes us on a time-traveling tour of technology, with a challenge to New Zealand to become a globally recognised, technology-based powerhouse economy in 2024, if we can only start working on it now. More »

Michael Wigley
Principal, Wigley + Company

Thursday 4:00pm - 4:20pm

Legal Trends in tech that impact you: There’s plenty going on affecting all in ICT, ranging from B2B, B2C, IP, etc.  Especially big for ICT are the changes from June to the Fair Trading act around industry dealings for the big end of town to sales to consumers.   More »

Mona Akmal (International Keynote)
Director of Product/Curriculum, Code.org

Thursday 4:40pm - 5:20pm

Mona is a certified geek with a long history of building stuff for real people. Her goal at Code.org is to be a part of an awesome team that wants to build fun products that help kids learn computer science and embrace their inner geek! In her past life, she ran product management for the OneDrive (SkyDrive) experience at Microsoft, and she co-founded dreamfly.org in her spare time.

Sir Ralph Norris (Keynote)
ex-CEO AirNZ, ASB Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia

Friday 9:30am - 10:10am

Ralph Norris' first prominent position was CIO of ASB Bank before moving on to the CEO role in 1991. Under his stewardship ASB launched the country's first internet banking site. Norris was then appointed CEO of Air NZ in 2002 and was successful in reinventing and revolutionising the airline, again through embracing technology. Norris went on to become CEO of Commonwealth Bank, overseeing a $1 billion-plus technology transformation project.

Bevan Arps
Senior Analyst Programmer, Reserve Bank of New Zealand

Friday 10:40am - 11:10am

The Authorised Biography of a Complex System: The Financial Sector Information System (FSIS) is held out as a success story for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, since it went live—on time and on budget—in November 2009. Thanks to FSIS, the Bank’s Statistics Unit were able to vastly improve their processes and analytics. Bevan Arps “lifts the lid" on this complex .NET system in this rare look into an organisation’s significant development project. More »

David Morris
Australia and New Zealand Manager, WhereScape

Friday 11:20am - 11:50am

Big Data? Dont Panic: Automation to the resuce : Big Data continues to challenge organisations to create more value for business from copious amounts of information. It is now becoming clear how much Data Warehouse Automation (DWA) can evolve the way organisations build, renovate and maintain information stockpiles. This presentation looks at the increasing convergence of the data warehouse with Big Data. More »

Rick Shera
Partner, Lowndes Jordan

Friday 11:20am -11:50am

The Privacy Pendulum Swings Back: Once upon a time you could think of your home as your castle, and enjoy the privacy that entailed, behind closed doors. However the defining lines of privacy have grown fuzzier in the digital age, as many details of our lives become exposed, wittingly or not. Rick Shera explores the contemporary privacy scene, and offers a view of where the pendulum should come to rest. More »

Neil McDougall
Information Technology and Services Consultant

Friday 12:00pm - 12:30pm

Rescuing 111: This is the story of how significant changes to technology and processes saved the day in the modernisation of New Zealand’s 111 service. Faced with failing obsolete systems, the service needed help. Neil McDougall discusses the lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina, how radical changes to processes were introduced, and how operational staff were involved throughout the project to become the strongest voices for change. More »

Andy Prow
Founder and CEO, Aura Information Security

Friday 12:00pm - 12:30pm

The Future of ICT Security: As technology gets smarter, the threat to ICT security become more sophisticated, and the issues surrounding privacy grow more complex. Andy Prow discusses the technology behind the attacks his firm have seen, what to expect down the road, and how to shore up our defences, as organisations and individuals. Prow explores the current state of security, while separating the facts from the fear-mongering. More »

Peter Dengate Thrush (International Keynote)
Internet governance expert

Friday 2:20pm - 3:00pm

Peter is a globally recognized leader and chairman of Internet infrastructure organizations. He has shaped the development and growth of the Internet naming system, while fighting for an open, unrestricted and multi-stakeholder model of governance. In November 2007 he was appointed Chairman of the Board of ICANN, taking over the role from Vint Cerf. At ICANN, he led the process to replace US Government oversight of ICANN with accountability to the global Internet community, and oversaw the introduction of sweeping policy, administrative and technical innovations that are cumulatively the biggest changes to the Internet since its inception. Peter will talk about the current battle for control of the Internet.

Paul Fenwick (International Keynote)
Managing Director, Perl Training Australia, and Life Hacker

Friday 3:30pm - 4:10pm

Paul likes to think of himself as some guy from the Internet who loves freedom. As a serious Perl hacker and Managing Director of Perl Training Australia, Paul is also seriously into life hacking - setting up hundreds of systems around you to make you more productive, efficient and engaged. Paul will outline some of the latest trends in life hacking and how you can use it to get organised today.

Henry Lane (Keynote)
Co-founder, EPIC Technology Hub

Friday 4:10pm - 4:50pm

Henry is one of the four creators behind the EPIC Technology Hub (Enterprise Precinct and Innovation Campus). EPIC was built thanks to a hugely collaborative effort from organizations both national and international including Google, The BNZ, Weta Workshop, Cisco and many more, in order to house innovation-focused Canterbury businesses displaced by the 2011 earthquake.