Big Data Meets Government in Latest BDC Keynote Announcement
SAINT JOHN – Organizers of the Big Data Congress (BDC) have officially announced two additional keynote speakers for the event, which is taking place next month in Saint John.
This week it was announced that Vivek Kundra and Taavi Kotka will join the lineup of the congress’s keynote speakers.
BDC chair Cathy Simpson says she’s particularly excited about these two speakers because of their expertise in big data in government, something New Brunswick is working to embrace.
“With Vivek Kundra and Taavi Kotka, we will be learning from some of the world’s best bringing their experience from the US Government and from the Estonian Government. For example, just a couple of years ago, a team of government, business, and tech leaders from New Brunswick visited Estonia and came back fired up to advance New Brunswick in similar ways,” Simpson says. “As a result, the nb+ program and partnership was developed. Having these minds in New Brunswick will allow us time to learn, ask questions and think of the possibilities.”
Simpson, who is also the co-leader of nb+, says the two speakers will share their experience of what they did in their respective countries and how they helped such a massive digital transformation occur.
“It’s leading thinkers and doers that drive change and they are changemakers that will have an impact when they are here to share at the Big Data Congress,” she says.
Learn a little more about Kundra and Kotka below:
Vivek Kundra
Kundra is executive vice president of industries at Salesforce.com, where he helps create and launch solutions that combine social, mobile and cloud technologies to address challenges facing key global industries. Previously, he was appointed as the first United States chief information officer by President Obama and is credited with saving billions in taxpayer dollars; adopting game-changing technologies; strengthening the cybersecurity posture of the country and launching an open government movement that’s gaining ground world-wide. Prior to joining the Obama administration, Kundra served as the CTO for the District of Columbia and as the assistant secretary of Commerce and Technology for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Kundra also served as a fellow at Harvard University at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society and the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. He has also served in various leadership roles in the private sector.
Taavi Kotka
Kotka is the Estonian government’s chief information officer known for leading e-residency program. He’s also the deputy secretary general for communications and state information systems, where he coordinates the development, implementation and surveillance of telecommunications of the state’s information systems. He’s also in charge of the “information society sphere” development plans within the government. Kotka was one of the brains behind “10 million e-residents by 2025,” an idea contest by the Estonian Development Foundation in 2014. Prior to his current positions, he was CEO of Nortal (then Webmedia), one of largest software development companies in the Baltic states.