Toni Carbo:
Toni Carbo is a professor at the School of Information Sciences (SIS) and the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) at the University of Pittsburgh. Her work in the information field began in 1962 and includes extensive experience with information service producers and users (both libraries and database producers) and with research and development in the areas of information policy and the use of information.  Her teaching and research interests focus on Information Ethics and Information Policy, especially concerning e-government. She has directed international research projects related to the use of scientific and technical information, and her research on overlap in coverage of scientific literature is still considered among the seminal works in the field. Author of numerous articles, speeches, and technical reports in the information sciences, Dr. Carbo is the Editor of The International Information and Library Review (IILR) and has served on the editorial boards of several publications.

Toni Carbo

Dr Dan Remenyi:
Dr Dan Remenyi is a Visiting Professor in Information Systems Management at the School of Systems and Data Studies at Trinity College Dublin and an associated member of Faculty at Henley Management College in the United Kingdom. His original academic interests are in the field of information systems management and he has researched and been published widely in that area.

Dan Remenyi

In recent years he has taken a strong interest in research methodology and the sociology of research. He now works extensively with research candidates and their supervisors at both doctoral and masters level. He conducts a number of seminars to topics related to improving effective academic research and obtaining better results. He has authored or co-authored more than 30 books and some 50 academically refereed papers. He is published in all 4 of the A rated Journals in the United Kingdom in Information Systems Management. He is on the Editorial Advisory Board of Acta Commercii ( a general management journal) and the Journal of Information Technology. He is the editor of the Electronic Journal of Information Systems Evaluation and advisor to a number of other electronic journals.

Larry Olson
Larry Olson is Chief Technology Officer for the Great State of Texas and Executive Director of the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR). Since joining the state in May 2004, he has re-engineered DIR, creating a matrix-based organization with a stronger focus on information and communications technology (ICT) planning, security, and service delivery. Olson has led efforts to create a shared vision for technology by working across organizational boundaries to promote common interests, champion business and technological innovation, and support the core missions of Texas state agencies. He was the architect for the recently released 2005 state strategic plan for information resources management, Shared Success: Building a Better Texas through Shared Responsibilities.

Prior to his service to the State of Texas, he was a principal at aligne Inc., where he provided executive advisory services to companies like ACNielsen, Motorola, Raytheon, and Aetna.

Previously, Olson worked for Governor Tom Ridge as the first Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where he was able to transform the state’s ICT operations into a streamlined public enterprise. Internationally, he negotiated partnerships with the governments of Canada and Singapore, marking the first international agreement ever executed electronically using digital signatures. While in Pennsylvania, he also acted as the chief management officer for the Department of Public Welfare and Pennsylvania’s Deputy State Treasurer.

Over his professional career, Olson has focused on bringing business value through organizational transformation, which has included over $4 billion of successfully negotiated contracts.

Olson is also a registered architect in his home state of Texas.

Larry Olson

Ken Sochats
Ken Sochats is the Director of the Visual Information Systems Center, the Co-Director of the Center for National Preparedness and a faculty member in the School of Information Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. He also serves as a Research Faculty Associate to the Pennsylvania Legislature and as a consultant to local, state and federal agencies. He won the 2005 Award for GIS Service at the Central Appalachian Geospatial Conference and the 2002 Carnegie Science Center Award for Excellence in Information Technology.

Ken Sochats

His team won the Continuing Education Association's Award of Excellence for their work on Governor Ridge's Y2K effort. His work on metadata and electronic recordkeeping has been translated into 14 languages and is in use in 42 countries. It served as a foundation for the Australian Metadata Law.

Ken introduced the first course in e-Commerce at the Governor's School of Information Technology and co-authored the first study of e-Commerce for the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry.

Blessing Maumbe
Blessing Maumbe is an Associate Professor with The Information Society Institute (TISI) at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology based in Cape Town, South Africa. He holds a PhD from Michigan State University in the USA. He has extensive background in higher education in the United States and Africa. His previous work focused on academic teaching, research and consultancy in agribusiness supply chain management, financial service delivery to smallholders in Africa, and technology adoption. His recent research interests lie in e-Government policy development in Africa and the social appropriation of information communication technology (ICT) for community empowerment and self governance.

Blessing Maumbe

Vesper Owei
Vesper Owei received his B.S. in electrical and electronic engineering from the Ohio State University, USA, and Master’s in electrical and electronic engineering and in operations research from the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA. Owei also holds a Ph.D. from Georgia Tech. He has practiced as a project, design and consulting engineer. His research work has spanned such areas as data management, data modeling, concept-based query languages, HCI, knowledge and expert systems, OLAP, information systems for disabled people, and IT for healthcare delivery. His current research interests include: ICT and society, mobile ICTs and developing countries, and HCIs and end-user issues.

Vesper Owei