Invited Panels and Speakers

INVITED PANELS:

  • Digital Privacy Panel Session  
    John Wunderlich (moderator); Michelle Finneran Dennedy (PrivacyCode, Inc.); Denise Schoeneich (Intel Corporation); Matthew Silveira (Objective Business Solutions, Inc.)
  • Public Policy Response Panel
    Digital Task Force San Jose (TBC)
  • Industry Panel Session Panel
    Andreas Sjostrom (CapGemini)

INVITED SPEAKERS:

  • Pat Scannell (Techne Star LLC) Christine T. Dee (IBM)
  • Toby Shulruff (National Network to End Domestic Violence)
  • Cindi Coon (Coolabilities)
  • Deepak Tewari (Privately SA)
  • Kaliya Young (Identity Woman) Gregg Pascal Zachary, Writer, Historian & Educator

Speaker: Andreas Sjöström – In Person


Affiliation: Capgemini Applied Innovation Exchange in San Francisco, Lead
Title: TBC
Abstract:
TBC
Biography:
Leading the Capgemini Applied Innovation Exchange in San Francisco, Capgemini’s flagship innovation space. International experience as CTO of Capgemini Scandinavia, member of Sweden and Scandinavia country boards. Digital transformation and innovation advisor for key accounts in the US, Netherlands, France, and the Nordics. Key topics include digital customer experience, operational excellence and business model transformation; innovation capability, digital platform and ecosystem design, “x as a service”, product-to-service design, subscription business. Managed Sogeti’s (Capgemini unit) global digital practice and grew it from $10M to $100M+. Author of numerous white papers (MSDN), columns (Computer Sweden), and co-author of the books: “Pocket PC Development in the Enterprise” (2001) and “The App Effect” (2012). Awarded with the national award for “Best IT Consultant”, on the national list of “Sweden’s Top Technology Experts” twice, and several times awarded “Most Valuable Professional” by Microsoft.

Speaker: Cyndi Coon – In Person


Affiliation: CEO, Laboratory5, Inc.
Other Affiliations: Threatcasting Lab, Arizona State University / Applied Futures Lab / People Centered Internet (PCI) Board of Directors
Title: Coolabilities and Digital Privacy co-advocate to reveal wild new futures, connections, and opportunities for all on the neurodivergent spectrum
Abstract:
Digital privacy is often used in contexts that promote advocacy on behalf of individuals. In this same vein, Coolabilities* is a term used to promote advocacy on behalf of individuals who are gifted with enhanced abilities and strengths that co-occur with disabling conditions, such as Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, OCD, Tourette and more. What if we looked at digital privacy through these different and unique lenses that Coolabilities can offer – creating wild new possibilities, connections, and opportunities for all on the neurodivergent spectrum. This opens up the field of ideas, talent, and enterprise to those formerly excluded.
Biography:
Cyndi Coon is the Founder and CEO of Laboratory5 Inc. where she is an ecosystem producer, writer, speaker, facilitator and trainer for government agencies, military, higher education, NGOs and nonprofits. She is a subject matter expert in information shaping, Futurecasting and Threatcasting. Cyndi Coon serves as the Producing Director at Applied Futures Lab, Chief of Staff at the Threatcasting Lab, Producing Director at the Weaponized Narrative Initiative. She is on the board of directors People Centered Internet. Cyndi is the co-author of Threatcasting (Morgan & Claypool 2022) and the author of Thrive! Creative’s Guidebook to Professional Tenacity (Cognella, 2019). She is a speaker on the topics of Coolabilities, human ecosystems, inclusion, information shaping, Threatcasting, Futurecasting, Science Futures, and Creative Entrepreneurship. She has decades of experience as a facilitator and speaker.

Speaker: Pat Scannell – In Person


Affiliation: Technestar LLC, Principal
Title: The Return of Magic
Abstract:
Today’s tech is characterized by rapidly accelerating complexity, both in the densely layered technology itself, but also in the increasingly hyper-specialised people who are needed to build it. But each person who builds it, and certainly most people who use tech, have a diminishing ability to understand how the whole of the techno-ecological niche we have created for ourselves (what I term ‘the return of magic’).  I will outline the case for this argument, and then show that the problems associated with this phenomena are then amplified by an inherent characteristic of a complex system – lack of ability to know, understand, and predict system outcomes. Against the broad scope of human history, the result of these forces could represent a reversal of a trend that started in the Enlightenment, but it also has very specific and actionable consequences on the day-to-day work of the tech industry and on Digital Privacy of our customers.  This talk will aim to frame the problems, but in a constructive way that allows us to begin to build and adopt better technology, which could scaffold a better human experience.
Biography:
Pat Scannell is a technology and telecom industry consultant who is a world leader on 5G and the co-evolution of technology and cognition, specializing in innovation and commercialization of emerging technologies across a wide range of industries. He has led major transformative projects in a variety of tech categories, from the early days of the Internet, up through the emergence of the Internet of Things, smart grid, big data, and now 5G. Most recently his 5G work includes leading/advising the US Government and the DOD on their strategies, as well as negotiating some of the world’s largest and most disruptive 5G commercial deals. Academically he researches the intersection of cognition and emerging technologies, and he has 4 books in various stages of publication focused on this area.

Speaker: Toby Shulruff – In Person


Affiliation: The National Network to End Domestic Violence (USA)
Title: Navigating Privacy and Safety Dilemmas Related to Gender-based Abuse in Social Media
Abstract:
Gender-based abuse on social media platforms is both a deeply personal problem, and public one. The design of online communities and tools to address abuse create dilemmas as we navigate privacy and safety. For example, pseudonymity allows people from targeted communities to participate with less risk of being trolled but also allows trolls to operate with seeming impunity. End-to-end-encryption protects sensitive and highly personal communication, but also makes it more challenging to detect abusive content. Algorithmic filtering allows for abuse to be detected at scale, but can lack necessary context. Reporting and blocking users or content can provide a way for targets of abuse to counter abuse, but also places a burden on the victim. These dilemmas highlight what seem to be trade-offs as we navigate our online identities, trust, and safety, pointing to the need for robust conversations to guide governance and decision-making.
Biography:
Toby Shulruff (she/her) works to build the capacity of communities to understand, make choices about, and ultimately shape the technologies that are woven into the fabric of our lives. Toby is a writer, trainer, project manager, and consultant – and a student in the MS Public Interest Technology program in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University. Toby’s research includes the role of trust and safety work within technology companies as internal governance, the privacy and safety risks of everyday and emerging technologies including IoT, and the role of Public Interest Technology in global futures. Toby works at the intersection of technology and gender-based violence as Technology Safety Project Manager at the Safety Net Project of the National Network to End Domestic Violence (US).

Speaker: Gregg Pascal Zachary – In Person


Affiliation: Independent Researcher
Title: The Case for Public Ownership of Twitter: the future of Digital Services, Civic Participation, and the Dissemination of Techno-Scientific Knowledge
Abstract:
Elon Musk’s attempt this year to purchase Twitter and privately manage the social media company highlights anew tensions between public benefits and private control of this popular public-media platform. In my talk, I present a novel way of thinking about how to sustain Twitter for publics around the world. Public ownership is not a panacea and may include significant participation by civic actors and philanthropic foundations. A “public option” for Twitter may enable a company struggling to survive on a for-profit basis to continue to produce public good while enhancing Twitter’s commitment to fairness and accuracy in information.
Biography:
G. (Gregg) Pascal Zachary has worked in journalism (essays for The New York Times, IEEE’s Spectrum magazine, Technology Review, Wired and others) and at universities (Stanford, UC Berkeley and Arizona State) where he taught and published on the history of technological change, emphasizing the relationship between innovation and national security as well as the history of computing and software. He is the author of “Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century” and “Showstopper,” on the making of Windows NT at Microsoft. In 2022, Zachary’s edited volume, “The Essential Writings of Vannevar Bush,” was published by Columbia University Press. Born in Brooklyn and educated in New York, Zachary has lived in Northern California since 1978 and, in the 1990s, served as the chief Silicon Valley reporter for the Wall Street Journal.

Speaker: Christine T. Dee – In Person


Affiliation: Independent Researcher
Title: Data Privacy and Pernicious Persuasion
Abstract:
As our lives become increasingly digitized and connected we emit increasing amounts of data. Our general thinking is to protect our data from bad actors such as cyber criminals, hackers, or those who might exploit or personal information to cause us embarrassment in some way. When we caution one another about our digital interactions, it is often with this type of risk in mind. This talk will describe the beneficial and exploitative uses of personalized data, and will caution us about the main danger of these insights, their ability to influence our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors in poisonous ways.
Biography:
Christine Dee is a technologist and research psychologist with more than 25 years of experience in the telecom industry. In this work, she led several first-of-a-kind data initiatives and programs that accelerate the adoption of AI and analytics around the world. Through her doctoral work in Media Psychology, she introduced a novel approach to observing and measuring television audiences. The domain of data driven personalized insights has been at the heart of her work for decades. As such she offers unique perspective to the potentials and dangers of its use.

Speaker: Deepak Tewari – In Person


Affiliation: Privately SA
Title: Privacy Preserving Age Verification
Abstract:
So many legislations/ initiatives regarding age gating and online safety have been stifled because the debate around both these themes is framed as a conflict with data privacy and individual rights. Companies like Privately have solved this problem by allowing accurate age checks to be carried out without a user’s personal data ever leaving their own device.The next generation of games, apps and devices will be able to provide age appropriate age experiences through real-time age awareness. In this talk I will discuss EdgeAI, On device architectures and privacy preservation as it applies to many industries from social media and advertising to adult content and retail.
Biography:
Deepak founded Privately SA in 2014- after two decades in telecom and high tech. He has since led the march at Privately in its quest to make the internet safe for minors. In recognition of the social impact of his work, Deepak was awarded Doctor of Letters Honoris Cause by IUG in 2017.