Home > Tech Summit > 2024 Tech Summit > Speakers 2024
We support a huge range of enabling technologies at CENSIS – from sensing and hardware development, to cloud computing, IoT, AI and pretty much everything in between. Our diverse group of speakers reflects this broad church and as always, on the day we will have something to suit all interests.
Here are the speakers and panellists announced so far, with more introductions coming soon.
Colin is the Chief Technology Officer for the Digital Office for Scottish Local Government and the Chief Digital Officer for Glasgow City Council. He has been with the Digital Office since its inception in 2006 but has been working with local government for a total of 16 years. Prior to that Colin worked within the telecommunications sector.
Colin recently led the development of the recently launched Digital Glasgow Strategy for Glasgow City Council and he is currently working with Scottish Government and COSLA to develop a new refreshed digital strategy for Scotland. Colin leads on the Digital Office’s work relating to IoT-enabled Connected and Smart Places – work that is being delivered in partnership with CENSIS. His inspiration for how IoT can transform public services can be traced back to his role in the Innovate UK Future Cities Demonstrator in Glasgow, in 2014.
Dejan’s work is focused on public and private sector collaboration and shaping of propositions for development of telecommunications and data infrastructure at national, regional and local level. With background in engineering and strategic marketing, Dejan has helped a wide range of organisations understand opportunities presented by wireless technologies such as 5G and IoT. This has often included supporting public sector organisations in their engagement with the industry to create sustainable collaboration and to accelerate deployments of digital infrastructure.
Dejan’s current role is with the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) where he leads technical advisory team within the Future Network Programmes. He has previously worked with several Local and Regional Authorities across the UK, Connected Places and Digital Catapults respectively, and DCMS. He has held senior strategic marketing and product management roles in large multinational technology companies as well as with a UK-based technology startup.
Panel discussion: digital transformation and the future delivery of public services
Chris is a Director of M2M Cloud, a Dundee-based IoT company. He has over 20 years’ experience delivering software systems and Internet of Things solutions across a wide range of industries – from manufacturing and healthcare to transportation and energy.
M2M’s offering includes solutions for asset tracking, building monitoring and remote water monitoring. Neptune, the company’s best-in-class, enterprise-grade water monitoring solution is driving a new approach to water risk, with system used by public and private sector organisations including Scottish Water, NHS trusts, the Ministry of Defence and local authorities.
With support from CENSIS, M2M Cloud has taken Neptune from a prototype to an on-the-market IoT offering that is being deployed at scale across the country.
Diane Gilpin leads Smart Green Shipping (SGS), a purpose-driven, for-profit, systems design house working to drive immediate, scalable, positive change in the global shipping fleet. SGS works collaboratively across the shipping ecosystem and adjacent technologies and industries.
SGS has raised ~£10m to build, in Scotland, 21st century data-enabled wingsails to support global shipping’s urgent need to decarbonise in line with climate science. The prototype FastRig™ was unveiled in April 2024, and a full-scale demonstrator will be installed on a commercial ship later this year.
In 2018/19 SGS led an InnovateUK supported collaborative feasibility analysis quantifying the benefits of retrofitting its FastRig™ wingsails onto a ship chartered by Drax, importing biomass into the UK from the US. Fuel and GHG emissions savings were verified, as saving at least 20% per annum by the University of Southampton. Simultaneously, with European Space Agency support, SGS has developed its own wind-assisted weather routing app which quantifies the value of the wind on any ship on any route – a key enabler to drive rapid market adoption of wind-assist technology.
Diane sits on the UK Department for Transport’s Clean Maritime Council; is a European Green Shipping Expert for EU Waterborne Transport Platform; a BBC ‘Woman of Power’ 2020; a recipient of InnovateUK’s ‘Women in Innovation’ Award; and winner of the 2021 International Windship Association’s ‘Outstanding Contribution’ Award.
Di’s presentation – FastRig – from concept to commercialisation
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, offering over 200 fully featured services from data centers globally. Millions of customers including the fastest-growing startups, largest enterprises, and leading government agencies are using AWS to lower costs, become more agile, and innovate faster.
Adrian is a Local Government Account Manager at Amazon Web Services (AWS), dedicated to supporting Scottish councils. With a passion for driving value and fostering collaboration within the public sector, Adrian works closely with local authorities to leverage cloud technology for improved service delivery and operational efficiency.
Panel discussion: digital transformation and the future delivery of public services
Matt Hatton is a well-respected commentator and technology industry expert with over 25 years’ experience at the cutting edge of technology research and consulting. He is a thought-leader in telecommunications, digital transformation and the Internet of Things.
He is widely quoted in trade publications and a frequent speaker at conferences.
Matt is currently Founding Partner at Transforma Insights, the leading advisers on IoT, AI and digital transformation. Previously, he was founder and CEO of Machina Research, acquired by Gartner in 2016. Prior to founding Machina Research Matt was a technology industry analyst, working at firms including Analysys Mason and Yankee Group. He holds an MSc in Telecoms from University College London.
Matt’s presentation: IoT, AI and digital transformation – an analyst’s insight
Chelsea Jarvie is an award-winning cybersecurity leader and international keynote speaker, who is frequently featured on the BBC for her security insights. She has successfully built and led global security teams from scratch and managed security transformation programmes across the public and private sectors.
With a first class honours degree in Ethical Hacking and Countermeasures from Abertay University, Chelsea has worked in a variety of security roles. She is currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Strathclyde in online age verification, and her research has been featured in a wide range of publications including the Wall Street Journal.
Chelsea was named one of the most inspirational women in cyber in 2024 and one of the UK’s top CISOs in 2023.
Not only is Chelsea a driving force for modern security practices, she is also dedicated advocate for diversity in the digital realm and has been named as ‘Woman of the Future’ by Equate Scotland.
Chelsea’s presentation
Sharing pictures and videos online about family life has become a societal norm, with some parents even making a living as influencers by sharing their parenthood journey. The term ‘sharenting’ refers to parents sharing content about their children online.
While sharenting helps people stay connected with family and friends and creates online communities, it raises critical questions about children’s privacy and security now and as they grow up. As society continues to feed online platforms with rich data about themselves and each other, both governments and corporate entities have a reason to be interested in information about the future generation of our societies.
This presentation will explore the motivations behind sharenting, while examining the current and emerging risks and concerns for children’s privacy, such as exposure to predators, identity theft, and ethical implications of consent and autonomy.
Jude McCorry is the CEO of the Cyber and Fraud Centre – Scotland. She is also co founder of the Cyber and Fraud Hub a charity dedicated to individuals who have become victims of cyber enabled crime like financial fraud.
She has over 20 years of experience in the technology sector and started her career with Dell computers in Ireland,. Jude joined the Cyber and Fraud Centre (formally known as the Scottish Business Resilience Centre) in April 2020 from The Data Lab, where she was Director of Business Development, working with industry and academia to maximise the value of data for Scotland. She is one of the founders of the UNICEF Data Hub for Children, and also sits on the board of the Edinburgh Data-Driven Innovation Hub at the University of Edinburgh.
Jude is passionate about data and cyber for good and inspiring the next generation into cyber and technology – particularly looking at female participation into this, but also keeping females in the industry once they enter it.
Jude will chair our morning panel session on business resilience.
Anne is an experienced independent consultant with a background of achievement in management consultancy, business change and project delivery across a wide range of industry sectors in the UK and mainland.
Her many roles have included visualising, communicating and managing technological and business change, with a strong focus on the business environment and business strategy. Most recently, Anne was Head of Digital Economy in Glasgow City Council which was focused on ensuring Glasgow is competitively placed digitally to embrace opportunities and confront challenges in the city.
Panel discussion: digital transformation and the future delivery of public services
Suzanne is a dual qualified UK and European Patent Attorney and in 2023 joined the Scintilla team as Director, IP Strategy. Prior to Scintilla she was responsible for Operations, Legal, and IP at SeeChange Technologies, a wholly owned subsidiary and subsequent spin out of ARM Ltd. Prior to this, Suzanne managed ARM’s global patent and trademark prosecution teams supporting a diverse portfolio of IP strategy, policy and development matters for ARM.
She holds several Board positions and has held the position of President of the UK IP Federation, of which she is now an Honorary Fellow. Suzanne was named as an IAM ‘World Leading IP Strategist’ for 2017, and as a Managing IP ‘Corporate IP Star’ in 2018 & 2019. She was a national award winner for her Corporate Diversity and Inclusion Leadership work in 2018. She now works with many UK-based high growth start-ups and SMEs both helping them to define their IP strategy, but also with business mentoring.
Suzanne will join our morning panel session on business resilience.
Dane founded iOpt in April 2016. For the last 20 years Dane has been working to help asset owners and managers to maintain and run their assets more efficiently. Those assets have included everything from Aston Martins and 737 aircraft engines through to ATM machines and electricity networks.
Now Dane and iOpt help the owners, managers and tenants of social housing properties protect their homes and their health through monitoring the environment and various assets and systems in housing.
Dane will join our morning panel discussion on business resilience.
Jacqueline Redmond has over 25 years of international experience in the energy sector, with expertise in strategic leadership, business transformation, and energy innovation. Her career spans risk management, business development, sustainable energy solutions, and supporting the adoption of new technologies in the energy sector.
After earning her PhD in Energy Economics from the University of Strathclyde, Jacqueline began her career at Scottish Power, where she led the company’s risk management team, later become director of corporate strategy.
Her career progressed through senior roles at Royal Dutch Shell, including Global Director of LNG Strategy and Vice President of Technology Strategy, where she managed a $1.3 billion R&D budget to drive innovation in energy technologies.
As Chief Risk Officer at the Green Investment Bank and later as Division Director at Macquarie, Jacqueline played a crucial role in developing sustainable energy projects worldwide and identifying disruptive technologies in the energy sector.
Most recently, as Executive Director of PNDC at the University of Strathclyde, Jacqueline led the organization’s transformation into a recognised hub for grid security technologies and decarbonisation solutions. Under her leadership, PNDC achieved significant growth and secured substantial funding for energy innovation projects.
Jacqueline currently serves as Non-Executive Chair of CENSIS, supporting the continued growth and evolution of the business to become the nation’s leading innovation centre for IoT, ML, and AI-on-the-edge. She is also a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Risk Management and Conflicts Committee at the Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB), where she leads the Board’s accountability for TCFD implementation.
Throughout her career, Jacqueline has been actively involved in the energy transition, supporting business transformation and fostering innovation in both traditional and emerging energy markets. Her experience spans oil and gas, renewable energy, and the application of new technologies in the energy sector. Her unique career path has given her a distinctive perspective that bridges the worlds of innovation, engineering, and funding. This allows her to effectively communicate across these different domains, translating complex technical concepts for investors and helping innovators understand the financial and strategic considerations necessary for successful project development and commercialisation.
As Chief Product Officer in IGS’s leadership team, Lawrence is passionate about technology and in particular its ability to solve big problems.
Born in Ireland, he moved to Scotland and graduated with a degree in electronic and electrical engineering from from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. Since graduating, his has seen him in both technical and leadership roles in hardware, software and services businesses working around the globe.
Outside of work , Lawrence loves all things outdoors, spending his leisure time sailing, biking, hiking, skiing and playing tennis.
Professor Spencer Salter is Director of Research and Innovation at Jaguar Land Rover Automotive (JLR).
Starting out with the company as a technician apprentice in product engineering,his titles have included Principal Engineer, Technical Specialist, Group Leader, Head of Human Science and Research, and Chief Technical Specialist. He holds a BEng in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Central England and a PhD in human response within autonomous vehicles from Coventry University.
Spencer brings a fresh perspective to the automotive industry where digitalisation technologies are more pervasive than ever. His Tech Summit presentation will bring a holistic view of the industry touching on digital engineering transformation and IoT, along with astrophysics, astrophotography, autonomous vehicles, motion sickness, human sciences, forensics and ethics.
Spencer’s presentation: Symbiosis: space – earth – experiences
Jeremy White is Senior Innovation Editor of WIRED magazine, where he has reported on subjects including technology mega trends, AI, FinTech, digital transformation, autonomous cars and transport, digital health, cyber security and automation and robotics.
He is also a consultant, working with businesses to deliver an outside perspective on the new developments and how products might better be designed, particularly around the application of technology.
From the embedding of AI in almost every product possible to the future of voice control, quantum computing and the interconnection of everything, Jeremy is interested in innovation and how it is changing established markets.
Jeremy is a regular commentator on BBC and Sky.
Jeremy’s presentation: how businesses are using AI to gain real competitive advantage
Jen has over a decade of experience in helping businesses to defend themselves against cyber-attack. She has helped a great number of organisations of all sizes to create or enhance their cyber security capabilities.
As a Cyber Essentials Plus Lead Assessor and ISO27001 Lead auditor Jen combines a wealth of IT and technical experience with a good understanding of governance principles.
Jen is a firm believer in jargon free plain talk especially when it comes to cyber security issues.
Jen joins our morning panel discussion on business resilience.
Paul is an entrepreneurial technologist with a substantial track record for applying innovation across multiple market sectors spanning academia, government, SMEs and international PLCs.
Paul’s early career was with UK MoD, then with QinetiQ where he held a number of leadership roles CEO of QinetiQ Inc. Subsequently, Paul has founded and ran an SME and then was the inaugural Executive Director Innovation and Investment at the UK Defence Solutions Centre. He joined CENSIS in 2019 where he has been pivotal in the development and implementation of digital solutions across the public and private sectors in Scotland.
Paul’s business skills include leadership, substantial international P&L experience, capital raising and realising value from technology.
Paul is a member of the Board at South of Scotland Enterprise, Scotland’s enterprise agency for Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders. Earlier in 2022 the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) appointed him to its Science Engineering and Technology Board (SETB). The SETB is responsible for identifying and championing new research challenges at the cutting edge of engineering and physical sciences for future investment.
Paul is a co-founder and Chair of the Smart Things Accelerator Centre, a dedicated Scottish IoT accelerator for SMEs, scale up and start up companies.
Tom Worley is a technology leader with over 18 years’ experience spanning a diverse range of technologies, from subsea cable systems through enterprise networking, collaboration, cyber security, and ‘smart’ solutions.
Working for both large corporate and scale-up businesses he has a strong technical background, holding an MEng in Electronic & Communications engineering and now specialises in developing and executing product strategies that drive organisational growth through customer-centric innovation.
Tom currently headsup the IoT line of business for North Technology, a national technology solutions provider who specialise in implementing multi-application networks and creating ‘smarter’ places through a series of carefully curated and consistently delivered IoT solutions.
Panel discussion: digital transformation and the future delivery of public services
