Overview

November 9

Today’s communities face complex challenges – everything from guiding economic recovery, to remediating blight, to supporting smart mobility. Join experts from the Center for Digital Government and Google Cloud to learn how data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning can help your community address these and other issues in new ways. You’ll hear practical strategies for putting these powerful technologies to work to improve resident safety and quality of life – and you’ll see examples of them in action.

Join us Nov. 9 at 11am PT/2pm ET. This interactive webcast will help you:

-- Get more value from existing public assets and infrastructure
-- Control cost and improve efficiency
-- Generate new data-driven insights
-- Improve long-range planning and equity

Speakers

Robert M. Knecht

Director Public Works, City of Memphis

As Director, Mr. Knecht is responsible for the 3rd largest City Division with a staff of nearly 800 employees and is responsible for many core services provided to citizens including Waste Water and Storm Water operations, Neighborhood Improvement, Street Sweeping, Drain and Street Maintenance operations. The Public Works division has a total annual O&M budget over $200 million and over 500 million in planned capital improvement program (CIP). Mr. Knecht had previously served as Deputy Director of Maintenance for 5 years prior to serving as Director. Mr. Knecht has also previously held several roles in Public Works during his 18-year tenure with the City of Memphis. Mr. Knecht has a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix and a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Memphis. Robert is married to Mendy, a native Memphian, and they have 3 children; Kristen, Kyle and Jordan as well as 3 grandchildren. Mr. Knecht also served in the US Air Force and is a veteran of Desert Shield/Storm.

Tamara Kamara

Enterprise Applications Manager, City of Detroit

Tamara Kamara is the Enterprise Applications Manager for the City of Detroit. She manages the Enterprise GIS, Web and Applications teams. She leads the Detroit Street View project within the Department of Innovation and Technology. The project collects 360 imagery data of the City of Detroit for use by residents, other city departments and the general public. The data is owned by the City of Detroit and provided to residents and other interested parties for free. Prior to her current role with the City of Detroit, she was the Web Team Supervisor, leading the team to a successful launch of the city’s website onto the Drupal platform. Over the course of a 25-year career in IT, she has held positions as Director of Technical Services at Health Level 7 (a healthcare IT standards organization), Director of IT at the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives, Webmaster at Penske Auto Centers and Computer Programmer at Ford Motor Company. She is a life-long resident of Detroit and considers her current role her “dream job”, serving the city that she loves.

Monali Shah

Strategic Business Executive, Public Sector, Google

Monali Shah is a Strategic Business Executive for Public Sector at Google. In this role she drives the creation of ‘smart cities’ and mobility solutions that address the needs of public sector agencies. She is passionate about leveraging Google Cloud’s AI capabilities to drive both operational efficiency for agencies and better citizen experiences. She previously served as the Director of Intelligent Transportation at HERE Technologies and led the company's work with transportation agencies in the areas of smart cities, connected and automated driving, and traffic management. At Nokia and NAVTEQ, she spearheaded product innovation in several location-based products. She started off her career as an Environmental Engineer and Six Sigma Blackbelt at Avery Dennison. Ms. Shah is a sought-after expert on transportation and mobility. She serves as an advisor to transportation commissioners, serves on industry boards, has been quoted extensively in the media, and has served as a plenary speaker at industry events across the world. Ms. Shah has a degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Michigan and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Phil Bertolini — Moderator

Co-Director, Center for Digital Government (CDG)

Phil Bertolini is the Co-Director of the Center for Digital Government (CDG), a national research and advisory institute on information technology policies and best practices in state and local government. Previously, he served as deputy county executive and CIO for Oakland County, Michigan. During his 31-year tenure, Phil built a world-class IT organization in the second-largest county in Michigan, just north of Detroit. As Oakland County CIO, he oversaw more than 150 employees serving over 1.2 million residents. In 2005, he was also promoted to deputy county executive, holding dual positions until his retirement. Phil’s efforts earned the county national attention, winning numerous awards for technology innovation and excellence. He was named one of Governing Magazine’s Public Official of the Year and Government Technology Magazine’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers & Drivers. He was also honored by the President Obama White House as a Champion of Change for 2012.

Webinar

Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Smart Cities