Headline Sponsor

Alison is a recognised  digital leader in Scotland with a wealth of experience of many ground-breaking digital programmes across the public sector.  She has worked with many organisations across the Justice sector including Disclosure Scotland, Scottish Prison Service, Scottish Courts and Crown Office.  Her experience also includes a 2.5 year secondment as Head of the Digital Transformation Division of the SG Digital Directorate, during which she was involved in the Digital Justice DESC programme.

Alison is a former Chair of ScotlandIS and now works as a digital transformation strategist working with public and private sector to drive digitally enabled change. 

Kim is an accomplished senior leader with extensive experience in the information technology and services industry who has built high-performance teams within Global Technology organisations that drive impactful transformation. Before transitioning into the tech industry, Kim spent 10 years in the Royal Air Force as a radar engineer and also became the 1st female radar technical instructor and this is where she developed her passion for problem-solving and innovation. Today, she leverages that passion in her work with Public Sector organisations, using technology as an enabler for good and always putting organisations and citizens at the heart of every solution. Along with her incredible team, she helps customers define what transformation means to them, while exploring the potential of new technologies to address challenges and unlock opportunities for growth. With a rich and rewarding personal journey, she is a strong advocate for empowering young women in the tech sector, helping to create opportunities for the next generation of female leaders. Outside of work, Kim is married to David and is a proud mother of three children. Her experiences balancing career and family life further fuel her passion for creating pathways to success for women in technology and business.

Learnings from the Scottish Government’s 5th Data Maturity Cohort and future plans

Shona Nicol is Head of the Technical Data Policy Team, covering data standards, data maturity, open data and data innovation, within the Digital Directorate, Scottish Government. Her work focuses on improving the use of data standards and increasing data maturity in the Scottish public sector, she is also an advocate for the transformational role that data can play in increasing transparency, empowering communities, transforming products and services, fuelling innovation, and improving outcomes.

Sandosh Padmanabhan is the Pontecorvo Chair of Pharmacogenomics and Professor of Cardiovascular Genomics and Therapeutics at the University of Glasgow, as well as an Honorary Consultant Physician at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow. His research focuses on precision medicine – specifically on pharmacogenomics, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases leveraging his expertise in genomics, AI, big data, real–world evidence and clinical trials. As Programme Director for AI in Health and Life Sciences, he leads the College’s strategy for health data science and artificial intelligence. 

Susannah is an ambitious and authentic leader with a proven track record in building and scaling high-performing Data & AI capabilities from the ground up. With a strategic mindset and an MSc in Data Science, she has successfully steered client projects to success across a variety of industries, including Central Government, Transport and Policing. A forward-thinking strategist, Susannah combines her deep technical expertise with an innate ability to understand industry trends, enabling her to lead from the front and inspire her teams towards innovation and excellence. 

Victoria Turner is a Lead Solution Engineer on Salesforce’s Public Sector team. She began her career as a graduate at makepositive and has been part of the Salesforce ecosystem ever since. Driven by a passion for innovation, she loves exploring and showcasing the next big thing in tech – while drawing on her experience to craft impactful solutions for customers. A proud mum of two, Victoria is a firm believer that women in tech are where it’s at. 

Principal Specialist SE for Salesforce Platform, AI, and Data Cloud, with extensive IT expertise in programming, infrastructure, and cross-platform integration. Former IT Manager and Delivery Lead for a U.S. corporation, driving transformation and delivery. Focused on the Global Public Sector, passionate about enabling mission success through inclusive, data-driven solutions. Skilled in product ownership, automation, and cross-functional collaboration. A champion of continuous improvement and equitable innovation, leveraging the full potential of the Salesforce Platform to deliver high-impact outcomes. 

Andrew began his career in Technology within Civil Engineering sector with a focus on technology solutions across transport systems. Following this he moved into leadership roles in Construction and Utilities sectors. 
Moving into Energy – He held senior leadership roles with a focus on Digital, Transformation and redesigned Target Operating Model development across global organisations. In September 2019 Andrew was appointed as Police Scotland’s first Chief Digital and Information Officer. Joining the Police Scotland Executive Command & Leadership Team, Andrew has overseen a wide portfolio consisting of Transformation, Digital & Data Division, Service Design and Innovation. He is the Senior Responsible Officer for a range of programmes including Digital Evidence Sharing Capability, National Body worn Video Programme and Digital Contact. 

Muhammad Zeeshan Shakir is a Professor of Digital Technologies and AI at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) and Director of the Digital Connectivity & Innovation Centre (DCIC). With over two decades of international academic and industry experience, his work focuses on wireless communications, AI-enabled systems, digital health, and smart infrastructure.   

Professor Shakir leads UWS’s contribution to the £1M 5G Innovation Region (5GIR) Project in partnership with North, East, and South Ayrshire Councils. A Senior Member of IEEE, his research focuses on 5G and beyond, AI-driven wireless networks, and smart city innovation. Professor Shakir is Chair of the Ayrshire Digital Economy Ecosystem (ADEE) Strategic Board, and a Board Member of the Ayrshire 5G Innovation Region.    

Ryan Gibson is Head of the Computing Division for the School of Computing, Engineering and Physical Sciences at the University of the West of Scotland (UWS). 

Now in his tenth year of teaching, learning and research, Ryan has built up areas of specialism in Electronic Engineering, Smart Manufacture, Data Visualisation and Wireless Communication. He builds strategic partnerships with public sector organisations across Scotland, focusing on upskilling workforces in emerging technologies.  His work supports regional innovation and economic growth through targeted skills development, aligning with UWS’ place making strategy.  

Ally will give a short presentation on the benefit to NHS Scotland, and potentially the wider Public Sector, of using the NSS offered Cloud hosting platform

With over 20 years’ experience in various Digital roles within the Scottish Public Sector, now working for NHS Scotland to deliver secure Cloud based National Digital solutions and drive forward a ‘Cloud-First’ approach to NHS NSS Digital operations and hosted solutions delivering healthcare nationally across Scotland. With a passion for Digital Cloud, Infrastructure and Operations, he retains a keen interest in bigger picture solutions that benefit NHS Scotland as a whole, championing solutions in a manner that reflects the overall organisational values. Outside of work, a family man who enjoys most sports and live (rock/metal!) music.

Nia is an experienced leader of digital transformation who has helped the Scottish public sector deliver services that are more efficient to run and meet the raised expectations of today’s customers. She now helps organisations transition to working in the cloud.
Before that Nia spent 19 years working in both the Welsh and English public sector delivering policy improvements, community development, digital connectivity and business transformation.

Professor Mark Parsons is the Director of EPCC, the supercomputing centre at the University of Edinburgh. EPCC is known internationally for the breadth and scale of its large-scale computing and data science activities. Since 2018, EPCC has hosted the Edinburgh International Data Facility, the key underpinning technology of the Data Driven Innovation programme which is part of the Edinburgh & SE Scotland City Deal. In addition to his role at EPCC, he is a Director and Trustee of Research Data Scotland. 

Is your data match fit? Understanding your data assets and getting them in good order to start transforming services

One of David’s focus areas has been on data quality to support initiatives such as child poverty as part of cross public-sector working between Scottish local authorities, the Improvement Service and Scottish Government. David is the Data Programme Manager at Argyll and Bute Council, and has overall responsibility for steering the local authority’s data programme. The aim of the programme is to make it easier for the council’s services to more effectively use data for service design and delivery, through implementation of the council’s data strategy and action plan.  Prior to joining the council in 2017 David was an ICT and project manager in various roles in the private sector, with effective use of data always running as the core thread through twenty-five years’ experience of delivering organisational change in complex environments.