THE JUDGING PANEL

Brendan is a proven Technology and Business Leader in the Digital, Communications and High Tech Industry with a highly successful track record in Digital Innovation over 28 years. Renowned for delivering business value through innovation in technology and products.

After an early career spent travelling globally implementing IT and network systems for startup mobile operators Brendan worked at Director level in PwC in the UK, Spain and Japan before being headhunted as CIO for BT Openworld to launch the first broadband and IPTV services in the UK . After 5 years at BT and 5 years working at senior levels in innovative startups he was headhunted by Telefonica as a digital leader working firstly in the UK on Online, then Globally as CIO of Telefonica Digital and for the last 4 years as CIO for O2 in the UK, a £6bn revenue telecommunications and digital brand.

Brendan is a member of a number of industry advisory boards, talks frequently on the topics of digital innovation and the role of the CIO, and serves on the CIO Board of TechPartnership focused on increasing the technology talent in the UK.

Christina Scott joined News UK as Chief Technology Officer in February 2016, and is responsible for overseeing Technology and Product teams at News UK.

Christina was formerly at the Financial Times, where she held the titles of CIO, Chief Product and Information Officer and Senior Vice President of Technology for the Pearson Professional arm of parent company Pearson.

At the Financial Times, she was responsible for driving the paper’s digital transformation, using data insight to drive customer experience.

Christina has more than 20 years experience in the IT industry, having previously worked in technology teams at a number of companies including the BBC, FT and ITV Digital, where she specialised in digital transformation.

In 2016 Scott was awarded the CIO of the Year award in the Women in IT awards and previously has been highly recognised in a number of top technology and female executive rankings.

Melissa creates the strategic plan for an integrated omnichannel customer experience, including sales and service, for all lines of business. She guides her team through innovation and agile development, directing tactical execution in implementing new functionality, processes and systems.

Catherine Devine, Chief Digital Officer, American Museum of Natural History, oversees the Museum’s digital transformation. Her “digital layer” approach blends interpretation and logistics to create unified digital-and-physical visitor experiences, including cutting-edge projects such as development of the personalized indoor wayfinding application Explorer (Webby Awards and American Alliance of Museum Muse Award Honoree), multichannel digital ticketing, and website redesigns. Catherine has 25 years of experience in technology development and strategy, prior to joining the Museum five years ago. Catherine was named Top 50 Chief Digital Officers by Chief Digital Officer Summit, 2017.

Brian Stevens is VP and CTO of Google Cloud, where he’s part of the senior leadership team. Brian’s responsible for guiding product strategy and leading the Office of the CTO. Brian joined Google from Red Hat, where he was CTO and EVP of Worldwide Engineering. Brian joined Red Hat in 2001, and led its shift to the enterprise across Linux, virtualization, storage, middleware, and cloud. Brian began his career at Digital Equipment Corporation, where he was a developer on the first commercial release of the X Windows System.

Leah Kraus has over 26 years of experience in technology and education. Her work prior to being a CIO included: high school teacher, program coordinator and help desk director. Her first CIO role was in 2001 at Guilford College, moving to UNC Wilmington in 2007. Leah became CIO at North Carolina Central University in 2014. There she is responsible for providing innovation, vision and strategic leadership for the campus. In 2015 Leah was named Best CIO Public University by Triangle Business Journal. She is engaged in digital literacy, access and inclusion work and serves on industry and non-profit Advisory Boards.