Local Public Services Innovation Summit 2024

Sharna Quirke

Strategic Director for Local Government and Health, Hitachi Solutions

No bio provided

Ileana Lupsa

Programme Manager, Local Public Services and Nations and Regions, techUK

Ileana Lupsa is the Programme Manager for Local Public Services and Nations and Regions, at techUK.

Ileana studied electronics, telecommunications and IT as an undergraduate, followed by an MSc in engineering and project management at Coventry University.

She refined her programme management expertise through her most recent roles working in the automotive industry.

Ileana is passionate about sustainability and creating a positive impact globally through innovation.

Denis Kaminskiy

Founder and Strategy Director, Arcus Global

No bio provided

Cameron Major

Sales Director, Oxygen Insights

No bio provided

Rebecca Collard

Proactive Intervention and Prevention Manager, Adult Social Care, Norfolk County Council

I’ve been working in Norfolk Adult Social Care since 1999 and am a registered social worker.  I’ve worked across many areas of Adult Social Care and Corporate services over the past 25 years and have a detailed understanding of how teams and structures co-exist and impact upon each other. 

I have a particular interest in the Prevention agenda with services and provisions designed to meet the needs of our population at the right time and in the right place.  I’m currently involved in a Proactive Intervention service, which uses a form of AI - Natural Language Processing – to scan thousands of lines of unstructured data to predict where an individual may be at risk of a fall.  Contact is made with these individuals and interventions offered to mitigate against this risk. Each iteration of the pilots includes layering further data sets from district councils and health systems. Whilst technology supports the identification of these ‘at risk’ individuals, I place great importance of the ‘so what’ questions – what we do about it, how do we do it and for what purpose and goal. These are equally important considerations in our tech trajectory.  

Georgina Maratheftis

Associate Director | Local Public Services, techUK

Georgina is techUK’s Associate Director for Local Public Services. Georgina works with suppliers that are active or looking to break into the market as well as with councils to create the conditions for meaningful transformation. techUK regularly bring together local authorities and supplier community to horizon scan and explore how the technologies of today and tomorrow can help solve some of the most pressing problems our communities face.

Prior to techUK, Georgina worked for a public policy events company where she managed the policy briefing division and was responsible for generating new ideas for events that would add value to the public sector. Georgina worked across a number of portfolios from education, criminal justice, and health but had a particular interest in public sector transformation and technology. Georgina also led on developing relationships across central and local government.

Amanda Whicher

Director, Hays

Amanda Whicher is a Director at Hays, specialising in Public Services Technology. With over 17 years of experience in the recruitment sector, Amanda has a wealth of insights when it comes to the challenges employers face accessing and retaining talent. She has a particular interest in encouraging more women into tech, to expand their career opportunities and create more diverse and inclusive tech teams.

Amanda is passionate about matching the top technology experts to organisations, through life-long partnerships and workplace solutions, to support both clients and candidates to meet their ambitions and thrive in the ever-changing world of tech.

: https://www.hays.co.uk/
: amandaglancyhays

Alex Shiell

Service Manager – Policy, Strategy and Transformation, Rushmoor Borough Council

No bio provided

Kerry Dove

Chief Operating Officer, Lichfield District Council

No bio provided

Dionne Lowndes

Chief Digital and Technology Officer, Southwark Council

Dionne is currently Chief Digital & Technology Officer at the London Borough of Southwark with a background in the Public Sector and Private Sector Consulting. She is an influential technology leader specialising in sustainable digital transformation, leadership, skills and inclusion. With experience of translating vision and strategy into delivery in complex, political and diverse organisations, Dionne has been providing advice to Boards and executive teams on for over 20 years.

Dionne has previously held roles as Chief Digital Experience Officer with Adapt2digital and Director of Staffordshire Public Sector Partnership, collaborating with 8 councils and Police to lead the creation of a single Digital front door for over 870,000 residents. Dionne has worked with Innovate UK, Future Cities Catapult on Smart City, innovation and data projects to re-imagine traditional public services.

Dionne has been a coach and mentor for over 10 years, she brings a passion for enabling everyone to achieve their potential and believes that role model leadership is the key to an organisation becoming truly change ready.

Nimmi Patel

Head of Skills, Talent and Diversity, techUK

Nimmi Patel is the Head of Skills, Talent and Diversity at techUK. She works on all things skills, education, and future of work policy, focusing on upskilling and retraining. Nimmi is also an Advisory Board member of Digital Futures at Work Research Centre (digit). The Centre research aims to increase understanding of how digital technologies are changing work and the implications for employers, workers, job seekers and governments.

Prior to joining the techUK team, she worked for the UK Labour Party and New Zealand Labour Party, and holds an MA in Strategic Communications at King’s College London and BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of Manchester. She is currently taking part in the 2024-25 University of Bath Institute for Policy Research Policy Fellowship Programme.

: https://www.techuk.org/skills-talent-and-diversity-programme.html
: nimmi-patel1/
: @nimmiptl

Nick Richards

Chief Executive Officer, Me Learning Ltd

Nick Richards is the Chief Executive Officer at Me Learning Limited. As CEO, he leads a dedicated team of professionals who provide technology-led learning solutions to organisations across the public, private and third sector. To date, Me Learning has supported over 1 million learners across the UK.

Nick is committed to empowering people and organisations with learning solutions that enable them to do whatever they want to do with competence, confidence, and pride. He’s always exploring how Me Learning can continue to lead the way in helping organisations flourish and ultimately unlock the full potential of their people. 

Ade Bamigboye

Chief Technology Officer, Digital, Data & Technology, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Ade is CTO at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. His remit includes strategic business engagement, data strategy, innovation, and emerging technology.

Over the last 20 years he has worked across several sectors including legal, automotive, publishing, healthcare, retail, non-profit and local government. Understanding how data and emerging technology can be leveraged effectively to deliver change and business improvement has been a constant theme.

Using data to drive innovation that could empower local government to optimise resources and make informed decisions in the face of funding challenges and increasing pressure on services his high in his agenda. He is passionate about data privacy and a IAPP Certified Information Privacy Professional.

Ade also serves as a Digital Trustee on charity boards that focus on health, wellness, and family well-being where he provides guidance on digital, data and cybersecurity.

Rehana Ramesh

Asst Director - Customer Services, Digital and Data, London Borough of Hackney

A Digital Transformation and Strategic leader with more than 20 years of experience in local government. Rehana Ramesh has an extensive background in developing and implementing digital strategies and programmes, focusing on customer service excellence. She is dedicated to putting customers at the heart of business decision-making and has experience in creating synergies between multidisciplinary teams at all levels. Aside from her busy day job, Rehana champions digital inclusion in the London Borough of Brent and drives social change.

Collaborating with a technology partner, Rehana launched Springboard in 2021, delivering free digital learning to all residents and businesses in Brent Council.

Rehana has a strong track record of stakeholder engagement and relationship building and has actively participated in multiple networking platforms. Her passion lies in driving efficiency, innovation, change, and she has experience establishing Technical Design Authorities and Data Ethics Boards.

Clare White

UK Government Client Manager, Riverbed Technology

No bio provided

Darius Toomer

Head of Agilisys Product, Agilisys

Darius is the Head of Agilisys Product, responsible for providing innovative Generative AI products into the Public Sector. Previously Agilisys’ Transformation & Innovation Director, Darius has been working with Agilisys across multiple initiatives since joining in 2022 and now leads the newly formed business unit which creates market-leading GenAI products & solutions for our clients.

Darius is also the Head of Portfolio Transformation at Blenheim Chalcot, the UK’s leading venture builder, where he oversees major transformation projects for BC and its ventures – with a focus on Generative AI & Automation.

Ileana Lupsa

Programme Manager, Local Public Services and Nations and Regions, techUK

Ileana Lupsa is the Programme Manager for Local Public Services and Nations and Regions, at techUK.

Ileana studied electronics, telecommunications and IT as an undergraduate, followed by an MSc in engineering and project management at Coventry University.

She refined her programme management expertise through her most recent roles working in the automotive industry.

Ileana is passionate about sustainability and creating a positive impact globally through innovation.

Alex Gore

Group Chief Strategy Office, UBDS Group

Ileana Lupsa

Programme Manager, Local Public Services and Nations and Regions, techUK

Ileana Lupsa is the Programme Manager for Local Public Services and Nations and Regions, at techUK.

Ileana studied electronics, telecommunications and IT as an undergraduate, followed by an MSc in engineering and project management at Coventry University.

She refined her programme management expertise through her most recent roles working in the automotive industry.

Ileana is passionate about sustainability and creating a positive impact globally through innovation.