RAPID FIRE: Setting the Stage

Adrian Holovaty is a Web developer and journalist in Chicago who has made a number of diverse contributions to the Web. He created chicagocrime.org, one of the original (pre-API) Google Maps mashups; co-created the Django Web framework, used by countless people around the world; and created a Firefox extension that was the direct inspiration for Greasemonkey. His latest project is EveryBlock.

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Carol Dumaine serves as head of the Energy and Environmental Security Directorate in the Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence at the U.S. Department of Energy. Her current efforts involve leveraging collaborative, open international networks and existing expert communities to enhance foresight and resiliency on global energy and environmental security risks and opportunities. Prior to this, she was director of the CIA’s Global Futures Partnership, a strategic “think-and-do tank” that promoted unclassified global knowledge-sharing and networking across government and non-government sectors. Ms. Dumaine began her career as an intelligence analyst and served as an analyst and manager in the CIA’s Directorate of Intelligence. She has degrees from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies.

Scott Heiferman is Chief Organizer of Meetup, dedicated to 21st century local community organizing. Today, millions of people are part of self-organized Meetup Groups around thousands of topics in over 100 countries – with thousands of Meetups (real events) happening daily. Meetup is now a self-sustaining operation, pursuing a long-range dream of a “Meetup Everywhere about Most Everything” – giving everyone access to a local community group when they need it. Heiferman received the Jane Addams Award from the National Conference on Citizenship and the MIT Technology Review “Innovator of the Year”. He graduated from The University of Iowa. http://scott.heiferman.com

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Peter Corbett is the founder and CEO of iStrategyLabs — an interactive agency that develops creative solutions to clients’ challenges and brings them to life in the digital and physical world. Peter has won multiple industry awards, including 3 Addys in 2008, the Great Washington DC Board of Trade’s “One To Watch” award for being “A rising entrepreneur who has a bright and sustainable future in Greater Washington”, has been named one of the most influential Washingtonians under 40 by WashingtonLife Magazine and is a “Top 25 Most Facinating Communicator in Government IT” according to GovFresh. Washingtonian Magazine included him in their Tech Titan list of the top 100 people shaping technology innovation in the greater capital area.

In Government 2.0 circles, Peter is widely known for co-creating Apps for Democracy with Vivek Kundra and DC’s Office of the CTO, as well his co-founding of Government 2.0 Club, Government 2.0 Camp, and Transparency Camp. His focus on creating—rather than just talking about—smarter, better, faster, and cheaper ways of doing things has inspired similar initiatives around the world like Apps for Democracy Finland, INCA 09 (aka Apps for Democracy Belgium), Apps for America, NYC Big Apps, SF Data Challenge and more. He is currently working on the Apps for the Army program.

Michael Tiemann wrote the GNU C++ compiler (1987), started the world’s first open source copmany (Cygnus Support, 1989), raised the first venture capital for an open source company (1996), joined the OSI Board (2003) and became President of the OSI in 2005.

He is also VP of Open Source Affairs at Red Hat.

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