Robert Kirkpatrick is a social innovator who has spent more than 20 years in the public, private, & nonprofit sectors working at the intersection of technology, public policy & organizational change. He is the Director of Global Pulse, an innovation initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General harnessing data science for sustainable development & humanitarian action. At Global Pulse, Robert oversees a network of data science innovation labs in Jakarta, Kampala, & New York, which partner with government, UN agencies, academia & private sector to develop data analytics solutions for monitoring, early warning & crisis response. He has been a leading voice in shaping the emerging Big Data for Development community of practice & is widely recognized as the founder & mobilizer-in-chief of the Data Philanthropy movement, in which corporations put insights from big data to work for the public good.

Janet is a technical leader with more than 15 years of experience in Big Data Platform, machine learning, distributed computing, compliers & Artificial Intelligence. At Western Digital, Janet builds global core competencies, shaping, driving & implementing the Big Data platform, products & technologies, using advanced analytics & pattern matching with semiconductor manufacturing data from the ground up. Prior, Janet served as managing director/chief scientist/Big Data expert at Accenture technology labs, responsible for Big Data Platform, Machine Learning, Cognitive Computing & open-innovation. She has served as head of Yahoo Labs/Research Engineering inventing next generation platforms, cloud infrastructures & machine learning for Big Data as well as at eBay & Apple amongst others. Janet holds a Bachelors & Advanced Master Degree with distinction in Computer Science, mathematics, with a thesis focus on Artificial Intelligence.

Amy Luers is the Director of Climate Change at the Skoll Global Threats Fund (SGTF). Previously, she was the Assistant Director for Climate Resilience & Information at the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy (OSTP). Dr. Luers spent a number of years at Google as the Senior Environment Program Manager. Prior to Google she led the climate program at the Union of Concerned Sciences CA office. Luers started her career in Latin America, as co-founder & the first executive director of Agua Para La Vida working to enhance access to potable water. She has published broadly in both academic & the popular media on vulnerability to global change, sustainability, & climate policy. A respected scientists & data innovator, Luers has been recognized as PopTech fellow, Switzer Environmental Fellow & has advised the CA state government, the White House, & the United Nations. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations & has served on committees of the National Academies of Sciences, & the International Council of Science. Luers holds a Ph.D. in environmental science & an M.A. in international policy studies from Stanford University; & a B.S. & M.S. in environmental systems engineering from Humboldt State University.