OnDemand Trend Report Panel Discussion: AI for personalised government services – building trust and inclusivity in cities

Teppo Rantanen

Executive Director of Economic Policy, Competitiveness and Innovation

City of Tampere

Teppo Rantanen is focusing on industries such as semiconductors, defense, energy and experience economy, which shape the strategic economic policy of the city. He leads Tampere through collaboration in extensive international networks towards a human-centric citiverse. His approach to leading the Citiverse involves leveraging new technologies such as digital twins, XR technologies, data, AI, and connectivity to create a seamless digital layer over the physical city environment, benefiting both people and businesses.

He is also a co-chair of the UN Virtual Worlds Initiative on the Citiverse. From 2002 to 2014, Teppo served as Deloitte Finland’s Chief Executive Officer and from 2014 to 2016 in London as a member of Global Technology, Media and Telecommunications Leadership Team. He currently serves on the board of Business Finland, which helps Finnish companies grow and succeed globally.

Jon Burt

Head of Enterprise Architecture

Manchester City Council

Jon is the City Council’s Head of Enterprise Architecture working across the authority and with its partners to deliver on the priorities set out in the ICT and Digital strategy whilst embedding current and future digital, data & technology capabilities. Jon also works with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, the other 9 Local Authorities in the region, Health and Transport public sector organisations collaborating on mutually beneficial programmes which enhance citizens and businesses experience aligned with the Greater Manchester Digital Blueprint.

Jon has over 25 year’s public sector experience in architecting and delivering solutions at the forefront of technology across infrastructure, applications, security and data including some of the largest and complex programmes in local and regional government.

Melanie Galinski

WWPS Content Program Manager

Microsoft

Melanie Galinski is a communications leader who began her career in television news before moving into public service. Serving in New York State government for more than a decade, she held key roles in communications and digital strategy, leading major initiatives to modernize the state’s online presence and critical public information efforts—including the State’s online presence during the COVID-19 pandemic—and managing high-profile digital platforms including the governor’s website and the state’s website, ny.gov. For the past three-plus years at Microsoft, Melanie has focused on public sector customer skilling globally, managing the Public Sector Center for Digital Skills website providing industry-specific learning on AI, security, and cloud adoption. She also built and operationalized the worldwide AI Hackathon for Public Sector program, all geared to accelerate digital transformation in government. Melanie lives in upstate New York with her husband, two young children, and their golden retriever, Brewski.

Luke Antoniou
Senior Editor

SmartCitiesWorld

Luke has been reporting on the implementation of smart technologies that benefit citizens and the public sector since 2017.

He has a particularly keen interest in smart and sustainable mobility and its role in influencing the decisions of urban planners, citizens and governments alike.

As rapid urbanisation continues, he keeps his finger on the pulse of the myriad urban challenges facing local and central governments, making new connections in the public and private sectors and finding new angles from which to cover the latest smart city developments around the world.