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Registration is open!
Early Bird Special ~ Sign up before August 4, 2009 and pay only $400
Dear Friends,
As those among you prepare to converge in Kamloops for MISA WEST 2009, we are very pleased to announce the first details
and to open registration for this year's conference, which will take place 15-18 September, 2009 under the theme
"Better the Third Time Around."
Here is our thinking: While experiencing developing trends one can not help but notice a recurring pattern over time.
We'll explore the cycles that drive, refresh and frustrate those involved in delivering municipal information and communications
technologies. From mainframes and terminals to blade servers and browsers, from economic boom to bust, and from centralized to
decentralized, Information and Communications Technology has shown repeating cycles of many kinds. This year's MISA WEST
Conference returns to Kamloops as the host city and hopefully, these cycles will lead to improvements, and we will be
"Better, the 3rd time around"!
Many of the remarkable speakers and presenters - will share their insights of converging technologies that offer smarter,
cost effective solutions designed to manage municipal-centric trends from the environment, transportation, urban growth, communication
systems and more.
We will make a full announcement of the program in the weeks leading up to the conference. But here is an excerpt of the
MISA WEST 2009 program:
Keynote Speakers
 Ray Kurzweil - September 16th - 9 am to 10:30 am
Ray Kurzweil has been described as "the restless genius" by the Wall Street Journal, and "the ultimate thinking machine"
by Forbes. Inc. magazine ranked him #8 among entrepreneurs in the United States, calling him the "rightful heir to Thomas
Edison," and PBS included Ray as one of 16 "revolutionaries who made America," along with other inventors of the past two centuries.
 Derek Hatfield - September 17th - 9 am to 10:30 am
Derek Hatfield is the first Canadian to sail around the world, alone, completing over 28,700 nautical miles in the
Around Alone Single-handed Yacht Race. Only 126 brave sailors have ever done it. It is a tremendous accomplishment and his
story is truly amazing. Hatfield's fascinating and visually stimulating presentation weaves a tale that
is both practical and motivational, and sure to resonate with the audience.
 Lorne Elliot - September 18th - 11 am to 12:30 pm
Canadian born Lorne Elliott started performing in 1974 as a folk musician in East Coast Canada. At the same time he kept writing fiction
as well as songs, monologues and one-liners. The outcome is a very special show of comedy and music, totally
original, entertaining, foolish and uplifting. Along with his unique performance style it is the timelessness of his material,
joined with keen observations on today's trends that make Lorne's work so special.
Vendor Presentations
IBM - Smart Planet... Smart Cities
Implications for Smart Municipal IT Leaders
As IT leaders, we have the opportunity to change the way the world works. The current crisis in financial markets has
jolted us awake to the realities and dangers of highly complex global integration - but it was just the latest of several
such jolts: on global climate change, on the environmental and geopolitical issues surrounding energy, on global supply
chains for food and medicine, and on security following 9/11.
The world is becoming smaller, flatter and hopefully smarter. The systems that make the world go round are increasingly
instrumented, interconnected, and intelligent ... supporting sense & respond models in supply chains, traffic management,
healthcare, and cities.
Attend the IBM breakout session, where you will learn:
- Leading examples on how systems are supporting new approaches to supply chains, traffic management, healthcare, etc.
- Six new best practices that will emerge and the competencies that municipal IT leaders will need to develop in each of them
Autodesk - 3D Digital Cities, Are you Ready?
Presented by Michael Schlosser. With urban populations expected to double by 2050, an increasingly urgent need exists for
implementing sustainable urban design and infrastructure rehabilitation initiatives. Digital 3D models of our urban infrastructure
form part of the solution as City representatives collaborate and share information with engineers, architects, geospatial
professionals and others.
This presentation explores the reasons behind developing such a model and examines the convergence of the information and
technology needed to make it real. Demonstrations and plenty of eye-candy will be used to highlight the benefits. The
presentation concludes with an examination of today's trends, future opportunities and potential IT related impacts as
they relate to the emerging digital cities phenomena.
Bell - Updates on the Canadian Wireless Industry
Presenter is Michael Weening VP Corporate Sales Bell Mobility.
Alcatel-Lucent - Business Success Through Better Collaboration
In the session, Fernando Egea, Director of Solution Architecture at Alcatel-Lucent will demonstrate the enhanced
user experiences, improved business processes and more rapid ROI resulting from improved collaboration including real-world
customer stories.
Microserve - Optimizing Your Exchange Email Environment
Organizations are becoming increasingly reliant on their email environments and many have come to view Exchange as one of
their 'business critical' applications. Maintaining high availability of electronic messaging systems is a top priority for
IT departments and is a challenge when combined with pressure to minimize capital expenditures. A senior Microserve consultant
will present information on how to optimize the up time and performance of your email environment while minimizing infrastructure
and maintenance costs.
Some key areas of focus will include:
- When you should migrate to Microsoft Exchange 2007
- Designing a server and storage infrastructure for Exchange, including the feasibility and advantages of virtualization
and clustering
- Evaluating the value email archiving will bring to your business
AddressBC - Update on a Common Address System for BC
Presented by Steven Garner, Manager, AddressBC
Integrated Cadastral Information Society (ICIS)
AddressBC is an ICIS initiative to create a common point address registry for BC. The key objectives are to produce a
system that is accessible, accurate and authoritative by leveraging the relationship ICIS has with its member municipalities,
the Provincial government and major utility companies. AddressBC is well on the way with development of the necessary software
tools being undertaken by ESRI Canada. This session will review the project's objectives, update on the status and discuss
the challenges that still exist in building a common address database for BC.
Peer Presentations
Transforming IT Leadership in Municipalities
As municipalities evolve in the 21st century to meet the changing needs of its community and residents, departments such
as Information Technology Services must adopt new ideas and service models to keep pace. With Council members and senior
executives demanding more out of their IT investments and personnel today, IT leadership must now focus more on strategic
management of computer assets and effective delivery of services to customers and the public.
Join us for a multi-speaker panel discussion on how some of the municipalities have risen up to the challenge. The speakers
will share their thoughts and perspectives, and discuss strategies and initiatives undertaken at their respective organizations.
Alvin K Chok Chief, Information Technology, City of New Westminster
Greg Smith Director, Corporate Services, MetroVancouver
Sarah Hood Manager, Workforce Development, Capital Regional District (Victoria)
Records and Documents Management - Challenges and Opportunities
A discussion around: retention management; legal compliance; risk mitigation; version control; collaboration; document
assembly; email management; email archiving; hard copy file management; system integrations (e.g. Tempest, JDE, etc); desktop
integration; longterm preservation of electronic content; and . . . What's the deal with SharePoint?
Scott Redgrove, MAS, MLIS, Records Manager, City of Kamloops
Unified Communication - Now And In The Future
By unifying the City's phone system with e-mail, voicemail, fax and presence, many new capabilities are possible. The City
of Langford is using Exchange 2007, Office Communication Server 2007 R2 and a Nortel CS1000 to enable enterprise wide Unified
Communication. This system is helping staff stay better connected with colleagues, contacts and Langford residence. Langford's
IT Manager, Mike Palmer will talk about how Unified Communication is helping staff and the organization today and in the future.
Mike Palmer, Manager of Information Technology, City of Langford
CivicInfo BC at 10 Years - Looking at the Past; Looking to the Future
Unique in Canada, CivicInfo BC is a partnership between nine different local government organizations (including MISA BC),
all of whom co-operate to provide a range of heavily-used information services at www.civicinfo.bc.ca. 2010 will mark CivicInfo
BC's 10th year as an incorporated not-for-profit agency. CivicInfo BC's Executive Director, Todd Pugh, will speak about
trends and success stories from the last decade, and he will share his thoughts about what the next ten years may have in store.
Todd Pugh, Executive Director, Civic Info
Registration
For the MISA WEST 2009 Conference, the delegate registration fee is $ 550. Sign up before August 4, 2009 and pay only
$400. You may bring a companion for an additional $ 200.00.
Here is how to register:
- Go to this page on the MISA BC website
- Log In to register as a delegate. Registration can be paid via credit card only.
If you have any questions please contact the Conference Team at pstokes@kamloops.ca.
Sincerely,
Frank Mayhood
MISA WEST 2009 Chairperson
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