Speakers (in order of appearance)

Rod Drury, Founder and CEO of Xero

Rod Drury is CEO and founder of NZX-listed Xero, an online accounting solution for small businesses. He is one of New Zealand’s leading technology entrepreneurs, a member of the New Zealand Hi-Tech Hall of Fame, New Zealand Hi-Tech Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006 and 2007, World Class New Zealander for ICT in 2008, and an Honorary Fellow of the NZ Computer Society.Rod is a Director of the New Zealand Stock Exchange, was a Director of TradeMe when it was sold to Fairfax Media and is a member of Victoria University of Wellington Faculty of Commerce Advisory Board.

Rod is also a founder and Director of Pacific Fibre, a new international fibre cable project connecting Australia and NZ to the USA.

Dr Jennie Billot and Philippa Smith, AUT/World Internet Project

Dr Jennie Billot is the current Research Director of the World Internet Project for New Zealand. She is the Deputy Director of the AUT Institute of Culture Discourse and Communication and has directed other national and international projects. Jennie’s experience includes working across the education sector in both secondary and tertiary teaching and government initiated school review, consultancy, evaluation, postgraduate supervision and directing centres of research. She has a wide range of expertise in cross-disciplinary social science research, with a special emphasis on qualitative research methodology and design. Last year she directed an adjunct project to the WIPNZ focusing on the impact of social networking on New Zealanders.  As a researcher, her other interests lie in higher education, educational leadership, mentoring and identity.

Philippa Smith, a researcher with an interest in media and new media technologies, has been with AUT’s  Institute of Culture, Discourse & Communication since 2003.  As a member of the WIPNZ project team Philippa has attended the WIP international partners’ meetings in Beijing and Melbourne.  She is a member of the Association of Internet Researchers and has a particular interest in the affects of Internet genres such as blogs,  e-lists and  social networking sites  on the way we communicate. Philippa is currently completing her PhD thesis which examines the construction of New Zealand identity through computer mediated communication.

Markus Kummer, ISOC Vice President of Public Policy

Markus joined the Internet Society in February 2011. In this position, he advances key Internet Society policy positions on issues such as privacy, cybersecurity, and network neutrality.  Most recently he wasy the Executive Coordinator of the Secretariat supporting the United Nations’ Internet Governance Forum, he has extensive experience with Internet policy at the global, regional, and national levels. Before joining the United Nations in 2004, Markus held the position of eEnvoy for the Swiss Foreign Ministry in Berne. He was a member of the Swiss delegation during the first phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) where he chaired several negotiating groups, including the group on Internet governance. He went on to serve as the Executive Coordinator of the WSIS Working Group on Internet Governance from 2004 to 2005. Before his involvement with the WSIS, he served as a career diplomat in several functions in the Swiss Foreign Ministry and was posted in Lisbon, Vienna, Oslo, Geneva, and Ankara. Markus is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

Rod Oram, Business Columnist

Rod Oram has more than 30 years’ experience as an international business journalist. He has worked for various publications in Europe and North America, including the Financial Times of London. Rod and his family emigrated from the UK to New Zealand in 1997. He is currently a columnist for the Sunday Star-Times; a regular broadcaster on radio and television; and a frequent public speaker on business, economics, innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship, in both NZ and global contexts. For more than a decade, Rod has been helping fast-growing New Zealand companies through his involvement with The ICEHOUSE, the entrepreneurship centre at the University of Auckland’s Business School.

Penguin published in 2007 his book on the New Zealand economy, Reinventing Paradise. He was named the Landcorp Agricultural Communicator of the Year for 2009. Last year, Rod was the winner in the individual category in the 2010 Vero Excellence in Business Support Awards and was Columnist of the Year in the consumer category in the national magazine awards for his columns in Good, a consumer sustainability magazine.

Hon Steven Joyce, Minister for ICT

Hon Steven Joyce is the Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Minister for Tertiary Education, Associate Minister of Finance, Associate Minister for Infrastructure, and Minister of Transport.

As Minister of Communications and ICT, he has driven the UFB and RBI projects on behalf of the Government, as the country looks to widespread deployment of fibre and high speed Internet. His interests in Transport and Education also have high relevance to New Zealand’s Internet future.

Deputy Prime Minister Bill English

Bill English is the Deputy Prime Minister, Deputy Leader of the National Party, Minister of Finance, Minister for Infrastructure and MP for Clutha / Southland. He was first elected to Parliament in 1990 as MP for Wallace, a large rural electorate covering the deep south-west end of New Zealand. Mr English was born in Dipton, Southland, and farmed in the area. He completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree at Otago University, followed by a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in English Literature at Victoria University in Wellington.Mr English held ministerial posts in education, health, revenue and finance and he was leader of the National Party from October 2001 to October 2003.

Professor Lawrence Lessig

Harvard University Professor of Law Lawrence Lessig is one of North America’s leading academics and widely known in the global Internet community as a vocal proponent of reduced legal restrictions on digital copyright, and a champion of notions of ‘fair use’ and ‘free culture’.

Among his appointments, he is a founding board member of the alternative copyright licensing body – Creative Commons – and is a board member of the Software Freedom Law Center.

Sean Plunket, MC for Friday

Sean is a broadcaster and journalist of more than 25 years experience in New Zealand.   Currently he presents a mid morning talkback show “Sean Plunket Mornings” on Newstalk ZB in Wellington as well as fronting “The Nation” weekly current affairs and politics show on TV3.  Sean also pens a monthly column on politics in Metro magazine and writes a weekly column in the Weekend Dominion Post.  Sean has previously hosted Radio New Zealand’s flagship Morning Report programme been a political correspondent for TV3 and been a reporter on TVNZ’s Fair Go Programme.  He is the recipient of numerous media awards for his work in radio and television.  What spare time he has is spent walking his black Labrador “Pax” and if he is very lucky fly fishing.

Hon Chris Finlayson, Attorney General

Hon Christopher Finlayson is Attorney-General for New Zealand, Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage. and Minister for Treaty of Waitangi Negotiations. Chris will lead into the panel discussion on Friday of NetHui on Globalisation, the Internet and the Law