Keynote speakers
Eleanor Chelimsky: Reflections on a Brave New World: the Technological Society and its Ramifications for Evaluation
Eleanor Chelimsky’s career spans evaluation management, economic planning and policy analysis. She has made major intellectual contributions to program, budget, audit and evaluation processes. As Director of the Institute for Program Evaluation at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (1980-84) and U.S. Assistant Comptroller General (1984-94) she directed the production of 300 national evaluations and played a leading role in the promotion of evaluation across US federal and state agencies.
Elected as President of the Evaluation Research Society in 1980 and of the American Evaluation Association in 1995 Eleanor championed evaluation quality; the internationalization of evaluation and the development of new evaluation methods. She is the recipient of the Fulbright Award; the Myrdal Award for Government Service; ASPA’s National Public Service Award; the Knowledge Utilization Society’s Award for Excellence in Evaluation; the Donald Campbell Award for Methodological Innovation in Public Policy Studies; and several GAO awards including the Comptroller General’s Award (GAO’s top honor).
Tarja Cronberg: Technology, Society and Evaluation in Europe
Ms Tarja Cronberg holds Ph.D. degrees in technology and business administration. She has long exercised political leadership in Europe’s networked society. Currently a member of the European Parliament she was a Member of the Finnish Parliament from 2003 to 2007 and a former Minister of Labor. She chaired the Green League party from 2005 to 2009 and served on several parliamentary committees (foreign affairs, security and defense, employment). She was a member of the EU Competitiveness Council (2008-2009) and of the EU Employment and Social Affairs Council (2007-2009). She is fluent in seven languages.
Ms Cronberg has been at the centre of policy making at the intersection of technology and the social sciences. She directed the North Karelia regional development council from 1993 to 2001 and led the Copenhagen Peace Research Institute from 2001 to 2003. She was a member of the Danish Parliament Technology Council (1986-1991); of the Norwegian Research Council dealing with IT and society (1984-1992). She was a member of the European Commission Information Society Technologies Advisory Group (ISTAG) from 1999 to 2002; chaired the EU COSTA4 Group that examined the relationship between technology and society (1992-1997) and contributed to the VALUE think-tank that focused on the interaction between research and society (1993-1994).
Robert Kirkpatrick: Harnessing the Power of Real Time Data: a 21st Century Approach to Monitoring and Evaluation
Robert Kirkpatrick is Director of the Global Pulse initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General. This program aims to harness today's new world of digital data and real-time analytics to track and gain a better understanding of changes in human well-being. Robert’s activities in government, academia, UN agencies, NGOs and the private sector have always promoted innovative applications of technology. Robert has more than 15 years of experience in the design and use of advanced technology tools in business, public health, disaster relief, security coordination, citizen journalism, telemedicine, crisis monitoring, conflict mediation, and peace building activities. His work has focused on strengthening public policy, enhancing crisis resilience and catalyzing organizational change. Robert advocates open data, open standards, open source software, and participatory development.
Robert co-founded and led software development for two pioneering private-sector humanitarian technology teams, including Microsoft Humanitarian Systems. In 2005 he supported response and recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as well as vital relief operations following the Kashmir earthquake. In 2006 he contributed to situational awareness and information flows for telemedicine and social program monitoring in Afghanistan. During 2007-2009 he served as Chief Technical Officer of the non-profit Innovative Support to Emergencies Diseases and Disasters (InSTEDD) where he established the first public health innovation lab in Cambodia. He now serves as Chairman of its Board of Directors.
