Ed Parsons is the Geospatial Technologist of Google, with responsibility for evangelising Google’s mission to organise the world’s information using geography, and tools including Google Earth, Google Maps and Google Maps for Mobile. Parsons was the first Chief Technology Officer in the 200-year-old history of Ordnance Survey, and was instrumental in moving the focus of the organisation from mapping to Geographical Information. Ed developed technology strategy, identified strategic technology partners, and lead the Ordnance Survey Research Labs, leading an overall team of more than 200 people.

Ed came to the Ordnance Survey from Autodesk, where he was EMEA Applications Manager for the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Division. During his tenure, he helped Autodesk to become one of the key providers of GIS software.Earlier in his career he was a Senior Lecturer at Kingston University, where he helped establish Europe’s first undergraduate course in GIS.

Ed earned a Master degree in Applied Remote Sensing from Cranfield Institute of Technology and is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, London. He is the author of numerous articles, professional papers and presentations to International Conferences, and has developed one of most popular Weblogs in the Geospatial Industry, www.edparsons.com.

Glenn Stewart is the Sports Science Manager at the West Coast Eagles Football Club. He has been in that role since 1997, after commencing at the club in 1992 as the Strength Coach.

Glenn’s duties involve managing and overseeing the fitness and medical areas of the club together with initiating research into football-related areas of physiology, injury prevention and rehabilitation to ensure that West Coast maintains its polices in being at the forefront of Sports Science. He actively coaches the playing squad in speed development and assists the coaching staff in developing programmes for improving skill and decision-making amongst the playing group. On game days, he takes the role of Bench Coach, relaying messages between players and coaching staff to ensure an active flow of information throughout the game.

Ian MacLeod is a strange mixture of a research scientist, a corrosion chemist and a stage performer. Having been inspired by Professor Julius Sumner Miller on ABC TV in the 1960s, he went on to study chemistry at the University of Melbourne in Victoria.

Ian joined the museum nearly 30 years ago and is immersed in the world of decay that is controlled by the thrust of tumbling waves full of dissolved oxygen. He feels the pain of corroding wrecks as they fight for survival in a hostile marine environment. Layers of corrosion stick to metal surfaces and Ian has learned to “read” the stories that began to form within hours of the ship sinking. Each chapter closes when the objects are recovered. These decay patterns are very sensitive to subtle changes in the microenvironment and help the archaeologists understand how the wreck-sites came to be formed and the objects scattered across the seabed.

Craig Rispin is a business futurist, trends tracker and technology guru. From age 10 he began teaching business people about the trends and technology that would change their businesses...and lives...forever!

With an innate ability to spot trends and to create new markets, Craig went on to design and launch hundreds of products for major companies in the computer, consumer electronics, multimedia, internet and broadcast industries. Craig has worked with Apple Computer, Philips Consumer Electronics and served leading blue-chip companies worldwide.

Craig will lead a futurist discussion at the WALIS International Forum 2008.

Harvey Sanchez is the Online Services Lead for Microsoft Australia. Harvey’s focus is to lead the enablement and strategy of Microsoft vision of online services in the Australian marketplace. As a 17 year Microsoft veteran, Harvey has had many roles and responsibilities including managing Microsoft emergence in the operating system, developer, mobile and Internet marketplaces.

Microsoft’s online services strategy touches all of Microsoft online properties and innovations including Live, Search, Hotmail, Virtual Earth and countless other technologies.

Harvey holds a degree in Computer Science from the University of Wollongong.