FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                

July 19, 2023

Ohio Innovation Summit Coming to Columbus Next Week

Columbus, OH–The state of Ohio’s trade group for tech and innovation will hold an in-person summit in Columbus on Tuesday, July 25 at the Athletic Club of Columbus from 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. The 2023 Innovation Summit is a partnership effort with the Office of InnovateOhio, the Office of Lt. Governor Jon Husted, and the Ohio Innovation and Technology Association (OITA).

The summit will offer a special opportunity to explore innovation and technology that brings together the public and private sectors.

“We expect to have an engaging dialogue on a variety of topics, and we look forward to having business and government leaders from across Ohio at the summit to network and gain new insight into innovation and technology.  It is a great opportunity to hear from leaders and organizations on Ohio’s innovation landscape and future,” said Jennifer Flatter, Executive Director of OITA.

The summit will feature an address from Lt. Governor Jon Husted at 9:15 a.m.  Husted will also moderate the 9:30 a.m. session, “Artificial Intelligence: Preparing Ohio’s Leaders for the AI Impact.”

The summit includes five sessions:

9:30 a.m. Artificial Intelligence: Preparing Ohio’s Leaders for the AI Impact

Moderator: Lt. Governor Jon Husted, Director, InnovateOhio

Panelists: Chris Hein, Director of Customer Engineering for Public Sector/SLED, Google, Deiva Ramachandran, Ph.D., Partner, Generative AI-Automation Practice Leader, Healthcare, Life Sciences, State and Local Government, IBM, Fred Miskawi, Vice President and US AI Leader, CGI, Ayanna Howard, Ph.D., Dean, The Ohio State University College of Engineering, Rehgan Avon, Co-founder & CEO, AlignAI

10:45 a.m. Attracting Innovation and Investment in Ohio

Moderator: Andrew Deye, VP Strategy, JobsOhio

Panelists: Kamran Ali, Vice President of Transmission Planning and Analysis, AEP, Ryan Hays, Executive Vice President and Chief Innovation & Strategy Officer, the University of Cincinnati, Mark Patton, EVP & General Manager, One Columbus/Columbus Partnership

12:30 p.m. Innovating the Citizen Experience Workshop: Goals for Ohio

Speakers: Dwight Crum, Deputy Director, InnovateOhio, Dan Balistierri, Director, Service Transformation, KPMG, Stephen Dunne, Domain Specialist for CX and Citizen Engagement, Verizon, Greg Smith, SVP, Experience, g2o

2:15 p.m. Tech Talent Gap: Meeting the Marketplace Demand

Moderator: Eric Leach, Deputy Director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation

Panelists: Jennifer Oddo, Vice President, Division of Workforce Education and Innovation at Youngstown State University and President, Youngstown State University Research Foundation, Dave Enzerra, Executive in Residence, Lakeland Community College, Tom Harris, Senior Vice President, Consulting, CGI

3:15 p.m. Government Leaders Outline their Challenges

Moderator: Bobby Kovey, President, OITA

Panelists: Matt Damschroeder, Director, the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services, Patricia Harris, Commissioner, the Ohio Department of Taxation, Sherry Maxfield, Director, the Ohio Department of Commerce, Lydia Mihalik, Director, the Ohio Department of Development, Dan Dean, County Commissioner, Fayette County, Tim Bubb, County Commissioner, Licking County

Bobby Kovey, President of OITA, views the Innovation Summit as a great opportunity for government and members of the business and technology community to voice their challenges to one another and develop solutions.

“The OITA has a special role to play, being the trade group for Ohio’s silicon heartland.  We have the ability and duty to convene leaders from the state and local governments to speak directly with bold innovators and problem solvers from the tech community.  It’s all about how to improve Ohio and how to improve life for Ohioans,” Kovey said. 

Registration and details can be found at www.ohioita.org.

About OITA

The Ohio Innovation and Technology Association (OITA) is an independent, non-profit and non-partisan statewide organization of Ohio’s technology-driven companies and industry professionals operating at the intersection of business, technology, and public policy.