Dr. Eimicke is has held a wide variety of important government posts, serving as housing czar for New York state and director of strategic planning for the New York Fire Department following the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Prof. Eimicke will be talking about structuring partnerships between government, the private sector and non-profit groups. Drawing on cases from the US, Asia, Latin America and the middle east, professor Eimicke outlines some of the key elements needed to make public private partnerships work.

Professor Gerola served IBM’s program executive for New York City, working with city agencies such the Fire Department of New York in the implementation of data driven management solutions. Gerola explores some of the important trends shaping government’s use of technology, including use of mobile technologies, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things.

In Portuguese! Mr. Leite is the former mayor of the Brazilian city of Pelotas, where he oversaw several award-winning public health initiatives. Mayor Leite discusses using strategic planning as a tool in shaping public health policy, and designing and implementing public private partnerships in the municipal health care sector.

Dr. Sclar is the director of the Center for Sustainable Urban Development at Columbia’s Earth Institute, and the author of the award winning book “You Don’t Always Get What You Pay For, The Economics of Privatization”.

Dr. Trebat is the director of Columbia’s Global Center in Rio de Janeiro Brazil, and the former director of SIPA’s center for Latin American studies. He prior to joining SIPA, professor Trebat was managing director and head of the Latin American team in the economic and market analysis department of Citigroup. He is also the author of “Brazil’s State-owned Enterprises: A Case Study of the State as Entrepreneur”, published by Cambridge University Press. Professor Trebat will be talking about the factors that make cities competitive in today’s global and increasing interconnected economy.