Michael Curri brings a unique strategic focus to broadband and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) initiatives for communities. With a vision to revitalize communities with strategic ICT planning he has consulted as an economist and business analyst to public and private sector clients globally for over a decade. Mr. Curri founded Strategic Network Group (SNG) in 1998 and as president he leads an experienced team of specialists on a wide range of economic development initiatives.

Based on actionable economic analysis, Mr. Curri has pioneered successful strategies for investments in technology solutions within communities and regions. In the first study of its kind, Mr. Curri demonstrated the positive economic impacts of introducing ICT in South Dundas, Ontario, Canada – this work was referenced in British Parliamentary debate.

“Ground-breaking” is how his work was described in developing business cases for broadband initiatives by Canada’s national newspaper, the Globe and Mail. He continues to be instrumental in developing broadband access for communities worldwide, including a broadband connectivity project for 33 villages in Madhya Pradesh, India. Government at all levels and major consulting firms have cited his studies that prove broadband investments stimulate economic development generate significant returns to GDP – often over 10 times the investment.

Mr. Curri’s philosophy that people make the difference – not technology, is adopted by policymakers at all levels. Clients benefit from SNG’s proven methodologies and analysis tools that Mr. Curri has integrated into ICT planning and tracking return on investment. Mr. Curri speaks at conferences and delivers workshops to share knowledge and experiences about lessons learned from connecting communities and regions.

Mr. Curri received his Honours B.Sc. in Economics and Political Science from Dalhousie University and a Masters in Economics from the University of Waterloo, both in Canada. He has taught Management Information Systems and System Analysis at St. Lawrence College in Canada. Mr Curri is bilingual in English and German and highly proficient in Italian and French.

Thomas McGuire, M.A. (Econ.), is a management consultant and Associate of Strategic Networks Group specializing in economic analysis, public sector program analysis and evaluation, and socio-economic impact studies. Thomas has worked on diverse projects spanning sectors in health, environment, port management, labor economics, publishing, waste management, textiles, fisheries, tourism, pharmaceutical, education, heavy industry, manufacturing, petroleum, broadband and ICT, business service, and transportation. With nearly ten years of private and public sector consulting experience, Thomas is skilled in program evaluation, survey design and analysis, primary research, public consultation, statistical software applications and analysis, and impact modeling.

Thomas has a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in economics from Dalhousie University where he concentrated in labor economics. As a consultant, Mr. McGuire brings his insightful and analytical skills to both research and project manager assignments. He has worked on a number of feasibility and economic impact studies for various tourism projects; executed several studies related to port and harbor development; managed a study of transportation needs in southwestern Nova Scotia; assessed opportunities from oil and gas exploration of the potential for an aluminum plant in Nova Scotia; assessed the economic impact of developing IT infrastructure for water utility infrastructure management in Matamoros, Mexico and Juarez, Mexico; contributed to a feasibility analysis of a proposed hazardous waste treatment facility to be located in Rajasthan, India and another in Indore, India; and conducted specialized economic studies for a wide range of clients.

Thomas has a strong background in economic analysis, has prepared many economic impact assessments and is experienced in cost-benefit and input-output analysis, willingness to pay analysis, and other standard economic techniques. In addition, he is experienced in the design, analysis, and presentation of quantitative data from surveys and other sources. Recent projects have included a recreational need assessment for DND that involved the determination of revenues based on willingness to pay criteria under a number of alternative scenarios.

Gary Dunmore is an electrical engineer and business analyst with over 20 years experience in the telecommunications industry and a proven track record in helping service providers define new business opportunities for service deployment. He has proven leadership skills in project planning, team management and project management developing successful business cases for a wide variety of telecom and internet operators across North America.

Since 1994, Mr. Dunmore has worked on telecommunications services and service deployment planning with telecom service providers. For a variety of clients, from established incumbent providers to new start-up operators, he has developed project plans, written proposals, mobilized internal and external resources and engaged clients to develop practical solutions for new service deployment with a focus on business goals and vision. To assist decision-making, he has helped clients identify new opportunities for growth, market and revenue potential; develop the best solution for their network; and construct solid business cases and risk analysis for investment decisions.

Gary’s background includes diverse experience with a full range of roles in telecommunications industry bringing a rich breadth of knowledge to his business analysis. In addition to technical expertise, he has helped clients fully leverage telecommunications networks by addressing both the hard-side (technology, service definition, operations costs) and soft-side (end-user awareness, learning, marketing) of introducing new technologies and products into network infrastructure. Prior to joining Strategic Networks Group, Mr. Dunmore spent over 20 years with Nortel Networks in Ottawa and Toronto.

Mr. Dunmore has experience in voice telecommunications networks and emerging IP-based services in North America and international markets. He has an Electrical Engineering degree from the University of British Columbia.

Derek Murphy has over thirty years in community and economic development. A specialist in community processes, Derek has extensive experience in facilitation and strategic planning at the community and organizational levels. Derek also provides training in governance and has sat on or chaired a number of Boards, including one crown corporation.

Derek has lived and worked in rural British Columbia for the last 16 years, with the last 12 years focused on initiatives promoting economic diversification and innovation, especially through development of telecommunications solutions. Derek has chaired a regional organization of over 30 municipalities and communities that collaborated on broadband infrastructure, services and institutional capacity. Derek has assisted in the development and implementation of broadband proposals.

As a resident and consultant in a rural region, Derek has developed a broad range of experience, specializing in the development of community indicators and benchmarks, social planning and affordable housing. Prior to becoming a consultant, Derek was a senior manager in the non-profit sector, managing the development and delivery of a range of social, economic and health programs.

Derek has postgraduate training in economic development and community planning, with a Masters from Carleton University and a BA from McGill University..

Mitch Shapiro has been tracking and analyzing the broadband industry since the mid-1980s, when he conducted a pioneering statewide study of the impacts of the AT&T divestiture. Since then, he has written numerous reports analyzing service provider network, service and marketing strategies at the national, state and local levels. During that time he has worked as an independent consultant and a senior analyst with firms such as Pike & Fischer, Paul Kagan Associates, Probe Research, and Pangrac & Associates.

He has a B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan and an M.A. in Telecommunications from Michigan State University.

For twenty five years Dr. Gudrun Curri was the Registrar at the University of Toronto at Scarborough and Dalhousie University, and as such a member of the senior management team. In that capacity, she introduced major organizational changes in information systems, process re-engineering, customer service culture, marketing strategies, staff development and training. These changes required Dr. Curri to develop new policies and procedures which had to be acceptable to a divers group of stakeholders: academics, administrators, and students. Before joining the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie University in 2000, Dr. Curri was part of the merger team amalgamating the registration services of the Technical University of Nova Scotia and Dalhousie University. Throughout her tenure she served on numerous committees inside and outside her organization, as chair or member. She is considered an accomplished organizational change agent and consultant.

Dr. Curri holds a Ph.D. from the School of Management, University of Bradford, UK and a Master of Arts (M.A.) School of Public Administration, Carleton University, Ottawa. Dr. Curri teaches organizational change at the undergraduate, masters and doctoral level. She has published in national and international journals on issues relating to restructuring systems and organizational change due to public policy changes. She has been an invited speaker at international and national conferences addressing the politics and challenges of organizational change.

John Deridder is an economist working from Sydney. He has over 25 years experience in the telecommunications industry. He is recognized internationally as an experienced telecommunications economist with expertise in broadband, pricing and regulation.

John’s eighteen year career at Telstra in Australia put him at the cutting edge of developments such as universal service costing and the evolution of competition and regulation. He was its chief economist, director of strategic studies and in his final role at Telstra he was responsible for pricing wholesale broadband access and data products. He led the USO costing team, provided internal advice on key regulatory issues and developed a business case for mobile resale.

Since leaving Telstra in 2002, John has provided advice on telecommunications, economics, pricing and regulation to private corporations, regulators and governments in Australia and overseas. His econometric study for the OECD on broadband take-up was relied on in the Berkman (Harvard) Centre report to the FCC on US broadband policy. He was a key player in a major utility’s bid to help develop Australia’s National Broadband Network.

Before joining Telstra, John held various positions in Australia and the UK. In Australia he worked as the economist for ICI and as the research manager for IBIS Consulting. In London, he worked for Shell International as an economist and for DRI-McGraw Hill both as a macro-economic forecaster and as a marketer.

John did doctoral research (uncompleted) at Cambridge University (UK) and has a BA (Hons) in Social Science from the Middlesex Polytechnic (UK). He has written many journal articles and opinion pieces on broadband policy, pricing and regulation.

Dr. Jim McNiven has been involved in public policy and economic development activities since 1973, when he was lead researcher on a DREE evaluation for the public participation aspects of the PEI Development Plan. Dr. McNiven holds the R A Jodrey Chair in Commerce in the School of Business Administration and is a Professor of Public Administration at Dalhousie University. He recently stepped down, after 5 years, from the post of Academic Advisor for the Master in Public Administration (Management), a distance, online MPA program that has students all across Canada. From 1988 to 1994, he was Dean of the Faculty of Management at Dalhousie. Prior to that, he was Deputy Minister of Development for the Province of Nova Scotia (1981-88) and the President of the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council (1977-81).

Dr. McNiven has a PhD from the University of Michigan. He has been the CEO of a small technology company and has been a member of a number of corporate and government boards, including the Blue Cross of Atlantic Canada and the federal government's International Trade Advisory Committee. He was a member of the federal government's Royal Commission on National Passenger Transportation, which reported in 1992. He has written widely on public policy and economic development issues and is the co-author of three books.

Thibaud Chatel is a business intelligence specialist with a strong background in economic development and strategic planning for businesses and communities. He is an experienced project manager with economic analysis, public policy analysis and evaluation, and socio-economic impact study projects, proving leadership skills in project planning and team management. From both professional and private experiences, Thibaud has developed a strong capacity in working with stakeholders concerns. For example, his interest for sustainable development and Nordic countries led him to study the Norwegian management model for two years for the French think-tank Institute for International and Strategic Relations, in collaboration with the French Petroleum Institute. He was particularly focused on the Norwegian petroleum rent management and what it means in term of socio-economic development.

In addition to a specialization on energy policies, including renewable energies, Thibaud has worked on information and communication technology (ICT) issues. In 2009, he managed for the European energy market leader EDF’s R&D department, a study on the impact of ICT on companies, showing how these technologies improve and enhance collaboration between employees and better manage solutions in daily operations to help companies to make more informed decisions. Thibaud was also part of EDF’s pioneer initiative in term of collective intelligence solution “Hermès”, which mixes information management, business intelligence and social network, bringing his insights and analytical skills in the platform development process.

In a previous experience, Thibaud was an assistant for M. Hubert Védrine, former French Minister of Foreign Affairs, at his geopolitical consulting business. He was in charge of strategic intelligence missions for business clients, among which are most of the largest French companies. Located in Paris, Thibaud also dealt with the numerous partners of Hubert Védrine Consulting (think-tanks, politicians, academics, journalists, etc.), representing M. Védrine on many occasions.

In addition to his Master's Degree in Geo-economy and Strategic Intelligence, Thibaud Chatel also holds a Master’s in History. Thibaud is fluent in English and French, he is also proficient in Norwegian.

Astrid Audibert has since 1996 consulted on socio-economic studies, strategic plans, and evaluation of development programs in Europe and Africa. She has worked with multilateral financial organizations on diverse sectors such as socio-economic development, health, education, environment, capacity building, good governance, support to civil society (associations, NGO's and private sector), and to local communities.

Moreover, she has formulated many technical offers such as the European Union-funded project for the implementation of regional f unds for the promotion of cooperation and cultural exchanges in West Africa. Her analytical skills and adaptability applied in a variety of environments make her highly efficient for leading SWOT Analysis, problem-solving, and developing effective strategies.

In addition to her Master's Degree in International Relations from Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne (France), Astrid has a diploma in multimedia communication and has founded a society specializing in institutional communication and training for associations and SME's for evaluating the new development opportunities enabled by ICT.

Kayvan Miri Lavassani is an economic analyst specializing in high-tech industries and technology adoption. Since joining Strategic Networks Group in 2003, he has been responsible for analysis of economic linkages between industries and conducting supply chain gap and opportunity analysis. Mr. Lavassani has experience in management, entrepreneurial, and consulting experience in manufacturing, high-tech and consulting industries in internationally. He is the founder of Ottawa-based La SIG Inc. research & consulting.

Mr. Lavassani is also a research associate and lecturer with Sprott School of Business, at Carleton University. He has published over 45 papers in academic journals, books and proceedings. He has won several awards for his research in Canadian and US conferences. Mr. Lavassani holds a Masters of Business Administration from Sprott School of Business and is currently pursuing his PhD at the Carleton University.

Pierre Guillery is a telecom strategy consultant with over fifteen years of experience. He has worked for the British Department of Industry and the Business Link SME support organization in the United Kingdom, advised technology clients in Ireland and handled business development assignments on behalf of Israeli high tech start-up into the French market. He has also worked for France Telecom/Orange, British Telecom, Air Liquide and La Poste.

When he wasn't busy advising clients, Pierre has co-created a Dublin-based start-up aiming to sell consultancy services online (1998) and a wireless ISP in France (2003). Prior to this, Pierre started his career as an option market maker in the Paris & London markets.  

He has a B.A. in Economics and an M.B.A. from the University of Hartford.