WRITA Fall Summit Registration


2026 WRITA Fall Summit Keynotes

Dr. Alan Shark | Associate Professor Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University

He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and Co-Chair of the Standing Panel on Technology Leadership. A noted author, his most recent textbook book, “Technology and Public Management” was published earlier this year.

He is also the host of the popular bi-monthly podcast, Sharkbytes.net.

[email protected]


Barry Condrey | Director of Technology Consulting, Public Technology Institute

Before joining the Public Technology Institute as Director of Technology Services, Barry was the CIO for Chesterfield County, Virginia for 17 years. Under his leadership Chesterfield County was four times recognized as the #1 digital county in the USA. He has worked in the IT field for over 40 years holding a wide range of technology leadership positions in the public and private sectors. Barry holds advanced degrees in public leadership, economics and computer science. He is a Certified Government CIO (CGCIO), a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and a national top 25 Doer, Dreamer & Driver.

WRITA Fall Summit

At-a-Glance Schedule

September 1–3 · Salt Lake City, Utah

Tuesday, September 1

12:00pm

Registration Opens

2:30pm - 4:30pm
Berké Brown - WRITA Vision and Values Session
Description
The people who keep our systems running are also the people who shape our culture. WRITA is a community of human beings building something together across state lines.

In this interactive Values & Vision Workshop, we step back from the day-to-day to name who we are: the vision we're building toward, the values that hold us together, and the shared language that carries them into every agency, every team, and every room. It's a working session where the full membership shapes WRITA's identity out loud and leaves with a common language to carry it forward.

Human-centered leadership begins with one simple question: who are we, together? Let's answer it—as one WRITA.

Berké Brown
Location: Arizona (First Floor)

4:30pm - 4:45pm

BREAK

4:45pm - 5:30pm

Board Meeting
Location: Wasatch (Second Floor)

6:00 pm - 7:30 pm

Chairman's Reception Appetizers & Drinks
Location: East Terrace, Uintah & Sawtooth (Second Floor)

Wednesday, September 2

7:30 am - 9:00 am

Registration & Breakfast
Location: Arizona & Idaho

9:00 am - 10:30 am

Keynote Address #1 - Dr. Alan Shark
Non-Artificial Technology Leadership - Where Humans Still Count
Location: Ballroom A

10:30 am - 10:45 am

BREAK

10:45 am - 11:45 am
Before the Clock Strikes 25: Thwarting Frontier AI and Autonomous Insider Threats in Government Infrastructure
Description
Before the Clock Strikes 25: Thwarting Frontier AI and Autonomous Insider Threats in Government Infrastructure
Key Takeaways
  • Decode the 25-Minute Attack Window: Understand the exact architecture of an AI-driven attack chain and how threat actors weaponize compromised internal LLMs to map infrastructure and locate sensitive data stores.
  • Re-evaluate Zero Trust for Autonomous Agents: Learn how to adapt identity access management models to defend against synthetic/deepfake employee profiles and rogue or exploited autonomous AI agents.
  • Implement "AI by Design" Practices: Gain a practical roadmap for mapping and auditing data pathways in public sector applications, ensuring sensitive state data cannot be poisoned, leaked, or exfiltrated through unauthorized AI interactions.
Speaker Info
Fadi Fadhil
Location: Ballroom A

Fadi Fadhil
Location: Ballroom A

12:00 pm - 1:15 pm

Lunch

Location: Arizona

1:15 pm - 2:15 pm
Reliable Communications for Government: From Copper to Cloud
Description
Reliable Communications for Government: From Copper to Cloud
Key Takeaways
  • How to skip a formal RFP using cooperative contracts like OMNIA Partners and Sourcewell, and how to confirm your agency is eligible.
  • A supplier-neutral framework for evaluating communications options on reliability, redundancy, simple administration, and adoption.
  • How to build connectivity redundancy with SD-WAN and options like Starlink, even where fiber does not reach.
  • A phased adoption model (Crawl, Walk, Run) with real municipal examples across public works, permitting, community services, and public safety.
  • For agencies on Microsoft Teams, how to add voice without upgrading licensing or taking on the burden of native Teams Phone.
Speaker Info
Eric Fritts • Ellie Becker
Location: Ballroom A

Eric Fritts • Ellie Becker
Location: Ballroom A

2:15 pm - 2:30 pm

BREAK

2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
Goodbye Silos, Hello Service: Resident 360 Transformation Journey
Description
Goodbye Silos, Hello Service: Resident 360 Transformation Journey
Key Takeaways
  • How Resident 360 and Business Owner 360 strategies can improve Citizen experience while leveraging existing government investments.
  • How personas and life events can become the organizing framework for digital government modernization.
  • Lessons learned in governance, stakeholder alignment, and cross-agency collaboration.
  • How records intelligence, digital trust, AI governance, and identity orchestration support future-ready government services.
Speaker Info
Ed Therriault • Duane Oertell
Location: Ballroom A

Ed Therriault • Duane Oertell
Location: Ballroom A

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Special Dinner A Unique Evening Out at Salt Lake City
Location: Sunday's Best, 505 S Gale St. Salt Lake City, UT 84101

Thursday, September 3

7:30 am - 8:30 am

Breakfast Keynote - Barry Condrey
25 Years of Digital Government – How Technology, Policy and Public Service Evolved, and What Comes Next
Location: Foyer A

8:30 am - 9:30 am
Bots, Bureaucrats, and Bad Guys: How One Agency Used Identity Security to Outsmart AI Powered Attacks
Description
Bots, Bureaucrats, and Bad Guys: How One Agency Used Identity Security to Outsmart AI Powered Attacks
Key Takeaways
  • The Perimeter Has Shifted: Modern threat actors are bypassing traditional network firewalls, making identities, roles, and access paths the primary target for cyberattacks.
  • Foundational Human Governance is Critical: Tightening core lifecycle workflows specifically joiner, mover, and leaver (JML) processes is the essential first step to minimizing the attack surface.
  • Automation Drives Measurable Risk Reduction: By adopting an identity-first approach to clean up over-permissioned access and automate access reviews, agencies can prove tangible reductions in security risks.
  • Non-Human Identities (NHIs) are the Next Frontier: With bots, service accounts, and AI agents now drastically outnumbering human users, securing machine identities is no longer optional it is a critical security mandate.
  • Unified Governance via an Agentic Fabric: Implementing an Agentic Fabric allows organizations to discover, govern, and continuously right-size access for both human and non-human identities within a unified framework.
Speaker Info
Tony Gerberick
Location: Ballroom A

Tony Gerberick
Location: Ballroom A

9:30 am - 9:45am

BREAK

9:45 am - 10:45 am
Spoiler Alert: Your AI Strategy Starts with a Phone Call
Description
Spoiler Alert: Your AI Strategy Starts with a Phone Call
Key Takeaways
  • A practical decision framework for identifying where AI should be applied first in local government based on operational need, not vendor capability lists.
  • Why communications is consistently the highest-ROI entry point for AI adoption in local government, connecting resident access, staff efficiency, and service delivery in one initiative.
  • A live demo of an AI virtual agent handling a real government use case showing exactly what residents experience and what it took to build and deploy it.
  • How to move the elevators, alarms, and emergency phones still running on copper onto a compliant modern POTS replacement, the way the county did.
  • How to evaluate AI tools against public sector constraints: budget cycles, compliance requirements, procurement pathways, and limited IT staff capacity.
Speaker Info
Kasey Nelson • Greg Joy
Location: Ballroom A

Kasey Nelson • Greg Joy
Location: Ballroom A

10:45 am - 11:30 am

Members ONLY Wrap-up Meeting
Location: Ballroom A

11:30am

Hotel Checkout

Blueprint-inspired, page-safe embed · Click session titles for details

Hotel Information

The WRITA Fall Summit 2026 will be held at Little America Hotel - Salt Lake City, UT, from September 1st to September 3rd, with a room rate of $189 per night. Please note, additional fees are applicable.

WRITA Fall Summit - Hotel Booking Link

For 60 years, Little America Hotel Salt Lake City has welcomed guests with the kind of hospitality that turns a first visit into a lifelong tradition. This summer, we are celebrating every warm welcome, familiar face, and cherished memory that have made this hotel a home away from home for six decades, and we would love for you to be part of it.


Location Information

  • September 1st 2026 from 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM CDTSeptember 2nd 2026 from 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM CDTSeptember 3rd 2026 from 7:30 AM to 11:30 AM CDT
  • Little America Hotel - Salt Lake City
  • 500 South Main Street, Salt Lake City, UT, 84101 US
  • Google, Bing, MapQuest

Register Today

  • I wish to participate in the Berké Brown workshop on Vision and Value setting for the WRITA organization (come help us focus in on what we stand for)

  • I will be bringing my spouse (or significant other) to the Special Dinner Night Out (extra fee applies).

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