Education & Technology with a Global Reach

John Connell

summary	o Built an extensive network of high-level contacts in Education, Government and the high-tech Industries across Emerging Markets, Europe and the USA o Worked with customers at the highest levels to support them in developing medium-to-long-term strategies for deploying leading edge digital and networking technologies into Education, across all sectors. o Produced and delivered detailed proposals, strategy papers and blueprints for innovative ICT in Education projects globally, and I have worked closely with major donor agencies in the provision of strategic finance for many of these projects. o Initiated and directed the world’s first truly national connected schools project – Glow – in Scotland from 2001 to 2007, delivering a national broadband network, content delivery network, & web-based learning and collaborative platform for schools.
core competencies	· Creating Strategies for Technology in Education · Development of 21^st Century Models of Education · Business Development & Relationship Building · Delivery of detailed proposals / strategy papers / blueprints · Public Speaking / Keynotes on Education and Technology Futures
Experience	Education Business Development manager & SME, cisco systems 01/2007 to 10/2012 – Emerging Markets (until 2011), then EMEAR Sales Business Development · Managed/drove large-scale, complex business partnerships · Built go-to-market strategies, generated revenue-creating opportunities in, for example, Kuwait, South Africa, UAE, Egypt, Romania, Azerbaijan, Oman, Kenya, etc. Subject Matter Expertise · Built and sustained enduring trusted adviser relationships with customers through my own professional credibility as an educationist · Leveraged my experience with the Glow Project to work with customers to build innovative solutions for connected schools and connected campus initiatives · Persuaded customers to shift budgets or create new budgets to meet enhanced ambitions through showcasing global best practice in education Achievements Ø Created credible and recognised Education Expert Practice across Emerging Markets within Cisco’s public sector sales effort Ø Helped to create and develop an Education replicable business model that brought ambitious solutions together with a customer-focused engagement process Ø Delivered detailed design proposals and long-term strategies for many Education Ministries, Universities, partners and donor organisations. director, glow program, scotland 03/2004 to 01/2007 Led the design, procurement and implementation of the world’s first successful national connected-schools program – 3,000 schools, 50,000 teachers and 700,000 students brought together within a massive virtual learning and collaboraion platform · Successfully ran a large-scale procurement process, and led an 8-month negotiaton with the short-listed bidders to select the contractor · Successfully completed Scotland’s first large-scale national public sector broadband network and content delivery network, connecting 32 local authorities in Scotland · Successfully procured and built a content delivery network to facilitate the delivery of rich media (video, audio, animation etc) into the schools · Successfully procured and implemented a national web-based platform for all Scottish schools that delivered virtual learning, collaboration, desktop video, access to learning content and a safe/secure environment for all schools · Led a multi-disciplinary team throughout the process, displaying management and leadership skills across people, resources, budgets and high expectations Achievements Ø Brought this $120M program in on time, on budget, and to specification. Ø Delivered the world’s first national connected schools learning platform Ø Put Scottish educaion on the map! Broadband POlicy leader, SCottish Government 08/2001 to 03/2004 Developed a national broadband policy for Scotland’s schools system, and initiated the national consultation process that led to the highly successful Glow Program. · Developed, in consultation with all appropriate stakeholders, a policy for the roll-out of broadband networks to Scottish schools, based on an analysis of education needs into the future · Built a network of working groups across Scottish Education that participated in the design process for Glow – a mix of top-down and bottom-up methodologies · Organised and ran a national conference that inspired Scottish Education to seek to connect all of its schools through a national schools intranet · Designed and then began the procurement of the national broadband network for schools and the national content delivery network · Successfully transitioned the Glow Program out of Scottish Government and into Learning and Teaching Scotland, the national education agency at that time. Achievements Ø Established a national network of working groups to help develop the Glow specification – resulted in strong stakeholder ownership of the project Ø Delivered the first major national public sector broadband network in Scotland Professional services manager, west lothian council, scotland 10/1995 to 08/2001 Managed a varied department within this local government organisation, comprising a number of different units: · I led a team that were responsible for Performance Management, Communications & PR, Best Value, Research, Strategic Planning and a number of ad hoc ICT projects. · I was seconded initially into the newly formed local authority in 1995, and spent the first 18 months or so working with a small team to establish the new Education Services from scratch headteacher / deputY headteacher / CLASSROOM TEACHER 10/1980 to 05/1995 Deputy headtacher and headteacher (school principal) in three different schools / classroom teacher in two different schools
Education	university of edinburgh: management school MBA, 2000 university of Aberdeen Master of Education (with Distinction), 1990 university of edinburgh MA (Hons) Politics, 1979
professional training	Craigie college of education, ayr, scotland Post-Graduate Certificate in Education, 1980
Experience	5+ years working in a dynamic sales environment across Emerging Markets and Europe, offering a deep subject matter expertise and a business development capability Direct interaction with a wide variety of education customers, from schools to national Ministries, universities, other national entities, and global agencies Direct experience of major strategic finance initiatives working closely with major donor organisations worldwide Working with customers and partners to build ICT and networking strategies, vision papers, architectures, blueprints and successful GTM strategies High level leadership role in Central Government and in Local Government, including project Management of a very-large-scale connected schools project School Management & Teaching Major public speaking events worldwide - workshops, keynotes, seminars, etc
Skills	Very strong communication skills – written and spoken; very strong ICT skills Ability to build strong customer relationships based on real education credibility Proven project and program management skills Team leadership and people management skills Writing high quality & complex proposals and strategy papers in Education/Technology Building innovative solutions, GTM strategies and sustained customer engagements Very strong presentation amd public speaking skills
REFERENCES	HANIA BARAMKI VERTICAL SALES MANAGER, CISCO hbaramki@cisco.com Al Safouh 2, Knowledge Village, PO Box 500321, Dubai, UAE +971 5550 11411 SELIM EDDE VP, GOVERNMENT RELATIONS, SAP selim.edde@sap.com Arenco Tower, Sheikh Zayed Road, PO Box 118353, Dubai, UAE +971 5055 22169 TIM ELLIS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALTECH tellis@altech.co.za PO Box 153, Bergvlei, Johannesburg 2012, South Africa +278 3616 6064

OTHER MATERIALS: http://www.slideshare.net/soutra & http://www.scribd.com/John_Connell/documents