Dean Bittner, CTO (BEd), is a self-taught expert in AI and programming and a descendant of Chief Mistawasis, the first signatory of Treaty 6. He had his first success as the creator of Electronic Book in the late ’80s, which became a go-to choice for petroleum and petrochemical companies worldwide as hypertext and multimedia in high-risk, ISO-certified operational settings. Dean went on to co-found two commercial software titles, Co-motion and NeuralVR, and played transformational roles in high-growth tech successes in email, banking, medical, ERP, enterprise, and government. Dean brings his entrepreneurial spirit and inventiveness to spark the tech and delivery aspects of RUNWITHIT.
Dean recently launched RUNWITHIT’s 3D immersive data and analytics environment in Washington DC as a part of the Convergence Hub for the Exploration of Space Sciences Coronal Mass Ejection preparation event, a collaboration between US Agencies (NASA, NSF, NERC, NOAA, SWPC, DHS, USGS), Space Weather Experts (lead by Orion Space Agency) and Grid Operators (EPRI and others). This product launch enables the convergence of diverse expertise in a compelling and accessible visual data and analytics environment combined with synthetic data and modelling to dial-forward scenarios of interest. All of RUNWITHIT’s environments express the intersections of systems, preparation, outcomes and response for vulnerable populations, including places where the aging and non-hardened grid intersects with racialized, low-income communities in the US.