David Abramson
Director, Research Computing Centre
University of Queensland and Education CIO of the Year
David has been involved in computer architecture and high performance computing research since 1979.
He has held appointments at Griffith University, CSIRO, RMIT and Monash University.
Prior to joining UQ, he was the Director of the Monash e-Education Centre, Science Director of the Monash e-Research Centre, and a Professor of Computer Science in the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash.
From 2007 to 2011 he was an Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow.
David has expertise in High Performance Computing, distributed and parallel computing, computer architecture and software engineering.
He has produced in excess of 200 research publications, and some of his work has also been integrated in commercial products. One of these, Nimrod, has been used widely in research and academia globally, and is also available as a commercial product, called EnFuzion, from Axceleon.
His world-leading work in parallel debugging is sold and marketed by Cray Inc, one of the world's leading supercomputing vendors, as a product called ccdb.
David is a Fellow of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE), and the Australian Computer Society (ACS). He is currently a visiting Professor in the Oxford e-Research Centre at the University of Oxford.
Venetia Blackman
Assistant Commissioner, Digital Program Delivery
Australian Tax Office
Andreas Boehmer
Digital Environment and Enterprise Data Lead
Victorian Department of Justice
Andreas Boehmer has 12 years experience working in some of Australia's biggest User Experience and Innovation consultancies. His areas of focus are Design Thinking, Lean Start Up and digital transformation. Andreas joined the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria in 2014 to lead major transformational projects such as BDM's Digital Proof of Identity.
Ian Brightwell
Senior Consultant, DH4
and Former Director IT and CIO
NSW Electoral Commission
Ian has been working in the IT industry for more than 30 years in areas covering system procurement, project management, systems development, consulting and general management.
Ian spent 30 years in and around government IT and engineering starting as a civil engineer in State Rail and then the Electricity Commission. He then moved to consulting working with a large consulting firm and finally as an independent consultant providing senior level advice and guidance on IT strategy and procurement to management.
Ian has been involved in a range of projects from inception to operation and has used a range of innovative procurement processes to minimise risks and maximise the project outcome for the client.
In Ian’s role as CIO and Director of IT at the NSW Electoral Commission, he was responsible for the provision of all IT infrastructure and information security for the Commission. He also led the award winning and world leading iVote electronic voting initiative. At the NSW 2011 state general election iVote took some 46,684 which was increased to 283,669 votes in 2015.
Paul Broadbridge
Chief Digital Supply Chain Officer
Australian Digital Health Agency
Paul specialises in the integration of technology, people and data to deliver business and healthcare outcomes acquired through over 10 years’ experience at a state, national and international level specialising in organisation reform, strategy development and change management.
In the Australian Digital Health Agency, Paul leads a team to provide national support in the transformation to digital healthcare supply chains that are safe, efficient and cost effective.
Kate Carruthers
Chief Data Officer
UNSW
Technologist, marketer, entrepreneur, and educator with extensive experience in senior executive roles for organisations such as GE, AMP, Westfield (now Scentre Group), and State Government and currently working on big data, strategic business intelligence and data governance at UNSW Australia. Co-founder of several startups including IoTM, Social Innovation Sydney, and a member of the Telstra Industry Advisory Board and the NSW Government Data Analytics Centre Advisory Board.
Michael Clark
Executive Director Technology & Innovation Corporate Group
Fair Work Ombudsman
Michael is a Senior Executive at the Fair Work Ombudsman. Michael currently leads the Technology & Innovation branch which brings together previously separate functions including IT, PMO and Digital Transformation.
Michael has a passion for ongoing improvement and delivering outcomes and has a background in leadership of customer service and engagement in the Public Sector, and before that in Financial Services.
Michael is an accidental technologist, having project managed and sponsored numerous technology improvements in his career, joining up the benefits that business-driven change and new technologies can deliver to organisations. His current role involves transforming the approach FWO takes to projects and technology all with the key outcome of improving employee and customer experience.
Apart from his day job, Michael is also a husband and father of 4 sons is an ambassador for White Ribbon Australia; and is actively involved with his local junior rugby club.
Paul Chandley
Principal Digital Strategist, Service Strategy Reform
Department of Justice & Regulation, Victorian Government
Paul is Principal Digital Strategist at the Victorian Department of Justice and Regulation where he is responsible for overseeing the development and delivery of the department's digital services strategy.
Paul has more than 18 years' experience in digital transformation and engagement including ten years in government working in strategy and leadership positions.
His experience extends across all digital channels and includes time working in Internet startups, managing the Better Health Channel, and leading digital transformation at the Victorian Department of Human Services (Victoria).
Tim Courtney
First Assistant Commissioner
Australian Electoral Commission
Mr Courtney is the First Assistant Commissioner of the Capability Division at the AEC. As head of the Capability Division he oversees the information technology, finance and business services, and Funding and disclosure functions within the AEC.
Mr Courtney is responsible for a wide variety of AEC programs and services including electoral funding and disclosure, overseeing the AEC’s parliamentary engagement and financial management, and the development of new IT systems and technology to support electoral processes.
In the lead up to the 2016 federal election, Mr Courtney led the Senate Reform Program to implement the most comprehensive Senate voting reforms in 30 years.
The Senate voting reforms introduced optional preferential voting for Senate positions and required the development of a fully tested, certified and operationalised end-to-end Senate count solution in only 12 weeks.
The semi-automated process, using scanning and image recognition technology was developed in partnership with Fuji Xerox and enabled the AEC to capture and count ballot papers preferences for 16 million Senate ballot papers at the 2016 federal election.
From 2010 to 2013, Mr Courtney was the Chief Information Officer for the AEC and oversaw key advances in the use of technology by the agency, including the development of online enrolment services, electronic certified lists at polling places and the use of cloud services for the election results system.
Prior to working at the AEC Mr Courtney was and Executive Manager (2004 to 2010) of the Information Management and Technology Division of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial and Research Organisation (CSIRO), where he was involved in the scoping of major initiatives such as the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre in Perth.
Before migrating to Australia in 2000, Mr Courtney spent 20 years working in information and technology in Europe and South Africa.
Mr Courtney currently sits as an independent member on a number of Commonwealth agency audit committees, and is a member of the British Computer Society and the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Jon Cumming
Chief Digital Officer
ACT Government
Jon Cumming was appointed in 2015 as the ACT’s inaugural Chief Digital Officer. Jon’s mission is to drive the digital agenda and lead the whole of government digital strategic direction to ensure that the ACT Public Service is digitally innovative, dynamic and capable in its service to the community.
Jon has a rich background in Information Technology with experience gained in Sydney, Canberra, the UK and New Zealand. His roles have included consulting, IT investment management, transformation program leadership and Solution Centre Management - in industries ranging from telecommunications through to the Health Sector.
Prior to his return to Canberra, Jon held the position of Chief Information Officer for the New Zealand Department of Corrections.
Sally Curtain
Strategic Director Customer Focus & Innovation
City of Casey
Sally is the Director of Customer Focus and Innovation at the City of Casey, one of Australia’s fastest growing municipalities. With 18 years of contemporary leadership and public sector experience, Sally has a reputation for applying innovative solutions to transforming organisations. Passionate about change management and challenging traditional silos, the move to local government was a natural fit. Sally has been instrumental in imbedding a customer centric culture to Casey receiving national and international recognition as a workplace of the future.
John Dobbin
Independent Consultant
Digital Transformation
John helps organisations execute digital transformation. He has led over 100 projects, ranging from low cost digital marketing initiatives for small businesses, through to multi-million dollar reengineering programs for global giants. He has helped craft "disruption-resistant" digital strategies for legacy business, and rolled up his sleeves to ship MVPs for startups. He has led the development of dozens of platforms and apps and worked hands-on with neural networks, blockchain, VR and IoT technologies. In partnership with a crack team of data scientists, he is pioneering new ideas in both marketing and placemaking.
John has a background in Mathematics and Computer Science and a Masters in Organisational Development.
Rahul Dutta
Head of Technology, OneGov
Department of Finance, Services and Innovation NSW
Angelene Falk
Deputy Commissioner
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner - OAIC
Angelene Falk is the Deputy Commissioner at the OAIC.
Prior this role, Angelene was the Assistant Commissioner of Regulation and Strategy at the OAIC. In this role she oversaw proactive privacy regulation including through Commissioner initiated investigations, assessments of both public and private sector organisations and handled data breach notifications, many of which attract significant media attention.
Prior to her appointment to the former Office of the Privacy Commissioner in 2007, Angelene held positions with Boards and Commissions as lawyer, educator and policy adviser in the discrimination area. Protecting and promoting rights and responsibilities is an important priority for Angelene, one which she continues in her role today.
Rob Fitzpatrick
Chief Executive Officer
Australian Information Industry Association
Rob Fitzpatrick is a passionate technology advocate, and has been so for much of the past 3 decades. His career spans research and advocacy at the Property Council of Australia, corporate strategy, sales & marketing at McKinsey & Company, telecommunications at SingTel Optus, technology innovation at shopfast.com.au, commercialisation of early stage research at Data61, foundation investor in technology-based startups and company director influencing technology adoption in traditional businesses.
As CEO of the Australian Information Industry Association, Rob helps shape Australia’s innovation agenda, connecting members with public and private sector organisations as the nation embraces disruption to improve our economy and society. AIIA's members - from large 'born global' Australian companies, to talented small and medium businesses, to entrepreneurial startups and the incubators that nourish their journeys, to global players making a difference in our society - are the digital leaders helping Australian industry embrace disruption to grow wealth, stake out globally relevant leadership and remove friction from our economy.
Rob has Economics and Law degrees from the University of Sydney and a Master in Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Rob is an active family man, avid traveller, ocean swimmer and surfer.
Jessika Loefstedt
Acting Head of Public Policy
Uber
Jessika is a public policy, marketing and communications professional with experience in the public and private sector, having worked in the senior ranks of national government as well as the private sector. Her experience spans public affairs, public policy, strategic communications, issue and crisis management as well as media management.
Jessika enjoys professional challenges and thrives in high-pressure situations, having directly counselled senior politicians, policy makers and corporate executives on highly sensitive issues. She has a can-do attitude that is focused on problem solving and achieving outcomes. Jessika understands the importance of concise and effective communication in order to reach and engage targeted audiences – whether they be government, business, employees, industry, media or the public at large.
Mark Nido
Digital Project Coordinator
Digital Casey, City of Casey
Mark is part of the Digital Team, who are transforming services at the City of Casey, one of Australia’s fastest growing municipalities. A digital by default project wrangler, Mark has 10 years of experience delivering ecommerce sites and bespoke web-apps.
During a four year stint in Canada, Mark had the opportunity to work with tech start-ups and agile software development teams.
Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in Multimedia Systems from Monash University.
Chris O’Connor
Manager Digital Casey
City of Casey
Chris is leading a program of digital transformation at the City of Casey, one of Australia’s fastest growing municipalities. Back in 2001, having spent 3 long years grinding through an e-commerce qualification, the dot-com bubble burst and Chris fell into a long term relationship with the public service. 15 years on and now Chris has found his dream job where he can combine his passion for designing better public services with his passion for technology.
Stephen Parker
Vice President, Loyalty Technology and Operations, Asia Pacific,
Mastercard
I am a highly experienced software development manager, with a broad set of skills and experiences across a range of industries, including Finance and Security. I have lead teams working on high volume transactional websites, low-level client and driver software and mobile technologies, including Android and .Net. I am a strong champion of Agile methodologies, with 2 successful division-level implementations in large high-tech companies (predominantly SCRUM).
I also bring strong business management experience, having lead commercial marketing and product management teams, and provide a unique perspective to bring both of these crucial areas of the business together for improved software delivery.
Tony Quarmby
Director of Consumer Marketing
Tourism Tasmania
Tony is an accomplished international marketer who has garnered 25 years’ global experience across customer facing, commercial and government bodies. Tony currently manages the development and implementation of all consumer-focused elements of Tourism Tasmania’s marketing strategy and plans. This includes using market research and insights to shape Tourism Tasmania’s consumer marketing activities, and overseeing the creative, visual and other content used in its social media, direct marketing, public relations, digital marketing, advertising campaigns and other consumer marketing programs.
Previously Tony has plied his trade working at Tourism Northern Territory, Tourism Sunshine Coast, Tourism Queensland, in the media industry and with the NZ government attracting trade and investment to New Zealand.
Geoff Robinson
Engineering Services Chief
City of Melbourne
Tony Quarmby
Director Consumer Marketing
Tourism Tasmania
Tony is an accomplished international marketer who has garnered 25 years’ global experience across customer facing, commercial and government bodies. Tony currently manages the development and implementation of all consumer-focused elements of Tourism Tasmania’s marketing strategy and plans. This includes using market research and insights to shape Tourism Tasmania’s consumer marketing activities, and overseeing the creative, visual and other content used in its social media, direct marketing, public relations, digital marketing, advertising campaigns and other consumer marketing programs.
Previously Tony has plied his trade working at Tourism Northern Territory, Tourism Sunshine Coast, Tourism Queensland, in the media industry and with the NZ government attracting trade and investment to New Zealand.
Ronald Schroeter
Senior Research Fellow, CARRS-Q
Queensland University of Technology
Dr Ronald Schroeter is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Accident Research and Road Safety – Queensland (CARRS-Q), QUT (Brisbane, Australia).
He completed his PhD at the Urban Informatics Research Lab, QUT, in 2012, during which he developed “Discussions In Space,” a fun, fast paced, short-text platform for public urban screens and mobile phones. Following his PhD, he replaced his interest in urban screens with windscreens, and a passion to be an active part of the transport revolution.
His research focus is the design of innovative driving experiences that make driving more fun and safe, exploring augmented reality and autonomous cars. This work allows him to embrace multidisciplinary research across HCI/HMI, UXD, psychology and road safety.
Paul Shaw
National Manager, Regulation and Enforcement
Australian Financial Security Authority
Paul Shaw is the National Manager, Regulation and Enforcement, based in Sydney and joined AFSA in September 2013.
Prior to joining AFSA, Paul had a lengthy career in the Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP). Most recently he worked as the Assistant Deputy Director with the CDPP’s Sydney office where he was part of the executive group of the organisation and his responsibilities included liaison with key stakeholders.
Paul has conducted high level prosecution work arising from referrals from AFSA, ASIC and the ACCC and is very familiar with the role of Australian Financial Regulators, including AFSA.
Paul has a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in economics and financial studies, and a Master of Laws.
Paul Stone
Open Government Data Programme Leader
Secretariat for Open Government Data and Information Programme (NZ)
Paul Stone is the New Zealand Open Government Data Programme Leader. He has over 20 years’ experience in IT for a variety of organisations including Knight Frank (NZ) Limited, Ministry of Defence, Charities Commission, and was CIO at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
Paul was responsible for delivering the New Zealand Charities Register as open data in 2011. He worked one day a week on secondment to the Open Government Information and Data programme for nearly three years, and has been full time on it for the last 2 years.
Venetia Blackman
Assistant Commissioner, Digital Program Delivery
Australian Tax Office
As the Assistant Commissioner of Digital Program Delivery, Venetia leads a range of ATO digital projects aligned to broader whole of Government outcomes, including:
- Identity, authentication and authorisation
- Contemporary digital service experiences
- Embedding digital experiences in natural systems
- Supporting the transition to digital
Venetia is a passionate advocate of user driven design and with her experience spanning both front and back office she ensures strategy, design and development for all users; both internal and external.
She spent 2015 working for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to establish the Digital Transformation Office and the forward agenda for Whole-of-Government digital service delivery.
Some of the key experiences delivered and supported under Venetia’s sponsorship include the ability to:
- verify your identity by using your voice when calling the ATO or using the ATO App
- receive guidance and support 24/7 when using the ATO website from ‘Alex’ the ATO’s virtual assistant
- access your taxation and superannuation information in a contemporary online portal
- log into ATO digital channels for both personal and business tax affairs using your myGov login
- have a web chat conversation with an ATO staff member while completing your myTax return and share your screen with them if needed
- record your deductions on the go in the ATO App and upload them into your myTax return or send them to your accountant
Sanjay Verma
Independent Consultant
Transformation & Organisational Collaboration
Sanjay has over 14 years of experience in Collaborative Event design and delivery. He has lead a number of collaborative working spaces based on a range of related methodologies, tools and techniques designed at managing teams in complex or highly technical working environments.
Sanjay brings significant experience in program management especially relating to transformation and complex Program delivery. This is combined with a broad knowledge of both transformational and strategic consulting.
He is experienced in delivering events that relate to strategy planning, organisational design, stakeholder alignment, programme management, technical systems and acceleration.
Sanjay has across at the highest level with Government and private sectors clients. This includes extensive large scale change projects within NSW Government, the private sector and internationally (such as the World Economic Forum).
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