061/05
24 May 2005

ICT Advisory Board to Help Establish Priorities

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, today announced the members of an ICT Advisory Board that will provide strategic advice on key issues affecting the development of the information and communications technology (ICT) sector in Australia.

“The ICT sector is a vital part of the Australian economy and the Australian Government is committed to positioning Australia to meet the challenges of the highly competitive global ICT market, and the opportunities from new developments in ICT.”

The Advisory Board members include eminent individuals from small-to-medium sized ICT firms, multinational companies, the research, training and education sectors and ICT users.

The members of the Advisory Board are Mr Grame Barty, Mr Ric Clark, Ms Dominique Fisher, Mr John Grant, Ms Sheryle Moon, Mr Dan Phillips, Dr Phil Robertson, Prof John Rosenberg and Dr Alex Zelinsky.

“The members of the ICT Advisory Board have a strong interest in ICT and are well positioned to advise the Government. I am confident that their outstanding talent and expertise will be invaluable in informing the policy development process,” Senator Coonan said.

The Board will focus on strategic policy issues for the Australian ICT industry. Its first task will be to assist in the ICT Priority Setting process to identify key priority areas for researchers and industry to better focus our development activities across Government and industry.

The Board is an additional source of advice to Government – that will complement the valuable contributions of other key sources – including advice from industry associations, individual firms and other stakeholder groups.

“ The exercise to identify ICT priorities will be an inclusive process and I will be consulting closely with all relevant stakeholders including industry associations and representative bodies such as the AIIA, the ACS and AEEMA,” said Senator Coonan.

“Setting priorities for ICT is the start of a process of broader engagement with the ICT sector – to ensure that our efforts in supporting the industry are focussed on areas of competitive advantage or in dealing with broader national and economic challenges,” Senator Coonan said.

“There are opportunities for Australian ICT companies to develop solutions in areas of national and global importance.”

“The identification of priorities can assist industry, research and Government efforts to build critical mass in ICT research and development, to increase the opportunities for Australia to grow firms where it has strengths and to enhance investment attraction.”

Biographies of the ICT Advisory Board members are attached.

For further information about Australian Government ICT initiatives visit www.dcita.gov.au/ict

ICT Advisory Board members

Mr Grame Barty is Chairman and CEO of HarvestRoad Limited, a publicly listed company he founded in August 1996. Prior to HarvestRoad, Mr Barty spent eight years as a senior executive in IT organisations including Fujitsu Australia, Nortel Australia and Telecom New Zealand in a sales, business development and marketing capacity specialising in Advanced Intelligent Networks. Mr Barty spent 10 years in service as a commissioned officer in the Australian Regular Army specialising in Communications Intelligence and Electronic Warfare which included service with NATO forces in Germany. From November 2000 – November 2002 he was a Board Director and on the Executive Committee of the Australian Information Industry Association and was the Director responsible for the Business Taxation Task Force.

From May 2001 to April 2004 he was appointed to the Board of the Australian Export Commission of Austrade to represent the Australian ICT industry and Western Australian exporters. In July 2001 he was selected as a Finalist in the Ernst & Young Australian Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in recognition of his role with HarvestRoad. In December 2003 he was appointed to the Management Board of the Bentley Technology Park in Western Australia. A keen cyclist he is also President of the Western Australian Cycling Federation.

Mr Ric Clark is Chief Operating Officer of National ICT Australia (NICTA). He is responsible for NICTA’s operations, with a particular focus on commercialisation and intellectual property activities, and leads its industry development and outreach program. Mr Clark joined NICTA from Ericsson where he was Managing Director of its research and development company, Ericsson Asia Pacific Lab Australia. He has acted as a Director on several ICT start-ups and has been involved in various advisory groups with the Australian and State Governments, including the Victorian Comtechport Technical Users Group, Chipskills, the Victorian Government ICT Advisory Group, the Electronics Industry Action Agenda Strategic Industry Leaders Group and the ICT Framework for the Future Steering Group. Mr Clark is a member of National Innovation Council and the Tax Concession Committee of the Commonwealth IR&D Board.

Ms Dominique Fisher is Managing Director of her own business EC Strategies Pty Ltd, a “new economy” company specialising in the application of new and emerging technologies to business. Prior to establishing EC Strategies Pty Ltd, Ms Fisher had 20 years experience in senior management positions in the telecommunications and information technology industries. She is currently a member of Network Insight (former External Advisory Board for Media Telecommunications Group of RMIT), Director of Jayaland Corporation Pty Ltd, Member of Women Chiefs of Enterprises International and a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. She is a former Director of Insurance Australia Group and Vice President e-commerce at Ozemail.

Mr John Grant is Managing Director of Data#3 Limited, a position he has held since July 2004. Prior to that Mr Grant had been Chief Executive Officer of Data#3 Limited since July 1996, having previously held positions as Director of Services and Director of Application Solutions.

In 1980, Mr Grant joined IBM’s General Systems Division specialising in computing solutions for the local government and construction industries before joining Powell Clark and Associates in 1982. In 1984, Powell Clark and Associates acquired an office supplies retail and service organisation and formed Data#3. Mr Grant took a position as one of the founding Directors. He led the process of preparing and taking the company into the public arena when it publicly listed in December 1997.

Ms Sheryle Moon is a Director with Manpower Services Australia. Ms Moon has held senior executive positions in multinational technology organisations during her 21 years in the ICT industry. She is also the author of the Set for Life Report, which highlights issues around the gender gap in students looking for ICT industry careers. Ms Moon is an adjunct professor at the University of Canberra, an Honorary Ambassador for the ACT and a foundation ambassador for the Honouring Women initiative of the Australian Government. She was awarded an Honoris Cause by her peers in the IT recruitment industry for her knowledge and contribution to the industry. She was inducted into the Business Women’s Hall of Fame and was named Telstra Business Woman of the Year in 1999.

Mr Dan Phillips is an Executive Director of Macquarie Bank and head of its technology investment banking business. Mr Phillips commenced his career in 1981 in the Taxation Division of Price Waterhouse, before joining Macquarie Bank in 1989. Over the last 15 years, Mr Phillips has built and led Macquarie’s investment and advisory activities in the ICT sector. Mr Phillips is a Director of IBA Health Limited, Iamemo Pty Limited, RP Data Limited, Macquarie Technology Ventures Pty Limited and the Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce. He is a founding Governor of the Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering.

Dr Phil Robertson is a Director of Canon Information Systems Research Australia (CISRA). CISRA is Canon’s Australian R&D subsidiary, which is one of the largest privately owned ICT R&D companies in Australia, with more than 300 staff developing technology for Canon’s global products. Dr Robertson has more than 25 years experience in technology research, development and commercialisation in both the public and private sectors. He is a member of CSIRO’s ICT Sector Advisory Council and has contributed to university, government and industry association committees and advisory boards. He has published widely in imaging and visualisation and served on the editorial boards of several international journals. Dr Robertson has been guest speaker at a range of research, industry and other forums and has been an advisor for Australian and international research initiatives.

Professor John Rosenberg is Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic) at Deakin University, a position he has held since 2003. Previously he was Dean of Monash University’s Faculty of Information Technology for six years. He is a distinguished academic with an Honours degree of Bachelor of Science and degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science and is a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society. Professor Rosenberg’s list of publications is extensive and he has been active in a number of significant government working parties and in industry and government consultancies. He currently represents Deakin University on several national bodies. Professor Rosenberg is widely recognised internationally for his role as co-designer of BlueJ, a Java development environment specifically designed for teaching, which is in use in more than 400 universities worldwide.

Dr Alex Zelinsky is Director of the CSIRO ICT Centre. Before joining CSIRO in 2004, he was Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Seeing Machines Pty Limited and a Professor at the Australian National University Research School of Information Sciences and Engineering. He has published extensively and is internationally recognised as a leader in the fields of Robotics and Computer Vision. Dr Zelinsky has received numerous national and international awards including the Australian Engineering Excellence Awards (1999 and 2001), Australian Eureka Science Prize (2002) and US R&D magazine Top 100 Award (2002). In 2002–04, Dr. Zelinsky was selected as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum and in 2005 was awarded a Clunies Ross Award. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.