Cyber Security and Keeping Springfield City Safe

Director of Corporate Solutions, TAFE Queensland

Michele Berkhout is the Director of Corporate Solutions at TAFE Queensland, South West, extending a career focused on creating and operationalising customer-focused strategies that deliver brand-aligned, value-driven and sustainable market growth. Michele has extensive experience in customer experience management and supporting technologies, with a focus on uncovering business value at the intersect of people and their conversations and the data and technology to support these conversations.

Well-travelled and well-informed, Michele acts as a change agent to influence and enable workforce transition through automation and digital disruption, and business action to achieve sustainability in a net zero world. Michele is driven to implement key technologies that solve significant business and ecosystem challenges, underpinned by alignment and commitment to realising the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
 

Managing Director, Springfield City Group

A solicitor by trade, Raynuha holds Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Law degrees and also a Masters in Business Administration. 

In February 2013, Raynuha was appointed Managing Director of the Springfield City Group. Over the years, Raynuha has been closely involved in the building of the Greater Springfield City, now the fourth fastest growing statistical local area in the country. 

Greater Springfield is an award winning project encompassing six suburbs. 

Over the years, Greater Springfield has won numerous State and National awards. 

 In November 2019, Greater Springfield received the UDIA Qld Awards for Excellence 2019 - Queensland’s Best Development of last 25 years (25th anniversary award).

Executive Director, Cultural Cyber Security

Brian Hay has a rare blend of cyber security skills and business attributes. Long considered a Thought Leader in the world of Cyber Security he learned his craft not from the technical demands of the industry but rather by focusing on the activities of organised crime and cyber criminals.

Having developed the security concept of the “Lifecycle of Cybercrime”” he consults with key clients to understand their business strategies and seeks to assist organisational objectives whilst ensuring the highest levels of security. His broad environmental awareness and thought leadership expertise seeks to understand the client environment in order to align how CCS can assist in meeting the client’s full spectrum of security requirements, from governance, risk management, compliance and technical consulting, through to technology integration, training and managed services. As Lead CISO Advisor APAC, Security with Unisys he was responsible for managing and developing their Security Consulting business for Asia Pacific, while delivering operational and service excellence.

Brian brings a wealth of security experience, and has a proven record of partnering with industry for innovative solutions to difficult problems.

Prior to joining Unisys, Brian was General Manager, Security for Dimension Data, Australia. Prior to this Brian was Detective Superintendent at Queensland Police, where he served 35 years. Since 2004, he has worked extensively in the area of financial, identity and cybercrime. He was Commander of the Queensland Police Fraud & Cyber Crime Group, Chair of the Australia New Zealand Police Advisory Agency’s eCrime Working Group, a pivotal driver of the Australian Cybercrime Online Reporting Network, and member of the Federal Attorney- General’s National Cybercrime Working Group.

In 2009 Brian was the recipient of an international award from McAfee for efforts in combating cybercrime, and the recipient of the Australian Police Medal, and in 2010 he was the recipient of the National AusCERT Award for Individual Excellence in Information Security. He has a Masters in Public Policy and Administration and former President of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (Brisbane Chapter).

Brian is an industry renown and sought- after cybersecurity evangelist, thought leader, public speaker and roundtable facilitator.

Managing Director - South East Queensland, ADITS

With over 15 years in the IT sector, Adam has consistently demonstrated a passion for technology and, most importantly, the people driving it. While he has diverse experience across sectors, from law to engineering, a pivotal point in his career was the establishment of Technology Solutions Provider firm ADITS in South-East QLD in 2018. At ADITS, the focus isn't just on delivering cutting-edge tech solutions. Priority is placed on building relationships, teamwork, and being an integral part of the community. The Springfield region has seen ADITS go from strength to strength, and this growth has been fueled not just by technology, but by Adam's genuine approach to understanding people's needs and ensuring a collaborative and secure work environment. Prior to this, his time at Clough (a pioneering project engineering delivery company) laid a strong foundation, giving him insights into deploying strategic IT platforms and managing dynamic teams across diverse geographical locations. 

Away from the tech world, Adam's heart is firmly at home with his family, enjoying BBQs and tending to his food forest gardens. It's this balance of work and home, technology and nature, strategy and relationships that makes Adam a holistic leader in today's digital world. 
 

CEO, GridQube  
 
Andrew is the CEO of GridQube, a Springfield based energy technology business and focuses on developing strategic partnerships and has been integral to the development and implementation of step changes in Information Technology, Banking, eCommerce, Telecommunications and Energy.
 

Professor – Computer Science, University of Southern Queensland; and Chair, ACS QLD Downs and South West Chapter

Professor Rajib Rana has made distinguished contributions to the field, intersecting Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Affective Computing. He has developed the world’s first technique to determine mood from a spontaneous day-to-day phone conversation. A persistent decline in mood indicates the onset of relapses in mental illness. Therefore, this can be used to detect relapse in mental illness early, potentially preventing 60% of hospitalisation, keeping people at work/education, and consequently making significant savings in the country’s economy. Dr Rana is also developing the world’s first technology to detect hoax calls in emergency services. One-third of the calls made to the emergency services are hoaxes, which can potentially take lives, taking away valuable resources from someone who needs it. Preliminary results show that the developed techniques can predict suicide risk from emergency phone calls with more than 70% accuracy.

Dr Rana received two consecutive Advance Queensland Research Fellowships (2017 and 2020), which is rare. He is the iAwards 2021 QLD winner in the Government and public sector.  His innovation has also brought him the prestigious Young Tall Poppy Award (QLD) award 2018 as one of the 14 of Queensland’s most outstanding scientists for scientific research and communication. He was also awarded the Australia-China Young Scientist Exchange Fellowship (one of the 16 in Australia) for his research leadership and contribution and the potential to become a science ambassador for China and Australia.

Dr Rana is the founder and director of the IoT-Health research program at USQ. He currently has 40 members, including USQ staff, collaborators from leading National and International organisations, and Higher Degree Students. Presently, he is also the director of the Master of Data Science program at USQ, one of the most emerging fields in ICT.

Dr Rana received the B.Sc. degree in computer science and engineering from Khulna University, with the Prime Minister and President’s Gold Medal for outstanding achievements, and the Ph.D. degree in computer science and engineering from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, in 2011. He received his postdoctoral training with the Autonomous System Laboratory, CSIRO, before joining the University of Southern Queensland in 2015.
 
 

Director Digital Service Excellence, Mater

Scott is the Director of Digital Service Excellence within Mater’s IT Division. Scott’s teams are responsible for providing front-line IT support as well as digital assurance services such as cyber security. He claims he had a full head of hair before his first cyber security role at Mater back in 2016 but is proud of the progress his team has made in raising awareness of Mater’s cyber and privacy risks. To switch off from work, Scott coaches senior soccer and pretends that his body is capable of doing regular trail runs.