President

Nick Tate has over 45 years’ experience in ICT, including 20 years in Cybersecurity, 16 years as a CIO/Head of IT at two London banks and the University of Queensland (UQ) and 11 years as head of the Australian Computer Emergency Response Team (AusCERT), which dealt with cybersecurity incidents nationally. He is co-author of “A Director’s Guide to Governing Information Technology and Cybersecurity”, an AICD published book and has 20 years’ experience as a Company Director in 16 Australian and 2 US companies. He is an Adjunct Professor at UQ, has degrees in Physics and Computer Science and a PhD in Cybersecurity. He is both a Fellow and Honorary Life Member of the ACS. Nick is currently Vice President (Membership), President of the South East Asia Regional Computer Confederation (SEARCC) and leads an APEC project on ICT Skills Frameworks. He is also Chair of the Council of ICT Associations (CICTA) and chaired the World Computer Congress in 2010. He was the National President of the Australian Computer Society (ACS) in 2012/2013 and is a member of the SFIA Council. Hi work experience includes working on the development of antimissile systems and real-time air traffic control systems before spending 20 years working for investment banks in both London and Australia.

Vice President - Academic Boards

Technology advocate dedicated to advances and the progression of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), and cyber security, combined with research and academic engagement in six main areas, Business, Information Technology, International Relations, Security, South-east Asia, and Governance. Fluent in South-east Asian languages.

Vice President - Community Boards

Jo has over 25 years’ experience in the IT field some of which were spent as CIO in the Utilities and as Group CIO in the Tourism space, and with significant experience in the Information Security arena including as CISO in the healthcare sector. She underpins her information technology and security background with her qualifications in education and management. She specialises in consulting in risk and technology issues with a particular emphasis on governance and security in both the commercial and operational areas of businesses. Jo provides strategic advice to organisations across a number of industry sectors including banking and finance, utilities, manufacturing, tertiary education, retail, healthcare and government. Jo has extensive board and committee experience. She has chaired a number of ISACA’s international committees including the Board Audit & Risk Committee, Leadership Development and Professional Influence & Advocacy. She served as an Elected Director on ISACA’s international Board of Directors for seven years and was the founder of its global women’s leadership initiative, SheLeadsTech.

Vice President - Membership Boards

Jo has proudly served the ACS in a number of elected roles at State and National levels since 2008. In national roles, Jo has overseen ACS policy development and submissions, and is currently a member of the Working Group overseeing ACS’s Constitutional Reform. For over 20 years, Jo has specialised in the governance, change processes and delivery of digital projects, with a focus on improving customer trust in systems and data. Jo’s early career was in advertising and publishing, managing transformation to digital technologies. Her recent work focus is on large compute service provision and sensitive data collaboration and linkage platforms in ISO 27001 environments.

National Treasurer

Arnold Wong has enjoyed a long and successful professional career in the ever evolving ICT services industry for over 30 years. He has developed extensive strategic leadership, general management, customer service, and business development skills in diverse industries, including technology, education, healthcare, and resources in public and private sectors across Australia, Asia, Europe and Americas. A Fellow of ACS, he serves as National Treasurer on the ACS Management Committee and is a member of the Branch Executive Committee in Western Australia. Arnold is currently the Asia Pacific Director for Strategy and Transformation at Infor Global Solutions and have previously served in leadership roles in the Western Australian Government including as a member of the WA Government CIO Council and chaired the Conference Logistic Committee for the World Wide Web (WWW) 2017 Conference.

Immediate Past President

Ian currently holds the role of NSW Chief Data Scientist and is an Industry professor at UTS. Ian has 30 years’ experience in the ICT sector and, has led organizations with more than 300 people, delivering products and outcomes that have impacted hundreds of millions of people globally. He has held senior management roles in Europe and Australia as Director for Radio Access Performance at Nokia, Global Head of Sales Partnering (network software) at Nokia Siemens Networks, and then Divisional Chief and Flagship Director at CSIRO. Ian is considered a thought leader in the area of the Digital Economy and is a regular speaker on “Big Data”, broadband enabled services and the impact of technology on society. He has contributed to 6 books and co-authored more than 130 papers which have been cited more than 4000 times. Ian has an MBA from the University of London and a Doctor of Philosophy in Mobile Telecommunications from Sydney University.

Director - Member Advisory Board

Cindy has been part of the NSW BEC for many years before being elected to the National role. Experienced in service management and service delivery with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry. Skilled in Business Process Design, IT Strategy, Management, and Business Intelligence. Strong consulting professional graduated from MGSM, UNSW and AICD.

Director - Profession Advisory Board

Michael Johnson has been Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at Macquarie University since 2002. He is also a Director of the Macquarie-DEC ICT Innovations Centre and a Director and Deputy Treasurer of Dunmore Lang College. Formerly he was the Head of the Department of Computing (1997-2000) and he served as Vice-President and Chair of the University's Academic Senate (2006-2008). In 1997 he was runner up for the inaugural Australian Award for University Teaching in all Science disciplines and he has held continuous ARC large/discovery grant funding for over 20 years.

Director - Technical Advisory Board

Mathias Gaertner holds the public office of a permanently sworn in and publicly accredited expert witness in Germany for 20 years. He also was a lecturer for Information Science for 16 years and is working as an independent consultant for Information Security (MACS Snr CP (cyber Security), IP3P) and Data Privacy in Europe and Australia. He is a consultant to the German federal minister of Economy and Commerce as well as member of the German/European Cyber Security Alliance. Prior to that he was chief IT infrastructure planner for the Fraunhofer Society for 5 years.

Canberra Congressional Representative

Roger's career has mostly been in private sector professional, managerial and consultancy roles, interrupted by a decade as a senior academic. His consultancy focus is on disruptive information technologies' strategic and policy impacts and implications, and security and privacy aspects of IT. His Board experience is deep and diverse, and he's held a wide variety of positions within ACS. He also has a long record of public interest advocacy in the privacy and consumer rights areas. He has degrees from UNSW and ANU, has long been a Fellow of the ACS, and is a Visiting Professor in Computer Science at ANU and in Law at UNSW.

Canberra Congressional Representative

Peter O’Halloran is the Chief Information Officer for ACT Health, the government agency responsible for the public health system in Canberra, Australia’s capital. Peter is responsible for over 250 systems, serving 10,000 staff who operate across three public hospitals with over 1,000 beds and 40 community facilities. Peter joined the Australian Public Service in 2006 in the National Health and Medical Research Council before moving to the National Blood Authority where he was appointed as the inaugural Chief Information Officer and was responsible for the provision of services to all Australian hospitals. Peter joined ACT Health in 2016 and since that time has embarked on a complete overhaul of all ICT services and systems with a complete replacement of all core systems currently underway, guided by the Digital Health Strategy that was launched in May 2019.

NSW Congressional Representative

Ashley is an experienced IT Professional with a wide variety of experiences. From working for several ISP's when ISP's were servicing their customers from garages in the principles homes to negotiating deals with multinational businesses in Silicon Valley. It has been interesting. Ashley is a Founding Board Member of the Illawarra ICT Network and the Founding Chair of the ACS South Coast Chapter. Currently an ACS NSW BEC Elected member. Ashley has completed session tutoring, lecturing and subject development for the University of Wollongong. Ashley is the SCRUM Master for OnkoDICOM. Since 2013 Ashley has led an IT firm (Didymo Designs), building systems that collect data in the medical and allied health space. Ashley's responsibility has been to solve the cyber security and compliance issues (PROsaiq and ReachingOut are the products). PROsaiq was the first system to have a patient complete a survey on their phone and automatically store this information in the Oncology Informatics System in a NSW Hospital.

National Congressional Representative

Helen is the NSW Branch Chair and currently act as an Ambassador to ICT industry championing causes, cohorts, groups as they address the challenges and initiative of our Profession, primarily focused on Women in ICT, Hack-a-thons, Start-ups and Agile and Disruptive Service delivery, Not-For-Profits. My career has contributed to the success of policy strategies in Federal Government Service Delivery Objectives in senior roles advising corporate leaders. I am the current ACS NSW Chair 2021-2022. I have held a number of other positions in ACS as a volunteer including NSW Vice Chair for 3 years and Chair and member of ACS Women NSW for 5 years. Groups I support are: TechGirls, RareBirds, NSydInnovation, Scrum Alliance to name a few.

Northern Territory Congressional Representative

Damien Charles is the Regional Manager for NEC Australia in the Northern Territory, with over 25 years of experience delivering ICT services. Having started in the Industry on the NTG’s Service Desk in the mid 90’s, Damien has progressed his career through all levels and multiple roles, and is now responsible for delivering service to NTG across a number of managed services contracts. NEC is the largest non-government ICT employer in the Northern Territory and under Damien’s local leadership has been named as the NT’s Employer of the Year for 2018 and 2019. As a long term Territorian with a keen interest in helping others to achieve success in the ICT industry, and also to develop the industry in the North of Australia, he has invested considerable time and effort in supporting the local university and students and is an active member of a number of the local associations and ICT Committee’s. He is a passionate advocate for the ACS and its role in providing guidance and support.

Northern Territory Congressional Representative

Martin is experienced in Operational and Service Delivery across multiple industries and technologies. A combination of managerial and technical knowledge enables me to deliver on business outcomes through working with customers and senior management, understanding their requirements and issues, and optimising the benefits of the IT services provided. Specialties: Service Delivery, Customer relationship management, team management and leadership.

Queensland Congressional Representative

Paul has been an owner of technology companies spanning information technology, software development and information architecture since 1984. Paul is the Principal of Cogentia, a consultancy providing strategic direction in ?digital disruption?, digital economy transition, IT procurement and project?design & initiation. Paul is a Director of Outback Touring, a company developing geospatial apps for Grey Nomads. Paul was also the Executive Officer of the industry body that on behalf of Queensland IT associations advised the Queensland Government on governance, procurement and industry development policy. Mike is a fellow of the ACS, the Vice Chair of the Business Assurance Committee and was the Vice President (Memberships) in 2016-2017. Mike has been a member of Congress for the past 10 years. Mike has also been a member of the Queensland Branch of ACS for over 10 years in roles of Chair, Vice Chair, Honorary Secretary, and general committee member. Mike is currently the ACS QLD Immediate Past Chair.

National Congressional Representative

Beau has over 20 years’ experience in senior leadership, advisory, and consultancy roles in the technology sector in Australia and the APAC region. Having spent many years living and working in the Pacific, Beau has seen how technology and innovation can change lives. Along with his roles on several ACS boards and committees, Beau is also the Treasurer for the Australian Smart Cities Association (ASCA) and a founding independent review member for the Internet Society Foundation. Beau is also on several University advisory boards. He is passionate about how technology can change lives and mentoring the next generation of tech leaders

South Australia Congressional Representative

An outcome-focused, result-oriented leader who is passionate about helping people and organisations realise their potential through technology driven opportunities. Over past two decades I have worked across and transformed organisations within the automotive industry, construction, education, legal, finance and wine world by aligning technology with businesses strategy and delivering value based outcomes.

South Australia Congressional Representative

Chris has over 40 years Information Management and Technology experience working collaboratively and innovatively across the Private, Public and Non-for-profit (Welfare) sectors. Current role since 2009 as the Associate Director of SA NT DataLink, a nationally leading collaborative partnership across the University Research and Government sectors, operating an authorised facility for South Australia and the Northern Territory to safely share de-identified data for approved use and unit record level analysis. Chris specialises in collaborative partnerships to unlock the public's value from data, supporting innovative research, planning, monitoring, evaluation and analysis, enabling greater value and accountability from organisations and government resources. Chris has professional qualifications in information security, and deep experience in data governance and privacy protection protocols.

Tasmania Congressional Representative

Ray has significant experience in senior management—from industrial, multinational companies to the genesis of the technology driven economy in Tasmania. Prior to joining the ACS, he managed Netspace Online Systems Tasmanian services for 10 years, where he was involved in change management and the construction of the DSL and fibre networks for Tasmania. Ray has significant involvement in start-ups as a founding associate of Tasmania’s largest Telecommunications and Data Hosting Company. Rays knowledge gives him a unique perspective into technology driven economies; he is a trained facilitator with expertise in brokering relationships across all sectors of the economy. Ray is currently Vice Chair of the Tasmanian Branch Executive and Tasmanian Chair of the Pearcey Foundation. As ACS member and CP Ray recognises the challenges and opportunities to unlocking the economic and social benefits of the technological transformation, he is actively involved with government, business, education, research and development, and the wider community.

Tasmania Congressional Representative

Jonathan has worked in highly performing teams for over twenty years in tourism, government, education and the property industry. Currently Jonathan is contributing to mobile, web and integration projects as Principal Consultant for Infoasis.

Vic Congressional Representative

Digital Transformation Catalyst, Trusted Advisor, Educator, Change Agent, Diversity and Inclusion Champion. Rod is a results focussed digital leader with a proven ability to influence complex stakeholder networks and drive transformational change. He an executive consultant with experience spanning over 25 years focused on Construction & Asset Management, Banking & Finance and Education. He is a founding Director of William Bethwey & Associates and an internationally recognised thought leader in strategic and architectural transformation. Rod is a highly motivated catalyst of digital change, he is results focussed and has an inclusive leadership style He is an Industry Fellow at The University of Melbourne where he researches and lectures in Higher Degree programmes. He has authored over 20 publications and a book on Organisational Change. Consequently, he is a sought-after expert for leading companies confronting challenges brought about by disruptive technologies and the need to transform organisational cultures to adopt radically different paradigms of work and the creation of value. Rod is a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society, A Fellow of the British Computer Society, former National Director of the ACS Membership Advisory Board and was recognised as the ICT Professional of the year, 2013 in the national iAwards.

Vic Congressional Representative

Dr Charlynn Miller, PhD, FACS CP is a strategic leader with over 30 years of experience in industry and education. A Senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne, Charlynn researches in the area of HCI. Charlynn identifies and develops innovative, strategic and engaging activities to take organisations to the next level. Charlynn possesses advanced skills in business development, project management and stakeholder relationship management. Charlynn is an active researcher and educator, her passion for technology innovation has seen advances in sustainability as well as enhanced access to learning and teaching materials. Her research and publications communicate to an international audience the benefits of ICT and technology use in education and HCI. As a Director with Zena Consulting, her role is to assist organisations to become more innovative, effective and strategic. In July 2015, Charlynn was made a Fellow of the Australian Computer Society in recognition of her sustained contribution to the ICT Industry in Australia. Charlynn is a member of the ACS Victoria Board Executive Committee for 2021-2022. Mike has also been a member of the Queensland Branch of ACS for over 10 years in roles of Chair, Vice Chair, Honorary Secretary, and general committee member. Mike is currently the ACS QLD Immediate Past Chair.

Western Australia Congressional Representative

"I have extensive experience across the entire software development and ICT industry with positions ranging from Principle consultant through to General Manager of Development and CTO in public companies. With 25 years of senior and executive management experience fitting alongside 30 years of overall hands on deep technical experience I find myself perfectly at home no matter if the problem requires rolling up my sleeves and pitching in with the team or working on C level strategic plans. One of the areas that I have most enjoyed in my career is working with diverse groups of people and I am a very strong advocate of diversity and inclusion in the workplace. To truly get creativity out of your organisation there is no substitute for a strong and broadly divers group of people who all feel respected and appreciated for their differences not for how they fit in. Currently I manage 3 separate teams of Outsystems Low Code developers, BAs, Testers and designers. Whilst also keeping my hand in with architectural design, mentoring, standards definition and when required senior level development. This has been an extremely interesting 4 years in my career and Im looking forward to the inevitable fast growth of the Low Code phenomenon in Perth"

Western Australia Congressional Representative

Brian is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Business and Law, School of Management, Information Systems Discipline, at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia (WA). He is interested in data science and network analysis in the context of learning analytics and ICT education, and the development of professional skills like leadership, teamwork, and project management. He is recognised as a Certified Professional by the Australian Computer Society (ACS). Additionally, Brian was elected a Fellow of the ACS in recognition of his contribution to computing and software engineering education. He was elected to serve the ICT profession in Western Australia as a member of the ACS WA Branch Executive Committee commencing in July 2018. From 2012 to 2016, Brian was the Chair of the ACS Accreditation Committee. Until 2011, he was a member of the ACS Professional Standards Board (PSB) where he took a leadership role in defining the ACS Core Body of Knowledge. Previously, he has served as the Head of Department for CBS Flexible Learning, and as the Course Coordinator for Curtin University degree programs in Software Engineering in the Faculty of Science and Engineering. He has extensive experience in the ICT industry that includes nine years as an employee of Hewlett-Packard. Delivering cultural and organisational change as part of any transformation is critical to its success. Utilising skills associated with listening, understanding, empathy, team and customer obsession, have enabled me to be successful within my previous organisations. Leading from the back, coaching and mentoring, while being the “leader you wished you’d had” are all key motivating factors for me. Success in the people I interact with are my true measure of value.

Chief Executive Officer

Chris Vein took the role of Chief Executive Officer of ACS in July 2022 after an extensive global search. He joins ACS with a wealth of experience in innovation policy, technology strategy and digital transformation. A member of ACS since 2018, Chris served as PwC Australia’s Sydney-based Partner for Global Digital Transformation between October 2016 and 2018 after working with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on innovation in aid programs. Chris has held roles internationally in the public and private sectors, including Deputy United States Chief Technology Officer for Government Innovation at the White House, Chief Innovation Officer for Global ICT Development at the World Bank, and City CIO and Executive Director at the Department of Technology for the City and County of San Francisco. In his private sector roles, Chris has worked in the consulting and health care sectors. Chris’ passion lies in using emerging technologies such as AI, quantum computing, biotechnology and gaming to drive change, transform organisations and build a better society