President

Nick Tate is the President of ACS. He 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, 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 and is a member of the SFIA Council. His 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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.