The Riding the Digital Wave Summit: Speakers

Director, School of Cybernetics and 3A Institute

Genevieve is best known for her work at the intersection of cultural practice and technological development. In September 2017, she established 3A Institute at ANU in collaboration with CSIRO’s Data61, with the mission of building a new branch of engineering to effectively and ethically manage the impact of artificial intelligence on humanity through better design and management of technology.

Genevieve is widely-published, holds many patents, and has an immense love of books.

Wendy Bryant

Wendy Bryant is currently the Chief Digital and Information Officer of the Department of Premier and Cabinet (NSW). Prior to this role, Wendy was Chief Information Officer of Transport for NSW, Chief Technology Officer and Chief Security Officer of the Australian Taxation Officer, and Chief Information Officer of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

Wendy obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Wollongong and her Master’s degree in Economics and Corporate Finance from Macquarie University. She is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Alisdair created a category, grew recurring revenues from $0-100M USD, resulting in a $830M USD acquisition by a FTSE 100 company, and then went on to manage the global fraud & identity organisation for US, Canada, LATAM, APAC, UK and EMEA.

During the day, you will find him as an Associate Professor at the University of Technology Sydney and Centre for Quantum Software and Information. His research interests include quantum estimation and control, and, in particular, the use of machine learning to solve statistical problems in quantum information science. He obtained his PhD in Applied Mathematics from Institute of Quantum Computing and University of Waterloo (Canada) in 2012.

Gernot also teaches Advanced Operating Systems to a group of excellent students with a tendency to masochism. The course has, over the years, produced many Heroes of Operating Systems and has been copied at a number of universities. It also has its own prize for the best-performing student, the Advanced Operating Systems Prize.

In 2006, Gernot founded Open Kernel Labs (OK Labs) for commercialising L4 microkernel technology. He served as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) from 2006–2010 and as a Director from 2006 until OK’s acquisition by General Dynamics in August 2012.

Liz Jakubowski

Director – Digital, National Skills Commission

Liz Jakubowski is a digital leader experienced in building data platforms, managing stakeholder relations and communications. She has held senior executive and leadership roles across research and public agencies including CSIRO, NICTA, ABC & NSW Health and consulted with the private sector.

Over the last four years, Liz has led the development of the online platform, Ribit.net, which matches tertiary students with STEM or digital skills to entry level roles with innovative businesses. Ribit established a community of 40,000 students across every university and TAFE in Australia and 5000 of Australia’s leading employers. It was acquired by Stone & Chalk in 2020.

Prof. Louisa Jorm

Director, Centre for Big Data Research in Health

Professor Louisa Jorm BVSc MSc (Epidemiology) PhD FAHMS is an epidemiologist and data scientist and is recognised as an Australian leader in research using large-scale routinely collected data. She is the Foundation Director of the Centre for Big Data Research in Health at UNSW Sydney.

Prior to taking up a full-time academic post in 2007, she spent more than 15 years in service and government roles, including 10 years as Director of the Centre for Epidemiology

Professor Louisa Jorm BVSc MSc (Epidemiology) PhD FAHMS is an epidemiologist and data scientist and is recognised as an Australian leader in research using large-scale routinely collected data. She is the Foundation Director of the Centre for Big Data Research in Health at UNSW Sydney. Prior to taking up a full-time academic post in 2007, she spent more than 15 years in service and government roles, including 10 years as Director of the Centre for Epidemiology and Research in the NSW Department of Health. Her experience in senior leadership roles in both government and academia gives her unique insights into both sectors.

Prof. Tanya Monro

Chief Defence Scientist, Department of Defence

As Chief Defence Scientist, Tanya Monro is head of Defence Science and Technology Group and Capability Manager for Innovation, Science and Technology within the Australian Department of Defence.

Professor Monro was previously Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation and an ARC Georgina Sweet Laureate Fellow at the University of South Australia. She was the inaugural Director of the Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing from 2008 to 2013 and was also the inaugural Director for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Nanoscale Bio Photonics at the University of Adelaide. Her research is in the field of photonics, with a focus on sensing, lasers and new classes of optical fibres.

Professor Monro obtained her PhD in physics in 1998 from The University of Sydney, for which she was awarded the Bragg Gold Medal for the best Physics PhD in Australia. In 2000, she received a Royal Society University Research Fellowship at the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton in the UK and is also an inaugural Bragg Fellow of the Royal Institution of Australia. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, the Optical Society of America and the Australian Institute of Physics. She is a member of the Board of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

Ian has 27 years of experience in the ICT sector and has led organisations with over 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 Divisional Chief and Flagship Director at CSIRO.

Ian is regarded as a thought leader in the area of 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 120 papers which have been cited over 3500 times.

Louise is an innovator and a change agent who doesn’t sit still and whose passion and enthusiasm for health informatics is shaping a new future for Australian healthcare. She has almost 20 years of experience in, and applied passion for, digital health and leading people and organisations. With a background as an occupational therapist, she has a PhD in technology acceptance among health professionals, is a graduate of Stanford’s Executive Leadership Program, a Certified Health Informatician and a Salzburg Global Seminar Fellow.

Louise has delivered over 100 conference presentations, has written for academic and industry publications and textbooks, is host of the Dissecting Digital Health podcast and she is always online.

Richard has over 30 years of experience in software development, embedded systems and business management, and over 20 years of freight/logistics industry experience.

Prior to founding WiseTech Global, Richard was Founder and Managing Director of Real Tech Systems Integration (provider of computer consulting and systems integrations services) and Founder and CEO of Clear Group (distributor of computer-related equipment).

Richard holds a Master of Business in Information Technology Management from the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).

Richard is a UTS Luminary and a Fellow of UTS.

Jon was named CEO Magazine’s 2019 Education Executive of the Year. Prior to joining Data61, he was Dean of the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University and is a former Technical Area Lead at NASA, where he worked on software for NASA space missions.

Jon is passionate about the role digital technologies can play in society. He has a world-leading reputation on how to adapt software development methods to fully take into account human values and ethics, so that we build software for a society we want, rather than one we get by accident.