The Role of Global and Local Partners in Building a Vibrant Technology Ecosystem for Governments

Principal, DataDriven, member AIIA NSW Council, and Vice-Chair ACS NSW

Senior Vice President, IBM Global Markets

Martin Schroeter is Senior Vice President, IBM Global Markets, responsible for IBM’s revenue, profit and client satisfaction worldwide as well as IBM’s Global Financing business, the world’s largest captive IT financier. Additionally, Martin is accountable for IBM’s marketing and communications functions which are responsible for building the company’s brand and reputation globally.

He was previously Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, a position he held from January 2014 through December 2017.

Prior to that, he served as General Manager of IBM Global Financing, where he managed a total asset base in excess of $37 billion. Mr. Schroeter also served as IBM Treasurer, responsible for the company’s balance sheet, cash flow, capital structure, interest rate and currency risk management and treasury operations.

He has also served in a variety of business line and finance executive positions, including Vice President of Global Technology Services, Asia Pacific; General Manager of IBM Global Financing, Asia Pacific; and CFO and Finance Director, IBM Australia and New Zealand.

Mr. Schroeter received his MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and his undergraduate degree from Temple University.

Chief Innovation Officer, Australian venture studio, BlueChilli

Colette Grgic is the Chief Innovation Officer at Australian venture studio, BlueChilli. After helping hundreds of entrepreneurs validate and launch their new ventures, she now helps organisations improve their innovation performance with the right mindset and skill sets.

Colette brings experience across the innovation spectrum spanning research commercialisation, bootstrapping her own startups, leading a national corporate innovation project, and assisting more than 140 startups within the BlueChilli portfolio to start and grow their ventures. Colette has led global partnerships for BlueChilli as well as the company’s expansion into SEA.

Colette is a passionate advocate for women in startups and a sought-after keynote speaker and facilitator on corporate innovation. She also serves on the board of Heads over Heels and as an advisor to the Faculty of Trans Disciplinary Innovation at UTS.

Executive Director, ICT and Digital Sourcing

Mark Lenzner is the Executive Director, ICT and Digital Sourcing within the Digital NSW and Customer Service ICT Division. In this role Mark is responsible for the design, implementation and management of the NSW Government ICT and Digital Sourcing policies and frameworks, establishment and governance of Whole of Government ICT and Digital Sourcing commercial arrangements, panels and marketplaces (e.g. Microsoft or Salesforce arrangements or telecommunication panel), managing ICT and Digital strategic partnerships and the transformation of our digital procurement systems.

Mark joined the NSW Government in January 2019. Prior to joining the NSW Government Mark spent 25 years in the private sector in major Australian organisations in the financial services, air transport services, telecommunications and event management industries and a global management consultant. For the majority of this time Mark held roles focused on ICT and Digital sourcing and strategic supplier relationship management.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Vault

Rupert Taylor-Price is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vault. In his role, he leads the development and execution of Vault’s long-term strategy in collaboration with key stakeholders. Rupert Taylor-Price founded Vault in 2012, driven by his strong desire to improve citizen’s lives through government. Australian-owned and operated Vault is dedicated to providing cloud services to the Australian Government and its partners with an emphasis on security.

In March 2017, Vault became one of the first two cloud service providers to be granted the Protected level of certification from the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), allowing Vault to store highly classified government information. Vault has created one of the world’s most secure clouds, with many large Government agencies already procuring Vault’s services, including the Digital Transformation Agency, the Department of Human Services, the Department of Employment, the Department of Health, the Department of Social Services and the Department of Defence.

Rupert’s has a long history of handling sensitive data, stemming from his eight years as Chief Executive Officer at JN Solutions. At JN Solutions, Rupert developed a world-leading Software-as-a-Service Information Management Platform for the Australian Government which provided extensive services to the community services sector. JN Solutions’ products were focused on meeting high-security requirements because the data it held was sensitive personal information, including citizen’s social security and health records. Under Rupert, the organisation grew to be the market leader in multiple industries, delivering over $1bn AUD in payments to customers while maintaining a strong track record in claim compliance and generating operational efficiencies.

As a result of his extensive experience in the industry, Rupert is recognised as an expert in government cloud services and cybersecurity. He is a highly sought-after speaker at technology conferences and is often called upon to provide advice to major government departments on the adoption of cloud by Government and cloud strategy.

Rupert’s educational achievements include a Bachelor of Physics Hons from the University of Southampton.

Executive Director of Client Success and Product Management, Factor5 Software

Carolyn is Factor5 Software’s Executive Director of Client Success and Product Management. She joined Factor5 in early 2017 following a career in Higher Education having held a number of university executive positions in the UK and Australia, running large organisational units and leading multiple student administration and support service change projects. She served Durham University in the UK for fifteen years, as both Academic Registrar and Registrar before moving to Australia to take up a position as Academic Registrar at Murdoch University where she delivered a significant restructure of academic services. She brings her extensive experience of university management, student systems and student administration to her role leading product development for CourseLoop.

Principal, DataDriven

DataDriven specialises in ICT strategy, go‐to-market planning and execution and C‐level research/advisory services. Key capabilities include research‐based insights, thought-leadership content, marketing strategy consulting projects, and presentations at events ranging from facilitation of small C‐level roundtables, through to ‘big‐tent’ major keynotes with audiences in the thousands.

Craig recently returned to Australia from 4 years in Fujitsu’s Tokyo HQ as VP Global Strategy/International Marketing & Digital Services, where he was a key driver of the international roll-out of Fujitsu’s Digital Transformation portfolio of solutions, software, services, hardware, and cutting-edge technologies including global Cloud, IOT, Big Data/Analytics, Mobility, Security and AI/Robotics offerings.

Craig holds an MBA in International Business (SGSM), is on the AIIA NSW Council, a Fellow of the Institute of Managers & Leaders and Vice-Chair ACS(NSW). He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) at USQ, on National Culture influence on ICT Strategy and Investment (Australia compared to Japan).