Queensland State iAwards Gala Dinner

Minister for Housing and Public Works; Minister for Digital Technology; Minister for Sport

Mick de Brenni is the Minister for Housing and Public Works, Minister for Digital Technology, and Minister for Sport.

He says his career has been defined by his commitment to the fair go and a plan for sustainable change.

You’ll hear a strong thread of fairness through his discussion about his portfolio.

Favouring a long term strategic plan over election or media cycle expediency, historic reform programs over business as usual, sector partnerships and genuine stakeholder collaboration over institutional power plays, he’ll tell you he has an appetite for a challenge.

And he’ll also tell you it’s all attended to with an unwavering commitment to the simple things – good, decent, stable government on behalf of every Queenslander.

His goal- to help make the lives of all Queenslanders simply better.

He’s a father of two young kids, husband of a high school principal for disengaged youth, a unionist, and when time permits a surfer.

CEO, Codebots

Eban has over 20 years work experience as an information technology professional ranging from startups to large businesses. He is a strong believer in applying an agile methodology to assist businesses with product and traction development. Dr. Escott received his Ph.D. from The University of Queensland in 2013. His thesis, ‘A model-driven approach to developing and testing web applications’, was the result of his passion for improving software engineering processes. This research underpins the Codebots platform. He now holds an adjunct position and sits on the Queensland AI board. He is a thought leader in the area of Model-Driven Engineering and believes that software engineering can be significantly improved by bots and humans working alongside each other in the software engineering process.

Codebots are software robots that write code alongside your team. They write on average over 90% of an applications codebase. Through a process of continuous modernisation, we help enterprises migrate from their legacy systems and find a successful software/people fit. A codebot is able to migrate an offline database to a full stack application with API documentation (a process which might usually take weeks if not months) in an onboarding process.

The presentation will highlight how Codebots grew from a phD thesis to a commercially viable, international business over the past few years.

Non- Executive Director of Uniquest, the University of Queensland’s Commercialisation Company, and Stadiums Queensland

John has a background in civil engineering, information technology and sports administration. He graduated from the University of Queensland with honours in Civil Engineering and spent 10 years with the Brisbane City Council in civil design, construction and quarry management. Computerisation of the BCC’s quarrying operations led him into the IT industry where he had spent 3 years in sales with IBM before joining and subsequently becoming a partner of what ultimately became ASX listed Data#3 Limited. He was CEO/Managing Director from 1996 until 2015 leading the business from its listing in 1997 to one with over 1000 staff Australia wide and revenues approaching $1 billion. He spent 25 years on various industry development activities including as a director and Chair of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), the Australian Government’s IT Industry Innovation Council and the Queensland Government’s IT Industry Advisory Board. He also served on the Queensland Government’s Smart State Council. In 2008 he was inducted into the Australian IT industry’s Hall of Fame, and in 2010 was awarded the industry’s top accolade, the Pearcey Medal for distinguished lifetime achievement and contribution to the information and communications technology industry. In sport he played rugby league at the club, state and national levels representing Australia in the 1972 World Cup. In 2012 he was appointed the inaugural Chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission and oversaw significant change in the game both on and off the field before stepping down in 2018. Today he is an adviser to a number of organisations on strategy, governance and business operations and is a Non-Executive Director of Uniquest, the University of Queensland’s Commercialisation Company, and Stadiums Queensland, the custodian of the Queensland Government’s $2B investment in stadia, arena and community facilities.