The CSIRO Tony Benson Award commemorates the work and dedication of long-term champion of the Australian ICT industry, Tony Benson, who died in February 2005. An industry stalwart for more than 40 years, Tony set an outstanding example of selfless contribution to Australian ICT industry development.

Peter Kazacos, Managing Director, PK Business Advantage

2008 CSIRO Tony Benson Award Winner

This year's winner of the CSIRO Tony Benson iAward for lifetime achievement in the ICT industry is Peter Kazacos, Managing Director of PK Business Advantage.

Peter has over 30 years experience in the IT industry.

He founded KAZ in 1988 and led the company over its 17-year history, guiding it from its beginnings as a small IT services company in NSW to its evolution into one of Asia-Pacific's leading IT services and business process outsourcing service providers and the largest Australian-owned IT services company in the nation. KAZ grew from 350 employees at its inception, through its listing on the ASX in 2000, to over 4000 employees as a fully-owned subsidiary of Telstra.

KAZ developed a strong culture in the IT industry, with staff, customers and suppliers all treated as part of the KAZ family. Staff turnover was the one of the lowest in the industry and customer satisfaction was extremely high.

Across 30 years in the ICT industry, Peter has been involved in many aspects of product development, including the development of the first computer-aided instruction package for the Apple II computer, and the conception of a fourth-generation language for the IBM AS/400 called Lamba. Lamba was the precursor to Lansa, which is now sold worldwide. Peter also built a superannuation administration system for the AS/400. The expertise gained in this development lead to a contract to build superannuation systems for AMP and Australian Administration Services.

Prior to establishing KAZ, Peter held a number of senior technical positions in the Australian IT industry with leading Australian organisations. He is a Director of PK Business Advantage and Kazacos Industries and Kpower, Board Director and Immediate Past Chairman of the Australian Information Industry Association, Chairman of Intelledox, Advanced Surgical Design and Manufacture and Neller, and a member of the University of NSW Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship Board.

In 2001 Peter was the recipient of the inaugural Australian Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Technology, Communications, E-Commerce and Biotechnology category. He was inducted into