The CSIRO Tony Benson Award commemorates the work and dedication of long-term champion of the Australian ICT industry, Tony Benson, who passed away in February 2005. An industry stalwart for more than 40 years, Tony set an outstanding example of selfless contribution to Australian ICT industry development.
The 2009 winner of theCSIRO Tony Benson Award for Individual Achievement in ICT is renowned innovator and entrepeneur Roger Allen.
Roger Allen has had three careers: as an IT entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist and philanthropist. His career began from a small Melbourne suburb where he built the Computer Power Group into a substantial global IT business employing over 3000 people with revenues in today’s dollars of over $1 billion.
Subsequently he co-founded Allen & Buckeridge Pty Ltd, a Venture Capital company which has provided over $250m of much needed capital to over 50 early stage companies, of which 20 derived directly from University research and development. In addition Roger has personally invested in some 20 IT companies.
Roger has served on two Prime Ministers’ Science and Technology Councils and has chaired both Victorian and NSW Government ICT Advisory Boards. He was deputy Chairman of Austrade for seven years and Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Entrepreneurship at Swinburne University and lectures regularly at INSEAD for the School of Entrepreneurship.
Roger played a critical role in helping to create today’s AIIA through the merger of three industry bodies and was the first Chairman of AIIA from an Australian-founded IT company.
Roger has been frequently recognised by the Australian and global Industry; recently he was awarded the 2007 Pearcey Medal for Lifetime Achievement in recognition for his outstanding contribution to the ICT industry.
In both an advisory and active capacity he serves as a Director for numerous companies including not-for-profit organisations. Most recently he helped create and serves on the board of the John Button Foundation.
His main focus in philanthropy is applying Venture Capital principles to not-for-profit enterprises with the objective of helping social entrepreneurs create sustainable businesses with a social dividend. He is also one of the financial backers of GetUp! using ICT to empower grass roots political participation.
Recently he has established and funded Indigenous Capital Limited to provide early stage Venture Capital and expertise to indigenous business.
“Roger Allen is one of the ICT industry’s most dedicated champions,” said AIIA Chief Executive Officer, Ian Birks of his win. “He has a long history of active innovation and entrepreneurial support for emerging companies.”
“His background in Venture Capitalism and philanthropy will make him a fantastic ambassador for the ICT industry over the coming year.”
Dr Alex Zelinsky, Director of the CSIRO ICT Centre, which supports the annual award, says that Mr Allen is a fitting recipient of the Award.
“This award recognises the contribution that can be made by one person. It is particularly fitting that this award is dedicated to Tony Benson, a man who had such a great impact on the success of the ICT industry in Australia,” Dr Zelinsky says.
Mr Allen joins esteemed company. Previous recipients of the award include Kaz founder Peter Kazacos co-founder of the Radiata group and NICTA CEO David Skellern, MYOB's CEO, Craig Winkler and Mincom Founder, David Merson.
Peter Kazacos, Managing Director, PK Business Advantage
2008 CSIRO Tony Benson Award Winner
The 2008 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 the Hall of Fame at the 3rd Annual IT&T Awards in October 2004, under the category of Champion of the Vendor Community. In September 2007, Peter was inducted into the Hall of Fame at the inaugural ARN IT Industry Awards Ceremony.
Peter holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science (Applied Mathematics and Computer Science) from the University of NSW.
Dr David Skellern, CEO, NICTA
2007 CSIRO Tony Benson Award Winner
One of the ICT industry’s most successful entrepreneurs, Dr David Skellern, was presented with the prestigious CSIRO Tony Benson Award for Individual Achievement in ICT at the annual iAwards in Sydney on Wednesday, 30 May 2007.
The CSIRO Tony Benson Award for Individual Achievement in ICT recognises the outstanding accomplishments and exceptional achievements of an individual in the Australian ICT industry.
According to Sheryle Moon, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA), which presents the iAwards each year, Dr Skellern was a natural choice for recognition.
“In an industry where high performance is commonplace, Dr Skellern’s contribution has been truly outstanding,” Ms Moon says.
“With his strong background in research, education, collaboration and commercialisation, David will be a worthy ambassador for the ICT industry in the coming year.”
Dr Skellern began his career in 1974 at the University of Sydney, designing, building and commissioning instrumentation and extensions for the Fleurs Synthesis Radiotelescope, one of Australia’s pioneering giant radiotelescopes.
Among his many achievements, Dr Skellern was co-founder of the Radiata group of companies. In September 2000, Radiata demonstrated the world's first chip-set implementation of the 54Mb/s IEEE 802.11a high-speed WLAN standard, based on pioneering CSIRO research on indoor wireless propagation. The company was sold to Cisco Systems in 2001, at which time Dr Skellern joined Cisco and subsequently moved to the USA as technology director of the wireless networking business unit.
Since that time, Dr Skellern has turned his attention to helping others to emulate his success, becoming chief executive of the publicly-funded information and communications technology research centre of excellence, National Information and Communication Technology Australia (NICTA), in May 2005.
“I am extremely honoured to accept the CSIRO Tony Benson Award,” Dr Skellern said. “During my career, I have had the privilege of working with terrific teams of very talented people. I want to thank all of those I’ve worked with, for what I’ve learnt from them and for the exciting times we’ve had achieving the outcomes we did.
“For the past couple of years I have been involved with NICTA, which is carrying out longer term research to underpin the growth of a globally competitive Australian ICT industry. The NICTA team is outstanding and our goal is the sort of grand challenge I love to tackle!”
Nominees for the award were assessed against a stringent set of criteria by a panel of VIP judges from the ICT industry, government, research and educational institutions, and the ICT media in Australia.
Dr Alex Zelinsky, Director of the CSIRO ICT Centre, which supports the annual award, says that Dr Skellern epitomises the highest levels of excellence in the pursuit of the industry's best interests.
“This award demonstrates the difference that one person can make. It is particularly fitting that this award is dedicated to Tony Benson, a man who had such a great impact on the success of the ICT industry in Australia,” Dr Zelinsky says.
Craig Winkler, CEO, MYOB
2006 CSIRO Tony Benson Award Winner
Craig Winkler, CEO of MYOB, was honoured as the second recipient of the CSIRO Tony Benson Award for Individual Achievement in ICT in April 2006.
Winkler commented, "It's a great — in fact, a humbling — honour to be singled out for an award like this from an industry of innovative peers. However, I accept it on behalf of my whole team at MYOB.”
Winkler has been involved in software programming and business consultancy since 1984, and in 1991 co-founded the business now operated by MYOB. MYOB was one of the first businesses to recognise the unique needs of small-to-medium-sized enterprises and equip them with powerful, accessible and affordable business management systems.
Since that time Winkler has been responsible for the technical development of products and expansion of markets. His experience includes product development for international markets, domestic and international business acquisitions and integration of these businesses.
David Merson, CEO, Mincom
2005 CSIRO Tony Benson Award Winner
David Merson, founder of Mincom, was recognised with the inaugural CSIRO Tony Benson Award for Individual Achievement in ICT in May 2005.
Merson was ‘surprised and honoured’ to receive the award, saying that it was “important for our industry to have award systems such as the iAwards, which allow us to recognise and celebrate our successes”.
Making the announcement at the iAwards gala dinner, Dr Alex Zelinksy, Director of the CSIRO ICT Centre, said: “We hope this award will become the benchmark for recognising individual achievement in the Australian ICT world and I cannot think of a more worthy initial recipient than David Merson.”
For 21 years, Merson was the CEO of Mincom, a company he founded in 1979. During his tenure, Mincom grew to become Australia’s largest software developer and exporter, with 1200 staff, annual revenues of $200 million, and global leadership in a number of software product categories. He retired as a Director of Mincom in early 2005.
Merson is now involved in venture capital, is an independent company director, and serves on a number of public sector, research, and charitable boards and committees.