Building Australia’s Digital Future in a Post COVID World: AIIA White Paper Briefing

AIIA GM Policy Advocacy

Simon has over 20 years’ experience in government and corporate stakeholder management specialising in government relations and business advisory services. Prior to establishing Bush-Consulting in 2003, Simon worked in the Federal Government as a Senior Policy Adviser to a Cabinet Minister in the late 1990’s and from 2000-2003 held the position of Director of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs A/NZ for Accenture leading it through a period of major change.

Through Bush-Consulting, Simon has advised many of the world’s leading business consulting and ICT companies in developing and implementing their government relations and business strategies including assisting clients win multi-million dollar deals. Simon has particular expertise in the ICT, defence, human services, health and media and entertainment sectors.

Some of the clients Simon has advised include: Accenture, Telstra, SAP, Fujitsu Business, Huawei, BearingPoint, Google, Verizon Business, Avanade, Vault Cloud, ANZSA and CA.

Prior to joining the AIIA, Simon was the CEO of the Australian Home Entertainment Distributors Association (AHEDA), a role he has had since 2003. As CEO, Simon represented the $1.2 billion Australian home entertainment film and TV industry to a varied group of stakeholders and has been instrumental in guiding it through numerous major government regulatory, legislative (including international agreements) and technology driven business challenges. A recent success includes passage of legislation allowing courts to block infringing websites. AHEDA members include major studios Disney, Sony, Roadshow, Paramount, Universal, Warners and Fox as well as Telstra, Fetch TV and Foxtel.

Simon has an Honours degree in Political Science from the Australian National University and the University of California, San Diego.  He is a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Simon is also a founding Director of Creative Content Australia.

Simon is a sought-after commentator on the government, ICT and media sectors, writes occasional opinion pieces on these sectors as well as speaking at conferences.

Chief Digital Officer, IBM

Bridget is Chief Digital Officer of IBM Australia and New Zealand and is responsible for driving new channels and methods for growth for IBM in the era of Digital Transformation, overseeing the transformation of how IBM engages and adds value to its clients in the digital world.

She has spent the majority of her career in the IT industry and has always been centred around clients and the delivery of transformative solutions through IT, but her heart belongs in the Government industry where she spent many years working with Governments in the UK and Australia to transform citizen centric services.

Bridget is deeply connected to her half-Chinese heritage having spent much of her childhood in Hong Kong. This lead her to an academic life exploring her Asian heritage through a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese Studies, spending a year living and studying in Beijing, and completing a Masters in International Politics of North East Asia.

Bridget loves building inspired and motivated teams that thrive on business challenges requiring leadership and a strong, collaborative, team ethic to bring transformation, innovation and value to clients. She is also a wife and mum of two young girls and she loves to share her passions of Travel and Music with her family.

Partner, KPMG

Kristina is the Partner in Charge for Mid Market and a partner in KPMG Enterprise’s Tax R&D practice. She is also the National Sector Leader for the Technology, Media & Telecommunications industries.

Kristina focuses on bringing insights to clients from cross-disciplinary KPMG teams and identifying opportunities to collaborate with clients to take joint capabilities to the market.

She has been working with companies across many sectors assisting them with R&D tax incentive claims and obtaining funding through government grants. Her clients range from large corporates to startups.

Kristina is also a member of KPMG’s IoT Steering Committee.

Managing Partner A/NZ Govt & Public Sector, IBM Global Business Services (GBS)

Mike is the Managing Partner of the A/NZ Government and Public Sector for IBM Global Business Services. In his role he is responsible for the growth of the business and supporting public sector clients on their journey to becoming “cognitive enterprises” enabled by cloud.

Mike has over 25 years’ experience providing consulting and advisory services to a variety of clients, specializing in complex, large scale, digital & IT enabled transformation programmes across the public and private sectors.

Mike has experience delivering engagements across areas including public finance management, government efficiency & fiscal reform, citizen enablement (including digital), smart cities, IoT, cloud, cognitive & AI, blockchain and cyber security.

Mike has spent the last 14 years of his career focused on Government & Public Sector, working across Australia and New Zealand, the Middle East & Africa, Europe and the United Kingdom.

Whilst concentrating primarily on the Government & Public Sector, Mike has worked across a number of different areas during his career, including: Defense, Policing & National Security, Major Sporting Events, Energy, Real Estate and Telecoms.

Outside of work, Mike enjoys keeping fit through cycling and swimming and spending time with his wife and three children.