August 2016

Global security experts join panel to discuss Australia’s role

in the $170 billion cyber security market[1]

Australia, 29 August, 2016: The ACS – the professional association for Australia’s ICT sector – together with the Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade Philip Dalidakis, today launched the Victorian Government’s two week Digital Innovation Festival at the ACS Victoria’s Cyber Security Forum, Thriving in a Digital and Secure Age, on Monday 29 August at 11:30am.

The forum will feature a luncheon and panel discussion on what is fast becoming Australia’s biggest threat to the information age – the $17 billion[2] cost of cybercrime; as well as shed fresh insight on how Australia can tackle its cyber security skills deficit and build a thriving cyber security ecosystem – with Victoria serving as a world-class cyber security hub.

Bringing together global experts in information security, the panel’s keynote speaker is Tammy Moskites, CIO and CSIO of US-based enterprise Venafi. As one of Australia’s most successful security specialists, Ms Moskites is a role model for women in ICT, as the industry undergoes significant transformation and diversification. Mike Burgess, Chief Information Security Officer (CSIO) at Telstra, Mazino Onibere, Information Security Manager at NEC Australia, Andrew Dell, Chief Information Security Officer at NAB, and Rachael Falk, co-creator of the Five Knows of Cyber Security, are also featured panellists.

Craig Horne, ACS Victoria Chair and Executive at Dialog Information Technology said, “It is exciting to bring together key leaders in ICT, government and business and shine new light on the enormous opportunities and challenges presented by cyber security. As Australia undergoes a digital transition and secures its $139 billion[3] economic future, we face a double-edged sword: delivering enough skilled cyber security specialists to fill a 21%[4] lift in demand, as well as develop advanced capabilities, tools and services to withstand cyber-attack.”

Philip Dalidakis, Victorian Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade said: “Cyber security is critical to safeguarding our digital economy and as society becomes more digitalised this becomes a more important issue – which is why the Andrews Labor Government is working hard to keep Victoria at the forefront.

“Investing in events like the Digital Innovation Festival to host expert forums in cyber security will allow us to better work with the industry to continue to build Victoria’s reputation as the tech capital of Australia,” he said.

In May 2016, ACS Victoria released its Cyber Security Position Paper, which highlighted Victoria’s capabilities in digital technology and data security. The paper called for additional government and industry collaboration and investment, to position Melbourne as a global hub of significant cyber security expertise.

Michael Falconer, Dialog’s Victorian Services Director added, “With 31%[5] of Australia’s ICT workforce now based in Victoria, as well as Victoria home to Data61, the NBN Support Centre, Oxford University’s Global Cyber Security Centre, plus the Oceania Cyber Security Centre, Victoria is in a strong position to tackle the national security dilemma.”

Mr Falconer said cyber security plays an increasingly critical role in enabling the safe and effective transfer of information between organisations, suppliers and customers. “Security can no longer be an afterthought; it needs to become an essential planning step in any project or business. In offering cyber security consulting and professional services, Dialog is proud to support Victorian efforts to better protect industries, businesses and individuals from the threat of cyber-crime.”

Key findings from the ACS Cyber Security Position Paper:

·       In 2014, the number of reported information security incidents around the world rose 48 per cent to 42.8 million, the equivalent of 117,339 attacks per day.

·       In 2014, the global cost of cyber-crime, based on available open source data, was conservatively estimated to be at least $375 billion.

·       Australian businesses indicated that they have experienced at least one cyber incident in the past year.

·       The Australian Crime Commission has estimated that cybercrime affected five million Australians in 2013 and cost $1.06 billion to those individuals alone.

·       23 per cent of cyber security positions take more than six months to fill and 10 per cent remain unfilled.

Event details:

What:                      ACS’ Thriving in a Digital and Secure Age

When:                     Monday 29 August at 11.30am

Venue:                   Crown Palladium, 8 Whiteman St Southbank, VIC, 3000

Who:                        Philip Dalidakis, Victorian Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade

Tammy Moskites, CIO and CSIO of Venafi

Mike Burgess, CSIO at Telstra

Mazino Onibere, Information Security Manager at NEC Australia

Rachael Falk, Cyber Security Advisor and co-creator of the Five Knows of Cyber Security.

Andrew Dell, CSIO at NAB

For more information about the festival, please visit here. To register and attend the event, please visit here.

-ENDS-

Further information

Louise Proctor, Launch Group, 0452 574 244 louise@launchgroup.com.au

Sarah Jane Williams, Launch Group, 0409 362 675, sarahjane@launchgroup.com.au

About the ACS

The ACS is the professional association for Australia’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector. Over 20,000 ACS members work in business, education, government and the community. The ACS exists to create the environment and provide the opportunities for members and partners to succeed. The ACS strives for ICT professionals to be recognised as drivers of innovation in our society, relevant across all sectors, and to promote the formulation of effective policies on ICT and related matters. Visit www.acs.org.au for more information.

Sydney, 25 August 2015: Renewable energy tech startup Evergen today launched the nation’s first, next-generation, intelligent home energy management system, with the investment and technical backing of leading investment manager, AMP Capital and CSIRO.

Leveraging the combined strength of solar and batteries with smart technology, the Evergen system continuously analyses and optimises home energy costs, always choosing the most efficient source between solar, battery and the grid. The energy management technology was developed by CSIRO, which has granted exclusive rights in the energy management technology to Evergen.

In an Australian first, Evergen learns the power consumption patterns of each customer household and forecasts solar production based on analysis of local weather to build a picture of future energy flows to make smart decisions that reduce energy costs. The system is remotely managed by Evergen and regularly analysed and updated by CSIRO.

The intelligence of the Evergen system is expected to deliver an additional 20 per cent saving on energy costs compared to existing domestic solar and battery solutions, and to extend battery life through use of its smart management. This means that customers can save up to 60-80 per cent on household energy costs* when switching to an Evergen system.

As Australia’s energy consumption continues to grow, the Evergen system is a significant step towards improved energy efficiency and security, with customers increasingly shifting away from consuming energy during peak periods.

Renowned energy scientist and Evergen CEO Dr Glenn Platt said the Evergen integrated energy management system is the gateway to smart homes of the future.

“Evergen is the first remotely-managed renewable energy centre for domestic use, offering Australians far greater control and choice over the way energy is used and distributed in their home.  Distributed energy technologies such as rooftop solar are the biggest growth areas in the market globally, and upcoming new technologies will completely change a market that has operated the same way for decades. We are already working on a range of product innovations, which will add new options to the Evergen smart system during the next five years,” Dr Platt said.

CSIRO Energy Director Dr Peter Mayfield said: “CSIRO has been at the forefront of solar and battery technology research for many years, and we are committed to the development of intelligent systems and tools which change the way we use energy. We are now seeing more consumers take control of their household electricity; intelligent systems allow them to do this with ease.”

AMP Capital CEO Adam Tindall said AMP Capital’s energy sector expertise particularly in its infrastructure business combined with the company’s close relationship with CSIRO has provided a unique opportunity to develop a new business in clean energy and energy efficiency.

“The emergence of solar, battery storage and smart technology is expected to fundamentally change how power is produced around the world. With its ample solar resource and deregulated energy markets, Australia is at the forefront of pioneering new business models in the space and is set to be a global leader. Evergen will be well placed to take advantage of these favourable market forces,” Mr Tindall said.

Product information

Evergen systems are ideally suited to freestanding homes and can be installed throughout Australia. A limited number of systems featuring the beta version of Evergen’s energy management software are now available to Australians as part of an early release program, with second-stage release program to be rolled out in January 2017.

The Evergen unit cost is competitive with comparable solar and battery solutions and includes the solar panels and battery units as well as the intelligent management hardware, home consultation and installation. Based on the pilot program, the anticipated savings to household energy costs are up to 60-80 per cent from day one* meaning the Evergen system is expected to deliver a strong return on investment.

Evergen customers can look forward to ongoing customer support of the product within their homes and updates and analyses from CSIRO.

Evergen products have already been operating within select Australian homes for a period of 12 months and are subject to rigorous and ongoing safety and performance testing in collaboration with CSIRO.

For expressions of interest and to get a quote for the Evergen product please visit the website: www.evergen.com.au

*60-80% savings are based on analysis of Evergen’s early customers. Actual savings will depend on household energy consumption and the size of system installed. Evergen performs individual cost savings estimates as part of the system design process.

ENDS

Media Contact: louise@launchgroup.com.au | 02 9492 1003 | 0452 574 244

About Evergen:

Evergen is a new energy services company that sells and manages intelligent home energy systems comprising solar power and batteries. The ’intelligence’ technology is provided by the CSIRO, which periodically analyses and remotely updates the system to improve over time. AMP Capital is a major investor in the company alongside CSIRO.

Evergen is run by energy scientists and advocates of change for clean solar and battery storage technologies for the home. The Evergen team includes renowned energy scientist and CEO Dr Glenn Platt and former CEO of AMP Capital and Evergen Chairman Stephen Dunne.

MEDIA RELEASE 

SOFTWARE STARTUP REDEYE EXPANDS ENTERPRISE MOBILITY OFFERING, POWERED BY ADVANCE QUEENSLAND’S IGNITE IDEAS FUNDING

 

MEDIA RELEASE 

RedEye releases technology solution for mobile workforce management 

RedEye White Paper on the Future of Work provides rich insights into workplace landscape 

Through the creation of customisable templates such as checklists and work orders, RedEyeWFM allows teams to communicate remotely and in real-time via mobile devices. The app aims to lower the traditional administration costs and paperwork associated with managing teams, while improving project accuracy and collaboration through cloud-based data management.

“RedEye is all about changing the way we work to create better productivity, safety and quality outcomes for companies and their teams. As the workforce becomes more distributed, teams need better tools to manage performance and keep their workforce connected from any location. RedEyeWFM is the missing component for business,” Gerard said.

RedEye Co-founder, Randall Makin added “RedEyeWFM supports the need for workers and supervisors to communicate, collaborate and stay across jobs using their mobile devices. The flexibility and customisation of the app allows it to be applicable to any industry.

The RedEye team are passionate contributors to the startup community, helping to drive world leading innovation and a diverse workforce culture and supporting new entrants to Australian startup ecosystem.

Tech heavyweights Stuart Waite, Jemma Enright, Adam Faulkner & Luke Metcalfe join the team 

Australia Post & Myer join the growing list of enterprise clients

Australia, 15 August 2016: Innovation powerhouse The Beanstalk Factory is building a collective of some of Australia’s brightest entrepreneurial talent to meet the growing demand for innovation capability with Australia’s largest corporations.

Influential entrepreneurs Peter Bradd and Jack Delosa founded The Beanstalk Factory in December 2015. Since that time, the company has grown substantially with new clients including recent wins Australia Post and Myer along with Suncorp Group, Telstra, Brisbane City Council, The Queensland Government, Monash University, News Corp and Hoyts.

New members of The Beanstalk Factory team include: Entrepreneur, investor and Internet of Things expert, Stuart Waite, who is contributing his expertise to the digital transformation arm of The Beanstalk Factory along with former CEO and Co-Founder of MoneyBrilliant, Jemma Enright, who is consulting on key projects as Entrepreneur in Residence. Startup veteran Adam Faulkner has joined the team to head up Experience Design and serial entrepreneur and data scientist Luke Metcalfe is working with Beanstalk’s clients around their research and actionable insights. (See below for bios – full team bios here: http://www.beanstalkfactory.com/team).

CEO Peter Bradd, said large corporates are seeking help from startup leaders who have ‘been there, done that’ experience but they also recognise their limitations in securing such talent within a traditional employment structure.

“The enterprise world is seeing the tremendous innovation coming out of the startup community – and they are keen to use startup expertise to help them reach their own innovation goals faster,” said Mr Bradd. “Established and successful startup leaders are unlikely to work as employees within enterprise. The Beanstalk Factory has built an innovative structure which allows entrepreneurs to work in an inspiring environment on a portfolio of interests they are passionate about – including their own ventures.”

Mr Bradd said The Beanstalk Factory philosophy is to teach enterprise how to build internal capacity, rather than do it for them.

“Demand for innovation talent at an all-time high. Those businesses who offer training and opportunities for their best and brightest to become intrapreneurs or corporate entrepreneurs are in a much better position to retain talent and reach their ambitious company targets,” Bradd said.

Team background:

With over 20 years’ experience in digital media across Australia, The US, UK and Europe, Mr Waite has most recently held senior roles at News Corp Australia and Shine Group. He has built and exited his own business and now mentors and advises a number of leading startups including Oovvuu, Rapporr, SkyGrid and teams within the CSIRO:ON program. Mr Waite lends his extensive knowledge of digital innovation and product design to Beanstalk’s corporate client base.

Ms Enright has spent the past four years as the CEO and Co-Founder of MoneyBrilliant, a personal finance platform designed to support women, where her customer-focused approach led to the platform being acquired by AMP in February this year. Prior to that, she spent over 15 years’ developing brand and advertising strategies for clients of Ninemsn, SBS, Multi Channel Network, and the Omnicom Media Group in Australia, UK and Europe.

Mr Faulkner has been working in interaction and service design for over a decade, specialising in a human-centred design methodology that delivers high level outcomes. He has worked in a range of large corporations including Sony and Blackberry, but is also heavily involved in the startup scene, leading Disruptsurfing.com, Toyprint, and Mancare to excellence.  His design expertise brings strategic, human-centric principles to The Beanstalk Factory clients.  

Mr Metcalfe is a tech entrepreneur whose recent projects include: NationMaster.com, which automatically gathers international statistics from hundreds of sources into a single source. The site has received a 600 million pageviews to date. He also created NetComber.com, which crawled 300 million websites to identify their owners through coding style and other identifiers. This was successfully sold to a US company.   

Mr Waite said: “Helping major enterprises transform operationally and culturally to take advantage of emerging digital technologies is a passion for me. I look forward to facilitating entrepreneurial thinking and high growth outcomes to some of Australia’s leading organisations.”

Ms Enright said: “It’s been exciting to see the startup and innovation community grow within Australia. I look forward to sharing my insights from working in both small and large enterprise and working with The Beanstalk Factory to help accelerate growth in both sectors.”

“The ethos of The Beanstalk Factory closely aligns with my worldview,” My Faulkner said. “I am excited to build a human-centred approach to corporate innovation that will rely upon the principles of insight, experience and empathy.”

Ends

Media contact

Louise Proctor | louise@launchgroup.com.au| T: 02 9492 1003 | M: 0452 574 244

About The Beanstalk Factory:

The Beanstalk Factory is the new business collaboration between two entrepreneurial thought leaders, author and founder of The Entourage, Jack Delosa, and the Founding Director of Fishburners and StartupAUS, Peter Bradd. The Beanstalk Factory isn’t about magic beans but rather a structured training program that helps big businesses re-imagine what they can achieve in the future. For more information visit:www.beanstalkfactory.com