InnovationAus Podcast

Commercial Disco: Kate Pounder, CEO, Technology Council of Australia

The Technology Council of Australia is the nation’s powerful new peak industry body, launched last month with ambitions as big as the sector it represents. Huge. In this episode of the Commercial Disco podcast, the Tech Council’s inaugural CEO Kate Pounder talks about the enormous job creation potential of the sector, and the role it will play in Australia’s economic recovery.

The age of trust, Series 2, Ep3: The new critical infrastructure food chain

The impact of the recent amendment to Australia’s Security of Critical Infrastructure Act on smaller companies within the electricity, gas, water and maritime supply chains is yet to be fully realised. Fergus Hanson, Director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s International Cyber Policy Centre and Derek Fittler, ANZ Head of Verizon Business Group discuss that while businesses across most industries generally now understand the impact and risk of a cybersecurity breach and the role they play from a vulnerability point of view, do they have the skillsets and cyber requirements to take action.

The views and opinions expressed by guest speakers do not necessarily reflect the view or position of Verizon.

Commercial Disco: Martin Duursma, Partner, Main Sequence Ventures

Martin Duursma is a partner at Australia’s premier deep-tech focused venture capital outfit, Main Sequence Ventures, charged with overseeing the firm’s space industry investments. In this episode of the Commercial Disco, Martin talks about the massive opportunities that exist in the space industry – and the massive ambition that is being applied to securing Australia’s share of it.

The age of trust, Series 2, Ep2: Trusted Retailing: the role of next-gen technology in delivering strong CX

With the shift from in-person, bricks and mortar shopping to online shopping surging, retailers must continue to invest in innovative customer experiences – to capture revenue and offset lost sales. Among key priorities are scaling up digital, improving the ecommerce customer experience and operating efficiency, futureproofing end-to-end operating models and progressing supply chain transformation. Brad Blyth, Chief Information Officer at Kmart and Target and Mathew Wells, Global Solutions and Strategy at Verizon Business Group discuss changing retail patterns and habits, and the use of next-gen tech to drive sales and improve customer interaction.

The views and opinions expressed by guest speakers do not necessarily reflect the view or position of Verizon.

The age of trust, Series 2, Ep1: Maintaining resilience during economic fragility

The disruption of the last 18 months has driven revolutionary change, and we in turn must be revolutionary innovators that ask questions and solve problems no one else has thought of. The issues of resilience against bushfires and cyber threats came together in an Age of Trust podcast with Rear Admiral Lee Goddard CSC, RAN, head of partnership ecosystem, government relations and operations at the Minderoo Foundation and Rob Le Busque, regional vice president, Asia Pacific at Verizon.

The views and opinions expressed by guest speakers do not necessarily reflect the view or position of Verizon.

Commercial Disco: Victor Dominello, NSW Minister for Customer Service and Minister for Digital

For years NSW Minister for Customer Service and Minister for Digital Victor Dominello has been the state’s chief advocate for building world-class digital government services. In this episode of the Commercial Disco podcast, Mr Dominello talks about how the maturity of the NSW digital infrastructure has helped deliver the health and economic response to the pandemic, and how the coronavirus has reshaped digital priorities. He also talks at length on using government procurement policy to build the NSW and Australian tech industry.

Commercial Disco: Karen Dewey, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Lumi.Media

Karen Dewey had a long and successful career as an executive producer in commercial television, including lengthy stints as Head of Reality and Factual at Nine Network Australia and ITV Studios, before jumping out into StartupLand as co-founder and CEO of Lumi.Media. It’s platform software for the global TV production industry, and it’s coming out of Australia. In this episode of The Commercial Disco, she talks to James Riley about the exhilarating ride.

Commercial Disco: Arthur Sinodinos AO, Australia’s Ambassador to the US

Australia’s Ambassador to the United States arrived in Washington in February 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was spreading across the world. In this interview he talks about a US economy that is now roaring back to life and the opportunities this presents for Australian companies. He also charts the progress of talks on a proposed Australia-US Digital Economy Trade Agreement.

InnovationAus Podcast: Women’s low STEM participation a ‘national emergency’

The low number of women in STEM occupations is “a national emergency”, according to the chairman of Industry Innovation and Science Australia, Andrew Stevens, who is also a member of Champions of Change, a group of CEOs and company directors working to achieve gender equality. 

He recently spoke to InnovationAus CEO and publisher, Corrie McLeod, and Dominique Fisher, co-founder and CEO of Paddl Co, off the back of the Paddl Impact Accelerator Program, sponsored by Western Sydney University, with InnovationAus as the media partner and the Western National Innovation Games funded by the Australian Government and delivered by Paddl Co.

Commercial Disco: Bronwyn Le Grice ANDHealth Chief Executive and Sally-Anne Williams, Cicada Innovations CEO

There is a need for new policy structures and funding to stimulate innovation across the economy, especially during the COVID recovery period. In this episode of the Commercial Disco, ANDHealth Chief Executive Bronwyn Le Grice and Cicada Innovations CEO Sally-Ann Williams discuss Australia’s innovation ecosystem – and lament the growth of ‘innovation theatre’. Now is the time urgency, they say.